An Anglican Parish in the Audubon Park Garden District
Emmanuel Episcopal Church sits on East Winter Park Road in the heart of Orlando's Audubon Park Garden District, a young, walkable neighborhood on the east side of the city, three miles from both downtown Orlando and the adjacent city of Winter Park. Across the street is Audubon Park School, a kindergarten through eighth grade campus that the parish considers a partner in ministry as much as a neighbor. Emmanuel's stated vision is to invite, develop, and nurture a caring community that seeks relationship with Jesus Christ in the Anglican tradition, and its motto is "Growing into Christ, Reaching out in Love." The parish is a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida and of the worldwide Anglican Communion through The Episcopal Church.
The neighborhood shapes the parish as much as the parish shapes the neighborhood. The Audubon Park Garden District draws young, well-educated families to a part of Orlando that has been transformed in recent decades, and Baldwin Park, a master-planned Live/Work/Play community a short bike ride away, brings some of the highest socioeconomic demographics in Central Florida. Emmanuel's ministry to its immediate neighbors, its school partnership, and its programs for children, youth, and adults are all extensions of this sense of place.
Two Sunday Eucharists: Rite I at Eight, Rite II at Ten-Fifteen
Sunday is the heart of life at Emmanuel. Two celebrations of the Holy Eucharist are offered each Sunday morning. The 8:00 AM service uses Rite I from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, the historic language of the older Anglican prayer books, and is described by the parish as a quiet, peaceful, and reverent beginning to the week. The 10:15 AM service uses Rite II, the updated language setting from the same prayer book, and is led by acolytes, the adult choir, and the organist, with congregational hymns and psalms sung throughout.
Both liturgies are celebrated in person in the Nave and live streamed on Facebook for those who cannot attend. Worship at Emmanuel draws almost entirely on the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and the 1982 Hymnal. Visitors can expect traditional Anglican liturgy, the use of sanctus bells, the exchange of the peace, and communion open to all baptized Christians. The Sacrament of the Reconciliation of a Penitent, sometimes called auricular confession, is available by appointment, and during Lent the rector sets aside time before each Sunday liturgy for those who wish to make their confession. A printed service bulletin is available in the Nave for each Sunday and can also be downloaded from the parish.
Between the two services the Parish Hall hosts coffee and fellowship, along with Christian formation for children and adults. The atrium space is used for greeting, gathering, and refreshment after each liturgy.
A Franz Heissler Organ and Three Choirs
Music is a central element of liturgical life at Emmanuel. The instrument that anchors the music program is a Franz Heissler tracker organ, built in Markelsheim, Germany, in 1983 as Opus 430 of the Heissler firm. It contains seventeen ranks across three manuals and a Pedal division, with an expressive third manual featuring an 8-foot Holzgedeckt and a 2-foot Principal, a Hauptwerk on the second manual with an 8-foot Principal, a 4-foot Principal, a Mixtur IV, and an 8-foot Trompete, and a Pedal division offering a 16-foot Subass, an 8-foot Octavbass, a 4-foot Choralbass, and an 8-foot Trompete. Eight general thumb pistons duplicated by toe levers, a Setter, a General Cancel, a Zimbelstern activated by a rocker switch, and reversible toe levers for the manual-to-pedal couplers round out the instrument's specification. The Nave's acoustics are suited both to congregational singing and to the concert repertoire the parish programs throughout the year.
Four musical ensembles serve the parish. The adult mixed-voice choir rehearses weekly except in summer and sings for the 10:15 Eucharist all year, with additional music provided for Lessons and Carols, Christmas Eve, certain midweek feasts, and occasional Choral Evensongs. Membership is open to anyone who can carry a tune. The handbell choir rehearses weekly except in summer and plays from a three-octave set of Whitechapel handbells, the famous English foundry, on the parish's three-octave English handbells. A Men's Schola assembles twice a year to sing Choral Evensong on the First Sunday of Advent and the Office of Tenebrae on the Wednesday of Holy Week, specializing in plainsong psalmody. The Music Guild, a group of parishioners and friends, underwrites enhancements to the music program such as a string quartet for Lessons and Carols and guest musicians for Easter Day.
