Digital subscriptions provided by the City of Gulfport THE GABBER.COM No. 2842
December 7, 2023- December 13, 2023
Miracle on 34th Street St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, colloquially known as St. Bart’s, is an incongruous sight amidst the hustle and bustle of the ever-burgeoning Skyway Marina District. Built of heart pine batten-and-board in the Florida Carpenter Gothic style, the picturesque church has graced the corner of 38th Ave. S. and 34th St. for more than 50 years. But that wasn’t its first location. It was built in 1887 at 19th St. S. and 22nd Ave. S., and remained in operation there until members decided in 1970 that a move was needed “to better serve the parish,” according to its pastor at the time. In a remarkable act of architectural preservation, the church was dismantled, moved and reassembled on its new site board by board. The church has grown since then, adding wings, a parish house and more. (It leases its former education building to Precious Angels PreSchool.) But the original 18x40foot sanctuary is still in use, which means St. Bart’s has been continuously operating in its original building longer than any other church in Pinellas County.
ROB PALO
By David Warner
St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, c. 1887, was moved to its present site more than 50 years ago.
“Y’all Come Now” So how does the county’s oldest church manage to co-exist with St. Pete’s newest neighborhood? With a sense of humor, for one thing. When Zaxby’s opened across the street last summer, Father Ethan Cole, St. Bart’s rector, marked the occasion with a Facebook photo in which the church’s statue of Jesus
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seems to be embracing the restaurant’s giant inflatable chicken. “There’s a wonderful saying in the Gospels where Jesus says he longs to gather Jerusalem under his wings like a mother hen gathers in her chicks,” he explains. “I had that verse in mind, and also, ‘His eye is on the sparrow’.” (Or in this case, on the chicken.) Church continued on page 8