Church of the Messiah in Winter Garden celebrates 75 years of faithful service

In its 75 years, the Episcopal Church of the Messiah in downtown Winter Garden has offered multiple ways to offering God’s message, including Sunday morning worship, sermons in Spanish and French, an online version during the pandemic, and the latest addition: Sunday Suppers.

“The Messiah family has been serving the West Orange community for these 75 years,” said the Rev. Tom Rutherford, church rector. “Sunday Suppers is designed to take that up a notch. … Food for your body and soul.”

The idea behind the project is to offer a meal to folks in the community to feed them physically and spiritually. The church has held Simple Suppers to its members for years, but it’s time to open it up to the community, he said.

The evening will provide the church a chance to reach even more people in West Orange County and allow opportunities for friendship. 

“We understand there are some folks that are hungry and need a meal, but there are a lot of people who need relationships,” Rutherford said. “Not everyone has friends or family around here. We want to give people the chance to interact with real human beings, not just virtual, not just online, not just social media.”

Guests are welcome to eat and leave, but they also are invited to stay for a Messiah Minute, which will be a 60-second reflection of the Bible verses from that day, and a moment for prayer requests.

Sunday Suppers will begin Nov. 30, the first Sunday of Advent. Rutherford said there is no need to RSVP.

The church will fund the program for the first year and then collect donations to keep it self-funded.

TIME TO CELEBRATE
Messiah members hold a parish birthday party every year, but this one will be different. The church is celebrating its milestone anniversary with two weekend events. 

Rutherford invites the community to an open house Saturday, Sept. 20, to tour the facility and learn about the church’s history in a presentation and at stations set up around the campus. Musical minister Ricky Jackson will entertain guests with a saxophone concert in the hallway.

The Daughters of the King women’s organization will be in the prayer chapel praying for people and showing participants how to make Anglican prayer beads.

A bounce house and snacks round out the activities.

On Sunday Sept. 21, a shrimp boil is open to public and will include a slide show of the church’s history as well as cake and ice cream. Bishop Justin Holcomb will be in attendance.

“It’s just as important to play together as it is to pray together,” Rutherford said.

Longtime member Craig K. Brown put together a timeline for the church’s first 50 years and a history team has been working to update it to include the last quarter century.

RICH HISTORY
Seventy-five years ago, there was no Episcopal church in the area, so a group of worshippers began gathering in Winter Garden to bring the denomination to West Orange County. They first met in 1950 at the American Legion Hall in Winter Garden.

Later services were held at the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Gem Theatre, the dining room of the Edgewater Hotel, Little Hall, Tanner Hall and, since 1954, the current church campus.

The first service in Messiah’s first official building was Nov. 14, 1954. The first vicar was the Rev. Roy Frye.

Expansions took place every decade, with a three-phase plan initiated in 1998 to remodel classrooms; build a parish hall, kitchen offices and restrooms; and double the size of the preschool, Children of the Messiah.

In 1980, Messiah sent 16 families to start the Church of the Ascension in Bay Hill.

Rutherford became rector in 1996.

A school for special-needs children, Messiah Academy opened in 2015. When it closed in 2019, the church opened Messiah School for the Arts.

The COVID-19 pandemic temporarily ended face-to-face interactions in 2020, and the church made arrangements to worship online. Drive-Thru Communion was offered six days per week until in-person worship resumed.

All Souls’ Episcopal Church, a new church plant in Horizon West, lost its Sunday space in 2021, so Church of the Messiah welcomed parishioners to downtown Winter Garden.

In recent years, a group of 21 people went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and Rutherford and deacon Tim Wetherington served on a mission trip to Jerusalem.

The church also raised up seven people to be priests and another seven to be deacons. 

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
The church hits another milestone next spring.

“We’re paying off our mortgage in March, so we will be studying between now and then what we will be doing with the $12,000 we won’t have to pay each month,” Rutherford said. “We’re looking forward to having this over with and saying, ‘Lord, what do you want us to do with this now?’ We are in listening mode.”

Rutherford said the church’s wish list includes building out the parking lot and building an outdoor chapel with a fountain deep enough to do immersion baptisms.

The church owns the house next door, and plans are to demolish it and construct a two-story classroom building to double the size of the preschool.

“We love this community,” Rutherford said. “We’ve been serving for 75 years, and we want to go 75 more.”