In May of 1896, an Episcopal mission was started in the Barnwell community, some five miles southeast of Point Clear. The population of that site stood at around 25 at the time, while Point Clear had a year-round population of just 30. The mission was apparently geared to the more numerous summer residents escaping the heat of Mobile.
The minister behind the mission was Louis Tucker whose occupation in the Mobile city directory that year was listed as “Deacon in Charge of Episcopal Churches in Whistler, Bon Secour and Citronelle.” His father, Joseph L. Tucker, was rector of Mobile’s oldest Episcopal congregation at Christ Church.
The first baptism was recorded in June of 1896 and took place at a nearby general store and a year later the first confirmation class was recognized.
A Monthly Service
The chapel was constructed in 1898 and services were conducted on the first Sunday of the month by yet another Tucker. Gardiner Leigh Tucker was the son of Gardiner C. Tucker, rector of another Mobile church, St. John’s Episcopal.
The first baptism to take place within the chapel was on April 29, 1900 and just two days later the church formally adopted the name St. Luke’s of Point Clear. The congregation agreed to pay the presiding minister at least $25 per year.
Interestingly, the records do not reflect any marriages performed in the chapel in the early years. Since it was still a small church with only monthly services, brides generally chose to have their weddings at home with a minister brought by a bay boat from Mobile.
In the fall of 1910 the St. Luke’s Ladies Missionary Guild was organized. The membership included ladies of other faiths and money was raised by lawn parties, concerts and chicken dinners. A newspaper ad in April of 1912 announced a “Dime Social” for the benefit of St. Luke’s Church, Point Clear. “Dancing and Refreshments. Everyone cordially invited to attend.”
Another ad placed by the Guild stated: The parties who borrowed the reading lamp from St. Luke’s church will kindly return it as we need it.
It was also in 1912 that a belfry was added with a bell donated by summer resident Mary Shorter Fry, widow of former Mobile Mayor Thomas S. Fry.
The church was badly damaged during the 1916 hurricane and was repaired only to be destroyed in a hurricane which struck in September of 1917. That storm had 97-mile-per-hour winds which lashed the county for more than 10 hours. It destroyed a two story building housing the dining room at the Point Clear Hotel and Fort Morgan sustained $350,000 in damages.
Saved by a Lutheran
Edward Brodbeck, a Lutheran, was so saddened by the Chapel’s destruction that he personally solicited funds until it could be rebuilt. The church continued to serve Point Clear residents until World War II when a shortage of ministers led to its closure.
The closest Episcopal church was Fairhope’s St. James which also got its start under Louis Tucker before being consecrated in 1924. The church records of St. Luke’s along with the bell were moved to Fairhope. For a time local Lutherans used the chapel but they too opted for a newly built church in Fairhope
From The Point Clear Gift Shop to Church
In 1957, Point Clear resident Mae Hamel purchased the chapel and converted it into a gift shop. Mrs. Hamel advertised that it was her “Hobby Shop” where “Each Gift is Individually Selected.”
Nearly 30 years later, the shop had closed and the building was purchased by Philip Stenzel and his sister, Joan Murphy who renamed it St. Francis at the Point and termed it a “Traditional Protestant Episcopal Church.”
In 2001, the church expanded and built its current sanctuary next door and is now a part of the Gulf Atlantic Diocese of the Anglican Church. The chapel has been used for small weddings and has been open during office hours for prayer.
Fundraising efforts are underway for the chapel’s refurbishment and enlargement, with plans prepared by Mobile architect Douglas B. Kearley. The existing furnishings will be re-finished and appropriate lighting installed. The newly landscaped and restored chapel will be a welcome addition to the church campus and the Point Clear community.
