St. James Episcopal Church in Baltimore is one of many Black churches that has been around for more than 200 years. This is one of a series that looks at the face of those churches now and how they’re worshipping in a new time that brings grace and salvation to the community they serve.
St. James Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square in West Baltimore is full throttle on celebrating its 200th year in ministry, and what a story that is to tell. Since 1824, this congregation has made its presence felt through spiritual, communal, and social justice commitments to fulfilling its worship vows with the good work faith demands. The church has sent more men and women into ordained ministry as priests and deacons than any other Episcopal church in the country.
For two centuries, St. James has touched the hearts and souls of the community it serves with opportunities for worship, food, and basic help, with opportunities for education, and ultimately, opportunities for housing, in that it was among the first churches to build housing for seniors; the St. James Terrace. And their hospitality extends to offering worship space to a neighboring congregation in their recently redeveloped undercroft.
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“We are continuously looking to obtain funding for our properties, like the Parish Center, mostly for youth and community events; and to redevelop our Guild Hall, to be a great connector between St. James Terrace and the church for increasing activities,” says the church rector, Father Richard Meadows.
“We are currently developing a park named for former rector Donald Wilson, the first of an ongoing environmental justice movement to develop seven spaces for community enhancement.
“And Howard University students are coming this year to finish a project, The Children’s Peace Park, that they started last spring break.”
Their vision hits all age groups
“St. James Academy has an active and ongoing summer camp every year, with more than 60 children enrolled, and a partnership, where we help fund the afterschool program at nearby Harlem Park Elementary School,” Father Meadows says. “It made better sense to help them financially in their space than to bring them to another location.”
But in their building, St. Luke’s Youth Center holds an afterschool program with about 60 children.
“Churches have a habit of thinking they’re well known, but they’re really not,” said Father Meadows.
But that’s not the case with St. James, which has been the worship place for prestigious families like the Murphy family, the patriarch of which, Sgt. John H. Murphy Sr. founded the 131-year-old AFRO American News Company.
Past Rectors
In addition to Father Wilson, for a season, St. James was the pastorate of the Right Rev. Michael Curry, who is now the presiding prelate of the national Episcopal Church.
Bishop Curry, most recently known for having conducted the wedding of Prince Harry and Megan, served as rector for 14 years. “If you want a revival, come to St. James, then-Rector Curry once told a colleague — and St. James certainly promised revival with the fire-baptized preaching of this episcopal servant. He is revered and remembered for his insistence that the church remain in the city where it was most needed, even after they experienced a significant fire in 1993, and the option to leave was imminent and desirable.
The church is also fondly remembered by community members.
A high school friend who grew up in Lafayette Square recalls fondly St. James’ bells chiming every day at noon. “They were beautiful. And my friend, the late Dr. A. Maurice Murphy, was organist there. And my sister, Emma, and I had the opportunity to sing with their choir on special days like Christmas, Easter, and other high holy days,” says Barbara Green Hope, who currently serves on the Mothers Board in The Shabach Church in Apopka, Florida.
“The sound of the pipe organ was absolutely breathtaking. When the windows of the church were opened, the pipes could be heard for many blocks away,” Hope went on to say, adding that two of her aunts lived in St. James Towers.
“The outside of that church was pristine white; it was a beautiful building.”
But it all started with Rev. William Levington, the founding pastor of what was then called St. James’ First African Protestant Episcopal Church. Levington was a brilliant teacher, preacher, and artist. His ordination was only the second of an African American, the first having been Absalom Jones. When he opened the church, he made an accommodation upstairs to educate African American children in the community, which was still against the law.
Prophetic ministry was clearly in his sight, and it was sustained in the life of the church by the notable leader, Father George Freeman Bragg, under whom the church membership grew tremendously. He purchased the current building at Lafayette and Arlington and was shepherd for 50 years of the then middle-class community that surrounded the church.
“The early history of African Americans and the Episcopal Church would be nearly impossible to recover without the historiographical work of George Freeman Bragg. He served as the secretary and historiographer of the Conference of Church Workers Among the Colored People for 35 years beginning in 1882. As a historian, Bragg authored “First Negro Priest on Southern Soil,” “Men of Maryland,” “History of the Afro-American Group of the Episcopal Church,” and “Richard Allen” and “Absalom Jones.” At the time, these works served as a primary source of information on African American Church,” according to the Episcopal Archives.
Other past rectors include Father Cedric Mills, the first Black Bishop of the Episcopal Church, who served St. James for 20 years.
In a chance meeting, “Bishop Mills confessed to me that his world and his times were quite different from mine. In his world, for example, opportunities for Black clergy were more limited. In his world, you served a congregation for a long time,” Bishop Carl W. Wright wrote upon the death of his St. James predecessor. “In his world, people expected their clergy to be strong leaders, not team players. In his world, social mores and standards for clerical behavior were absolute.”
Bishop Wright, who, after serving St. James, went on to become Bishop for Armed Forces and Federal Ministries in the Episcopal Church, said, “It is no exaggeration to say he was a great man, a prince of the church, and a Christian gentleman, the likes of whom one does not see today.” He said Bishop Mills served long and he served well. “Usually, when you meet a legend in the flesh, you’re a bit disappointed with reality. This would not have been the case had you met him. When you were with Bishop Mills, you were in the company of a man of God.”
Not Your Grandmother’s Church
This St. James, the 2024 church, is an example of what “The Message” author, Dr. Eugene Peterson, would call God’s multi-colored grace. While the members of the 1824 congregation were elated to have a place of their own to worship in their own ways, today’s congregation has a broader theology and a very different look.
“We have members of all colors and gender designations,” says Father Meadows. “We certainly have more young people and their families worship with us.
“And we’re looking toward the future,” Jordan says. “One of our interests is to increase the diversity of the church; as the community changes, we should do the same.”
Their worship was also affected by their desire to enlarge their territory.
“We have embraced a larger body of music than what is in the Episcopal hymnal, says Elise Jordan, anniversary co-chairperson. The atmosphere is nowhere near as stoic as before.”
Father Meadows says they’re using the African American Heritage Hymnal and are singing traditional hymns as well as spirituals in their worship. “The order of service might be a bit limited in scope because of the use of the Book of Common Prayer, but the music is so much freer flowing than before.”