Blessing of the Badges and Boots Scheduled for September 11

The event is for Harrison County’s First Responders, Active Military, and Medical Providers.

The Coast Ecumenical Fellowship will host its third annual Blessing of the Badges and Boots to honor and pray for all of Harrison County’s first responders, active duty military, and medical providers on September 11 at 10 a.m.

The event, which was cancelled due to COVID-19 last year, will be held outdoors and feature a drive-through prayer and meal option for those who cannot attend in-person this year.

The event will begin with a service of blessing under a tent in the parking lot of the Gulfport Fire Department’s Central Fire Station, located at the corner of 15^th Street and 23^rd Avenue in downtown Gulfport. Following the service will be a barbecue with live music by Casual and the Uptights and children’s activities by Lynn Meadows Discovery Center in the Gulfport Central Fire Station’s truck bays next to the tented area.

For those first responders, active military, and medical providers who cannot attend the whole event in person, the drive through prayer and meal will be offered along 23^rd Avenue at the Central Fire Station’s east-facing driveway.

The Blessing of the Badges and Boots service of blessing is free to attend and open to the public.  The barbecue and after-service activities are especially for first responders, active military, and medical providers and their families.

The Blessing of the Badges and Boots is co-hosted by the City of Gulfport, Gulfport Main Street, Feed My Sheep, Rotary Club of Gulfport, Daddy’s BBQ, Borguezan BBQ, Gulfport Kiwanis Club, and the Gulf Coast Wind Ensemble, along with Lynn Meadows Discovery Center and Casual and the Uptights.

For more information, contact the Coast Ecumenical Fellowship at (228) 864-3143 or office@gulfportchurch.org.