The Community Church of Downtown St. Petersburg
Christ United Methodist Church sits at 467 First Avenue North in the heart of downtown St. Petersburg, within sight of the city's central business district and a short walk from the waterfront. The congregation has occupied this corner since 1906, and yet it insists on describing itself first as a neighborhood church, not a landmark. “We are striving to not simply exist in the downtown Saint Pete community, but we want to be THE Community Church,” the church explains. “The place where anyone can come for rest, connection, learning, and both spiritual and personal growth.”
The vision statement pinned to the front of the church’s literature sums up the intent: Christ United Methodist Church will be a Beacon of Light in our Community, Breaking Down Barriers and Being a Force for Good in God’s World. With one Sunday worship service at 10:00 a.m., a Thursday free-meal program run out of the chapel, a weekly men’s Bible study at a neighborhood Cracker Barrel, and sister-church partnerships stretching to Cuba and Argentina, the congregation works at being visible and present in the city well beyond Sunday morning.
1892 and Three Buildings on the Same Corner
The congregation dates to February 17, 1892, when twenty members gathered for the first worship of what was then called First Methodist Episcopal Church of St. Petersburg. The original 24-by-38-foot wood-frame building cost $500 and stood at Central Avenue and Fifth Street. Growth came quickly. By 1902 the church had its first full-time minister, and in 1906 a larger “shell-dash” church rose on the lot where the present sanctuary still stands, at First Avenue North and Fifth Street.
That shell-dash structure lasted less than a decade. In 1915 it was replaced by a buff-brick church seating 1,050, and by 1924 there were two services every Sunday. Sunday-morning radio broadcasts began in 1930 and could be heard from Key West to southern Georgia and Alabama, giving the small congregation an outsized voice across the Gulf Coast. A four-story church schoolhouse opened on Palm Sunday 1940, complete with a roller-skating rink on the top floor.
In 1953 the present sanctuary opened, having cost $820,000. The early Christian Romanesque design, built from Florida Key Stone and granite shipped from Minnesota, seats 1,704. The old sanctuary became what is now the chapel, and the congregation took the name Christ United Methodist Church. A mortgage-burning celebration in December 1955 cleared the debt. Later decades brought a three-story administrative and Sunday-school building with a roof garden in 1957, the seven “Great Commission” stained-glass windows in the balcony in 1960, and the arrival of an Aeolian Skinner pipe organ and a Steinway grand piano in 1968. The church observed its 130th birthday in 2022 still on the same block, still pointed toward the city it has served since 1892.
Sunday Mornings at 10:00
Sunday worship begins at 10:00 a.m. and typically runs about an hour. The service weaves together music, prayer, scripture, a message, and Holy Communion in a single hour. The invitation at the table is explicit: “You don’t need to be a member of our church - or have everything figured out - to come to the table. Anyone seeking a relationship, or a deeper relationship, with God through Christ is welcome.”
The music draws from a variety of traditions rather than a single style. On any given Sunday the congregation may hear a familiar hymn sung from the hymnal, a gospel song carried by the choir, the sound of the sanctuary’s Aeolian Skinner organ or Steinway piano, or The Gathering praise band playing contemporary songs. Worship may look slightly different from one week to the next, but it always sits within the United Methodist stream rooted in tradition.
Dress is casual. The “I’m New” page puts it plainly: “You can come rock anything from a 3-piece suit to shorts and flip flops.” Seating is open, snacks and drinks sometimes appear on the patio before and after worship, leashed pets are welcome, and anyone is invited to step inside - whether they have been part of a church for decades, have not walked through one in years, or are simply curious. Children of all ages are welcome in worship, and the congregation is actively growing its children and youth programs.
A Sanctuary with a 73-Rank Pipe Organ
The music ministry at Christ Church is taken seriously enough to support a 73-rank Aeolian Skinner pipe organ - one of the largest in the state of Florida - tucked into the Romanesque chamber behind the communion rail. A balanced ensemble of vocalists pairs with piano, the pipe organ, and a band of musicians to offer “several styles of music with a twist.” Danny Robles serves as Director of Music, with Barry Stevens at the organ and piano and Brandt Heisner leading The Gathering praise band.
The program also reaches out to the wider community. A Sacred Music Scholarship Program provides a stipend each semester to young adults enrolled in local colleges and universities who serve the music ministry. A Sacred Music Intern Program offers a part-time paid assistantship to the Director of Music. Rehearsals, performance, and intergenerational singing blend two centuries of Methodist tradition with the rhythms of a small downtown congregation.
Loaves and Fishes on Thursday Mornings
Every Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., the Christ Church chapel becomes the L & F Café - Loaves and Fishes. The free, hot lunch is run in partnership with Metropolitan Ministries and First United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg. Volunteers serve a home-cooked meal to neighbors in need, no questions asked, and guests sit together at the chapel’s round tables. The room has the feel of a quiet church café rather than a cafeteria line.
Anyone can drop in for a meal, and anyone can volunteer. The church keeps sign-ups simple: a phone call or text to (727) 822-3343, or an email to info@ChristChurchStPete.org. The L & F Café is the most visible weekday anchor of the congregation’s outreach life and the easiest place for a newcomer to serve.
Outreach Next Door and Across the Gulf
Outreach at Christ Church is built around three habits: a different monthly focus, a neighborhood service day on the rare fifth Sunday, and long-term partnerships abroad.
Mission Possible. Each month the congregation picks one focus and brings the “hearts, hands, and minds of the congregation together to tackle a seemingly unattainable assignment.” Past projects have included a major shoe-and-clothing drive for Clothes To Kids - a partnership that collects new or quality-used shoes in children’s size 10 through adult size 10, plus boys’ pants in youth sizes 4 - 18 and girls’ tops in youth sizes XS - XL - and a blanket collection that keeps supplies on hand for neighbors experiencing homelessness during the cooler months.
Fifth Sunday Outreach. In months with five Sundays, the “extra” Sunday is spent serving beyond the church walls. The list of past projects is long: feeding neighbors experiencing homelessness, gathering supplies for local outreach partners, bringing detergent and prayer to guests in coin laundromats, serving food at the Ronald McDonald House and the Salvation Army, assembling care packages for patients at All Children’s Hospital, sewing baby blankets for at-risk mothers, packing cards and supplies for prison inmates, making holiday decorations for an assisted-living home, and delivering meals to those sleeping rough around the city.
Laundry Drop. On the second Saturday of each month, volunteers meet at the church at 8:45 a.m. to assemble gift bags of detergent, dryer sheets, treats, and small gifts. By 9:15 a.m. they drive to local coin laundromats and hand the bags directly to neighbors who depend on those machines for daily life. “If you’ve ever had to look outside your own house to do laundry, you know how much of a challenge it can be,” the program explains. “Some folks rely on coin machines for their daily and weekly needs while others find themselves in circumstances that force them to rely on this service.”
Cuba. Since March 2000, Christ Church has been the covenanted sister church of Pueblo Nuevo Church in Matanzas. Congregational teams have traveled twice to Matanzas with medical and ministry supplies, and ongoing fundraising has most recently purchased two electric bikes that enable Pastor Eduardo to reach house churches and countryside members who cannot easily attend services in town. Pueblo Nuevo also hosts a ministerial college and a thriving youth ministry, and the two congregations continue to hold one another in prayer.
Argentina. Under the leadership of Senior Pastor Dawn Worden, Christ Church has become a partner of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Argentina through the Florida Annual Conference. The work is built around friendship and shared learning between pastors and laypeople in both countries. Annual visits in each direction have created what the church calls “a new form of missionary work that centers around friendship building.”
Adults, Men, Seniors, and Children
Smaller gatherings shape the rhythm of the week.
- Band of Brothers. A friendly, informal men’s group that meets every Wednesday at 7:00 a.m. at the Cracker Barrel on 54th Avenue North. The men dig into scripture, talk through life, pray for one another, and plan service projects - cookouts, small jobs around the church, and events such as the Big Game Bash. The group also hosts occasional Saturday breakfasts at the Frog Pond downtown. No preparation is needed; newcomers are always welcome.
- Heavenly Friends Class. A community of adults 55 and up that meets in the Asbury Room after Sunday worship for an in-depth Bible study and discussion. The class is intergenerational in tone and leaves time for questions, lived experience, and fellowship over coffee.
- Faith and Questions Book Group. Held after Sunday worship on selected Sundays, the group reads theology and current titles together and uses the books as a starting point for honest conversation about faith and life. Recent selections have included Bishop Michael Curry’s Love Is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times.
- Hortin Child Development Center. The on-campus child care center - named for the long-serving pastor, Dr. Paul R. Hortin, who gave more than 41 years of service to the church before retiring in 1975 - welcomes children ages 2 through 5 for full-time care and early education in an affordable, Christian environment. More information is available at Hortin.org.
