Peter Gudaitis: An Episcopalian’s Journey to the Front Lines  by
Stephen Russ  On September 11th, 2001, Peter Gudaitis left his
apartment and boarded the subway just like any other day. When
he left that morning he was the Associate Director of Episcopal
Charities, responsible for overseeing funding for soup kitchens,
after school programs, and other Parrish-based community
outreach programs. By the time he got to work the towers had
fallen, and everything had changed.  Peter, a recent seminary
graduate and former campus minister, found himself directly
involved in providing services for those affected by the attack.
The Episcopal organization jumped in head first; hiring case
workers and raising funding for families, training clergy to be
chaplains, providing pastoral care, and turning St. Paul’s
chapel into a place of food service and medical care for
recovery workers. All of this work was new to nearly everyone
involved.  “New York had never had a significant disaster in its
past, so the experience to lead