St Edward Catholic Church

My husband and I love this church. We visit our friends and Miami yearly from Tampa and during the times we are in the area, we get excited to visit this church. Actually we wish we could clone it and have one just like it in Tampa.
The music is incredible. There is a mix of upbeat songs and nice reflective slower songs. The sermons we have heard are great. The parish has a very nice community feel. Very welcoming and friendly.
It is a diverse community of people which is nice. It is a great reflection of how the world is… Diverse with many cultures and races :).
We love how families come up together for communion and as they do, the families pray over one another. So great and rare to see.
This is making me want to drive 4 hours just to go to church and I think that shows a lot of how awesome this church is.

The church is absolutely graceful, peaceful, and quaint. I am much more of a spiritual person than a religious one, and come here alone for peace and reflection as it is nearby. I don’t want to bash this place, but was quite disappointed when the priest refused to pray over us during a difficult IVF (in vitro fertilization procedure) as it is against the church. I was automatically dismissed. I understand that the Catholic religion is stringent, but when someone comes in for prayer because they are struggling, emotionally spent, and need to find solace, they should not be shunned. God would never turn on his kids and I don’t think the church should either.

The church is small and it isn’t the completed model. There was I am not sure if it still is in the works, suppose to be the actual church building with the pews and all that fancy stuff. Taking that in to account, the strollers DO cause a problem if they are in the aisles. The floor is not concrete it has a carpet. It does not hurt to kneel down on it. It may be a small church and it may have it’s difficulties but it is an amazing family. Like all families it has it’s dysfunctional moments. But the love of God is certainly always present. I would highly recommend going and experiencing a mass for yourself before making any conclusions.

a better way to atttact more church goers would be to have the last row closest to the exits fashioned to accommodate strollers, wheelchairs, and working dogs. turning people away because they have strollers is not good for Jesus’ business. maybe you could make a suggestion to your church leaders.

OMG… I feel like I’m going to hell for writing this review on a church… but I HAVE to!
To make a long story short and to save my soul for everlasting burning…
Thhis church doesn’t allow strollers in it. Really nice people greet you at the doors and then when you sit down 2 to 3 men come right atcha and tell you some bogus story about how having a stroller is a code violation in case of a fire… yadda yadda yadda! Unless you have small children you may not understand me, but having a stroller at church is a necessity. I like to teach my daughter that for that one hour we go to church it’s quiet time and no playing. However, if I have her carried the whole time she will get bored, get cranky, wanna walk, talk and all sorts of things! There is no control without a stroller.
To add insult to injury, there arent any pews! There are chairs and when its time to kneel, to the concrete floor we go! UGH!!!
If you can go to another church, go for it! If you wanna go to military camp, ST Edwards is the place to go!
OMG!!! I am soooooooooooooo not a good girl right now!