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Grace United Methodist Church of St. Augustine FL began in the parlors of the Old Florida House Hotel.  George Atkins, from Asbury Park, New Jersey, came to St. Augustine, and was instrumental in organizing a Methodist Episcopal Church founded in 1881.  The small congregation met in various locations over the next three years.

The first pastor, Rev. Samuel Payne, began to raise funds for a church building.  During the winter of 1884, construction of the “Olivet Methodist Episcopal Church” building had progressed to the point that the congregation held services in the new building.  Pews were made from construction material spread between nail kegs, and the windows were covered with muslin. The building was constructed on the corner of Tolomato (now known as Cordova St.) and King Streets in St. Augustine FL, on land that was later needed for the plans of Henry M. Flagler.

Mr. Flagler had started construction on the Ponce de Leon Hotel and envisioned a courtyard surrounded by three of his hotels.  To accomplish that vision he needed the land where the Olivet Church stood.  In 1886, he made a proposal to the trustees to donate the land on the corner of Carrera and Cordova streets and to build a church and parsonage on that site in exchange for the Olivet church land and building. The proposal was accepted and construction started in 1886.  The buildings were designed by Carrere and Hastings and erected by McGuire and McDonald, the same architects and contractors that planned and built the Flagler hotels and Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church, thus forming one of the most impressive, cohesive architectural complexes in the nineteenth century America.

Church Staff: Bob Meade, Janet Rusin, Dan Shorb, and Jim Reeher

 The Grace Church complex is built in authentic Spanish Renaissance style architecture with massive walls of coquina concrete and, with the Ponce De Leon Hotel, among the first major examples since Roman times of a structure that exploited the possibilities of mass concrete construction.  The exterior has not changed significantly; the breezeway between the parsonage and sanctuary has been enclosed.  Two significant changes were made to the interior, both relate to the Wurlitzer pipe organ; one when it was installed (1925), the second when it was removed.  In order to provide space for the organ pump, the high pulpit was moved from the side of the apse to a lower position on the wall at the back of the chancel.  When the Wurlitzer was removed, the entire chancel and apse were renovated.  During this renovation, major improvements were made throughout the sanctuary.  An extensive “restoration” also took place in the year 2000.

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