On Sept. 11, at the urging of the UCC's Collegium of Officers, hundreds of UCC members responded to the Hurricane Katrina disaster by joining the "Hope Shall Bloom Covenant of Compassion."

By adding their names to the covenant, UCC members made a promise to help now — and in the future — as a faithful response to the devastation they have witnessed from global disaster, including Hurricane Katrina.

"We have been reminded by Hurricane Katrina that Christian compassion is not an occasional activity, but a spiritual discipline that seeks each day to bear the burdens of others," wrote the Collegium in announcing the covenant. "Prayer, financial generosity, hands on volunteer work, witnessing for justice are all part of a demanding discipline called forth by the urgency of human need in the face of disaster and by the constancy of love we see in the cross."