Beyond these groups, the church hosts occasional Family Movie Nights in the chapel (free admission, free food, neighbors and grandchildren all welcome) and other fellowship events through the year.
Worship, Music, and Life Events
The sanctuary and chapel form the heart of a campus that has been built and rebuilt for more than a century. Worship is held in the 1,704-seat Romanesque sanctuary; the L & F Café and many small-group gatherings use the smaller chapel just across the lobby; the Asbury Room hosts the Heavenly Friends class on Sundays; the three-story administrative and education building holds classrooms and staff offices; and the patio outside the main doors has become the Sunday morning spot for coffee and conversation.
The same campus hosts the seasons of a Christian life: Christmas Eve services celebrating the birth of Christ with the wider downtown community, Easter services marking the resurrection, baptisms for any age, weddings planned with couples through the months beforehand, and funerals that acknowledge grief while celebrating a life and its new life in Christ. The music ministry, with its pipe organ and Steinway grand, makes the major feasts of the church year some of the most anticipated worship of the calendar.
What United Methodists Believe
Christ United Methodist Church is part of the United Methodist Church and its Florida Annual Conference. The congregation describes itself with the denominational tagline “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors.” Its mission statement is the wider church’s: “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” Members give of their time, talents, gifts, service, and witness to support that mission.
The church shares these basic Christian affirmations, drawn from The Book of Discipline: God is one, revealed in three distinct persons; salvation comes through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; the Holy Spirit is God’s present activity in the world; human beings are made in God’s image and have the capacity to love, communicate, and create; the church is the body of Christ; the Bible is the primary authority for faith and practice; and God’s reign is both a present reality and a future hope.
The United Methodist understanding of grace shapes the church’s welcome. Communion is offered to anyone seeking a relationship with God, regardless of church membership or where they are on a spiritual journey. “We believe that God’s grace is for everyone, both believers and non-believers alike,” the church explains. “This is not a country club for members only…it is for anyone who wants to learn more about God.”
Free Parking, Easy Walking, Lifelong Ministry
Free parking is available in the lot across from the main entrance on First Avenue North, open through 2 p.m. on Sundays. Online worship is available on the church’s YouTube channel, with audio recordings of recent messages also posted to the Pastor’s Corner page. Giving is available online through a secure form on the church’s website, and an online inquiry form lets visitors ask to be contacted about joining the congregation without feeling pressured to walk in the door before they are ready.
The ministry of the building runs continuously through the week. On a typical Sunday the sanctuary fills for worship; the chapel hosts conferences and book groups; the Asbury Room hosts the Heavenly Friends class; the patio serves coffee; and the Hortin Child Development Center begins its day with the youngest neighbors. On a typical Wednesday the men of Band of Brothers are already deep in conversation over eggs at the Cracker Barrel on 54th Avenue. On a typical Thursday the chapel is filling with neighbors for the Loaves and Fishes lunch. On the second Saturday of the month a small team is packing laundry bags for the Laundry Drop. Together those weekly habits describe what Christ United Methodist Church means when it calls itself the community church of downtown Saint Petersburg.
Senior Pastor
Rev. Dawn Worden, Esq., has served as Senior Pastor of Christ United Methodist Church since July 2021. A native of Rochester, New York, she is a graduate of the University of Richmond (B.A. in economics and Spanish with a minor in English) and the University of Memphis (Juris Doctor), and is licensed to practice law in Georgia and Washington. After nearly two decades as an attorney - mostly in real estate law - she entered Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, earning a Master of Divinity in 2011.
Pastor Dawn has served the Florida Annual Conference of the UMC in South Florida and the Tampa Bay area, including appointments in Miami, Miami Beach, and two churches in St. Petersburg. She previously served as the first female associate pastor of First UMC in St. Petersburg, then as senior pastor of First UMC of South Miami and St. John’s on the Lake in Miami Beach. She also serves as the Florida Conference’s liaison to the Evangelical Methodist Church of Argentina, leading annual friendship-and-mission trips between the two churches.
She has been married to her husband, Doug Day, for more than thirty years, and the couple has two grown sons. Fluent in Spanish (from two stints as an exchange student in Spain), an avid world traveler, and at home on the water or in the mountains, Pastor Dawn describes her favorite part of ministry as putting people together for the “needed, fun, and rewarding work of the Lord in our communities.”