From the former land of pirates, the West Indies, came Father John E. Culmer, a
man destined to be one of Florida's most notable spiritual leaders. He was born
May 22, 1891, the second child of Edwin James and Ellen Spiro Culmer.
Life was not easy for the Bahamian family, and for a while it appeared Culmer would
have to sacrifice his own education to help care for his three sisters and five
brothers. His industrious parents refused, however, to surrender their dream of
a good education for each of their children.
Despite adversities, they openly determinedly and frequently declared:
"The children will get a good education, even if we have to work our hands
to the bone." Still, young Culmer's father still advised him, "Learn yourself
a trade so you can make an honest living."
Fortunately for Culmer, when he received his diploma from the public schools in
the Bahamas, he was offered a scholarship to attend Oskaloosa College, Oskaloosa,
Iowa. With a full opportunity to express his interest in music, he studied hard
and four years later earned the bachelor of music degree.
Still not positive he had found his true "calling," he entered the Bishop
Payne Divinity School, Petersburg, Virginia, where he earned a bachelor of divinity
degree. With this degree, he entered the ministry. The high quality of his ministry
subsequently won for him the doctor of law degree from the Bethune-Cookman College
and his doctor of divinity degree from the Virginia Theological Seminary where he
was acclaimed as "one of the nation's greatest humanitarians."
Father Culmer's first charge was as Vicar of St. James' Church, Tampa, Florida,
where he served from 1921 to 1929. During his 10 years there, he was able to build
a red pressed-brick church, build its rectory, install new pews, pay off the church
mortgage of $25,000 and nearly double the membership. While there, he also organized
the mission of St. Augustine in St. Petersburg.
The efficient leadership of Father Culmer in Tampa soon won him the admiration
of church leaders who transferred him in 1929 to a larger church, St. Agnes Church,
in Miami. Miamians welcomed the coming of this progressive religious leader, and
during his years of leadership, St. Agnes emerged as one of the strongest congregations
in the American Church.
In 1948, St. Agnes' Parish, which had been indebted and poorly-established 18 years
earlier, reached its 50th anniversary owning property valued at $195,743. At the
time of Father Culmer's death in 1963, the total value of the parish was well over
$300,000.
It is difficult to measure the success of a spiritual leader in building such intangibles
as firm morale and spiritual foundations; statistics of membership are often frequently
noted. Here, too, Father Culmer excelled. During his 34-year tenure at St. Agnes'
he baptized over 3,000 babies and confirmed an equal number of young people and
adults.
For his effective leadership, he won many honors and awards. He was elected deputy
of the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church 12 times. He was appointed
to serve on the Interior Committee, the highest legislative body of the Episcopal
Church; selected to attend the Church International Convention at Farmham Castle,
Surrey, England; and made trustee of Bishop Payne Divinity School, in addition to
holding many other high-ranking positions in religious circles.
Father Culmer's ministry did not stop with his church, parish, or diocese, however.
His concerns were manifested through a practical social gospel that took him wherever
people were in need of help. Being intensely interested in race relations, he was
one of 50 national leaders invited to a Washington Conference at Howard University,
sponsored by the Department of Race Relations of the Federal Council of Churches
of Christ.
The late mayor of Miami, Robert King High, recognizing Culmer's understanding of
and concern for better human relations, appointed him to Miami's first Committee
for Peaceful Integration. He also served on Dade County's first Senior Citizens'
Board, Dade County's Little White House Conference, and as a volunteer chairman
of the Fact-Finding Committee of the Greater Miami Negro Civic League. In the latter
position, he initiated a city-wide campaign for better housing and sanitation for
Miami's black citizens. His efforts, along with others, were responsible for the
Million Dollar Project, known as Liberty Square. Perhaps, one of the most important
contributions that Father Culmer made to the City of Miami was the opening of a
kindergarten program.
In addition to his activism in church and in civic affairs, Father Culmer was the
author of several books including: A Manual for Catholic Worship, The Responsibility
of the Negro in the Defense Program, and Born in a Washtub. His Manual is widely
used in Episcopal churches throughout the country. On the local level, he frequently
contributed a column, "Black and White," to the Miami Times.
At the age of 72, Father Culmer suddenly passed away, leaving behind him five children
and a wife, Leome F. Culmer, whom he had married on July 3, 1947.
Although he had spoken of retiring on more than one occasion, no one had ever taken
him seriously. Those who knew him best just could not imagine his "retiring"
any way other than he did - answering God's final call while still in the midst
of a vigorous ministry, June 18, 1963.
