Members of the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, National Response Team (NRT) met in Washington, DC, on April 24 through 29, 2025, at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church (NYAPC), for the annual coming together. We welcomed sixteen new members – who bring gifts and talents from across the nation and Puerto Rico – to respond to natural and human caused disasters. SC PDAT members in attendance included Sally Dyer, Gertrude and Alonza Washington, Catherine Neal, and Mark McCain.
NYAPC was President Abraham Lincoln’s house of worship. This church houses the original Civil War Emancipation Proclamation, which was written by Lincoln in 1863 and provided civil liberties for all who lived in the United States. The Rev. Martin Luther King’s also has an interesting connection to this historic church.
In June 2024, the Rev. Dr. Jim Kirk, retired as PDA Associate for National Disaster Response. We acknowledged Dr. Kirk with special notes of Christian appreciation for his service – first as a volunteer from 1996 and then as our leader since 2017.
