Mission Statement
St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church is a loving presence of Christ through prayer, worship, study, fellowship and service.
Who We Are
By the Holy Spirit, St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church serves through shared leadership between the clergy and laity. In the traditions of the Anglican Communion and Episcopal Church, we worship and praise God through prayer, scripture, and traditional hymns and spirituals. We provide Christian Fellowship, outreach, and pastoral care to meet spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of our members and the community. We offer Christian ministry to Prairie View A&M University students through the Canterbury Association.
Brief History
St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church had its beginning in 1939 when a small group of Episcopal Church members of the Prairie View A. & M. College community met to discuss the formation of a permanent Episcopal chaplaincy and congregation in Prairie View, Texas. Miss Maude Ernestine Suarez, Dean of Women at the college was a leading member of this group.
Other early leaders in the establishment and development of the church included Dr. E. B. Evans, who served as president of Prairie View A. & M. College from 1946-1966, Mr. and Mrs. R. B. Atwood, Bishop Denby of Cleveland, Ohio; and Father John B. Boyce, Mrs. Ann C. Preston, Colonel West A. Hamilton, the Menke family of Hempstead, Mrs. Eula Dooley, Mrs. Jimmie Ruth Phillips, Dr. and Mrs. C. H. Nichols, Mrs. Eloise Williams, Dr. J. L. Brown, Mrs. Naomi Thomas Baker, Mr. John Ledbetter, Dr. & Mrs. R. Von Charleton, Dr. & Mrs. E. G. High, Dr. & Mrs. D. S. Yarbrough, Mr. & Mrs. Julius Jones, Ms. Kathryn Jordan, Ms. Nerissa Stickney, Mrs. Ollie Mae Scott, Mr. & Mrs. William E. Reid, Sr. and Mr. H. E. Mazyck, Jr.
In 1950, this group officially formed itself into the St. Francis of Assisi Mission Congregation in the Diocese of Texas. The first Vicar for the congregation was the Reverend James Murray, a graduate of Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, and Bishop Baines Seminary in Virginia. Father Murray was also Vicar of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas, a ministry he had begun in the late 1940's.
Read more about St. Francis of Assisi in this historical perspective piece:
Other early leaders in the establishment and development of the church included Dr. E. B. Evans, who served as president of Prairie View A. & M. College from 1946-1966, Mr. and Mrs. R. B. Atwood, Bishop Denby of Cleveland, Ohio; and Father John B. Boyce, Mrs. Ann C. Preston, Colonel West A. Hamilton, the Menke family of Hempstead, Mrs. Eula Dooley, Mrs. Jimmie Ruth Phillips, Dr. and Mrs. C. H. Nichols, Mrs. Eloise Williams, Dr. J. L. Brown, Mrs. Naomi Thomas Baker, Mr. John Ledbetter, Dr. & Mrs. R. Von Charleton, Dr. & Mrs. E. G. High, Dr. & Mrs. D. S. Yarbrough, Mr. & Mrs. Julius Jones, Ms. Kathryn Jordan, Ms. Nerissa Stickney, Mrs. Ollie Mae Scott, Mr. & Mrs. William E. Reid, Sr. and Mr. H. E. Mazyck, Jr.
In 1950, this group officially formed itself into the St. Francis of Assisi Mission Congregation in the Diocese of Texas. The first Vicar for the congregation was the Reverend James Murray, a graduate of Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, and Bishop Baines Seminary in Virginia. Father Murray was also Vicar of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas, a ministry he had begun in the late 1940's.
Read more about St. Francis of Assisi in this historical perspective piece:
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