Our History: Do we have stories
to tell!
A short history of St. Francis by the Sea
Episcopal Church
1992
When three families met in the Sheltons’
home on April 6, 1992 they could not foresee how large their idea
would become–and how soon. The original thinking of the Gettys,
Kemps and Sheltons was that there could be an Episcopal presence on
Bogue Banks because of the burgeoning population and numbers of summer
people.
 The
first services were held in homes. They moved into the Chapel at
Trinity Center for a service on August 23, 1992. There were 10 adults
and 8 children. By December they had outgrown that space and moved
into the Fellowship Hall of the Salter Path Methodist Church.
The Rev. Bob Holt conducted services every other
Sunday. The Rev. Matt Stockard of St. Paul’s Beaufort agreed
to be the “emergency priest” for the fledgling church.
Then in July of 1993 Fr. Holt required by-pass surgery. The Rev.
Frank Fagan stepped in as part-time priest. On February 12, 1994,
a unanimous vote at the 111th Convention of the Diocese of East
Carolina admitted St. Francis by the Sea to parish status. A search
for land began.
1996
In 1996 Fr. Fagan helped as the group employed
the Rev. Mike Cogsdale as their first full-time priest. He resigned
just less than a year later and the ambo was occupied by a series
of supply priests.
The following year, land was found. The diocese
and an anonymous donor helped the parish buy land generously made
available by Charles and Jere Delu in their KIAWA Development. The
Rev. Dr. Renfro Sproul was our supply priest for a few Sundays and
was enjoined to stay with us as our part-time rector in a time-certain
status. He served us faithfully from February of 1998 through August
of 2003.
1999
The vestry approved the building committee’s
recommendation to retain Heimsath Architects to design the church
building. A design workshop was held and the architect submitted
preliminary sketches. The contract was let. It was evident that
the lot was too small. Then the Delus and Ken and Sally Benson supplied
the additional land for the site.
Ward, Dreshman and Reinhardt, Inc. was retained
as fundraiser counsel. The Life Raft 2000 Capital Campaign Committee
undertook the fundraising campaign. But, just as the fundraising
kick-off was to start, Hurricane Floyd blew in. The vestry bit the
bullet and started the fundraising, anyway. A series of cottage
meetings was held to explain Life Raft 2000 to the parishioners.
2000
Meantime, the Methodists, who had harbored
us so long, wanted their Fellowship Hall, so the church was on the
move again. N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores was home for six
weeks until a storefront at Atlantic Station could be made ready
for the service of Compline on Wednesday, March 15, 2000.
The construction firm of Bailey and Jones (now
B.J. and Associates, Inc.) was engaged. Ground was broken on Sunday,
October 15, 2000 complete with the Rev. Canon Phil Craig, a Coast
Guard color guard, and the “beating of the bounds” (boundaries). Construction
began with Sally Benson as our representative to the contractor
and Richard Bush as the contractor’s site supervisor.
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2002
On July 7th of 2002 the first service was
held in St. Francis by the Sea in Indian Beach. An overflow crowd
attended. The Consecration was held on October 12, 2002, with the
Rt. Rev. Clifton Daniel, 3rd, Bishop of East Carolina, as celebrant.
Again, there were more than 300 in attendance.
2004
With Fr. Renfro’s retirement in 2003,
a search for a full-time rector began. The Rev. Jack Wilson was
called and served from November 1, 2004 to August 31, 2006.
And now,
after a year with three wonderful supply
priests, whom we couldn't have managed without, we welcome the Rev.
Everett Thomas as our long term supply priest.
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