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Our
History |
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1998
CONSECRATION DAY
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Many of us began this journey of what has become St. Andrew By The Sea together in 1997 as we gathered during the summer of that year to worship in the evenings at the Wedding Chapel just north of the bridge in Gulf Shores, AL. There was a need to feel a part of a welcoming and loving group, to share our common concerns and interests, and to lighten the burdens of those with whom we had long worshipped and communed together. At these services we took turns doing devotionals and singing a few hymns together. On occasion we brought food and ate together in traditional "pot-luck" suppers. After the summer of 1997, we went separate ways for a while, some to one church, some to another in the local area, until mid-1998, when individually and as families we began to meet one another at the sunrise service held at the Gulf State Park Beach in Gulf Shores. More and more of the group which had gathered in the summer of 1997 for evening worship began to come to these services, and a need was felt to gather together again in fellowship as a group. At first, a few of us did this by gathering in individual homes. Then we found others or they found us and together we formed a breakfast meeting after the sunrise service on the beach at the Gulf State Park. These meetings grew in size and we became convinced that after the summer was over that if we would answer God's call and follow his plan, we would have the dedication and strength of purpose to start a community church. Planning for such a church began. We met in homes, we met in offices, we pledged monies, we looked for a meeting place, and we started a search for a pastor. We prayed a lot for God's guidance and to know his will for us. On August 23rd 1998 St. Andrew By The Sea, A Community Church was chartered by sixty five members. This membership list was left open until September 1998. On Sunday September 13th 1998, after the last beach service for the summer had been held, our first worship service as a community of believers was held in the George C. Meyer Theater in Gulf Shores, AL. We were to share this facility with the South Baldwin Community Theater for several months. We will always be indebted and thankful to the theater board for their kindness in allowing us to use their facility. Our first service was preached by Dr. Pam Hartman, as a visiting minister. There were eighty worshippers in attendance at that service. Planning and prayers for guidance continued and the sustained attendance of over 80 worshippers at the services which followed that first one convinced the charter members that we could, with God's help, establish a Christian, non-denominational, Protestant church in the community which would be open to all who wished to worship with us. On Friday September 18th, the Rev. Robert Warren, a soon to be retired United Methodist minister, met with the congregation and on Saturday, September 19th 1998, he agreed to become Pastor of St. Andrew By The Sea effective October 11th 1998. By November 1998 we had 187 members. This number was compromised of full, associate and youth members. In December 1998 an office for the church was opened on Gulf Shores Parkway What better way to begin the new year than by holding a fund raiser and a fellowship event together. Our first such event was the first annual Chili Cook-off and one has been held each year since. In February 1999 we had a web site to carry our message worldwide. We also began construction of the deck to tie the modular buildings together at at our permanent site. The choir continued to gain new members and a children's choir began to grow as more and more children joined the congregation. In March 1999 we moved from the South Baldwin Community Theater building to our modular buildings at our permanent site on Fort Morgan Road. The temporary facilities included a double wide modular sanctuary and two modular buildings with three Sunday School classrooms in each. There were two adult Sunday School classes and two youth Sunday School Classes as well as a nursery. Sunday School was held from 9:00 to 9:45 AM and Church Worship Services were held from 10:00 to 11:00 AM on Sunday morning with the Rev. Warren officiating. By May of 1999 the congregation had raised $750,000 toward the building of a permanent sanctuary. We engaged the architectural firm Walcott, Adams, and Verneuille of Fairhope in the same month to draw up a schematic design for a new Sanctuary. As the design process was going forward, we were preparing the site in anticipation of building. This took several months. As the year progressed we celebrated Mother's Day which featured the Children's Choir, the 4th of July, held a picnic in the park in August and continued to grow spiritually and numerically. In September 1999 we celebrated our first birthday with a fellowship meal in the Gulf Shores Adult Activities Center. The plan for building the Sanctuary was presented by the architects and approved in concept by the congregation in November 1999 and bids were let shortly thereafter. Ground was broken on the sanctuary on March 5th 2000. Final approval for acceptance of the bids, based on the original structure as designed by the architects, came at an April 2000 meeting of the congregation Construction began in earnest to complete the new Sanctuary with an anticipated completion date of mid-2001. We continued to grow spiritually as well. Our first confirmation class was begun and completed by the pastor and several Confirmants in 2000, and as we had done in previous years we honored our graduating seniors on senior recognition day. By Labor Day 2000 the steel framing for the Sanctuary was almost complete. Our birthday celebration this year was a joyous one as we began to see tangible evidence toward completion of our building program. This year we entered a team in the community wide American Cancer Society Relay for Life and raised over $8000 for this worthy cause. Combined with other donations to local ministries, including $5000 to Habitat for Humanity of Baldwin County, we continued to make good on our pledge to give 10% of our operating budget to local and world outreach. By December 2000 much of the brick work had been finished on our new Sanctuary The congregation has grown this year to over 300 members. The new Sanctuary makes progress before our very eyes and each Sunday we marvel at the work that the contractor, under the watchful eye of the building committee has been able to complete. Other committees and congregants are working to insure that church accouterments necessary for worship will be on hand when the Sanctuary is ready on May 27, 2001 and that the choristers. musicians, ushers, greeters, and acolytes will be ready to contribute in the splendid fashion they have in the past. We continue our Outreach to the local community, and as in prior years, we entered a team in the Relay for Life Fund Raiser for the American Cancer Society. Our members have also worked on every Habitat for Humanity home completed in Baldwin County this year. A huge event in the life of our church this year has been the community wide Seder Meal, which we sponsored. The building was turned over to the church the week of May 26, 2001 - right on schedule.. On Sunday May 26, 2001 the Pastor and congregation consecrated the building and it became our sanctuary for years to come. The Consecration service was beautiful and is described in word and pictures on the Consecration Pages. The Board of Directors approved a 30 year mortgage on the balance owed on construction costs of the sanctuary in August 2001. The mortgage was for $1,150,000. The interest is calculated based on a variable rate with a balloon at the end of 5 years. Planning for additional facilities was initiated at the same August meeting. On September 9, 2001 we celebrated our third birthday at the Gulf Shores Adult Activities Center, Happy Birthday St. Andrew By The Sea. Two days later, on September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the World Trade towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and crashed a hijacked plane in Pennsylvania. That evening the sanctuary was open for prayers and on Wednesday 12 September 2001 a service of prayer and remembrance was held. We will continue to pray for those who lost loved one, for our leaders, and the brave young men and women of the armed forces of the United States who defend us against the menace to mankind. |