Concerts and special services are a regular feature of the parish year and are almost always free and open to the public. Recent seasons have included an Advent Evensong with organ recital, a Festival Eucharist on Easter Day featuring the Orlando Saxophone Project, a Choral Evensong with Rogation Procession around the parish grounds, and a Holy Eucharist with Lessons and Carols in the King's College, Cambridge tradition, with a string quartet and the premiere of a new anthem. Recitals by visiting organists round out the season.
The Willet Stained Glass of the Nave
The first thing many visitors notice about the sanctuary is the stained glass. Every window in the Nave was created by Willet Studios of Philadelphia, the same firm responsible for the windows of the Cadet Chapel at West Point, the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco, with work found in fourteen foreign countries. The Nave windows were installed between 1967 and 1974, each one donated as a memorial by parishioners. The two Narthex windows came earlier, in 1967, as a gift from Percy Hubbard, and are of a simpler, more austere style than those in the Nave itself.
The Nave windows are arranged in sets of three, with the central panel portraying the major event and the side panels providing context. The first set, on the northeast end, shows the birth of Jesus, with two donkeys and a lamb in the central panel, the Shepherds appearing to the left, and the Three Kings bearing gifts to the right. A second set depicts the Holy Family: the young Jesus in the carpenter's shop with Joseph on one side, Jesus with his mother Mary in a window titled "Instructions by Mother Mary" on the other, and a central panel of Jesus standing in the Temple with the rabbis, "about His Father's business." A third set depicts Jesus' adult ministry: the Temptation in the Wilderness, with Satan shown as a bright green devil offering Jesus a crown, on the left, the calling of the fisherman disciples with their nets visible on the right, and the Sermon on the Mount at the center. The two Narthex windows bear the inscriptions "Enter thou into the house of the Lord" on the left and "Peace I give to you" on the right.
From a Real Estate Office in 1953 to a Nave in 1964
Emmanuel traces its history to 1953, when the first service was held in a small real estate office on North Mills Street in what was then undeveloped east Orlando. The developers of the Audubon Park subdivision donated the church's current property on East Winter Park Road in 1955, and a multipurpose building was constructed on the site in 1956. That building still serves as the Parish Hall. Construction of the Nave, the main sanctuary, began in 1963, and the first service in the new building was held on Easter Sunday in 1964. Unusually for a church, the Nave has a basement level that today houses Sunday School classrooms, vesting rooms, and a Bridal room.
The Willet stained glass windows came in the years following the Nave's completion, with the Narthex windows placed in 1967 and the Nave windows installed in phases through 1974, all as gifts from parishioners. The parish's history is documented in a series of articles by longtime members that walk through each set of windows and the lives of the families who gave them. A former rector, the Very Rev. David Bumsted, also left a number of sermons and reflections on the parish's ministry and stained glass that remain part of the parish's record.
Children at Emmanuel: Nursery, Sunday School, and the Afternoons Program
Children are a major part of life at Emmanuel, and the parish offers programming for them every day of the school week as well as on Sunday morning. A nursery is provided during the 10:15 AM service for children from birth through age four, in a refreshed nursery space off the courtyard, staffed by caregivers who have passed Level 2 background screening. During the 10:15 liturgy, children in kindergarten through fifth grade begin in the Nave with their families. Just before the Gospel reading, Sunday School leaders and the children process out to the chapel for a devotional time of their own, returning to their parents at the sign of peace so that they can take communion together as a family. After communion the children head back to Sunday School for the remainder of the service, where the lesson from chapel is reinforced with activities, crafts, and a light snack.
