The Loch Ness monster and turtle conservation combine in a Florida parish
“Keep telling the stories” about how and why your church began, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori told parishioners and guests on Dec. 19 at the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the consecration of the church building at St. Columba Episcopal Church in Marathon, Florida, a small community in the upper Florida Keys.
“Those stories are filled with hope,” she said during her sermon. “You give evidence of hope for those who aren’t members of this intimate group by your remarkable growth in this place, and by your attention to those far beyond these islands.” The small Diocese of Southeast Florida congregation — about 100 people during “season” (the winter months) and sometimes as few as 25 in the summer — has a schedule of ministries out of proportion to its numbers.
St. Columba provides space for Al-Anon groups, Weight Watchers, yoga classes, Boy Scouts and the private counseling offered through Marathon’s domestic-abuse hotline. The church works with Habitat for Humanity, the Grace Jones Community Day Care and Keys Area Interdenominational Resources, which provides a food pantry and other emergency services for individuals and families in crisis, and has taken over the operation of the Higher Love Mission for Homelessness. In addition to these community ministries, in the past three years parishioners have taken mission trips to Sudan, Honduras and Madagascar.
For a wonderful insight into a small vibrant parish which has hurricane resistant stained glass windows, including one of the Loch Ness monster, see:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80263_126345_ENG_HTM.htm