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movement

A Swimming Success

A pool ministry in Jacksonville, Florida, provides both safety and fun

by Dave Callen

This article was featured in the Summer 2014: Joy, Humor and Healing print issue. Click here to see the complete table of contents.

Written by Dave Callen on June 15, 2014

Dave Callen

See all articles by Dave Callen.

“We believe in wellness in body, mind, and spirit,” says the Rev. Jeff Reichmann, rector of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Jacksonville, Florida.

Surrounded by the ocean, the river, and the marshes, the neighborhoods of Jacksonville pursue learning to swim as a sport and demand it as a survival skill for the city’s children. During construction in the 1920s, Good Shepherd took that challenge seriously and added a large, 80-foot by 30-foot indoor pool to its complex of buildings. The pool expressed the vision of the Rev. Milton Worsham for a seven-days-a-week church that ministered to both its members and to the surrounding community. The pool’s cost, millions in today’s dollars, was paid by a parish member and local philanthropist, Mrs. W. W. Cummer—who had lost a grandchild to drowning and wanted the children of Jacksonville to learn how to swim.

In the 90 years since, thousands of local children have used the pool to learn how to swim. For the last four summers, the local Special Olympics 12-member swim team trained at the pool from June to September before the state trials. The team has racked up gold, silver, and bronze medals at the Florida state championships in October.

The pool is heated year-round to 83 degrees—an important consideration with children, older users, and those in recovery from injuries. Local elders use it daily for water exercises, lap swimming, and water aerobics. Toddlers learn to swim in one-on-one instruction. Older children by the dozens learn competitive skills. A physical therapy practice conducts water therapy exercises twice a week. Summer camps come for a daily dip. And merchant marine classes use its 11½-foot depth for survival exercises, as do scuba teachers with beginners.

“We’re especially proud of the fact that 90 percent of the pool’s users are not members of the parish,” Rev. Reichmann said. “This is a true ministry of the parish to the community.”

Much of the pool’s financial support comes from monthly memberships open to the public, and from fees from teaching users like the merchant marine, physical therapy, and scuba groups. Still, “a 90-year-old facility always requires something to be fixed,” Reichmann said. “We could raise our membership fees, but that would exclude many of the same folks we are here to minister to, such as retirees.” Reichmann added that further subsidies are extended on a case by case basis to folks who clearly need the pool for healing, but who cannot afford even the modest monthly membership fee.

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