The Chetwynd Chronicles

The article by Paul W. Wehr, cited below, provides a couple of interesting statistics pertinent to Holy Trinity’s first years of existence.

+ Grace Chapel in Fruitland Park had a membership of 40 prior to the founding of Holy Trinity in 1886. Wehr says that because Holy Trinity was built between the two colonies of Chetwynd and Fruitland Park, Grace Chapel was no longer necessary.

+ When the congregation moved into its new church in 1889, it numbered four families, 64 baptized members, and 55 communicants. Membership remained stable until 1896 or just following the two devastating freezes of 1894 and 1895. Archdeacon John H. Weddell wrote, We feeling the result of last winter’s disaster. The population has become more than ever migratory. The losses of the people in material resources have told upon the work in most all the missions in small towns and villages having a country constituency. The effect is seen not only in the reduced financial strength, but in the reduced number of the membership that has survived. . .

+ In 1897 Holy Trinity’ congregation numbered 30; the following year, 20. Yet it survived through the efforts of the faithful few, and it still worships in the same church today.