History of St. Paul's By-The-Sea

St. Paul's By-The-Sea Episcopal Church has the distinction of being the oldest church in what is now Jacksonville Beach. The first public worship was held in the summer of 1886 in the parlors of the Murray Hall Hotel in what was then known as Pablo Beach. By the following summer, a chapel had been erected at South Second Street and served the community through the yellow fever epidemic of 1888, the fire of 1890, and the First and Second World Wars. In the 1950's, membership growth required that the chapel be moved to 12th Avenue, North. In the 1960's, further growth led to construction of the current church building. The Leader reported in May 1969 that one overseas visitor proclaimed the building, "The finest and most exciting church architecture I've seen in America." The design won the Award of Merit from the Guild of Religious Architects at its twenty-ninth National Conference. The building design evokes both a sense of marine life at the beach and the catacombs where the first Christians worshipped.

Although it has grown significantly, it has retained its character as a warm and friendly beach community. We offer a richness of Anglican liturgy and music and the active involvement of lay people in all services and ministries. We provide continuous opportunities for Christian Education for children and adults. Our Beaches Episcopal School offers outstanding education for children in kindergarten through sixth grades and has just completed a new wing.

We serve the community through a wide variety of outreach programs and offer our facilities to community groups such as Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Brownies, AA, and others. We sponsor the Beaches Fine Arts Series and bring free cultural events to the beaches which in the past included the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and nationally and internationally known performing groups.

We are a church dedicated to a living faith. We have a bold vision for the future but honor the rich heritage of the past.