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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Episcopal Church of the New Covenant-1989 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF THE NEW COVENANT /6/z/ 7 875 TUSCAWILLA ROAD, WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA New Covenant had its start on the sunny Sunday morning of January 19, 1974. Bishop FoLwell had appointed Fr. Bob Pollett to start the new mission ar- ranging for the "loan" of some parishioners from nearby churches to help us get started. Early on, the Church of the Good Shepherd in Maitland "loaned ' us the part-Lime services of the then Deacon David Hartling and his wife, Diane. (Deacon Hartling is now Fr. Hartling of St. Jude ' s Church in Orange City) . It was our understanding that the Bishop was responding to the particular needs of single parent families and apartment dwellers when he was consider- ing the need for this new ministry. Apartment buildings were springing up all over South Seminole County at that time. During the first weeks , attendance ran about eight or ten, and a good week was fifteen people. The visit of Bishop Folwell and his wife, Chris, brought out a record attendance of twenty-five or thirty. Shirley Roberts was the first person confirmed into our church that day. A potluck followed the service. 5 We met that year in the game room of the Highlands Community Center in Sheoah, Winter Springs. The intimacy of the small group of worshippers was 01 especially poignant at the celebrations of the Lord' s Supper. The bread that was broken (literally) had been baked the night before by one of the Ladies . The wine was the product of one of the men in the congregation. The love of God and fellow worshippers abounded. There was plenty of singing - usually led by Dottie Schneider and her accor - dian, augmented from time-to-time with guitars, flute and other instruments. New Covenant' s first song book made its appearance early that first year. Songs included, "I'm Like a Green Olive Tree in the House of the Lord", and "Amazing Grace." New Covenant has always been a place for children and that first year was no exception. Soon a Sunday School class for the children was established. Everyone became involved in artwork and banner making. One Sunday, Bill Elwood conducted the services . 1974 meant hard times for many people in Central Florida. There was a great deal of unemployment. The mission saw a need and met it. We estab- lished a Sharing Center on 17-92 just north of 436. Food and clothing were distributed to the needy, but the Center ran out of money after several months. A Gospel Sing was produced to benefit the Center, but did not draw what had been expected, and the Center had to be closed. One Sunday Fr. Bob said it was time to select a name for our mission. All the adults gathered around one of the tables in the gameroom. Several names were suggested, and finally Fr. Bob' s wife suggested "New Covenant". The looks on the faces of everyone there went from "How improbable" to "Why not?" to "And why not indeed! ! . With enthusiasm, we knew that we had proposed the right name from God's Word, and the Bishop agreed. Right after Thanksgiving that year, Fr. Bob announced that he felt a call to the Koinonia Community in Georgia, and that he and his family would be moving the first of the year. At this point, we were also needing a new home, as we knew that we could not ask the Sheoah people to continue to have us there. We found that Ascension Lutheran Church in Casselberry had just moved into a new sanctuary, and we were able to rent the old sanctuary for an hour or two each week. On December 29, 1974, Fr. Osborne Littleford became our new priest, and on October 27 , 1975, New Covenant became an organized Mission. Fr. Littleford was only an interim priest, and on Epiphany Sunday, January 11 , 1976, Fr. Ned Bowersox became our new priest. New Covenant became a legal entity on March 29, 1976, when the Florida Secretary of State approved our Articles of Incorporation. On January 3, 1977, five acres were purchased on Tuscawilla Road, and this is the present site for our church. On April 3, 1977 - Palm Sunday - the con- gregation "walked the bounds", and Fr. Ned blessed the place to God's service The first communion service outside was held at that time. With a total income probably not exceeding $5-7,000 a year, we found that we would need a larger giving base to accomplish the plans to build. But in June of 1977, Fr. Ned was called to St. John' s, Melbourne. So on June 5th, we moved to Redeemer Moravian Church (now Lord of Life Lutheran Church), where we had a joint service with the members of the Moravian Church. Following that, we had services at noon, following the Moravian Service On June 17, 1977, Fr. Greg Brewer came to be our new Vicar. In three and a half years , we were welcoming our fourth priest! On July 10th, Fr. Greg was installed as our new Vicar. Eighty-six people attended that festive occasion and almost everyone went over to the home of Carroll and Jo Piercy to continue eating and celebrating all afternoon Long. The changes and growth in the past twelve years have been noteworthy. In the summer of 1978, we moved into our first home, and everyone pitched in to clean up and fix up the new building and grounds. On September Ii , 1981 , Fr. Greg and Laura Lee Williams were married at a most beautiful wedding at the Cathedral Church of Sr. Luke in Orlando. The Brewer family has increased in size to four handsome, healthy sons in the intervening enrs. On January 21 , 1983, we achieved parish status at the Annual Convention, and Greg became the first Rector of New Covenant. We continued to grow, and in the Fall of 1983, we moved into a new building, which is our present church building. But we are bulging at the seams, and we are starting a new building fund campaign the Winter of 1989, with hopes of breaking ground in the Spring of 1990. 4/41.14- ..,r /+ai. We can all rejoice that over the years, Fr. Greg and his predecessors have brought us to a closer walk with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ .