Church of the Annunciation

The Church of the Annunciation was originally formed as a satellite of St. Mary Magdalen parish in Altamonte Springs, sharing a pastor. The Church of the Annunciation came into being with the celebration of Mass on 25 March 1979 – the Feast of the Annunciation. The church had about 800 families at that time and the number of parishioners continued to grow until reaching about 3500 families in the late 90s.

On 3 January 2000 construction began on a new and larger church to meet the needs of the growing parish. Two years later the new church was complete and the final days of the church that had served our parish since it opened in 1979 were approaching. During the last weekend of services in the church, parishioners were invited to come up on the altar and say goodbye. Some bowed, some genuflected, some reached out and touched the altar as a sign of reverence.

My family and I first came to this church a few days after the Challenger disaster. A priest (Father Peeters) who visited the parish had been visiting with some of the Challenger family members prior to the accident and he conducted a memorial service for those lost. There was something special about the parish – we all felt it – and we left the church we had been attending and joined the parish that week.

Church of the Annunciation is where my children celebrated the sacraments of initiation. It is where they learned about their faith. Its where my daughter sang in the choir and my son served as an altar boy. It was our spiritual home for 16 years – a very important part of our lives.

After the new church was completed, the old church building was demolished to make room for additional parking spaces. The new building is beautiful and massive, but the original Church of the Annunciation is the one we will forever hold dear.