Hurricane Ida left us a mountain to move, and over the last week I've seen it budge. The work of remediation has been steady across the property, and all of the work on what we call the "Dunn Building" is nearly . . . well, done. It's likely our 2 and 3 year old school classes will be back in that space in the next week or so. The lower school building remediation is basically complete, and construction begins there during the next week (the accompanying picture is looking northward from the roof of the lower school).

Meanwhile, many people work tirelessly to locate alternate sites for our other school grades to continue in-person learning. Those leases and the accompanying state licensing for them is complete, and our pre-K through eighth grade classes are scheduled to resume in-person learning on Monday at four different nearby sites: the Knights of Columbus building next door, Harbor Community Collective across Canal, the former Captial One building at Canal and Robert E. Lee, and the Children's Museum in City Park.

In the church, some of the tiles have begun popping up and shifting in the narthex. All of that tile will be removed soon. The contractors are keeping an eye on some troubling spots in the chapel and church, and are hoping to avoid replacing tile there. The carpets, however, will have to go, as will the pew cushions.

While Ida's wake has created challenges for us at St. Paul's, many other people in other parts of our state where hit much harder. As we work on our own recovery, we want to be mindful of those around us who still need our support. Mtr. Liz and Betsy Stoner have been working with our outreach team to provide support to the Grand Bayou Native American Community in Plaquemines. There is more information below on how you can be a part of those efforts.

In the midst of all of this, we give thanks to the God of resurrection and new creation, who we are confident walks with us through circumstances like these. I hope you'll join us for worship at Christ Church Cathedral this Sunday at 10:00 AM, whether in-person or online.

Jesus offers a difficult teaching in Matthew 17:20. He tells the disciples, "I assure you that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Go from here to there,' and it will go. There will be nothing that you can't do." When there is a mountain in need of moving before you this teaching does not seem very helpful. What I've learned over the years, however, is that faith isn't meant to move a mountain all at once. Faith can indeed move mountains, but it does so by the shovelful. By faith we are moving a mountain. Keep the faith, St. Paul's.

God's blessings,