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What We Believe

This is our church’s history as told by one of it’s founding members, Lorraine Taylor:
In 1980 Howard and I moved to Navarre. Navarre had one convenience store and one gas station. We traveled to St. Paul’s UMC each Sunday for services. One Sunday, Rev. Doug Pennington, the pastor then at St. Paul’s said he knew of a couple of people who were thinking about starting a church in Navarre and gave me their phone numbers. I found myself at a meeting with six other people that next week. We decided the only way to begin this journey and the possibility of starting a new church was to model it after God’s Word. We committed to meet once a week, pray each day, serve intentionally, and give whatever was needed financially to get the church started.

We arranged a meeting with our District Superintendent Rev. Cliff Abbott. He said the Methodist Church had no plans for Navarre since it was so small. He challenged us to find out who would even come to a Methodist church in Navarre. The idea came to divide the phone book up and ask people if they would attend and support a Methodist Church. Back then everyone had a landline phone. There were no cell phones! Surprisingly we had over 50 families who said they would come to a Methodist Church if it was built in Navarre. Another meeting was set up with Rev. Abbott to give him the results. This time he brought Rev. Charles Hildreth along with him. We presented our information and then all of us expressed our desire to begin a church. I think we caught Rev. Abbott off guard! He told us they didn’t have any ministers able to do this and financially the Methodist Church could not pay a salary for a pastor. We all thought this just wasn’t going to happen when Rev. Hildreth stood up and told us he would do it– with one condition. Rev. Abbott would tell his wife. He had already tried to retire three times! That year Rev. Hildreth worked without a salary-contacted people all over the conference and raised funds to build our Sanctuary which now is Hildreth Hall. Church met in the Water Department Building each week on Turkey Bluff Road. The first service I played on a child’s electric piano! The first Vacation Bible School was held in my kitchen at home! The person who was the CPA handled the money; the teachers taught Sunday School. No one came just to worship. We all served! We built Hildreth Hall with our own hands except for the plumbing and the electrical. We installed used pews given to us by Cokesbury UMC who were building a new sanctuary. They didn’t fit so Howard devised a way to cut them down by putting wheels on his table saw! The pulpit came from Eglin AFB salvage! Howard refurbished it completely. Howard also laid the tile in the bathrooms. The ladies wallpapered the bathrooms and painted. Each Saturday we worked together, ate together, prayed together, and had a great time of fellowship.

One week before we were supposed to have the grand opening of the church, Rev. Hildreth died of a heart attack. The first service in this church was a funeral. The service was filled with tears but also filled with joy and mostly with hope. Red’s death reminded us of our vision of leading others to find their home with Christ.

After Red’s passing, Rev. Joseph Lay was assigned to our church. Before Rev. Hildreth had died he had talked to Rev. Abbott about the possibility of having Joe come as our next pastor. Joe and Laura gave of themselves in such a way that it brought a continued excitement to grow God’s family in Navarre. Bible studies were organized, United Methodist Men and United Methodist Women started, and children’s programs were established. A huge moment was when the Preschool and We Care began. We Care began in the kitchen of Hildreth Hall and an Education Building was built with Russ Merrill, a member of our congregation, as general contractor.

I was asked to come on staff as the Christian Education Director part time. I never served on staff, and I quickly realized there are no part time positions within a church! I oversaw the Nursery, Children, supervised the Youth Director, Adult Ministries, and oversaw the Preschool. Six months later I was moved to a full-time position. Throughout my years on staff we began doing whole church Bible studies, started more community and mission events, and most importantly events for children and their families. At one point we were doing a daytime and evening Vacation Bible School within the same week, seasonal community events, a Women’s Conference, Blue Lake family retreats, Emmaus and Chrysalis community groups, Wednesday night dinner, Adult studies and a Children’s Choir, and whole Family Studies. The Youth Director did monthly community events, 5th quarter bonfire with food, games, and a short devotional (after football games), led an after-school Bible study at the middle and high schools, had a yearly local and one overseas mission trip, and participated in all the church wide community events. The Music Director had a youth, children, and adult choir. She also oversaw a Drama Group that often helped with creative ways to introduce the sermon and help with highlighting a volunteer need during announcements. Music Ministry also had special events at Easter and Christmas. We would host the Ft. Walton Symphony, host a Bluegrass Christmas quartet, and a Children’s Christmas play. The NUMC School of the Arts provided guitar, piano, jazz, and tap dance instruction for the community. These students participated throughout the year in the worship services. The Mission’s Committee along with Rev. Dan Godwin were instrumental in the formation of the Thrift Store after outgrowing the church facility. God blessed us with property on Highway 98 that continues to be an overwhelming blessing to those in need.

Since my retirement many changes have occurred. Each person who comes on staff will come with new and different ideas of how-to bring people to Christ and involve the congregation. New ideas are needed to bring a new generation to Christ. We have had several pastors since then and looking back each one has enriched our lives. Recently, Rev. David Morris became our pastor. It is amazing to see his heart and see his witness to Christ. Just as God called people to start a church in Navarre, He is still in the business of growing His family. I feel each of us are given that honor to serve him, so we could bring others to Christ.