Reenactments of famous battles are common throughout America, but restaging a religious event is rather unique, especially if it’s right here in Central Florida.
St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church
St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church in Titusville is set to celebrate its 150th anniversary in a special way on Good Friday when it reenacts the first Episcopal service in North Brevard. The services will begin at the same time (11 a.m.) and at the same location as that first service on April 19, 1869: the LaGrange Church at 1575 Old Dixie Highway in Titusville.
The LaGrange Church, an historic Carpenter Gothic church and cemetery, on Dec. 7, 1995, was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
“The LaGrange Church was used by missionary pastors of several denominations and more than a dozen churches were planted from there,” said Father Rob Goodridge, rector of St. Gabriel’s. “We expect the church to be full.”
Goodridge will lead the congregation in morning prayer from the same book that the original congregation – five men and approximately 25 women – used in 1869: the 1789 Book of Common Prayer.
“The Good Friday homily was written by the Rev. Phillips Brooks, author of “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” and the 19th century’s most respected Episcopal preacher,” Goodridge said.
Following services, the church will conduct The Veneration of the Cross at noon. At 1 p.m., The Way of the Cross will be held with all 14 stations represented by local leaders of service organizations, including board members of Parrish Medical Center, the Titusville Police and Fire departments, food pantries, Veterans Legal Advocate, Air Mobile Ministries that delivers water purifiers and medical supplies, and the YMCA.
At 2 p.m., The Seven Last Words from the Cross will be conducted. Meditations will be delivered by senior pastors of Titusville churches that began at the LaGrange Church in the 19th Century: First Baptist, First Presbyterian, Bethlehem Missionary Baptist, St. James African Methodist Episcopal, First Methodist churches in Titusville and Mims, and St. Gabriel’s Episcopal.