St. Christopher's By-the-Sea sits on Harbor Drive on Key Biscayne, the low-lying barrier island community connected to the mainland by a causeway and drawbridge since 1949. The parish is small in number but long-established, tracing its first worship service to Christmas Day 1959 in a building called the Little Island Playhouse. Today it is known across south Florida for the strength of its choral music program, for a modernist sanctuary filled with artwork that quietly reflects the surrounding waters, for the Montessori school that shares its campus, and for a tradition of feeding the homeless on the first Friday of every month.
From Christmas 1959 in a Playhouse to a Mid-Century Modern Sanctuary
St. Christopher's began quietly. The first Christmas Day service in 1959 was held in the Little Island Playhouse; the congregation soon moved into the building later known as the Calusa Playhouse, which it occupied until the present church came into service on Christmas Day 1967. The first rector was the Reverend Richard Maholm, who oversaw the selection of architect Richard Little of Cleveland. Little, a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard's School of Architecture who had studied under modernist Marcel Breuer and Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, believed in clean, light, functional architecture that reflected a building's surroundings and purpose. Over a long and productive career he designed schools, hospitals, corporate headquarters, and an entire planned community in his native Ohio.
The outdoor chapel and the Burton-Campbell Columbarium were added in 1976. The present Parish Hall was built in 1987, freeing the original Parish Hall to be converted into classrooms and a prayer garden that now house the Montessori preschool program. A new building for the school's primary grades was added in 1996, with upper elementary grades following on the second floor in 2001. A successful Capital Campaign in 2001 funded major renovations and improvements, and another fund drive in 2007 launched new gardens and other enhancements. In 2009 the preschool building was renovated, and in 2021 the parish inaugurated a new state-of-the-art building on the campus.
Why St. Christopher?
The choice of St. Christopher as patron was deliberate. The saint, an early Christian martyr said to have carried an unknown child across a river only to discover on the far shore that the child was Jesus Christ, is the patron of safe travel. For a church whose congregation, for many years, consisted largely of seasonal winter residents who crossed the causeway to reach the island, no patron could have been more fitting.
A Sanctuary Drawn from the Sea
Little's design reflects the island that surrounds the church. The sea-green floor is Vermont slate. The wall behind the altar is built of oolitic limestone, the ubiquitous Florida bedrock formed from the skeletons of billions of aquatic microorganisms. The abstract cross suspended above the altar evokes the form and texture of driftwood and was designed by Harold Castor, the Oklahoma sculptor who frequently collaborated with Little; Castor's work can also be seen in the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, and at the Smithsonian Institution. Castor also designed the sculptures depicting the life of the Good Samaritan that hold up the altar rail. The pulpit sits on a sculpted base reminiscent of Banyan trees, and the Stations of the Cross, given in memory of Reba Tuggle, line the walls in imitation of Christ's journey to Calvary.
The baptismal font is an exact scale replica of the font in Coventry Cathedral in England, but carved appropriately from local coquina stone. The stained-glass windows were donated in memory and thanksgiving of parishioners from families including the Molt, Davies, Dennis, Di Carlo, Johnson, Wragg and Devaney households, with one window given in thanksgiving for the Montessori School. The needlepoint kneelers at the altar rail were sewn by a committee of women chaired by Martha Molt; their panels illustrate the Life of Christ from the Annunciation to the Resurrection, using local flora and fauna in both a decorative and symbolic way. A glass display at the rear of the church explains the design and its meaning.
Outside, the great brass bell that still calls the faithful to worship on Sundays was imported from a Polish Catholic Church in Pennsylvania and donated by the Owen Family. The roof tiles are intended to evoke the vernacular farm buildings of the Matheson coconut plantation that once covered much of the island and in which the congregation's earliest services were held. The landscaping is planted with native species, and the grounds frame the sanctuary, the outdoor chapel, the Burton-Campbell Columbarium and the buildings of the Montessori school.
A Music Program that Lifts the Building
Music is one of the strengths of the St. Christopher's community, in the words of the parish itself. The Director of Music since 2012 is John M. Barrow, who holds a Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance from Oberlin Conservatory and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Florida International University. A musician, a scholar, a teacher, an investigator and a lover of the world, Barrow has built a professional and volunteer choir that has earned praise as a shining jewel of liturgical performance in south Florida, often performing with renowned opera singers and other guest performers.
