History of the Church of Our Saviour

Church of Our Saviour was organized in 1880 by the Rev. Charles Sturgess, an Episcopal missionary appointed by the Bishop of Florida to conduct regular services in Mandarin.  The congregation had been meeting for Bible Readings for twelve years under the leadership of Professor Calvin E. Stowe and his wife, Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. 

In 1882, a small frame church, built on the present riverfront property, held the first service on November 4, 1883. Our Saviour was a thriving parish until the great freeze of 1895 wiped out the citrus industry in Mandarin. Services were held sporadically until the area population was revived.

Disaster struck Our Saviour on September 9, 1964 when a large hickory tree snapped by the winds of Hurricane Dora fell across the church building and damaged it beyond repair. The Stowe Memorial Window was destroyed, but miraculously the rest of the stained glass windows and many church furnishings were undamaged.