My friends, I am so very pleased and excited to announce – we are ready to GO on our new building. We have permits in hand from the city and site work will begin THIS WEEK! Our contractor has ordered materials and we will approve final plans this Thursday (7th).
I cannot even tell you what this means to me and to our people. When I received the news that the permits were ready to be issued, I wept. This milestone was so long in coming. What a witness to the resilience of our people, and the incredible help we have received.
Speaking of help, we are still hoping for those who can give a little to help make this building a reality. If you go to our SITE, you can donate online. Please think about it and pray about it. We are very excited about our future in Long Beach, and as the 3rd anniversary of Katrina bears down on us, we are ever more committed to being a viable presence in our community.
On a personal note, just got back from vacation and catching up in the office and on the road. Made plans for two fund raising trips (Chicago and San Francisco – if you are in those areas PLEASE let me know). And my son entered high school today – another milestone.
Soon to come – pictures from the construction site….

I, um, somehow, er, forgot to mention that, while I was at camp, I had an…um…birthday.
Sigh.
50. For some reason this one really got to me. I have been dreading it all year. It’s a shock, and I mean that, to think about. How did this happen? Am I really 50???
It’s a year of getting healthy for me – physically, spiritually, mentally. Working on some things, and so far so good.
I turned 50 at camp (see post below). I actually thought if I didn’t tell anyone, the day would just slip on by. RIGHT. With a daughter on staff, my son with me, and my wife working behind the scenes, EVERYONE at camp knew. They actually were pretty light on me. Got food crammed down my throat as part of a game / song at lunch – with my 3 children doing the cramming! My wife and middle child drove up for the day and surprised me. It turned into the perfect way to spend a birthday. And I am slowly getting used to the idea.

On another note, I know I don’t post regularly, and have decided to do something about that. But, I wonder if by my inconsistency no one is reading any more. That’s cool, and if so I will let the blog die. But if you are out there, can you post a comment and let me know?

Thanks – hope to hear from ya!

The tears really have been infrequent these last almost-three years. I wrote on here about the 2nd anniversary of Katrina and that connecting piece with my seminary classmate, Larry Motz, who died Palm Sunday 2006, and the crying jag that caused.
Today while perusing the web, I was reading the blog of the Executive Director of the Beatitudes Society, the Reverend Anne Howard. Read more about this wonderful group at their website. The first of June Anne led a second group of seminarians who are part of the society for another week of hard work at Camp Coast Care. My wife and I, as we did last year, spent an evening with them telling the stories, answering questions. On Anne’s blog recently she reflected on their experience and included comments from some of the seminarians. I was so moved by what they had to say, and I really appreciate the “fresh eyes” they used to report their experiences.
Then one of them went and said THIS:

“Another story that struck me was that of Rev. David Knight. As the rector of the local Episcopal Church, David was saddened by the destruction of St. Patrick’s, but he was one of the lucky ones whose home was left relatively unharmed. From the base of security that he and his wife were able to maintain, which included continuing support from the church, they were among the few who were in a position to act as caregivers. Three years after the storm, the wells from which they had been gathering the necessary strength to provide care seemed to be drying up, and it was obvious that he and his wife desperately needed spiritual and personal renewal if they were to continue as caregivers. I was impressed by the care that he and his wife had been providing but saddened by the sight of their clearly ebbing strength.”

Is that the impression I give people – ebbing strength? Or is it just the truth? I wept as I read it, so there must have been some truth in it. I FELT what he wrote as I read it. How weird is that?
So the BIG question – how do we recharge, replenish, refuel – for as you can tell from all their reports and many others, there is MUCH more to be done.

Just got back from a week of summer camp at good ole Camp Bratton-Green. It was a 5th and 6th grade session and I had a blast. My eldest child is part of Permanent Staff this summer and next, working the ropes course. It’s a high honor and she was selected with two others out of a pool of 50 something. They also help with all the programming, skits, worship, “Big” games, etc. It’s a whirlwind of very hard work and she LOVES it. She has dreamed of this gig her whole life, at least since her 1st time at camp as a 3rd grader. I am a proud pappa.

I am shocked at how long it has been since I updated this blog. I don’t know if anyone is still checking in – but if you are I want to share something with you. And also ask you to pass this on to every online friend you have.
Later, I will have a post about our just completed Holy Week at St. Patrick’s.
But first – I started a group on Facebook called “5000 for 100”. The description of the group is below:
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St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Long Beach, MS was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005. At long last the church is just about ready to begin building it’s new facility, a few miles in land (on high ground) from the beach property.
Unfortunately, due to incredibly higher construction costs, we do not have enough funds from insurance and donations to construct even our first building – which will be a multi-purpose building with a Parish Hall / Worship room, offices, and classrooms. We estimate to be about $500,000 short.
While we continue to solicit contributions from large groups, and of course from our own congregation, the idea behind this group is a grassroots campaign to find 5000 people / organizations / groups to give $100 each to our building fund.
We hope that churches (of all denominations), church youth groups, men’s groups, women’s groups, Sunday school classes, individuals will pray about ways they can help and donate to our building fund.
Soon we will add pictures to the group, including what we looked like before and preliminary sketches of our first building.
All contributions to St. Patrick’s are tax deductible. We ask that you mail contributions to the church, P.O. Box 550, Long Beach, MS 39560. You can reach us at 228-863-7882 or email [email protected] . If you do contribute – THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. Please indicate “5000 for 100” on your check so we can track this campaign (and know when we have reached 5000 contributors.
IN ADDITION, 10% of all contributions to this campaign will be given to local charities on the Gulf Coast that are helping our communities rebuild and providing services to people in need.
Lastly, will you pray for us? And pass this group info on to ALL of your friends.
God bless
David Knight
Rector, St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church
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I am convinced there are 5000 people or entities across this country that can give $100 to this cause. And of course, we are not just looking at people who are on Facebook to help. We already have begun receiving donations, and people are getting excited about it. One of our partner parishes, St. Mary’s in Arlington, VA, has decided to donate $100 for every member of their church who has been to our relief center to help out – and they have sent 80 people down here! So that’s $8000 right there to our campaign. I am so excited about this, and I am convinced we will be able to start building soon.
We will have a special page on our website soon dedicated to this campaign. Meanwhile, click HERE to link to our web home where you can find pictures before and after Katrina and other information about us.
And PLEASE – PASS THIS ON!
God bless you all and Happy Easter – The Lord is Risen Indeed!