About Us

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Panama City, Florida has been blessed in many ways. We are located in a serene and picturesque area of a beautiful state. We have community and strength in our clergy and lay leadership. Most of all, we are blessed with worshippers who are full of love for one another and their church.

HISTORY

The Early Years

St. Andrew's church building

The earliest records we have for St. Andrew's indicate that the present congregation was organized in 1914 under the name of Christ Church. In 1915 Christ Church became St. Andrew's Church. It was not named for the community, but after the patron saint of fishermen.

In 1955 St. Andrew's began to plan for a new church structure. Many different architectural designs were submitted and a modified A-frame design was adopted. The old church was moved across Baker Court where the offices and educational facilities are located; and was used as the chapel and preschool educational area from 1958 to 1972 when it was sold for $1.00 to the Greek Orthodox Congregation on Baldwin Road.

About 1984 the church was expanded to include a nice chapel, larger sacristies, larger choir room, a narthex on each side, a covered walk way on the East side of the church, and changes in the sanctuary which included expanding the altar rail, moving the altar more toward the center of the sanctuary, and redesigning the seating arrangement.

The Later Years

Since 1986, three different priests, each of whom brought different visions and gifts to our parish, have led St. Andrew's. Father Dick Copeland guided us to be a more caring congregation by offering the Stephen Ministry and training Spiritual Directors. Father Ron Greiser, who realized the need for a larger facility to accommodate growth, followed him. In the spring of 1995, the diocese initiated the Fulfilling the VISION Campaign to strengthen diocesan ministries. St. Andrew's accepted the challenge to raise $130,000 for this campaign. In the fall of 1996, St. Andrew's kicked off its VISION FOR MINISTRY campaign to raise funds for the diocese and the parish. As a result of this effort, Byrne Hall was razed and a new modern fellowship hall built in 2000. In 1998 the congregation recognized the church needed to attract more young families and called Father Marshall Brown, who introduced us to a more contemporary form of worship.

St. Andrew's now stands ready for the new century with new and renovated facilities and a fresh vision of God's mission for the Gulf Coast of Florida. The best is yet to come!

St. Andrew's Canons

Click here to review the St. Andrew's Canons effective, October 2003.
Page down to see contents.

OUR COMMUNITY

Panama City is the county seat and the largest city of Bay County, Florida. The county population of 150,000 has increased by slightly less than 2 percent per year over the last ten years, growing 17 percent since 1990. Projections for 2010 expect the current growth trend to continue at the same rate. According to the 2000 census, 19 percent of the population is classified as nonwhite. The median age in the county is 36.3 and there are 112,508 persons 18 years or older. Panama City has about 40,000 people living within its incorporated boundaries. Additionally there are seven other incorporated cities in the county, and slightly over one third of Bay's population lives in unincorporated areas of the county. In 2001, there was an estimated 62,457 households in the county.

Panama City is 300 miles south of Atlanta and about the same distance east of New Orleans. Tallahassee, the state capital, is about 100 miles to the east. Pensacola, the diocesan headquarters, is about 100 miles to the west. U.S. Highway 231 is the major road north and U.S. Highway 98 is the east-west artery. Interstate 10 is about an hour's drive from Panama City. The Panama City International Airport offers daily flights on three scheduled airlines.

The Bay County School System operates 37 schools for 27,000 students. These include 22 elementary schools, 7 middle schools, 5 senior high schools, 2 adult education facilities and 1 vocational-technical facility. A ten-year sales tax referendum passed three years ago is providing funds for renovation and construction of new school facilities. The student body is 79 percent Caucasian, 15 percent African-American, two percent Asian/Pacific Islander and less than one percent each Hispanic, American Indian and multi-racial. In addition to public schools there are also several private schools affiliated with various religious organizations.

Opportunities for post secondary education are also available in the county. Gulf Coast Community College serves 21,000 students with degree, university transfer, and continuing education programs. The Panama City Campus of Florida State University offers nine undergraduate and fourteen master's degree programs. Troy State University and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University provides both undergraduate and master's programs at campus facilities located at Tyndall Air Force Base.
The federal government is the major employer in Bay County, providing about 10,500 jobs between Tyndall Air Force Base (8,048) and the Navy's Coastal System Station (2,520). Other large employers, in order of size, include the Bay County School Board, Bay Medical Center, Sallie Mae, Columbia Gulf Coast Hospital and Paradise Found Resorts and Hotels. There are five manufacturing establishments, which employ 300-600 employees each. However the bulk of private industry employers (88 percent) has less than 20 employees and is typically characterized by low wages and may lack health benefits. Over half of the employees in Bay County work in the service industry or retail trade. Per capita personal income in 2000 was $24,152. Eleven percent of the county citizens live below the federal poverty level of $16,050 for a family of four.

Between 1985 and 1995 the number of nonagricultural wage and salaried jobs in Bay County increased by 20 percent. In 2000, Bay County's average unemployment rate was 6 percent. An active effort is being made to recruit businesses to the area through such incentives as industrial parks, which take advantage of rail lines, the deep-water port, and the proximity to the Intracoastal Waterway.

For information on the Episcopal church click here.

PASTORAL STAFF

Rector - The Rev. Dr. Roy E. McLuen - E-mail: roymcluen@knology.net

SUPPORT STAFF

Parish Administrator - Carla Croud- E-mail: myscarla@knology.net
Church Sexton - Mike Hortman
Adult Choir Director - Sarah Mason
Organist - Miriam Gladstone

VESTRY
     Senior Warden - Laurie Ayers
      Junior Warden - Bill Reed
      Clerk - Faye Hutt
    Treasurer - Margaret Seeberger
      Bob Fredrick
      Tedd Harris
Snookie Raines
Jeannette Riley
      Sue Webb
Lynn D'Albertis
Frank Lopez

CONTACT US

Parish Office: (850) 763-7636
Parish Hall: (850) 769-2110
Fax: (850) 784-7830
E-mail: email4standrews@knology.net