The most ambitious of the parish's children's programs is Afternoons at Emmanuel, an after-school program for Audubon Park School students in kindergarten through fifth grade. The program coincides with the school calendar from August through May, with hours from 3:00 to 6:00 PM on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and from 2:00 to 6:00 PM on Wednesdays, when the children gather for chapel and devotion with the parish priest. Capacity is intentionally small, with a maximum of forty students a day and a teacher ratio of ten to twelve students per staff member, and tuition is $100 for a five-day week. Afternoons at Emmanuel is accredited by the Florida League of Christian Schools (FLOCS certification #46449), and the program is led by the Children's Ministry Director, supported by a staff that has passed Level 2 background screening meeting Florida Department of Children and Families education standards.
During the school year, Camp Days at Emmanuel offers full-day programming from 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM on Orange County Public Schools teacher work days and holidays, giving parents an option for those days when school is closed. Summers at Emmanuel, the parish's summer camp, runs weekly from 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM for the same age group, with each week built around a different theme. Recent themes have included Island Adventures, Colorful Carnival Days, an Art Explosion week, an Olympic-style games week, a Building Extravaganza, and an Anything-Goes finale that includes a Mad Scientist Lab Experiments Day and a Kindness Day. Every Friday includes a water day, lunch, and an afternoon movie. One summer week each year is dedicated to Vacation Bible School in the morning and camp in the afternoon.
The Vacation Bible School program, called Emerald Crossing, takes place during a single summer week from 9:00 AM to noon. Children entering kindergarten through fifth grade rotate through stations that include Bible teaching, games, science and crafts, music, snacks, and missions, with a closing celebration at the end of each morning. The program is built around the life of David and the words of Psalm 23, with the Good Shepherd as the central image. Youth in sixth grade and older are encouraged to volunteer as Junior Rangers.
Youth: Episcopal Youth Community and the Youth Choir
Middle and high school students in grades six through twelve are invited into the parish's Episcopal Youth Community, or EYC. The youth are encouraged to take part in almost every aspect of parish life, including serving at the liturgy as acolytes, a role that begins in sixth grade. EYC meets for Sunday evening gatherings and other events throughout the year, including the annual Advent Lock-In held each December.
A separate program serves the parish's youngest musicians. The Emmanuel Youth Choir welcomes children and youth ages seven and older for professional choral training, music theory, leadership development, and performance opportunities. The choir rehearses on Wednesdays from 5:00 to 6:00 PM and performs at services throughout the church year. No prior musical experience is required, only an eagerness to learn, age-appropriate reading proficiency, and the ability to match pitch. Membership is open to children outside the parish as well as members, and the choir welcomes a diverse array of choristers from all walks of life. The director is a graduate of the University of Florida with more than six years of experience in music ministry.
Adults: Alpha, EFM, Cursillo, and Sunday Formation
Christian formation for adults takes several forms. Alpha, the international introduction to the Christian faith, runs at the parish in eight-week sessions, most often on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:15 PM. Each session begins with social time and a shared meal, followed by a short talk on a core aspect of Christianity, and concludes with small group discussion around the table. The format is designed to be welcoming to anyone exploring Christianity for the first time as well as to those who are already practicing Christians, and the parish encourages current members to invite friends who might be spiritually seeking. Alpha is offered free of charge.
Beyond Alpha, the parish offers Education for Ministry, a four-year program designed to enable every baptized person to carry out the ministries given to all believers, and Cursillo, a short course in Christianity intended to enable, empower, and equip believers for ministry. Sunday School for adults, seasonal Bible studies, and Lenten programs round out the formation offerings. The parish's prayer life includes both a public Prayer Request list shared in the Sunday bulletin and a confidential prayer line that goes directly to the priest.
