Becoming the new priest-in-charge at Holy Spirit, Apopka, is also a homecoming for The Rev. Ed Bartle. “When I moved to the Apopka area in 1968, I joined the Apopka Police Department and became active at Holy Spirit,” he said. “It was my home church.

“My mother was born and raised in Apopka until her family moved to Michigan, my birthplace,” Bartle added. “While I was in the Army, my family relocated to Apopka. Phyllis [his wife, The Rev. Phyllis Bartle] and I were married at Holy Spirit, and my children were baptized and confirmed there. My parents, brother and Phyllis’ mother are interred there. My father became active at Holy Spirit and ultimately was honored as deacon emeritus after 35 years. When my father was made deacon emeritus, Apopka Mayor John Land honored Dad with a proclamation.”

Holy Spirit was the sending parish for Bartle and his wife in their call to the priesthood. “Phyllis and I served in many capacities and remained there until I was called to the diaconate and assigned to St. Jude in Orange City. She was ultimately called to be their rector.”

The parish welcomed Bartle on Pentecost Sunday. | Photo courtesy Holy Spirit, Apopka

Bartle has some goals for his new parish, which has a small congregation at present. “First and most importantly, I hope to see a growth of worshippers at Holy Spirit,” he said.

In the early ’90s, the parish was holding three services each Sunday in its small building and needed to build a new sanctuary. “The building dedication was on Pentecost 1990,” Bartle said. “At that service, there wasn’t an open seat. According to the vestry and others, finances are not the problem. We need to form a bond, a family.”

In addition to increasing the membership, Bartle would also like to reinstitute healing services, Bible studies and social events.

His path to the priesthood was not a straight line. “I believe I have been called to the priesthood from an early age, but events in my early life took me down another road,” he explained.

After leaving the Army, he returned to Detroit and worked in a hospital during the riot of 1967. “I decided to pursue a career in law enforcement and graduated from Rollins College with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice,” he said. “I served in the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for 15 years and became a private investigator.”

In 1984, Bartle attended Cursillo, bringing him back to the path he knew God had planned for him all along. “I was ordained to the diaconate in 2004 but felt I wasn’t answering the call,” he said. “With the bishop’s permission, I attended Nashotah House, graduating in 2009 and being ordained that same year.”

After serving with his wife at St. Jude’s, he was called in 2010 to be the rector at St. Edward’s, Mt. Dora. He retired in August 2015 and started as associate rector at St. George, The Villages, two weeks later.

“Yes, I have retired a couple of times, but there is a current Christian song by Matthew West, “What If,” and it goes: ‘Last I checked this heart inside my chest/ Is still beating/ Well I guess it’s not too late/ … I wanna know I got no what ifs.”

Bartle looks forward to what God has in store for Holy Spirit and for him. “I believe God’s not done with me yet,” he said. “It is a blessing and an answered prayer to be back at Holy Spirit. I believe this move completes the circle. I started at Holy Spirit and hopefully will rest there.”