About All Saints Episcopal Church
 In the last half of the 19th century a fleet of steamboats plied the St. Johns River from Jacksonville south to Central Florida.
The last port of call was the town of Enterprise where Jacob Brock, a former sea captain, built a hotel on the banks of the river where it widened to become Lake Monroe. The Brock House soon became famous as a winter mecca for wealthy northern families who came to party, hunt, fish and enjoy the mild Florida winters.
It was in the parlor of the Brock House that All Saints' Church had its inception in 1881. The Rev. Samuel B. Carpenter, vicar of Holy Cross Episcopal Church, Sanford, rowed across Lake Monroe and began conducting services there. Among the worshippers were notables and well-known sportsmen, most of substantial means. A mission was formed and those attending services decided they wanted to worship in a church instead of a parlor. In 1883, they and others contributed funds and furnishings for a church to be built on a corner of Clark Street.
This property was donated for a church in the 1870s by a grove owner named Lester Clark. At the time the church was built it was to serve Orange City as well as Enterprise and in later years, DeBary and Deltona.
Count Frederick De Bary, a wealthy champagne distributor, whose winter home still stands, furnished most of the lumber for the church, even though he was not an Episcopalian. The Brock family contributed money and Frank Storer of Boston was a generous giver. Storer served as the first treasurer of the church.
The architecture of the church became known as Florida Gothic and was designed by a man who built many Florida churches during the era. An early picture shows its outside walls of natural cypress and the whole enclosed by a white picket fence.
The Church proper, constructed entirely of virgin timber, longleaf and curly pine and cypress, is for the most part in its original state except for two additions, a small sacristy built on the rear in the 1950s and a front porch and ramp added in 1971.
Pastors at All Saints Episcopal Church
| Rev. Samuel B. Carpenter |
1881 |
| Church constructed |
1883 |
Rev. Dr. Carpenter
Rev. Edward Turquand
Rev. Melvin Honeyman |
1883-1896 |
| Supply |
1896-1925 |
| Rev. John G. Litch |
1925-1945 |
| Rev. Ernest Pugh, Vicar |
1969-1974 |
| Rev. Ernest Pugh, Rector |
1974-1978 |
| Rev. Ernest Pugh, Priest Emeritus |
1978-1995 |
| Rev. Robert Phillips |
1979-1985 |
| Rev. Cecil Radcliff III |
1985-1993 |
| Rev. Jim McConnell |
1993-1995 |
| Rev. J. Fletcher Montgomery |
1996-1999 |
| Rev. Reinel Castro |
Present |
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From 1925 the Rev. John G. Litch served as vicar until his death in 1945. About that time the membership dwindled and the church was damaged by an oak tree which fell during a hurricane.
The building was saved from destruction by the Rt. Rev. Henry I. Louttit, the Suffragen Bishop of South Florida and the Rev. Mark Carpenter of Sanford by using funds from a legacy left by Frank Storer in memory of his mother. When restoration of the building was completed the church was reopened and has served continuously to the present time.
On November 15,1974 at the convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida at St. Lukes Cathedral, Orlando, the Rt. Rev. William H. Folwell, D.D., Bishop of Central Florida, presented the charter admitting the church into union with the diocese as a full parish.
Receiving the charter for the church was the Rev. Ernest B. Pugh, vicar since 1969, who became rector and vestry men, Y.C. Kromhout, N.J. Colliflower and J. Firth-Hand.
1974 marked another milestone for All Saints' Church - in May it was designated an historic place and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.
The Rev. Pugh retired in 1978 and served as Priest Emeritus until his death in 1995.
In 1979 the Rev. Robert Phillips was called and remained until 1985 when the Rev. Cecil D. Radcliff III became rector. Fr. Radcliff served until January 1993. The Rev. Jim McConnell served as rector from 1993-1995. The Rev. J. Fletcher Montgomery served as rector from 1996-1999. The Re. Reinel Castro has served as rector since that time.
All Saints' has also been blessed by the ministry of several perpetual deacons:
- Rev. Philip Dunbar, 1976 to 1979 and 2001 to present
- Rev. W. Dushane Erdman, 1989 to 1993
- Rev. Linda A. Kromhout from 1992 to present
During this time the rapid growth of the DeBary and Deltona areas which surround the small community of Enterprise and the warm loving congregation of All
Saints' has resulted in a vigorous, vital growth of our church. Nourished and spiritually fed by all the saints at All Saints' we are a warm and loving family, eucharistically and Jesus Christ centered.
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