Community Presbyterian Church sits on Sherry Drive in Atlantic Beach, Florida, a small oceanfront city just north of Jacksonville. From that single block near the sand, the congregation serves the Beaches community with two Sunday services, a Christian preschool, vibrant music and youth programs, and an unusually broad portfolio of mission partnerships that reach families, the homeless, and neighbors across Northeast Florida.
Two Sunday Services, One Family
Worship on Sunday morning is offered in two styles so that members can choose the setting that fits them best. The Contemporary Service meets at 9:00 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. It is led by a multi-generational Praise Band and features a mix of music and worship elements in a casual atmosphere. A Children's Sunday School for PreK through fifth grade runs alongside the contemporary service, with children dismissed during the service and reunited with their families afterward. The Traditional Service meets at 11:00 a.m. in the Sanctuary. It follows a more liturgical order with hymns, frequent performances by the chancel choir and bell choir, and the warm character of the older sanctuary with its stained glass and hardwood floors.
Both services are livestreamed on Facebook Live and remain available for later viewing. Children who are infants through age three are cared for in the nursery downstairs during both services. On the first Sunday of each month, Communion Sunday, children stay with their families in worship, where a PRAYground, worship bags, and special bulletins help younger ones follow along.
The Adult Sunday School hour at 10:00 a.m. between the services includes classes such as 33 Minutes of Theology and Yo Moms, both well-established small-group settings on the church campus.
Roots in the Beach Community (1932 to Today)
Community Presbyterian Church began in 1932, when a handful of Christian families started a non-denominational Sunday school for children in the home of Victoria Welch, along with an adult Sunday evening vesper service. In 1936, the Presbytery of Suwannee sent retired minister Dr. Edgar Way to help shape the new church at the beach. The congregation was organized and chartered in 1937 with 29 members, meeting at the Atlantic Beach City Hall.
By 1938 membership had grown to 77, and the church purchased two lots on Sherry Drive. The Sanctuary was built on that site in 1940, with the first service held on September 29 of that year. Rev. Massey Mott Heltzel was the congregation's first full-time pastor, serving from 1939 to 1942. In May 1941 the church officially took the name Community Presbyterian Church. The white, single-story sanctuary of the 1940s is largely the building members and visitors still worship in today, with subsequent expansions and renovations layered over the original structure.
Through the 1940s and 1950s the campus grew to include a north wing (1942), additional lots (1943), a kindergarten program launched in 1948 and expanded to full responsibility in 1959, and an administrative office and fellowship hall in the late 1950s. Boy Scout Troop 37, which was chartered in 1937, has been sponsored by the church for nearly the entire life of both organizations; the troop's meeting hut, built in the 1940s, still stands on the church grounds.
The sanctuary was expanded in 1967 and again in 1988, with the second of those expansions allowing for the addition of stained glass windows beginning in 1986. By 2006, twenty stained glass windows graced the sanctuary, a two-story education building had been constructed in 1991, and a Memorial Garden for cremated remains had been built and dedicated beginning in 1996. Between 2002 and 2007 the entire campus was upgraded: a renovated sanctuary, expanded youth wing, new fellowship hall, two-story ministry building, and refreshed administrative offices, education space, parking, and lawns. By 2005 the congregation included 730 adults and 145 youth, evidence of a community that has kept growing through every decade on the Beaches.
Music Program
Music is a defining part of CPC's identity. The Choir is open to volunteers from all walks of life, with rehearsals on Wednesday evenings at 6:15 p.m. and Sunday mornings at 10:15 a.m. The choir sings at most traditional services and in occasional special services and concerts.
The Bell Choir rings regularly at both worship services and at special concerts. Rehearsals are Wednesdays at 5:00 p.m. in the Choir Room. Beginners are welcome; experienced ringers teach newcomers the technique.
The Praise Band leads the contemporary service each Sunday at 9:00 a.m. and rehearses on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Musicians of any instrument are encouraged to join.
Children, Youth, and the On-Site Preschool
Caring for children runs deep at CPC. The Children's Ministry welcomes children in worship and Sunday school from infancy through fifth grade. Nursery care (infants through age 3) is available during both Sunday services in a downstairs classroom. PreK through fifth-grade children attend Children's Sunday School during the 9:00 a.m. contemporary service. On Communion Sundays and during the summer and Christmas breaks, Vacation Bible School is offered for children ages 4 through fifth grade.
The Youth Ministry serves students in sixth through twelfth grade with Sunday Youth Group from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. in the Youth Hall (between the sanctuary and Atlantic Beach Elementary), Wednesday Senior High Fellowship Nights from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., an annual retreat to Camp Montgomery, a winter ski trip to Winterplace Ski Resort in West Virginia, the Montreat Youth Conference in the North Carolina mountains, a Confirmation class beginning in eighth grade, and a year-long Memory Verse Challenge rooted in scripture.
The Community Presbyterian Prekindergarten (CPPK) has been open since 1959 and is a ministry of the church. The preschool serves children ages 2 through 5 in a part-day program running 8:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. from August through May. Extended care is available from 8:00 a.m. and until 1:15 or 2:15 p.m. The 3-year-old program offers two-, three-, and five-day options; the VPK and 4/5-year-old program is five days a week and accepts the Florida VPK voucher. CPPK is accredited by the Association of Christian Schools International, licensed by the Florida Department of Children and Families (License #CO4DU0117), and holds a 5-star rating from the Early Learning Coalition of Duval's Guiding Stars system.
