After the devastation of Hurrican Katrina in September 2005, St. Mary's established ties with Christ Church in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
Christ Episcopal Church was established in 1890. Their campus has 7 acres on the beach and every thing on the campus was destroyed by Katrina. The eye of the hurricane passed just west of their property putting the church at one of the most vulnerable spots. Everything, except their bell tower was completely washed away. Nothing is left except the concrete slabs of the buildings. The destruction includes the church sanctuary/sacristy, parish hall, 3 homes (one being the office/rectory), one historic coach house, and one school building: 9 buildings in all. Christ Church has decided to rebuild later.
The school building on the campus had been leased to the city as an alternative school providing important income to the church that is now lost. The school on the property was the former Christ Episcopal School, established in the early fifties. The school moved to its new location in Pass Christian in the mid fifties and is now serving as the volunteer relief center. The school is now called Camp Coast Care and is a joint project by the Episcopal and Lutheran churches. 150 people from all over the United States sleep on cots on part of the gymnasium floor and eat two meals a day in the other part.
The best guess of the Christ Church people is that 30% of active parishioners lost their homes completely. Almost without exception, every parishioner living within the storm's reach sustained damage, most of it major, to their homes. It is unknown at this time how many parishioners who either lost their home or sustained major damage will stay or return to Bay St. Louis. However, each day brings them some additional hope and progress so some who initially thought possibly of not returning or staying are having second thoughts. Thankfully, no parishioner's life was lost in the storm.
Christ Episcopal Church’s first original location was on the beach near downtown Bay St. Louis. That church was destroyed completely in 1969
by Hurricane Camille. The present location was acquired soon thereafter and the second church (the one destroyed by Katrina) was built
in the early seventies. In its history, the church has had but two full time rectors - one serving nearly fifty years and the other about 18 years.
Christ Church has been without a full time rector since 2003. Elizabeth Wheatley was recently appointed by the bishop as interim rector
for two years.
In January of 2006, twelve parishioners from St. Mary's visited Bay St. Louis to help clear damage at the site of Christ Church. Those members were: Father Mark story, Bill Lambert, Ed Sturm, Dion Crider, Tim Bridges, Scott Bridges, Tom Byrd, Ben Kenyon, Barbara Robinson, Charles Ming, Truman Hanson, and Nancy Tarr. They also spent the week working at the homes of parishioners that had suffered damage. At the end of the week, a service was held in the Quonset hut building recently built on the church slab by another volunteer group. Those members of Christ Church who were available (about 12 of them) attended with the 12 of us. Father Mark officiated the service as their new Rector, Elizabeth Wheatley, was away for the week at a disaster recovery conference.
At the end of the service Father Mark presented their senior warden a check from St. Mary’s of $11,000 with a promise of more is to come. This was the first mid week church service held at the church since before Katrina. We were pleased to be able to take part with the people of Christ Church. The money coming in from St. Mary’s and others is being used to help parishioners in need. The church has no income from pledges or rental and it has very little expense since nothing is there and the Diocese of Mississippi is supporting Rector Elizabeth Wheatley for two years.
Scott Bagley, the Senior Warden, told us "Words cannot express how much we appreciate the support of St. Mary's. You all hit the ground running making the church site safer for our parishioners and helping so many of our parishioners with jobs that move them toward a more stable life. It was a meaningful week enhanced by the evening prayer service on Thursday.”
Our support of Christ Church did not end with our January trip. Future trips are being organized and we hope to expand the base of volunteers to other churches in the diocese.
For more information about how you can help, contact Charles Ming