The choir presents special services throughout the church year. Three services of Lessons and Carols mark Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. All Souls Day brings a requiem service using the music of John Rutter's Requiem. Easter Sunday brings a Festive Eucharist with hymns and brass. The annual cycle flows from birth to resurrection to the second coming, with each season shaped by music of the Anglican canon and new chestnuts alike.
Every Sunday at 9:45, just before the 10 o'clock service, a Congregational Choir Practice is held in the sanctuary. Anyone who loves to sing is welcome. He who sings prays twice, the parish notes, citing St. Augustine. Because St. Christopher's is a community of diverse denominational backgrounds, singers who are new to Anglican hymnody are encouraged to come a little early and learn the hymns.
Sunday Worship on Harbor Drive
The principal Sunday worship is the 10 a.m. Holy Eucharist with sermon in the main church, followed by Coffee Hour and conversation in the Parish Hall. Coffee Hour is described as a favorite time to gather, catch up with fellow parishioners, and welcome newcomers, with refreshments and desserts set out for adults and children alike.
On the second Sunday of each month, an additional 8 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite I, is offered, immediately preceding the 10 a.m. Family Service. The Family Service is the household-friendly worship of the month; on every other Sunday the regular 10 a.m. service continues.
A separate weekly fellowship gathers on Tuesdays at 7:15 a.m. at the Key Biscayne Beach Club. Known as the Walkie Talkies, the group walks and talks together along the shoreline before the workday does.
Holy Week on Key Biscayne
Holy Week at St. Christopher's begins with a Palm Sunday service that opens with a moving ceremony at the outdoor chapel and columbarium before moving into the church for Eucharist and hymns. On Maundy Thursday at 6 p.m., the congregation gathers in the Parish Hall for an Agape Meal and the washing of feet, then processes into the church for the Eucharist and the Stripping of the Altar. Good Friday brings three observances: a noon Good Friday Liturgy, the Stations of the Cross at 3 p.m., and a Taize Service at 6 p.m. Easter Sunday at 10 a.m. is a Festive Eucharist with hymns and brass, followed by Coffee and Cookies and the parish's annual Easter Egg Hunt.
Beyond Holy Week, the choir marks Pentecost with a reading of Acts 2 in multiple languages, on a day when worshippers hear the Gospel proclaimed in English, Spanish, French and Serbian, with rehearsals held before the service for those who can read in another tongue. On the Feast of Mary and Martha of Bethany, the parish notes the anniversary of the Philadelphia Eleven and the ordination of women to the priesthood. The parish's calendar is shaped by the round of the Christian year as set out in the Book of Common Prayer and the lectionary.
The Three-Legged Stool
Like every Episcopal parish, St. Christopher's grounds its faith on the foundation the Prayer Book describes as a three-legged stool. Scripture comes first: the Bible is where the community begins to understand the faith. Tradition, the accumulated reading and study of two thousand years of Christians, helps us know more than we could discover on our own in one lifetime. Reason provides the third leg, balancing Scripture and Tradition: if something is not reasonable, the community reads more closely, learns more about the culture in which the writer lived, and seeks to understand the context. Remove any one of the three legs, the parish notes, and the stool will fall.
This balanced approach is visible in the parish's preaching. Recent sermons have walked through Peter's stumbling steps, the disciples in the storm-tossed boat, Peter's rebuke by Jesus at Caesarea Philippi, the tough commandment to love God with all one's heart, soul and mind, and the promise of the Ascension that the human experience is now part of God's experience. The result is preaching that is biblically grounded, traditionally rooted and intellectually honest.
Sacraments and Pastoral Care
Baptisms at St. Christopher's are part of the Sunday service, with dates especially suited to the sacrament including the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord, the Great Vigil of Easter, the season of Easter, Pentecost, All Saints Day, and any time the Bishop is present. Adults seeking baptism and parents presenting children take the parish's Wade in the Water class, which meets within two weeks of the baptism and focuses on the theology, history and liturgy of the sacrament. The Episcopal Church recognizes Baptism as a sacrament that initiates new members into the Church Universal.
Weddings follow the parish's open practice. St. Christopher's marries any two people who wish to be married in a Christian service, with clergy conducting pre-marital counseling well in advance of the marriage. A Marriage Intent Form and a Wedding Information Form gather the details the parish needs to prepare.
