Groundbreaking for St. Michael’s Parish in Fernandina Beach

Busting from the seams, St. Michael’s Parish in Fernandina broke ground recently for their much-needed church expansion. The historic church was founded in 1872, and has seen tremendous growth in this part of Northeastern Florida. Also, to help relieve some of the parish’s growth and to be geographically cognizant of all God’s people, a new mission church – St. Francis of Assisi in Yulee – was established with its first Mass celebrated in 2007.

“The present St. Michael’s Church was built when it had less than 200 families,” said Father Jose Kallukalam, pastor of St. Michael’s. Now, with nearly 1,700 families, the church that seats 289 people is far below the needs of the community. Everyone knows that lack of worship space stifles the growth of any parish. Therefore, one of the major demands of the people in our survey was to have increased worship space. Expansion of the church is the first step towards the growth and development of this parish.

From left: Father Jose Kallukalam, pastor of St. Michael’s Parish in Fernandina Beach, Father Michael Morgan, Chancellor of the Diocese of St. Augustine and Mr. Gosa, parish council president participate in the ceremonial groundbreaking.