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Welcome to the Pastor’s Corner, and welcome to the website of the First Presbyterian Church of Greenlawn! We hope that you will find here helpful resources for your spiritual journey. And “may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all”
A Message from September 13, 2026
Remembrances of 9/11 9/11/2001 happened so fast... out of the blue! I was office manager of a company on Route 110 on an early morning call to a Chicago client who was asking me, suddenly, about "the plane disaster in New York City that just happened... the one that hit the World Trade Center Tower?" I was shocked, in disbelief, and concerned to hear this. Actually, more than concerned since our son, Michael, worked for Empire Blue Cross and had an office in the World Trade Center North Tower #1. And our other son, Robert, reported to this office periodically. My attempts to reach Michael were unsuccessful, so I left a voice message for him. (Remember cell phones were not widely available until just about 2001). I then called Robert, whom I found was safe, and asked him about his brother. He thought Michael may be on a business trip to Florida. I called Bill, my husband. We started calling friends and family asking if they knew where Michael was. Initially we all thought “poor people on the plane that hit the building ... they're not going to survive.” (Later found out the plane hit North tower #1 just before 9am). I wanted to know what floor the plane hit & if it was where Michael's office was. Just an hour or so later, another plane hit World Trade Center Tower #2, the South Tower. Then another plane hit the pentagon. What a nightmare! A little after 11a.m. Michael called me. He had received my voice message. Reception and communications were sketchy. He was safe and on a business trip in Florida with his bosses. Thank God. They were all playing golf when they got the news and they, too, initially had thought “poor plane.” Everyone was trying to contact their people and personnel back home, but communications were to remain sketchy. We then heard about another plane headed for the White House. Turns out that some valiant people on that plane helped foil that plot, and saved lives. Unfortunately, it crashed in Pennsylvania but saved the White House. By this time, all US plane service was grounded for three days. No one knew for sure where the next attack would come from and if this was the beginning of a war. It was a true nightmare! There were no car rentals available in Florida, so Michael and some co-workers took a bus back to New York. Michael reported his company's floor was #36. The 1st plane hit floor #82. Later part of that plane went down the elevator shaft... killing all in elevator and spreading fire. The second plane hit South Tower #2 on floor #52. A lot of people from floors on both towers were successfully evacuated and a lot of lives were saved. They walked/ran as far away from the Trade Center as possible, seeing people jumping out of windows. Michael reported the floors above where planes hit had much harder time getting out safely. And some on higher floors were completely doomed. People in skyscrapers who take elevators to work frequently get to know workers from other offices making friends as they ride up and down. Michael had friends from Cantor Fitzgerald. This company occupied floors 102, 103 and 104. So sad. All the security guards at the Towers died too. We all know of the heroic efforts and tremendous loss of life of the first responders, fire departments, police departments, and numerous volunteers who helped save so many lives. Michael was not married and was living on his own in 2001. As soon as he came home to Long Island from Florida, he drove to our church, knowing I was at Bible study. All he could think of doing was to give his mom a big hug. Thank God. Several of my cousins were late for work at the Twin Towers because there was a New York primary that morning causing a lot of traffic. Thank God. A close friend of Michael's was supposed to be at the Trade Center, but his business meeting got transferred to Las Vegas ... Thank God. Michael has many personal, unbelievable stories of survival, heroism and not surviving from what he heard from survivors and from the funerals he's attended. He says this tragedy "may be the beginning of when ‘working from home’ started.” All those companies that lost their places of business still needed to survive, and working from home fit the bill. 2001 was a tragedy for everyone in America. Houses of Worship were full for a couple of weeks. Airports and traveling in general changed forever as did the way we all viewed life. It was a very sad time for a long time ... and still is. We lost our innocence. The United States did learn some valuable lessons from the 911 tragedy. I pray this country and its people remember them and never take it for granted. God Bless America. |
Pastor Rev. Dr. Ann VanCleef
Sunday Worship – Zoom Worship How are we going to worship on Sundays? What are the Meeting IDs? Will I get a reminder about logging on to these services? I don’t have a camera on my computer, but I do have a Smartphone. I don’t have a computer or a Smartphone. What can I do? Please note:
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