Seventh-day Adventists across North America are gearing up for a collective effort to bring spiritual hope to people in New York City, struggling in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist strike.

“There is a different mood in New York City now,” said Pastor Don Schneider, president of the Adventist Church in North America. “Three weeks ago, the name of Jesus was a swear word, but now it’s a name people say, reaching for hope.”

Each of the church’s 58 conferences in North America has been challenged to send at least one pastor, evangelist or lay person to New York City for six months to live, work, and get to know people in their neighborhood, said Schneider, addressing members of the world church’s executive committee September 27. In addition, church institutions and lay groups—under the organization of Adventist-Laymen’s Services and Industries—will sponsor a number of people to go to New York City for up to two years. Colleges will send students and church institutions may also sponsor employees to go to New York City.

More than 20 million people live in the New York City area, one of the largest urban centers in the world. But the Adventist Church has a minimal presence there, said Schneider. “People in this secular city are looking for something and we must be there for them.”

Under the plan outlined in a Hope in Crisis brochure, the 200 Adventist teams going to New York City will host home Bible study groups, set up grief recovery support groups, speak at evangelistic programs, offer literature and Bible study material, and, above all, “be a friend” to New Yorkers where they live and work. A special New York City evangelism offering will be collected in North American Adventist churches October 6.