Holy Apostles Episcopal Church (Satellite Beach, Florida)

Holy Apostles Episcopal Church

505 Grant Avenue

Satellite Beach, Florida
Coordinates: 28°10′53″N 80°36′13″W / 28.18143°N 80.603682°W / 28.18143; -80.603682
Denomination Episcopal
Website Holy Apostles Episcopal Church website
History
Dedication Holy Apostles
Administration
Parish Holy Apostles
Diocese Central Florida[1]
Province IV
Clergy
Rector Todd T. Schmidtetter [1]
Honorary priest(s) Robert Lieffort, assisting
Laity
Director of music Diane Spahr

Holy Apostles Episcopal Church, is an historic Carpenter Gothic church building now located at 505 Grant Avenue in Satellite Beach, Florida in the United States. It was built in 1902 some 60 miles to the south in Fort Pierce to serve St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, which it did until March 25, 1959, when St. Andrew's moved into a much larger structure and gave its old building, less its organ and stained glass windows, to the old Episcopal Diocese of South Florida to be used as a mission church. The diocese gave it to Holy Apostles, which had been formed in 1957 and had been holding services in a synagogue, and it was barged up the Indian River on July 14, 1959 to Satellite Beach,[1][2] where it became the first church building in that two-year-old city just south of Space Age Patrick Air Force Base.[3]

History

The future Holy Apostles Church was built in 1902 for St. Andrew's Mission on North 2nd Street in Fort Pierce and was consecrated in March 1905 by William Crane Gray, missionary bishop of South Florida. St. Andrew's first vicar was Gray's newly ordained son, Campbell Gray, who later became the second Bishop of Northern Indiana. In 1923 the building was moved to a waterfront location on the Indian River and in 1933 was enlarged to double its seating capacity.[2]

On July 14, 1959, the old building was placed on a barge and towed by a small tugboat north up the Indian River to its new location in Satellite Beach. Hugh Cuthbertson, vicar of Holy Apostles, was on hand to give his blessing as the church began its journey from Fort Pierce.[4] The tugboat was captained by a 17-year-old who proved himself more than equal to the task.[1] After being unloaded at Satellite Beach, the church was pulled by a bulldozer to its present location over utility poles laid flat on the ground.[1]

In the 1970s, Carleton Emery, one of Holy Apostles' charter members, made stained glass windows for the church to replace those that St. Andrew's had kept. In 1985 Holy Apostles achieved full parish status in the new Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida.[1] Unlike many other Carpenter Gothic churches which feature large rose windows high on their fronts or backs, Holy Apostles has only a small pin-hole window high on its front.[5]

See also

References and resources

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Episcopal Church of the Holy Apostles
  2. 1 2 Hellier, Walter R., Indian River: Florida's Treasure Coast, (1965) Coconut Grove: Hurricane House Publishers, pp. 107-111.
  3. ↑ Satellite Beach
  4. ↑ Hellier, Walter R., Indian River: Florida's Treasure Coast, (1965) Coconut Grove: Hurricane House Publishers, pp. 107-111, with photo of Fr. Cuthbertson's blessing on p. 109
  5. ↑ Episcopal Church of the Holy Apostles
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