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The Reverend Malcolm Riker founded St. John’s Episcopal Church on December 8, 1960. The first congregation was a “home church” which met in a residence on Caddo Street approximately two miles east of the present site. St. John’s was one of the four “Gospel” churches that Father Riker started. The
church was welcomed into the diocese as an organized mission at the annual
church council held in February of 1961. In
1963, the church was built at the present site on a street called Pecusa (for
Protestant Episcopal Church, U.S.A.), which later became a part of the Parkfield
Drive extension. The church grew
from about 20 people to almost 80 by the time Father Riker left in 1964.
In 1981 the Reverend Seth Deleery became the first full time vicar of St.
John’s. Previous vicars of St.
John’s, -- the Reverends Cooper, Jackson, Perry and Redmond had been shared
with other area churches. In
1987 the quest for parish status was postponed while the fourth and most major
structural addition to the church building was undertaken.
This last addition was completed under the leadership of the Reverend
Murray Powell, who became vicar in 1984 and stayed at St. John’s until October
of 1992. The Rev. Paul Taft became
the 8th vicar of St. John’s in December 1992 and became St.
John’s first rector when St. John’s became a parish at the annual church
council held in Tyler in February of 1995.
In
February 1999 the Rev. Albert R. Rodriguez accepted the call to come to St.
John’s and is our current rector and the first priest St. John’s has chosen
through a search committee. Our
parish is filled with renewed enthusiasm under the leadership of Reverend
Rodriguez. We are determined to
meet the new challenges placed upon us, with the Holy Spirit guiding our path. St.
John’s is one of the most active churches in Austin in its outreach
ministries. These include the St.
John’s Community Center, North Central Caregivers, Oakcrest Nursing Home
ministry, El Buen Samaritano Ministries and on a national level, the Rosebud
Indian Mission in South Dakota.
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