When a Florida congregation rebuilt its church, it worked to express its historical heritage and confession in the design.

Our mission chapel built in 1990 was no longer able to handle all of our ministry or preschool needs. In 2004, Our Savior's began a building journey.

The overall guiding principle for the church design was to represent Our Savior's beliefs visually. Our Savior's wanted a building that would not only connect with our historical heritage but also reflect God's timeless power and majesty represented in natural elements such as wood, stone, light, and height. Finally, members wanted a building that a passerby would unquestionably comment, "That is a church."

TOWER

After Christianity became a legal religion in 313 AD, Christians came out of hiding. They began to worship in public and build what we recognize as churches. A common feature of church architecture was the steeple, or church tower. It served as an immovable finger pointing our attention upward to the eternal worship of heaven.

Our Savior's incorporated this traditional architecture as the "signature" feature of the church. Standing almost 60 feet from base to cross-tip, the church tower holds four stained glass windows from the original sanctuary. Backlit at night, each facing a different direction, the windows have become a lighthouse for our coastal community, beckoning people to come and find safety within.

The Bethlehem cross at the tower's top stands seven feet tall and is an exact replica of the eight-foot wooden original that adorns the chancel wall inside the sanctuary. Coming around the curve in the road, the tower is a visible testimony to the community that Our Savior's is a Christian church that is not ashamed of the cross of Christ. Rather, the cross is lifted high for all to see.

SHIELD OF THE TRINITY

As you enter the sanctuary, your eyes are instantly drawn to the seven-foot Trinity Shield imbedded into the church floor. Dating back almost one thousand years, the Scutum Fidei—a Latin phrase meaning Shield of Faith—was created to represent the doctrine of the Trinity. Ancient crusader knights painted it on their shields before heading into battle against the Turks for Jerusalem.

The Latin text in the three outer circles is scribal monograms: