Fifteen teenagers from the Diocese of Atlanta joined 150 teens from around the Southeast June 24-29 to work, pray and play at the Episcopal Church's Province IV Youth Event in Bay St. Louis, Miss.

Under the theme "One Hope in God's Call to Us," together they formed a vibrant Spirit-filled community set on the continuing revitalization of the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.  Projects included re-roofing, insulating and dry-walling several houses, yard work, landscaping a public park and rebuilding a nature trail and butterfly garden. 

The group stayed in Quonset-hut barracks on the property of Christ Episcopal Church in Bay St. Louis, enjoying meals together and taking part in evening programs in that focused on the way the Baptismal Covenant calls Christians to be the hands and feet of Christ - to work and pray to build and maintain not only our own communities but also the communities of those is great need. 

The Atlanta contingent provided a program that explored the idea of endurance as a trait necessary to living out the inherent call to service found in the Baptismal Covenant.

The group was made up of teens from St. Andrew's in the Pines, Peachtree City; St. Anne's, Atlanta; and St. Columba's, Suwanee.  The Rev. Wendy Porter, associate rector at St. Anne's, and the Rev. Joe Greene, curate at St. Columba's, served as group leaders.