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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.
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 house was remodeled with the ground floor serving as the church and Sunday school, and the second
floor as living quarters for the resident vicar. The first resident vicar arrived October 1st, and by the end of the
year, seating capacity (85 people) was stretched to the limit.
Construction on the new church structure was completed on February 1959. The service of the Laying of the Cornerstone took place on March 11, 1959.
1959 Easter Day, March 29th, marked the first services held in the new church structure which had been constructed
on the property. 1958 September 23rd witnessed groundbreaking for a new church building. The architect was A. Wynn Howell of Lakeland, Florida.
Mr. Howell planned for St. Edward's to be a living demonstration of the
Biblical "Rock of Our Salvation." He accomplished this through the use of native Florida fieldstone in building
the nine buttresses which support the roof. Carrying through the theme of the Rock of Salvation is the altar.
All the rock in the altar is the same stone used in the exterior construction with one exception--a piece of marble from the
reredos of the high altar at St. Paul's Cathedral, London, England.
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1965 The statue of St.
Francis located by the goldfish pond, was given by Mr. Andres Moynello in loving memory of his parents.
1966 The faceted glass windows in the choir loft and beside
the main doors were created by Nobis Decorating Company, Canton, Ohio. Many memorials were given in the name of loved
ones for the windows.
The altar in the Lady Chapel was the gift of Mr. and
Mrs. John Webster Haines, II, in memory of their son, John, III, who was killed in World War II.
1967 As the parish of St. Edward's grew, so did the
need for space. Sunday school classrooms and Hartridge Hall were constructed next to the church with the existing swimming
pool incorporated into its design.
There is a stone in the building which is carved with "A.M.D.G. 1967."
The abbreviation is for the Latin ad majorem Dei gloriam, or "to the greater glory of God." The final stages of
the project included a parking lot built by Superior Asphalt Company.
 After eleven years of serving as sanctuary, vicarage, Sunday school classrooms, and meeting hall,
the Bardwell house was deconstructed and removed from 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. 2009 The Reverend Robert I. Maurais (Father Bob) was named Rector Emeritus of St. Edward's Episcopal Church. 2010 Father Edward B. Bartle was called to be Rector in April. |
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