Welcome from the Search Committee

Clockwise starting upper left: Cydney Ogilvie, Bob Cochrane (Vestry representative), Susan McConnell, James Cooper, Mazrine Duncan, Lisa Grant (Chairperson), Irv Lipscomb, Lindsay Elliott, Deb Sponsler (Vestry representative), and Carmen Graham.

Our Parish

Staff and Volunteers: St. Richard’s has a staff of five: Rector, Parish Administrator, Sexton, Director of Music, and Nursery Director. Our volunteers donate their time in worship services, small groups, adult and youth education, finances, pastoral care, and maintaining the pet cemetery, gardens, and grounds.

St. Richard’s has an architecturally significant parish with a chapel that seats 300. Our mortgage was paid off (yah!), we have a new roof, and ample parking. We have a Parish Hall and a bank of offices/classes that are rented out to member ministries. Across from the Chapel, we have a Memorial Garden, where those laid to rest are united with “so great a cloud of witnesses,” their lives forever woven into the story of our parish. Our Pet Cemetery offers a beautiful, peaceful corner where our beloved pets are laid to rest with dignity and surrounded by beauty (and open for visits 24/7). We are currently constructing a labyrinth on the grounds where anyone will be able to come for silent meditation and prayer.



St. John Chrystostom, whose beautiful prayer we often use at the end of our Daily Offices, often reminded his parishioners “The Church is a hospital, and not a courtroom, for souls.” Many come to St. Richard’s to heal past wounds because this is a church that loves and accepts every person who walks through our doors.

St. Richard's is part of the Diocese of Central Florida. Click to read more about the Diocese.

Worship and Music

St. Richard’s has three services on Sunday and one on Wednesday, as well as several other times to gather for prayer and worship.

• Sunday, 8 a.m., Rite I said service
• Sunday, 10:30 a.m., Rite II, main service with full choir
• Sunday, 5 p.m. There is a rotation of services that includes Taizé, contemplative Evening Prayer in the Celtic Tradition, and traditional Evening Prayer.
• Wednesdays, noon, Healing Service in the Lady Chapel draws from within and outside of St. Richard’s for an intimate service and eucharist and the opportunity to ask for healing prayers.
  
• Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 9 a.m., Morning Prayers on Facebook Live are led by the laity.
• Tuesday, 10 a.m., Sacred Time, Contemplative Prayer: In this sacred hour, we explore different contemplative practices, including Lectio Divina and centering meditation. It is a time for quieting ourselves, letting go of our concerns and the business of our lives, and intentionally listening for God’s quiet voice and presence. It is a small retreat in the midst our week.

Often, visitors who cannot (or do not want to) come to Sunday services, come to our Wednesday Healing Service or the Sunday evening services. These services are an entry into the St. Richard’s community without the obligation a visitor may feel by coming to the Sunday morning service. These gentle services feed the soul and visitors feel the abounding love of God and a quiet welcoming from our parishioners. Sunday morning services are live-streamed on YouTube so we may reach those who cannot attend in person. 

Our Finances

St. Richard’s is financially stable, with a balanced budget and an endowment. Our mortgage is paid off and we took many mitigating steps in 2023-24 to protect our buildings and grounds should any hurricane come our way. 

The pledges, understandably, dropped in 2025 following the previous rector's departure. St. Richard’s parishioners are extraordinarily faithful and generous, and the parish will again regain its former pledge levels. The parish also has several Member Ministries, which generate monthly income for St. Richard’s. 

Lisa -- We'll update the graphics so it all looks the same.

St. Richard’s has been thriving in Central Florida for 70 years. Responding to the needs of a booming Central Florida community, the church was established in 1956 as a mission of the historic All Saints Episcopal Church, located in the heart of Winter Park.

The mission and subsequent church was named for St. Richard of Chichester (1197-1253), an English cleric who became the Bishop of Chichester in 1245 and named a saint nine years after his death. He was a noted Catholic pastor, teacher, healer, and reformer known for his strict discipline and long hours of prayer. Today many are familiar with his prayer: May I know Thee more clearly, Love Thee more dearly, Follow Thee more nearly.