The parish's worship ministries provide additional ways to serve. Lay Readers and Lay Eucharist Ministers assist during worship and take the Eucharist to homebound members. The Altar Guild prepares the altar for services, the Bread Guild bakes bread for the Eucharist using the parish's own recipe, and the Flower Guild arranges altar flowers, with lessons provided for those learning the craft. Ushers greet worshipers and assist with the offertory and communion duties. Coffee Hosts and Hospitality teams provide food and welcome after services and at parish receptions, and Greeters welcome people on Sunday mornings and assist with carrying the bread and wine to the altar.
The Neighborhood: Audubon Park, Baldwin Park, and Audubon Park School
Emmanuel's relationship with Audubon Park School is one of the defining features of the parish's ministry in the neighborhood. The K-8 campus sits directly across East Winter Park Road from the church, and the parish supports both the students and the teachers, interacting with the school's community on a daily basis. The Children's Ministry Director and the parish priest lead chapel regularly with the school's children, and the parish's after-school program serves Audubon Park School families directly.
The church also makes itself a gathering place for the broader Audubon Park Garden District. Among the regular parish events that tie into the neighborhood are Kidstoberfest, held during Audubon Park's Zombietoberfest, and the parish's tradition of opening the church for tours throughout the year. Newcomers and visitors are welcomed with tours of the sanctuary that include the Willet stained glass. A walking Rogation Procession, the ancient custom of "beating the bounds" of the parish property, takes place each Rogation Sunday as part of a Choral Evensong, with prayers offered at the boundaries of the church's grounds and asking God's blessing on activities that take place on the property, including the parish's relationship with Audubon Park School.
The parish has a long relationship with Redlight, Redlight, a beer parlour in the neighborhood that has hosted gatherings connected to the church. The Audubon Park Garden District was once named Orlando's "Hippest 'Hood," and the parish is proud to be a Christian presence in this part of the city.
Outreach and Pastoral Care: The BOGO Box and Beyond
Emmanuel's most visible community outreach is its BOGO Box, a "Buy One, Get One" honor-system food pantry set up outside the north gate of the parish. The box is stocked with nonperishable food for neighbors who need it and is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The rules are simple: anyone who needs something in the box is welcome to take it and pay it forward when they are able, and anyone who can spare a nonperishable item is invited to drop one off. The BOGO Box supplements the work of Central Florida's food banks and food pantries, which the parish's Outreach Committee supports.
The parish's pastoral care ministries are organized around the traditional Anglican commitment to prayer and presence. The Pastoral Care team provides meals for those who are ill and rides for those who need transportation. The Prayer Chain offers prayer as requested for those in need, and Stephen Ministry provides trained lay ministers who offer Christian caring to people in life crises, both within and outside the parish. Newcomers and visitors are welcomed with the offer of a tour of the sanctuary, and the parish's online directory, hosted on the Realm platform, helps members and ministry leaders connect with one another.
Worship, Beliefs, and Leadership
Emmanuel is a parish of the Episcopal Church within the Anglican tradition, and its worship is built around the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and the 1982 Hymnal. The parish is committed to beautiful, faithful, and traditional Anglican liturgy, and its music program pursues diocesan leadership in parochial music making. Children are welcomed fully into the liturgy, communion is open to all baptized Christians, and the parish makes the historic sacraments of the Anglican Communion available to anyone who desires them.
The parish is led by the Reverend Jonathan Turtle as Rector. A native of Canada, he grew up in the Toronto area and trained for the priesthood at Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto. He and his wife Christina, along with their four children, moved to Orlando in January 2023. The Reverend Dr. Rob Lord serves as Retired Associate Priest after a career as rector in four parishes. Erik Richter is the Director of Music, Tricia Wilson is the Children's Ministry Director and the lead for the Afternoons at Emmanuel program, and Gavan McVey directs the youth choir. The parish office is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM, and the phone number for the office is 407-894-1641. Online giving and pledging are available through the parish's Realm account, and a mobile app connects members to the parish directory, schedules, and giving. Whether one is drawn by the liturgy, the music, the children's programs, or the chance to be part of a parish that takes its neighborhood as seriously as it takes its prayers, Emmanuel offers a place at the table.