Confirmation classes are held as part of the Adult Lenten Bible Study, where adults publicly take on their Baptismal Covenant and share in the Paschal mystery of the consecrated bread and wine. Communion Classes are offered for those preparing to share in the Eucharist for the first time.
The clergy are happy to discuss and plan a Christian burial with anyone who desires such, whether they are a longtime parishioner or not. Pastoral Care is offered under the guidance of the clergy and the deacon; visiting the sick or shut-in is a ministry that requires a personal commitment and the desire to comfort another person in times of illness or emotional and spiritual need. Lay Eucharistic Ministers, licensed by the Bishop, carry the Sacrament from Sunday worship to those who cannot be present in the church, normally visiting on Sundays, and meeting monthly with the clergy and their coordinator to share experiences and to pray together.
A Ministry for Every Hand
The parish is explicit that all people are called to ministry. Worship on Sunday depends on a wide circle of volunteers. Adults and young people in grades 3 through 12 serve in the Acolyte Corps at the 10 a.m. service and on major feast days; the Altar Guild prepares worship week by week; Chalice Bearers, once licensed by the Bishop, assist the Celebrant in distributing the consecrated wine; Lectors read the Hebrew and Christian Scripture lessons and lead the Psalm at the appointed times; and Ushers are the first to welcome each member and visitor, distribute bulletins, see that the bread and wine arrive at the altar, assist with the collection of the alms, and keep the count of those who worship each week.
Every parish ministry has its character. Acolytes assist the congregation in the worship of God. The Altar Guild is a quiet but joyful ministry that celebrates the preparation of worship for the glory of God. Lay Eucharistic Ministers are licensed by the Bishop; the Diocese sets the number of LEMs for each parish based on the parish size and provides training and refresher classes each fall. Coffee Hour, immediately after the 10 a.m. service, depends on volunteers who prepare coffee and set out the pastries and desserts. The choir lends its voices to Sunday worship and the special services of the church year. Pastoral Care, guided by the clergy and the deacon, reaches the sick and the shut-in.
Daughters of the King
Among the parish's quieter ministries is the Daughters of the King, a lay religious Order that includes women in the Anglican, Episcopal, Lutheran (ELCA) and Roman Catholic churches. Each Daughter has taken a lifetime vow to enter into a spiritual discipline of daily prayer and service. The Order's emblem is the silver Greek cross, inscribed with the Latin phrase Magnanimiter Crucem Sustine, meaning With heart, mind and spirit, uphold and bear the cross, and the letters FHS, For His Sake. The Order's primary mission is to support the Rector and the needs and concerns of the parish, families, friends and the world, with prayer. Meetings are held on the second Sunday of the month, with training classes for new members held in the spring. The local Diocesan DOK President, Ruth Foss, is a parishioner.
The Montessori School on the Same Campus
Sharing the campus since 1968 is St. Christopher's Montessori School, an Episcopal Montessori school that now serves students through elementary grades. The school traces its origins to the late 1960s when the original Parish Hall was converted into classrooms and a prayer garden to house the preschool program. A new building for primary grades was added in 1996 and a second floor for upper elementary in 2001. A new state-of-the-art building was inaugurated in 2021, and the school is preparing to add the International Baccalaureate Program to its Episcopal and Montessori identities.
A weekly school chapel service is held on Wednesdays at 9 a.m. On Mother's Day the children perform a medley of songs during the chapel service, with refreshments served afterward. The annual Art and Science Fair displays the children's creativity to the wider community, and the school renewed its accreditation through the Florida Council of Independent Schools during the 2022-23 academic year. The Head of School is Leslie Lasseville.
Faith at Work and the Chapman Partnership
Faith at Work is the parish's outreach ministry program, funded by 10 percent of each year's plate and pledge. The program offers assistance to homeless shelters, orphanages, disaster survivors, overseas missionaries, seminarians and health clinics, among other causes. The parish has long supported the Chapman Partnership, which manages two Homeless Assistance Centers in Miami and Homestead; members of St. Christopher's help feed the homeless at the Chapman Partnership on the first Friday of every month. The parish keeps giving simple, with online giving available for the church, for the Chapman Partnership, and for the Miami Rescue Mission. The community also partners with The Duncan Center and connects with Episcopal Cursillo, the small Christian community movement within the Anglican tradition.
