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St. Paul's Episcopal Church is an historic Episcopal parish located in Walnut Creek, California, in the Episcopal Diocese of California. The Carpenter Gothic style chapel of St. Paul's is the oldest church building in Walnut Creek. It is still used for regular Sunday and midweek services including small weddings and memorials services. The Walnut Creek Historical Society named the chapel of St. Paul's an historical building. ==History== Episcopalians who lived the Walnut Creek area in the 1850s had to travel via the ferry from Martinez to the first Episcopal mission in the area, St. Paul’s in Benicia. The Right Reverend William Ingraham Kip, the first Bishop of California, conducted the first service at St. Paul’s Benicia on October 21, 1854. As the population expanded, and as church records show the distances the clergy traveled to perform the pastoral offices at ranch homes, Grace Episcopal Church in Martinez was the next mission formally organized on March 12, 1870. Episcopalians from the Walnut Creek area traveled the twelve mile (19 km) trip to Martinez for Sunday services. The trip by horse and buggy usually took about two hours. Desiring to have a Sunday school for their children and church sponsored activities closer to home, five families from the Walnut Creek area were drawn together by their associations at Grace, Martinez. The five families were: *Alfred Bernard Harrison was a native of Devonshire, England, and was educated in a naval school near London for service in the merchant fleet. While captain of a Cunard liner, he met Isabella McLeod, a passenger from Washington, D. C., and they were married in 1869. They lived for a very short time in Minnesota, and then came to San Francisco in 1872. In 1887, they moved to Danville, California, and raised various crops on their ranch. Mrs. Harrison was a correspondent for the Pacific Rural Press. *Henry and Maria C. O’Neil emigrated from Pennsylvania and made their home on Charles Hill in Lafayette, California. *Dr. Joseph E. Pearson was born in Livingston County, New York, and studied medicine after serving in the American Civil War. He practiced in the south and then moved to Illinois. There he met and married Sarah Atkinson, who had recently emigrated from Scotter, Lincolnshire, England. In 1876, the Pearsons settled in Bay Point (Port Chicago), California, where Dr. Pearson taught school. In March 1877, they moved to Walnut Creek, where Dr. Pearson taught in the local school for a short time before resuming the practice of medicine and opening a drug store. *Mary E. Thorne was born in New York City in 1849 and moved to Hyde Park, New York, when she was eight years old. There she met and married John Thorne, probably in St. James’ Church. They came to California in 1869 and settled in the Saranap area of Walnut Creek. *Cornelius and Mary Ann Johnson Waite met when Cornelius’ brother, John, could not take his music lesson from Mary Ann’s father, and Cornelius went in his place to take a lesson on the cornet. They were married in England in 1865 and emigrated to Hannibal, Missouri. They came to California after his tannery was destroyed by a flood in the summer of 1873. In Oakland, Cornelius joined his brother in the contracting business. In 1884 or 1885, the Waites purchased land south of Walnut Creek (in the Rudgear area) and spent weekends only “in the country” until 1907 when Cornelius retired. By mutual agreement rather than by any formal action, it was agreed that Isabella Harrison and Maria O’Neil would speak with Dr. James Abercrombie, Missionary-in-Charge of Grace Church Martinez, about the possibility of establishing an Episcopal Church in Walnut Creek. At this time in 1887, Dr. Abercrombie was 72 years of age. After long service in the ministry and serving as Rector of Trinity, Santa Barbara, he has retired in the Los Angeles area when Bishop Kip asked him to take care of Grace, Martinez. This he did in 1880. He was willing to assume this extra responsibility and on August 21, 1887, Dr. Abercrombie conducted the first Episcopal church service in Walnut Creek. Neighboring clergy assisted for intervening services, but it was Dr. Abercrombie’s joy on October 9, 1887, to officiate at the first service of the Holy Communion in Walnut Creek. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「St. Paul's Episcopal Church (Walnut Creek, California)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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