St. Edward's Episcopal Church
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Our History
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The history of the Episcopal Church in Mount Dora actually began over six decades before the founding of St. Edward the Confessor (now known as St. Edward's Episcopal Church).  In 1893, the Rt. Rev. William Crane Gray, newly consecrated bishop of the Missionary Jurisdiction of Southern Florida, made his first journey around the territory which General Convention had separated the previous fall from the expanding Diocese of Florida.  He visited Mount Dora in the spring and selected a lot suitable for a church building.  However, during his episcopate he held services and preached either in the Methodist or Congregational churches, and the Episcopal presence remained an unnamed mission station until in 1914, when the Rt. Rev. Cameron Mann became bishop, it was listed in the Convocation Journal as an unorganized mission named St. Luke.
 
Several years later, in 1922, it appears as an organized mission named Trinity.  It became dormant sometime during 1926 as a result of the collapse of the real estate boom.  It would be another three decades before the Episcopal Church established itself in Mount Dora with the founding of St. Edward the Confessor.  In the meantime, Episcopalians journeyed the few miles over to Eustis and attended St. Thomas Church there. 

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1956     St. Edward's was organized as a mission on February 5th, following a service presided over by Canon William Hargrave, Executive Secretary of the Diocese of South Florida and later first Bishop of Southwest Florida. The service was held in the home of the late Maria Hartridge and was attended by 35 persons.  Until the end of April, services continued in the Masonic hall. The congregation purchased a two-acre estate, formerly the Bardwell home.  Convenient to the center of the city, it came complete with a house, two orange groves, and a swimming pool.
 
At the annual convention of the Diocese of South Florida on May 22nd, St. Edward's was accepted as an organized mission.
 
The downstairs of the house was remodeled into a chapel seating 85 people.  The first resident vicar arrived October 1st, and by the end of the year, seating capacity was stretched to the limit.
 

 
1958   September 23rd witnessed groundbreaking for a new church building.
 
1959   Easter Day, March 29th, marked the first services held in the new church structure which had been constructed on the property.


1969    Parish status was achieved at the April 28th annual convention of the Diocese of South Florida.
 
1974    February 5th was a day of special celebration.  Free and clear of debt, the church was consecrated by the Rt. Rev. William H. Folwell, Bishop of Central Florida, one of the three dioceses into which South Florida had been divided.  The consecration was 18 years to the day of that first worship service in the Hartridge parlor.  This service was attended by nearly 300 people in contrast to the 35 present at that first service.
 
2006    St. Edward's celebrated its 50th jubilee on February 5th.  In attendance were the former priests of St. Edward's, as well as, the current bishop, the Rt. Rev. John W. Howe. 

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