Hard work, dedicated members help St. Francis turn 50
BY BETTY ARCHER ALLEN Gulf Breeze News betty@gulfbreezenews.com

Submitted Photo Front row from left, Rev Mike Bullen, Rita Bogan, Katie Warner, Genola Davis, Lottie Ellis; second row: Roger Warner, Jean Van Bergan, John Ellis, Dick Davis, Harriette Morrison, Stewart Morrison, Bishop Charles Duvall; Back Row: Les Bogan, Steve Bogan and Alice Davis were among St. Francis' charter members.

St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church in Gulf Breeze celebrates it 50th anniversary on Saturday, January 6. The celebration will begin with the Festival of Lights on the Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ at 5 p.m. and will continue with dinner in the parish hall at 6 p.m. Parishioners and guests will gather for fun, fellowship and celebration of St Francis of Assisi service to God and the community for 50 years.

St. Francis' history parallels the history of Gulf Breeze's journey to become a city. The development of this church was one of the many factors that lent a community atmosphere to the Gulf Breeze area. The members of Saint Francis owned and operated the first library in the Gulf Breeze Community in 1962. It was open to the public and was located in the Soderlind cottage at Highway 98 and Pfeiffer Street owned by Mark and E. Louise Benson.

The Church was organized on November 4, 1956 at a meeting in the Benson Building in Gulf Breeze. The first service was conducted there on January 6, 1957. The following September, The Rev. Walter E. Smith was appointed the first vicar of St. Francis. Services were held in an abandoned restaurant. (Now the site of a shopping center. Dick and Alice Davis recall that the first chalice was a glass goblet that was originally

sold in the local supermarket as a peanut butter jar.

The gift of the church property from Clive Jenkins enabled the architects and fellow parishioners, Stewart Morrison and James Look, to begin work on the master plan for the church buildings. The educational building was dedicated March 8, 1959. Services were held in this building until the church building was built and consecrated on March 27, 1968. The Reverends Walter Smith, Stanley Bullock, Arnold Bush and Alvin Bullen served our parish as vicars from 1961 until 1975, at which time St. Francis became a parish and The Reverend Alvin Bullen continued as the first Rector of St. Francis. The Rectors of the church include the Reverends Robert L. Williams in 1982; Mark DiCristina in 1991 and George Morgan from 2000 to 2002.

The Reverend Albert Pruitt has been Rector since November 2002. Before accepting the call to St.

Francis on November 1, 2002, Fr. Pruitt served as Deacon and later as Curate at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church in Pensacola. He graduated from General Theological Seminary in New York, with Masters Degrees in Divinity and Sacred Theology.

Prior to entering the priesthood, Fr. Pruitt was in the medical profession, trained as a pediatrician. He graduated from Emory University Medical School and later served for ten years on the Emory faculty as teacher and researcher. Fr. Pruitt also served as Chairman of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta and later became Dean of the College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama. The church has grown substantially during Father Pruitt's leadership

St. Francis has been blessed with very devoted and talented members who have contributed their time and talent to improve the church grounds and buildings. New windows

were installed in the church, the stained glass windows of St. Francis and St. Clare were moved to the narthex, marble was installed in the sanctuary and new carpeting was installed in the aisles. Substantial renovation of the parish hall and the construction of a new entrance to the church were completed in mid 2005.