St. Richard’s first service was offered on October 14, 1956, in the auditorium of Lakemont Elementary School with 39 people. A few months later, the budding mission accepted property donated by the new developer of the Tanglewood subdivision. Francis H. Emerson, AIA, drew up plans for a combination parish house-church. By June 30, 1957, the new mission installed a vicar and construction began in Spring 1958. Services were held in the new building (the current St. Richard’s Parish Hall) by the end of the summer. A year later, the church expanded with a classroom building to house its Sunday school and a kindergarten. At the Diocesan Convention in May 1960, the Mission of St. Richard's was granted parish status and a new rector installed. In March 1967, the noted firm of Schweitzer Associates, Architects, was selected to develop a master site plan. Nils Schweitzer, President of the AIA Committee on Church Architecture, an Episcopalian and former student of Frank Lloyd Wright, designed the current church, which was dedicated on February 22, 1971. Nils was one of the area’s most historically important architects and an acknowledged master of modernism. The officiant, assisted by the builders, laid the stone engraved “AD 1970.” After striking the stone three times, the officiant said, “Here let the true faith and fear of God, with brotherly love, ever abide, and may this place now set apart with prayer, and with the invocation and praise of the Most Holy Name, be evermore the Temple of the Most High God.” The stone is a piece of Selsey Stone, quarried in Selsey, England, in the 10th century and from the Chichester Cathedral building (1137).

St. Richard’s stands out in this Diocese for its many firsts.

• The Rev. Florence Biller was the first woman ordained to the perpetual diaconate.

• Rebecca (Becky) Wilson was the first woman to serve on a vestry in 1967.

• Peggy Gordon was the first female Senior Warden in the Diocese.

• The Rev. Marion Thullbery was the first woman priest ordained in this Diocese.

• The Rev. Dr. Dale Truscott became the first openly gay priest to lead a diocesan church when he became Priest-in-Charge in 2026.

The 300-seat sanctuary remains as originally built, but many refinements and appointments have been added to enhance its beauty. Its interior furniture was designed by Schweizer Associates to complement the architectural design. The wood of the altar, ambo, aumbry, etc., are African mahogany stained to a warm walnut.

The Lady Chapel was placed in the northeastern corner of the sanctuary and  provides an intimate worship space for the Healing Service at noon on Wednesdays and for special services. St. Richard’s has two large icons facing the congregation, both commissioned by Scott Wilson in memory of his parents, Herbert and Frances B. Wilson. The icon in the Lady Chapel to the right of the altar was written by our Icon Guild (Katerina Tsigas Papaioano, Sayaka Kamakari, and Cindy Borr) features Archangels Gabriel and Michael, with Mary, and Mary Magdalene at the sides of Jesus. The new icon mural on the left side is titled “The Anunciation in the Florida Wilds” and was written by artist and iconographer Sayaka Kamakari. It features the Archangel Gabriel with Mary and its background shows a variety of animal and plant species native to Florida.

Click here for a more detailed church history, including the names of all of our ordained clergy and more details about our sanctuary and buildings. 

Living in Central Florida

• No snow in winter!
• No state income taxes!
• Award-winning state parks. 
• Thousands of lakes, springs, parks, gardens, trails and waterways.
• One hour to beaches on both coasts and perfectly positioned for great day trips. 
• Year-round outdoor lifestyle. 
• World class restaurants, performing arts, Broadway productions, museums, galleries, concerts, festivals, independent theater and major touring acts.
• Easy access to ports for cruises. 
• International airport.
• Easy access to excellent health care through four world-class medical systems (Orlando Health, Advent, Nemours, and UCF)
• For families with kids, there are amusement and theme parks, and water parks.
• University of Central Florida, Rollins College, Valencia College, and Seminole State College.
• Sports: 
• Orlando Magic (NBA) – Professional men's basketball team. 
• Orlando City SC (MLS) – Major League Soccer team. 
• Orlando Pride (NWSL) – National Women's Soccer League team. 
• Orlando Valkyries (PVF) – Professional indoor women's volleyball team playing. 
• Orlando Storm (UFL) – Professional spring football team. 
• Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL) - Ice hockey