The Baptists are back at home!
Boca Grande’s Baptist community celebrated in grande style as the congregation returned to its own church building July 16 for services. The fellowship hall will be the venue for services for a while, as the sanctuary is still under renovation following Hurricane Ian.
Pastor Gary Beatty said they are “so excited to be back” in their own place, but very grateful to the Episcopal congregation for allowing them to use their church for services throughout the last 10 months.
Pastor Beatty said he believes the hall will accommodate all the members worshiping on the island during the summer, but as number swell in the fall, it may prove to be too small. Mother Michelle Robertshaw has already invited the Baptist congregation to return to St. Andrews if space is too restrictive in the Baptist fellowship hall.
The church building actually was marked as destroyed immediately after the storm, but Pastor Beatty and the rest of his people knew otherwise. In 2004, after Hurricane Charlie, the pastor not only organized repairs on the church, but also made it a point to have the building included on the National Register of Historical Places. That designation marks the structure as “deserving of preservation.” That made it possible to secure assistance to make the necessary repairs.
With help from people and congregations throughout the island, and more recently the help of an attorney who will be working to obtain adequate payment from the church’s insurance carrier, they have been able to resurrect the church, so to speak.
Pastor Beatty is proud to remind people that the Baptist church is the oldest church on the island, established in 1909, with the first church building started in 1913 and completed the following year. The parsonage was built in 1934, he noted.
And speaking of long-standing institutions, Pastor Beatty noted that he is now the longest serving pastor on the island, with the retirement of Fr. Jerome Carosella. Beatty said he is also the longest serving pastor in the entire history of the Baptist church. Ten years was the record before his tenure, but he has now been serving for 23 years.
