Tabernacle's Stanislaw Leaves Legacy in Ocean City Community

The floodwaters from the worst storm in Ocean City history had barely receded when the Ocean City Tabernacle became part of an island-wide effort to provide relief to suddenly homeless families.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds of food and hundreds of volunteers came in and out of the Tabernacle in the immediate aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in late fall 2012.

A successful relief effort started almost immediately after a mandatory evacuation was lifted and residents returned to the island to see what damage the record flooding had done.

"It was a community showing what a community could be," said Dr. Richard Stanislaw, president and CEO of the Tabernacle. "I get sentimental thinking about it."

That the Tabernacle was a central part of the relief effort and has become a vital part of the year-round community in Ocean City is part of the legacy of Stanislaw, who will retire in December after 11 years as president.

Tabernacle trustees announced Stanislaw's successor on Sunday. The Rev. Rick Carlson will become the new president after Stanislaw organizes the Messiah Sing-in (Dec. 7) and conductis the Christmas Concert (Dec. 14). 

The Tabernacle's roots date back 134 years to the founding of Ocean City as a Christian resort in 1879, and it has continued as a place for summertime interdenominational worship. But when they hired Stanislaw in 2003, the Tabernacle trustees had a vision of the institution playing a greater role in the year-round community of Ocean City.

Under Stanislaw's leadership, the Tabernacle opened the Richard and Mary Anne Kull Youth Center in 2008. The Tabernacle itself expanded from an auditorium and a few offices to a much larger facility that plays host not only to worship but to business and community events as well.

From Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce forums to weekly summer farmers markets to a center for children's activities during semiannual downtown block parties, the Tabernacle has come a long way toward becoming what Stanislaw calls "the anchor store of the north end of Asbury Avenue."

Shortly before Sandy struck last year, the Tabernacle purchased a dying boardwalk movie theater. They repaired and renovated it over the winter, and the Moorlyn Family Theatre opened this summer, featuring not only first-run movies, but live entertainment and a weekly late-night event for teens.

"I think if you had showed me a list of his accomplishments on the day he was hired, I wouldn't have believed it possible," said Todd Chamberlain, chairman of the Tabernacle Board of Trustees. "It's a completely different organization today than it was 11 years ago."

Chamberlain credits Stanislaw with "visionary ideas that stemmed from his leadership." He said he set the organization off on a growth mode and had a knack for making the right decisions at the right times.

"He reconnected the Tabernacle with not just the summer crowd but with the year-round community," Chamberlain said.

Michele Gillian, executive director of the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce, said Stanislaw contributes to Ocean City not only spiritually, but through partnerships with the Chamber and Retail Merchants Association.

"He was very influential during the storm," said Gillian, adding that the relief efforts couldn't have achieved as much as they did without the help of Stanislaw.

"He's really been a great supporter of the business community in every way," she said.

Stanislaw and his wife, Becky, had vacationed in Ocean City since childhood.

"We are among those nostalgic people," Stanislaw said, recalling the number of people who have told him they learned to ride a two-wheeler on the grounds at the Tabernacle or learned to swim in the saltwater pools at the Flanders Hotel.

But on a cold winter day 11 years ago, Stanislaw was not sure he wanted to make the move to Ocean City year-round. He had made his career in higher education, including a stint as president of King College in Tennessee and academic vice president at Taylor University and Waynesburg University in Pennsylvania.

It was "god's intervention" and a long call from the late Richard Kull that helped him decide.

"You're what Ocean City needs," Kull told Stanislaw.

For Stanislaw and for the community, the decision was fortuitous. It set in motion Stanislaw's move to the place of his childhood memories and the Tabernacle's growth.

"What I feel most satisfied about is the way the Tabernacle has become integrated into the community," Stanislaw said.

Even though it meant a late night for the 73-year-old, Stanislaw said one of the favorite moments of his career came this summer — seeing 150 to 200 teenagers in the Moorlyn Family Theatre for the weekly Saturday Unite event.

"This is the part I"m most excited about," he said.

Stanislaw won't be leaving Ocean City in retirement. In fact, he'll be moving to a new home near First Street and Haven Avenue that can help accommodate his three grown children and five grandchildren.

He said he'll be writing, visiting family and enjoying all that Ocean City has to offer.

"As an island, we have a sense of community that few places enjoy," Stanislaw said. "The place has edges."