Apostles is a simple adaptation of Gothic
features such as pointed arches and
steep gables. A perfect example is the
background house in Grant Wood’s iconic
American Gothic painting.
In an effort to save this vanishing genre
of American architecture, several homes
and churches have been dismantled and
moved to other locations. Holy Apostles
is one of very few to have been barged as
is to be saved.
The carpenters that built these structures
knew their craft well and birthed buildings
that depended on Mother Nature’s
own building materials to better withstand
any later tormenting. The sturdy
cypress used in Holy Apostles seems
impervious to weather and vermin.
“Termites don’t bother cypress,”
Wichmann said.
STILL STANDING
Cypress, at least Holy Apostles’ cypress,
also isn’t bothered by storms. Hurricanes
have come and gone, but the church
has stood firm, except for shingles
lost during the back-to-back storms of
2004. Clear plexiglass safeguards the
homemade stained glass from errant
flying debris.
“The building has never really been
damaged,” Wichmann said.
The former church was moved from downtown Fort Pierce onto a barge at the
start of its watery journey.
Holy Apostles could well be in the
National Register of Historic Places, but
for its vinyl-clad skin, installed by an
ever-practical congregation exhausted
by the upkeep of wood.
“It got to be too much of a problem to
keep painting it every couple of years,”
Wichmann said.
Other than the convenient siding and
a bell tower later added in celebration
of its silver anniversary, the church
remains pretty much as it was in the
early 1900s, with its framework of beams
and a network of cables that keep it from
swaying too much.
Outside the church, a small memorial
garden holds the ashes of more than
a hundred of the parishioners, some
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LIFE
of whom had seen the church come
up the lagoon. Nearby, a statue of St.
Francis of Assisi looks over the ashes of
parishioners’ pets. Wichmann’s own two
dogs are interred there.
“Now they can play together,” said
Wichmann, who, when her time comes,
plans for her ashes to be nearby.
Wichmann knows that even when she is
praying by herself, she is never alone at
Holy Apostles.
“I like to pray there when the wind blows
and the building creaks and you smell
the old wood,” she said. “You think about
the thousands of people who have prayed
in this old building. You feel the prayers
of everybody and sense God in the midst.
It’s a glorious feeling.”
HOLY APOSTLES EPISCOPAL CHURCH
The former church was moved from downtown Fort
Pierce and onto a barge at the start of its journey.
MARIA SONNENBERG
A statue of St. Francis of Assisi looks over the memorial
garden containing the ashes of the pets of Holy
Apostles parishioners.
MARIA SONNENBERG
The parishioners at Holy Apostles raised funds to add a bell tower to the original
structure as part of the 25th anniversary of its arrival in Satellite Beach.
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