February 2019—Orlando, Florida

This quick trip to Florida resonated with me in some unexpected ways. After arriving on a late-night flight and getting a quick start on the next morning, I headed to Pine Castle UMC to photograph their unique, curved portico over the sanctuary’s main entrance. It was before church office hours so I poked around the exterior. Almost immediately, I was given the side-eye by an idling motor coach driver who immediately called someone. A man introducing himself as the church accountant met me in the parking lot and inquired about my purpose on the grounds, of which I explained to him my project. Normally, when arrive unannounced it is of little concern for whoever is on staff and they give me a quick tour of the grounds. The accountant said that access to the sanctuary is unavailable to the public outside of services without prior approval from the church board, a policy which I found strangely authoritarian. After a few minutes of conversation, however, I found that the location was a few short miles from The Pulse nightclub shootings in 2016 and that enhanced security precautions were put in place. While I find no fault with Pine Castle’s decision-making, it is a troubling time when houses of worship are under such threat, perceived or real, and feel compelled to keep such a tight watch on their building. As I toured the city, making stops and Azalea Park UMC and Conway UMC I speculated in what other ways the Orlando has changed since June 2016, when 49 were killed and 53 were injured at the hands of Omar Mateen.

The following day I visited the Usonian House on Florida Southern College campus before meeting a wonderful woman at Wildwood UMC, about an hour northwest of Orlando. I had been in contact with Schuyler Young, a parishioner at Wildwood, who told me that a major renovation is emanate and that I was welcome to take pictures. The 1967 building is a traditional A-frame, surrounded by offices and Christian education buildings, that had characteristics consistent with the era. The most striking feature was the front door handles, something that Schuyler described as looking like “golf clubs” but that I loved. During our chat, she mentioned that a portion of the congregation was from The Villages. I guess I must have looked puzzled because she explained that The Villages is not a city but a census-designated retirement community with a population of over 125,000 people, 100 miles of golf cart paths, an average income of 93k, has over 2,400 organized clubs and 10,000 tee times per day. How did I not know about this? Imagine the unexplored subcultures, the back-alley secrets, reunion concert tours, and the amount of prune whip consumed per year. I must know more about this paradise!