Calendar

A History
of St. Peter the Fisherman Episcopal Church

    The Episcopal church began monthly summer services on the beachside over thirty years ago, gathering on hot summer Sunday mornings around a surfboard altar on the sand outside Surfside Condominium.  The Right Reverend William Folwell presided at the first service on July 19, 1970, at the request of The Reverend Larry Lossing, the Rector of St. Paul's Church.  Within a few years the services became a weekly summer fixture on the beachside as an outreach to the summer and weekend visitors and young surfers.  One member remembers that Fr. Lossing's son would exit the water with a wet surfboard, approach the gathered people, and ceremonially place his board upon two lawn chairs! 

    When Fr. Lossing left St. Paul's in 1982, services were held that Summer by their interim rector, The Rev. Dorsey Smith.  Growing traffic problems on the old draw bridge had been causing Father Lossing and Smith to be increasingly late for the last mass at St. Paul's.  When The Reverend James Biegler was called in 1983 the St. Paul's Vestry asked him to discontinue beachside services.  Several Orlando week-enders regretted the loss of the beachside services and enlisted the Reverend Canon Alan Purdom, assistant to Bishop Folwell, to conduct services the Summer of 1984.  This new beginning provided an opportunity to rethink the location and services that year were held in the Coronado Elementary School cafeteria.

A number of permanent residents on the beachside began attending services.  A meeting between Bishop Folwell and Father Biegler resulted in St. Paul's decision to hire Father Tyrrel Dear to serve as the part-time vicar for St. Paul's  beachside chapel the Summer of 1985.  At the end of that Summer the beachside residents were excited.  Talk was beginning to emerge that one day they might become a mission of the diocese.  With the help of the Orlando week-enders they raised $30,000 and deposited it with St. Paul's to hire Father Dear on a full-time basis.

    In January 1986, St. Peter the Fisherman, a chapel of St. Paul's, began permanent services at Coronado Elementary.  No longer just for summer week-enders or permanent residents, now winter residents found St. Peter's.  Near the end of 1986 the fledgling congregation requested to become a mission of the diocese.  After some debate the Vestry of St. Paul's soon gave its permission.  Thirty-one Episcopalians formally petitioned the Diocese to become a mission congregation.  In December St. Peter the Fisherman was proclaimed a mission of the Diocese of Central Florida.  In January 1987 the Diocesan  Convention made it official, and St. Peter the Fisherman was born!   During the ensuing months the mission grew and land was purchased.  In August 1987 the Reverend John Liebler became the first permanent Vicar. 

The "Rock" campaign was launched in the Spring of 1988.  Within a year approximately sixty-five households had given or pledged over $200,000 for the construction of the first "multi-use" building.  Ground was broken on Easter Day, 1989. Located on a deeply wooded site at the edge of the Indian River estuary, the church was developed in a manner which attempted to preserve and respect the beauty of God's creation.  November 1989, the Sunday after All Saint's Day, in procession and pageantry the congregation walked from the elementary school to the new facility.   

      Numerical growth and financial success permitted the mission to petition the Diocese to become a self-supporting parish one year ahead of schedule.  This was granted at Diocesan Convention in January 1993.

      In 1994 a second successful campaign was launched, resulting in the purchase of  the large adjacent house and property for greatly needed  parking, Sunday school classrooms, and multi-use purposes.  In the same year we hired our first Ministry staff professional to coordinate our growing Children's and Youth Ministries.

    By 1997 the 10:00 Sunday morning worship service was at maximum capacity and planning of facility expansion began.  In 2000  our "Faith, Hope, and Love" Campaign raised gifts and pledges of $440,000.  In 2001 we completed an additional parking lot on a strip of land purchased the previous year.  Mid-2002  ground was broken  to double the size of our current building.  During this year of construction  the church was also undergoing a search for a new rector.  After fifteen years as our  beloved rector, the Reverend Father John Liebler was called to another parish.  June 29, 2003 Bishop John Howe  dedicated our  expanded facility and celebrated the new ministry of  the Reverend James Spencer.

    From our "surfers' mass" beginnings on the beach to our growth in Coronado Elementary to our flowering within ever expanding facilities, St. Peter the Fisherman continues to be characterized by facilities that respect the beauty of God's creation, a ministry of welcome to residents and visitors, an emphasis on quality programs for children and youth, an eager generosity to the poor, and a relaxed yet deeply spiritual worship style. 

St. Peter the Fisherman Episcopal Church

4220 Saxon Drive

New Smyrna Beach, Florida 32169

phone:  386-428-7383      fax:   386-428-9675

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