MANHATTAN, N.Y. â€” St. Peter Lutheran Church has locked the door it shares with the Citigroup Center in Manhattan again. The same door remained locked for several months after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Rev. Carol E.A. Fryer told the ELCA News Service.

The assistant pastor said the congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America that shares a city block with Citigroup, is coping with a significant police presence around its sanctuary and restricted traffic flow after the Aug. 1 announcement in which the U.S. government named the area a potential target for a terrorist attack.

Street parking in the vicinity of the Citigroup Center is banned, Fryer said. The congregation is uncertain about whether members can park on the street for services on Aug. 8, but it hopes to know by the end of the week, she said.

In an e-mail message to the congregation, Fryer assured parishioners that security was very tight. But she said restrictions have also hampered church ministry. The loading dock the church shares with the Citigroup Center was also not available because of the alert. The church uses the loading dock for food deliveries for ministries to homeless people, people with AIDS and seniors. The programs will go on, but deliveries must be certified by authorities.

Attendance at the midday service the congregation normally hosts was attended by four people on Aug. 2. "There was a different feel about this service," Fryer said. "People seemed to be hanging on the words. I told them our security is in the God's hands." She said those who attended were "witnesses to their own faith.

"We cannot live in fear. We must let our faith shine through in the midst of all of this. We will continue to do what we normally do as a sign of hope," she said.