FAITH BRIEFS
St. Augustine becomes parish

St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church in Navarre reached two major milestones in October 2007: the mission achieved full parish status and said goodbye to their long-time vicar, the Rev. Neil Kaminski.

On Oct. 1, members of the vestry met with the Rt. Rev. Philip M. Duncan II and the Standing Committee of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast to sign the official documents. The parish will be recognized and welcomed at the annual Diocesan Convention in February 2008.

Oct. 14 was the Rev. Kaminski's last Sunday with the parish, as he is moving to Alabama to become rector at St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church in Indian Springs, outside of Birmingham. He came to St. Augustine's in 1998. The Kaminski family was honored at a reception in the Parish Hall after services Sunday.

St. Augustine's is now in the process of searching for a new priest to lead the congregation. This process usually takes about a year.

St. Augustine's has been a part of the Navarre community since 1984.

St. Paul holds Family Fun Fest

Saint Paul United Methodist Church will hold a Family Fun Fest Oct. 31 that will be preceded by a blood drive..

The event is meant to be a safe and fun alternative to Halloween, so the church is asking participants to not wear scary costumes.

Activities entertainment include: kids games, youth games, face painting, a photo booth hay rides, cake walks, free food, McGruff the Crime Dog, a bounce house/moon walk, and much more.

Opportunities to help the community include a canned food drive and community resource booths from the Zoo of Northwest Florida, the Northwest Florida Blood Center, Santa Rosa County Sheriff Santa Rosa County Fire Departments, Kid's ID services, Early Learning Coalition of Santa Rosa County, Families Count, Physicians Weight Loss Centers, Boy Scouts, Love for Peru Foundation and more

The blood drive begins at 4:30 p.m. and other activities will begin at 5 p.m.

St Paul United Methodist Church is located at 4901 Gulf Breeze Parkway. For more information, call 850-932-8002.