Holy Faith, Dunnellon, rings in a bright future

Holy Faith Episcopal Church has a new, good-neighbor policy that is paying off in increased Sunday attendance and higher, positive visibility in “greater Dunnellon.”

It’s really more like a good-member, good-volunteer and good-neighbor philosophy, said Tom Shaffer, senior warden since July.

Like many older mainline churches in smaller communities, Holy Faith had become like a worn piece of parlor furniture to its neighbors and even many of the members – taken for granted and not all that comfortable anymore.

“People are so happy to be here now,” Mr. Shaffer said. “We have done a lot of face rebuilding, and attendance has doubled this year.”

Much of the credit goes to the no-nonsense Rev. J. James Gerhart, who took over as priest in charge in early 2010.

“Fr. Jim” sets an example as servant-leader, Holy Faith members say. He serves the parish on Sundays and during the week, as needed, while working around his full-time position at Hernando-Pasco Hospice in New Port Richey.

The church staff is all-volunteer, except for the housekeeper.

“The thing I am so impressed by is the congeniality and compassion of our members,” Fr. Jim said. “Before, when we asked for help, we had to recruit reluctant volunteers. Now we have to schedule multiple volunteers for some jobs.”

Members also are coming forward with improvements to the parish property, Mr. Shaffer said.

“People are falling all over themselves to help,” he said. “People pitched in for new paint and remodeling. We needed a floor scrubber, and someone donated one right away. We bought a new commercial dishwasher, and replaced the old, inefficient refrigerator, which cut electrical consumption for refrigeration by 30 percent.”

The industrial-sized refrigerator is for the church’s food pantry, a longstanding institution in Dunnellon that had fallen into decreasing involvement by the overall community.

The church set out to reverse that trend by instituting a new strict policy of accountability and by changing the name from the Holy Faith Food Bank to the Food Bank at Holy Faith – a subtle change but one welcomed by neighbors.

The food bank serves between 600 and 700 people a month. Church members are big supporters, some giving dozens of turkeys to the bank at Thanksgiving.

“We’re getting good feedback from the community,” Mr. Shaffer said.

And the policy of openness also is one of the key reasons more former and new members are showing up on Sundays.

The church scored points with Dunnellon residents, too, by sponsoring a huge communitywide yard sale put on by neighboring development Blue Cove.

And more camaraderie is being built around an ocean cruise coming up in May, open to anyone interested, with the cruise company donating money back to the church for all bookings over eight cabins.

The cruise will include a seminar on Book of Revelation led by Fr. Jim.

Good neighborliness extends to support for our men and women in military service: Church member Carole Byron got the great idea before Christmas to make a Holy Faith card to send to all troops and former members.

Fr. Jim shot the photo – the church’s picturesque altar bedecked with flowers – printing was provided and a Christmas-card tradition was born.

And the little church’s good will is spreading in a hands-across-Central-Florida way, too. Local newspapers were all over a story about the old firehouse bell the city of Ocala sent over to Holy Faith in the 1960s when the firehouse burned down.

Ocala Fire Rescue recently tracked the bell down to Dunnellon, and Holy Faith readily agreed to send it back to Ocala for display in a new fire station. In return, the fire department bought Holy Faith a new bell – a replica of the historic one.

“Now we have an original copy of a fake bell,” said Fr. Jim, who was asked by Ocala to dedicate the new station.

“It’s a pleasure to come in here on Sundays,” Fr. Jim said of Holy Faith. “There’s a sense of energy here. If someone comes up with an idea, or the vestry wants to try something, I say go for it!”