Faith Archive

For nearly 200 years, Bagdad Methodist Church has been a fixture of Santa Rosa County. The sanctuary has been standing since 1885. The congregation can trace its roots back to 1821, when carpenters and settlers gathered along the Blackwater River for Sunday service.

Pastors, public servants and community members gathered May 7 at Jernigan’s Landing in Milton to mark the National Day of Prayer, lifting up prayers for government, military families, schools, businesses and the media under the 2026 national theme “Glorify God Among the Nations.”

On the last Saturday of every month, cars line up three deep in the parking lot of Olivet Baptist Church, where a small congregation hands out roughly 200 bags of groceries to families across Santa Rosa County.

The office inside Whiting Field Naval Air Station’s chapel is not what you might expect from a military chaplain. Pokemon cards line a shelf of Lt. j.g. James Ferguson, the base’s newest chaplain and, as it turns out, one of its most unlikely ones.

Tim Chandler has spent his life answering callings.
At 16, he started preaching. Not long after, he joined the Marine Corps and never saw the two as a contradiction.
“Being a minister and a man of God made me a better Marine,” Chandler said, “and being a Marine made me a better minister and a man of God.”

When the world feels like it is spinning out of control, Jim Waters turns to a passage he has carried for years.

Pastors in Santa Rosa County say two pieces of legislation moving through the Florida Legislature could affect how churches across Florida manage both security and finances, as congregations increasingly focus on protecting worshippers while navigating changing public policy.

After serving time in jail and prison following an opioid addiction, Dana Clah now works inside county jails helping incarcerated men and women confront trauma, addiction and life decisions through a faith-based recovery program she developed from her own experience.

As Friendship Baptist Church in Milton navigates leadership changes, one constant has been its youth minister, Logan Matthews, who said his primary focus remains guiding young church members while helping them build lasting spiritual foundations.

Like many married couples, my wife and I have different temperature preferences. I prefer cooler — even cold — temperatures. My wife is hauling out her winter gear at 70 degrees. She is usually cold. I am usually hot.

She often grasps my hands and exclaims, “You are WARM!” I sometimes ask absentmindedly, “Do you find it hot in here?” She replies from her huddle of blankets, “What do you think?” We both grew up in northern climates, so I once asked, “What did you do in winter?”