Our Story

This page gives us a chance to fill you in on some of our history, and the current exciting gamble that we’ve undertaken. 

Some history: 

St. Mary’s began worshipping together 122 years ago, just down the street.  In the early 1920’s, they built on the corner of Laurel and Howell and began holding

services.  During the depression they banded together, hosting neighborhood theatre shows to keep the church doors open and shoes on their children’s feet.  For decades they were faithfully served by well-beloved priests, Frank Zoubek and Sam Cook.  People

flocked to church after WWII, prompting them to add on to the facility to accommodate the overflowing Sunday schools and children’s choirs.  In the 60’s and 70’s St. Mary’s experienced rocky times, with some conflict around a couple of the rectors, and declining membership that mirrored the shrinking that occurred in mainline denominations all over

the country.  Financially times were rough, and to avoid closing the doors the remaining members worked very hard, giving sacrificially and personally putting much sweat and tears into the maintenance of ministry.  Their devotion paid off and not only did they survive that time with affection and humor, several families gave substantially to an endowment fund.  Things smoothed out in the 80’s and 90’s under the leadership of the Rev. Russ Johnson.

It is said that tough times don’t build character, they reveal character, and St. Mary’s ought to be proud of what is revealed about them.  They are faithful, hardworking, loving, generous, and kind.  They gathered at that altar Sunday after Sunday, through war times and peace times, lean times and full

times, offering their prayers to God and receiving the mystical grace of the Holy Bread and Wine.  They were baptized and married and buried from here.  They took good care of the building and offered it to the service of God, housing a Leisure Age center, a center for mentally ill teenagers, adult retreats called Cursillo, and the first ACA group in the country (which still meets here weekly).  They relocated over 60 refugees, served free community dinners, and gave much money away to a variety of charities even when they needed the money themselves.  They were among the first to encourage women in all roles of church leadership, including ordination, and have similarly welcomed gay and lesbian people into the full life of the community.

If you glance around the congregation on a Sunday and notice those faces that look like they’ve seen some years, I ask that you toss up a prayer of thanksgiving for all they have done and who they have been that led us to this day.  They are honorable people.

Next, the Present

It is such an exciting time at St. Mary’s!  During the last 9 years much thought has been given to how we can use the gifts we’ve been given by God to share the Gospel message of love and compassion with people craving to hear it.   Seven years ago a special Task Force charted a direction that the vestry (elected leadership) and the finance committee endorsed.  It was clear to all of us that we had to make a choice:  either continue on the same course of shoestring budgets, minimal programming, and a steady decline of

membership; or take a gamble.  The gamble involved spending our financial reserves to pay for a full slate of high quality programming and becoming wildly creative about inviting other people into the life of faith as we live it here.  To that end we increased our music director salary so that we might start a children’s choir.  We hired a part-time, highly qualified office person to remove some of the administrative burdens from my shoulders (which I wasn’t ever very good at anyway) so that I might focus my attention on Christian Formation and Worship (things I enjoy doing very much).  We then added another 10 hour a week Desktop publisher position (Courtney Juvland).  We put attention into making our building more user-friendly and hosting events intended to welcome new people into our midst. 

The great news is that we exceeded our financial goals 2 years ahead of schedule, with a surplus budget in 2006 instead of the predicted 2008!  Plus the energy has only increased, which if you come you can see for yourself.  The adult choir and bell choir both have new members.  We have 11 adults who committed themselves to serious weekly Bible study called EFM.   Our Sunday schools are well run with excellent teachers. We host the largest youth group this parish has seen since the early 1960’s, and this year we had so many kids go on the annual ski trip we needed to rent 2 houses! Our Sunday attendance is about 140 people, which doubles the attendance figures from 1998.  The food drives have produced more bags of groceries than I have ever seen gathered before. We have an enthusiastic commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which will cut global poverty in half.  Plus there is that intangible sense of excitement and humor that feels good and speaks unmistakably to me of the Spirit.  These are good-good times.

Finally, The Future

This steep rate of growth and energy comes with challenges – we’re not complaining of course, but acknowledge the challenges none-the-less.  We have taken another gamble and are voting in a deficit budget again in order to hire staff to help administrate, care for the building, and further develop our children’s and youth programs.  (1/3 of our congregation is under the age of 18!).  Our roof is predicted to begin leaking in two years, and we need to find the money to put on a new one before that happens.  We are rallying support for another youth mission trip this summer to the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota (last year we did clean-up work in New Orleans and civil rights learning in Montgomery).  Our nursery is so full of small children we need now to find more space and people to care for them.  And with more people finding their way to this community, we need to find ever-increasing opportunities for people to make friends.

And of course our goal is to invite ever more people into a life in Christ lived through community.  There are people in this world who die lonely or afraid because they do not know that they will be received by a loving God and there is nothing to fear in death.  There are people who long for a community that knows them by name and who will be their friends in good times and bad.  There are children out there who do not yet know that they were created by a God who delights in them and respects them and hopes in them.  Some of these people will only hear this Good News in the particular way we can offer it to them, through our liturgy and through our character.  It is our vocation and privilege to invite them to a life lived in thanksgiving for the graces of God.

Challenges, yes.  Deficit budget, yes, but this goes back to the core

character of this place - still we stand by the gamble.  We will continue to offer the best we can in service of the God who has given us so much.

I’m proud of them and their conviction and their gratitude.  I’m honored to be the priest chosen to lead them, and promise to be here to see this latest gamble through.

God is good!     Welcome!

                                -The Rev. LeeAnne Watkins