Bible Studies, Classes, and the Weekday Calendar
Bible study and small groups meet throughout the week. Tuesdays bring a Bible Study at 9:30 a.m. and a Genesis Study at 10:00 a.m. in the Conference Room. Wednesday mornings open with the Men's Prayer Breakfast at 8:00 a.m. in the Youth Hall. Thursday mornings offer Women's Bible Study at 10:00 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall, with a second Genesis Study that evening at 6:00 p.m.
Fellowship and wellness classes fill the rest of the week. Morning Glories meets Mondays at 9:30 a.m. for senior fellowship. Exercise classes meet Mondays and Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m., and Yoga meets Fridays at 8:45 a.m. Men's Meditation gathers Mondays at 7:00 p.m. in the Youth Hall.
Recovery meetings, hosted at the church throughout the week, are part of the CPC mission to the wider community. Meetings are held Thursday evenings (5:30 to 9:00 p.m.), two Friday slots (6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.), and Saturday evenings at 6:30 p.m.
Spiritual Care and Pastoral Support
The Spiritual Care Ministry organizes peer-led support groups that meet monthly. Four named groups - Cancer Support, Parenting Support, Grief Support, and Caregiving Support - offer prayer, listening, and resource sharing. Grief Support gathers on the fourth Sunday of each month at 10:00 a.m. in the Parlor. Eve Circle, a women's Bible study and mission group affiliated with Presbyterian Women (the national women's organization of the Presbyterian Church USA), meets the third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. Periodic Wednesday Dinners and Fellowship events bring families, singles, and members of all ages together around themed meals and activities.
The pastoral staff, including Pastor Rusty Benton and Minister of Community Life Robert McCrary, supports members through prayer in times of loss or illness and participates in the Beaches Ministerial Alliance alongside other area churches.
Missions at the Beaches and Beyond
Mission is central to CPC's identity. The church hosts a Mission of the Month calendar that focuses the congregation on one mission partner at a time, with Blue Bins on campus collecting supply donations. Year-round mission commitments include:
- Cold Weather Shelter: CPC is a primary host for cold weather shelters at the Beaches. When temperatures drop below 40 degrees, the church coordinates with Mission House to provide dinner, overnight shelter, breakfast, bag lunches, showers, clothing, and toiletries.
- Compassion Nights: Scheduled evenings with food, entertainment, games, showers, clothing, haircuts, and support services, in which members and volunteers share meals and conversation with guests.
- Family Promise: As a host congregation, CPC welcomes up to three families for one week at a time, providing rooms on the second floor of the Education Building, weekend breakfasts, and bagged lunches.
- Beaches Habitat for Humanity: Volunteers from CPC participate in home building and repair with the local Habitat affiliate.
- Beaches Homeless Coalition: CPC is recognized as the coalition's foundational faith partner, and many members volunteer through the coalition year-round.
- Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry (BEAM): Food and emergency assistance for neighbors in need.
- Living Water: A global clean-water mission.
- Our Father's Housewares: Collection of household goods for families in transition.
- Take Stock in Children: A mentoring program for at-risk, academically qualified students, supported by CPC for more than a decade and recognized with awards for the number of mentors supplied.
- Presbyterian Disaster Relief: Support for disaster response through the PC(USA) network.
- Two Cents a Meal: A long-standing hunger-relief offering.
- Holiday Baskets, Toy Drive, Mission House, LifeCycles, Meals on Wheels, and Dial-a-Ride round out the calendar of partners the congregation supports.
Life Events: Baptism, Weddings, Funerals, and the Memorial Garden
CPC offers the full arc of Christian life-event ministries to members and to the wider community. Baptism, one of the two sacraments recognized by Presbyterians (alongside Communion), is described by the congregation as a sign and seal of the covenant of grace. The church practices both adult and infant baptism and celebrates baptism as a communal act of worship with a lifelong commitment to nurture the baptized person's faith. Weddings are held for both members and non-members, with pastoral and music staff assisting in planning. Funerals are offered in coordination with the Deacons, with church dinners and other acts of congregational support available to grieving families.
The Memorial Garden on the church campus provides a place for the cremated remains of loved ones to be inurned, with commemorative plaques bearing names and dates. Construction began in 1997, and more than 100 former church members and family members have been memorialized there.
Leadership and Governance
CPC is governed by an active Session (the church's ruling body of elected elders), a Board of Deacons, and a Board of Trustees, with committees overseeing Property, Finance, Mission, Congregational Life, Worship and Music, Christian Education, the Memorial Garden, and Personnel. Pastor Rusty Benton serves as Moderator of the Session. The staff team includes Minister of Community Life Robert McCrary, Director of Christian Education Melissa Daniel, Preschool Director Ashley Black, Music Director Shelli Long, Youth Minister Bryan Coats, and Contemporary Worship Leader Caleb Hollan.
An Open Welcome at the Beaches
Community Presbyterian Church's welcome statement is unambiguous: We welcome you no matter your age, race, nationality, genders, sexual orientation, abilities, family structure, worldly condition, or differences of thought or belief, you are welcome here because we are made one in Christ by the power of the Spirit. That welcome is lived out through inclusive membership, open Communion, accessible recovery meetings, and mission partnerships that stretch from the immediate neighborhood to the wider world. Whether someone arrives for the contemporary praise band, the traditional choir and bells, the preschool, a Bible study, or a meal at the Cold Weather Shelter, the doors on Sherry Drive have been open since the days when Atlantic Beach was a new settlement at the edge of the sea.