The Episcopal Church of Saint Mary Magdalene
Coral Springs, Florida

The Parish of St. Mary Magdalene was envisioned by members of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Fort Lauderdale when it realized that church population was moving north. It determined on 3/18/60 that a mission church in The Everglades was needed. Two months later the first vicar, the Reverend Ernest J. Ault, moved into a vicarage in the new city of Margate and began services in his living room. By September of 1961 the congregation of 37 families met in a tent on a 66th Street lot, intended for a church building. A year later ground was broken for a contemporary redwood and block structure, which would accommodate 100 people. The communicants increased from 114 in 1962 to 160 in 1964 whilst the population of Margate stayed at 4,000, half retirees and half young families. By 1969 new vicar Edward Bubb was proposing an addition to the church in the form of a panel-fab building to accommodate 141 parishioners. Fathers Gregory Taylor and Thomas Ryan had each served two years when Father Gordon Morey came to Margate 1974 to oversee a dramatic change.

Ground was broken on 9/22/74 for a new church in the adjacent city of Coral Springs where the master plan included discounted sites for churches. The population was predominantly young families. The city gave a special one-day-only certificate of occupancy for the nearly-completed building to celebrate the 1975 Easter Sunday dedication. The modern stone and glass building was called an “earth church” because of its setting in “The Everglades”and its interior colors. Side windows were amber plexiglass, pews were upholstered green and the floor tiles were gray. The altar was a single piece of coral rock found on the site during construction. The congregation tripled in membership to 290 families by the end of the decade. Memorials included a pipe organ and substantial funding of the Parish Hall.

Reverend Frank Smith was installed as rector in 1978. In the 80s, the Christian Education Building was completed and the congregation doubled in size as the city’s population also doubled to 79,000. Kathy and Gary Sturgis began their 24 years as organist and choir director respectively.

Father Stephen Eichler was installed in 1993 bringing renewed energy and outreach. A total renovation of the church included changing the amber plexiglass to clear glass, upholstering the pews in red, replacing the floor tiles and wooden lectern with coral rock renditions and replacing the rough-hewn railing at the altar with a finished rail. A new organ was installed as a memorial and the Parish Hall was renovated. The congregation grew by 50% in step with city’s expansion from 79,000 to 120,000.

Father Mark Sims became rector in 2003, Mother Cynthia Gill became Associate Rector in 2005 and Arthur Nobile Jr. joined the staff in 2008 as Director of Pastoral Music. Permanent stone tables and benches were installed around the exterior of the church entrance to encourage fellowship after services. The look and sound of St. Mary Magdalene Church began to change from traditional to dynamic.

	prepared by Wendy Wangberg Church Historian