Parish Life Beyond Sunday
Coffee Hour is the connective tissue of parish life. The annual Pancake Dinner and Races draws everyone for all-you-can-eat pancakes with syrup, fruit and whipped cream, and the famous pancake races, where participants race while flipping pancakes in frying pans. The parish is a visible presence on the island's calendar: each year St. Christopher's hosts the 4th of July Pre-Parade Breakfast in the Parish Hall, an island tradition that opens early for first responders and parade workers and runs from nine to ten-thirty for the general public, with scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, fresh fruit, orange juice and coffee. The school children and their families march in the parade as the Kazoo Band, filling the streets with music and smiles. The breakfast is followed by the Independence Day parade through the Village.
The parish's weekly newsletter, The Harbinger, keeps the community in touch between Sundays. The name, revived by Reverend Willie and parishioner Dottie Devaney Goldman, carries both meanings the Oxford English Dictionary offers: a host, a harbourer, fitting for a church by the sea; and a forerunner, one who goes before and announces the approach. To host, in the spiritual sense, is to invite and welcome all to become part of the Christian community; to announce is to proclaim the good news of God's unconditional love as that love is known in Jesus Christ.
Clergy, Vestry, and the Rector Search
The parish is currently shepherded by the Reverend Willie Allen-Faiella, who serves as part-time Priest in Charge. Rev. Willie grew up in the Washington, DC area and attended Bryn Mawr College, where she majored in modern European history. She received an MA in Theatre Arts from Schiller College in (then) West Berlin and her M.Div from the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. Before entering seminary she served as the (civilian) director of a performing arts program at an American Army base near Pisa, Italy. She has served as assistant rector of Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill in Alexandria, Virginia; as rector of Trinity Church, Gulph Mills in suburban Philadelphia for ten years; and as rector of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and Day School in Coconut Grove before retiring in March 2023. She and her husband Chris, who works for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, are based in the parish office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and are often seen on Sundays presiding at the 10 a.m. service and greeting newcomers at the door.
The Reverend Deacon Miguel Baguer serves as the parish's deacon. A deacon, in the words of the Catechism on page 855 of the Book of Common Prayer, represents Christ and his Church, particularly as a servant of those in need, and assists bishops and priests in the proclamation of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments. Deacon Miguel preaches, visits the sick, presents the needs of the world to the Church, and sends the congregation out each Sunday with the dismissal to love and serve the Lord.
The Right Reverend Peter Eaton is the Bishop of Southeast Florida, seated at Trinity Cathedral in Miami since January 9, 2016. The parish is part of the Diocese of Southeast Florida within The Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The Vestry, which manages all church property and assets, approves the budget, and authorizes major expenditures, is led by Senior Warden Joe Downs, Junior Warden Isabel Lamas, and Clerk Clint Bush, with Disque Dean, Gloria Johnson and Allene Nicholson as members. Members serve three-year terms. The parish office is led by Cecilia Braham as parish and school administrator.
The parish is in the middle of a rector search. The Search Committee includes Jeff Brosco, Pam Gordon, Callie Holderman, Lynne Nelson, Ken Noto and Peter Verbeeck, with Lynne Libby serving as chaplain. The committee has met with Bishop Eaton and is engaged with the Canon for Transitions, Fletcher Montgomery. A Parish Profile has been submitted to the bishop for final approval, after which the rector position will be made public and the search will move forward.
A Place to Belong, to Serve, and to Grow
The parish's motto, Always Believe, appears in its banner above the schedule of Sunday worship. The community welcomes all people, puts their trust in God, and embarks on spiritual journeys that challenge each person to become the greatest person they hope to be. The community calls itself a place to belong, a place to serve and a place to grow. The first Episcopalians on Key Biscayne gathered in a playhouse on Christmas Day 1959; today the parish carries the same work forward in a sanctuary shaped by the surrounding sea, with a choir that lifts the liturgy, a school that shares the campus, and a long tradition of feeding the homeless on the first Friday of every month.
Worship is at the heart of the life together, as the parish's own words make plain. The 10 a.m. Sunday service, the monthly Rite I and Family Service on second Sundays, the weekly Walkie Talkies, and the round of Holy Week, Christmas and Easter are the rhythms by which this small but deeply engaged congregation on Key Biscayne keeps the Gospel at the center of an island life.