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Jerome Epstein, executive vice president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, cautioned that angry reactions should be tempered.

"It's right to be angry, right now," he said. "It's right to be distressed right now, it's OK, it's appropriate. But one has to contemplate how one is going to respond to terrorism. Are we going to respond in kind, or respond in some affirming way?"

DeRevere, a United Church of Christ minister who served as a volunteer chaplain for the FBI in the aftermath of the inferno at the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas, and oversees police chaplains still helping people recover from the Oklahoma City explosion, said chaplains and Americans in general will be grappling with this crisis for years to come.

"This is a long-term deal," he said.

G. Jeffrey MacDonald in Boston and Kevin Eckstrom in Washington contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2001 Religion News Service.

In April 1999, Nick Lillo faced a similar task of coping when his church, Littleton, Colorado's Centennial Community Church, was overwhelmed with news of the Columbine High School shootings.

Also appearing on our site today in response to the terrorist attacks:

Church Leaders Around World Deplore 'Unspeakable Horror' of Attack | Christians urged to unite in prayer as they unite in shock and denunciation.

Fear and Hate | In times like this, as in all other times, Christians have a responsibility to love above all else.

This afternoon, President Bush spoke on the tragedy from Barksdale Air Force Base and upon first hearing of the attack this morning in Sarasota, Fla. asked for a moment of silence for the victims.

For coverage of today's attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., see Yahoo full coverage.

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September (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45