Welcome to UMTV’s Web Brief. I’m Reed Galin.

The United Methodist church in Shanksville, Pa., is about as small-town as you can get. But this tiny congregation found itself at the center of the biggest news event in the world. Here’s a look at how United Methodists have helped people heal after 9/11 ... in a field, which has become sacred ground.

FROM A DISTANCE THEY LOOK HUDDLED, THESE PILGRIMS STANDING IN AN OLD RURAL PENNSYLVANIA STRIP MINE. TWO THOUSAND CARS A WEEK, IN AND OUT OF THIS QUIET PLACE.

THIS IS THE CRASH SITE OF UNITED FLIGHT 93 ... THE 40 MEN AND WOMEN WHO TOOK THE PLANE BACK FROM THE TERRORISTS.

“It just gives me a feeling that I can come here and say a prayer for all of those poor people. I can do it at home, but it just seems to mean a little more when you’re here. It just gives you the chills.”

NO ONE IN TINY SHANKSVILLE REALIZED WHAT THIS SITE WOULD BECOME, BUT SOON IT WAS CLEAR. PEOPLE WOULD HAVE A NEED TO COME HERE. THAT'S WHY UNITED METHODIST MINISTER RON EMERY STARTED SENDING MEMBERS OF HIS CONGREGATION HERE TO HELP IN ANY WAY NEEDED.

The Rev. Ron Emery: “People were just sort of aimlessly walking around. There was no way of connecting with what happened there. It helps put things into perspective.”

TODAY'S AMBASSADOR IS DORIS BAEKEL. SHE GIVES DIRECTIONS, POINTS OUT THE EXACT CRASH SITE, AND HELPS PEOPLE MAKE A SPIRITUAL CONNECTION.

Doris Baekel: “God had his hand in this for where it went down, and I think these people have a beautiful final resting place compared to those others of that day. It’s beautiful here.”

IT IS AMERICA'S UNPLANNED NATIONAL MEMORIAL ... A PLACE TO HEAL ... WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM EACH OTHER.

A permanent memorial is planned for the crash site of Flight 93 and its 40 heroes. There is another important memorial … not far from there … where nine miners were trapped underground last month, and then -- you could say miraculously -- rescued. Tom St. Clair is the United Methodist district superintendent for the Western Pennsylvania Conference. He says these two events are no coincidence and believes they have a deeper meaning.

Flight 93 went down in a field that was empty … it basically was a reclaimed mine site. So the power of God was there, I believe, from the beginning, averting something that could have been a lot worse.

And when I go back, I see the power of God at work very much through people again, through the different expressions that they have when they put on memorial wall. There’s usually something new every time. So you can just see God at work, helping people through one another to get through this.

There’s always hope in God through Christ. Through these events that have happened, God will give us the strength, and He’ll give us the purpose for these terrible events and what can result from them.

It has been an honor and more than a blessing to be able to meet and talk with people from our denomination, literally from all over the world. It has brought us all together.

We all remember where we were when we heard the news about the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania plane crash. The one-year anniversary is a time for all of us to reflect on what’s happened and what has been learned. We go now to John Street United Methodist Church, the oldest United Methodist church in lower Manhattan … and the closest to Ground Zero.

“O God our help in ages past…”

JOHN STREET UNITED METHODIST CHURCH IS OLDER THAN THIS HYMN.

ON THIS REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY, HOWEVER, THIS HISTORIC CONGREGATION IS THINKING ONLY OF RECENT EVENTS.

PASTOR JIM MCGRAW SETS THAT THEME BY READING “MEET ME IN THE STAIRWELL.”

The Rev. Jim McGraw: “I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor … I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every prayer … I will be in the stairwell of your final moments, for I am God.”

“I’ll walk with God …”

JOHN EASTERLIN SANG THIS SAME SONG ON THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER THE ATTACK, WHEN JOHN STREET UNITED METHODIST – FOUR BLOCKS FROM GROUND ZERO – STILL HAD NO ELECTRICITY.

THE TERRORISTS DIDN’T MISS THIS OLD CHURCH BY MUCH, YET MEMBERS HERE GET A WARNING TO RESIST THE URGE FOR REVENGE.

The Rev. Jim McGraw: “Raise God’s shofar to your lips, O Christ, and call us again, ‘No war, not even a holy war.’”

WORDS HAVE OFTEN SEEMED INADEQUATE IN THE PAST YEAR … AND ESPECIALLY THIS ANNIVERSARY WEEK.

The Rev. Jim McGraw: “I think what you don’t do is make it an opportunity for cheap patriotism. You really probe the faith … nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus Our Lord.”

AND AGAIN, THAT HYMN FROM 1790 ABOUT TRUSTING GOD.

A 236-YEAR-OLD CONGREGATION, LIKE JOHN STREET UNITED METHODIST, CAN TEACH US A LOT ABOUT TRUST.

John Street United Methodist also hosts a major lunchtime worship each week called “Wall Street Wednesdays,” which draws even larger crowds than the Sunday service. This week, that service takes place on September 11th.

On the next UMTV Web Brief, it’s a different kind of ministry –

“It’s a way of saying God loves you.”

Tamales today for a better tomorrow.