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COUNCIL OF CHURCHES OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK HONORS DR. JOHN J. SCIBILIA OF LUTHERAN DISASTER RESPONSE OF NY.
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Sept 20 – Dr. John J. Scibilia, coordinator of the Lutheran Disaster Response of New York (LDRNYY), received the Extraordinary Leadership Award from the Council of Churches of the City of New York, at its 8th Annual Awards Banquet, Sept. 19.
Dr. Scibilia was honored for his work as the first coordinator of LDRNY, a joint ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod to aid those affected by Sept. 11 in New York City. Under his leadership over the past year, LDRNY has funded dozens of projects that help victims, families and others affected by 9/11 heal and move on from the wave effects of terrorism.
Through its services like Project LIFE, a care management program to help victims access public assistance, and Camp New Ground, a day camp for children in the wake of 9/11, LDRNY has helped thousands of New Yorkers. It has also funded more than 2,000 mental health counseling sessions, as well as helped victims find new jobs or relocate. In addition, it has offered tuition assistance to children attending Lutheran schools and early childhood learning programs, funded New York food pantries hard hit by the crisis, and given aid to September Space, a community center for 9/11 volunteers, and the 9/11 Widows’ and Victims’ Families Association. In conjunction with Lutheran Social Services-Metropolitan New York, Dr. Scibilia and LDRNY were instrumental in establishing the Unmet Needs Roundtable which advocates for the needs of victims for whom no assistance is readily available.
“Most of 9/11 victims weren’t even in the World Trade Center,” said Dr. Scibilia. “Our work as the church at Ground Zero will go on for the next decade, as we only begin to realize how the devastating effects are impacting our lives.”
Dr. Scibilia has had a long career with the Lutheran Church. Prior to this position, he served six years as director for Schools for the ELCA in Chicago, a program that teaches more than 250,000 children in more than 2,000 schools across the country.
In 1992, he was appointed the first executive director of the Metropolitan New York Synod Bishop’s Mission Fund and assistant to the bishop for schools and special projects. He has also served on ELCA leadership teams for the Help the Children Initiative, and has been active with the Decade for Peace and Nonviolence, the Lutheran Peace Fellowship Board and the United Nations committee on teaching peace. He has been recognized with several awards, including the Lutheran Schools Association Distinguished Service Award, the Center for Urban Education Ministry Outstanding Service Award, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Multicultural Medal.
He earned his master’s degree from Fordham University. The Long Island native now lives in Brooklyn. |
