How Did We Become Who We Are?
How Did We Become Who We Are? St. Simon Peter Episcopal Church is the successor parish of a much older church, St. Mary the Virgin. St. Mary was organized in 1903 by Sumter Cogswell, a gentleman also considered to be the founder of Pell City. A small simple white church with gothic windows was built in 1907 at 2117 First Avenue North. St. Mary the Virgin thrived for several decades. With the arrival of the Great Depression, the parish lost the bulk of its members and fell on difficult times. In the early 1940s the Bishop decommissioned the parish of St. Mary the Virgin. The property was sold and the church building torn down. For the next thirty-five years or so there was no organized Episcopal presence in the Pell City area. In 1975 Walter and Sally Childs discovered to their great amazement their neighbor for the past year, Julian McPhillips, was a retired Episcopal priest. Sally asked Rev. McPhillips if he would be interested in presiding over a few summer services. After some hesitation, Father McPhillips agreed to a hold a meeting with a few other interested Episcopalians. The genesis of St. Simon Peter occurred on Sunday, April 20, 1975 at the home of Walter and Sally Childs on the shores of Lake Logan Martin. Seven people from the Mays Bend area attended: Walter and Sally Childs, Julian and Eleanor McPhillips, Mary Mays, Ann Forrest and Ann Powell. In just one week Father McPhillips received the approval of Bishop Furman Stough to hold services. The following Sunday the group of seven met again to formulate a plan for contacting known Episcopalians in the area. In a wonderful connection of past and present, three surviving members of St. Mary the Virgin, Elizabeth Cogswell Starnes, Gertrude DeGaris and Johnny DeGaris, became founding members of St. Simon Peter. And today Ann Powell, the lone remaining member of the 1975 original seven, is still a vital and active member of St. Simon Peter. During the summer of 1975, the small band held Sunday services in the lakeside open-air Chapel in the Pines. When the fall weather turned too cool for outside services, a local realtor allowed the group to use his new A-frame realty office for services. The group grew over the next three years to approximately sixty people and became a parochial mission of Talladega’s St. Peter parish. In 1976 the congregation was given rent-free Sunday use of the Pell City Seventh Day Adventist Church facilities. This was a coming to full circle for the minister of the Adventist Church -- he had many years earlier been afforded rent-free Saturday use of St. James Episcopal Church in Fairhope for his own struggling new church community. This ecumenical arrangement continued for over four years.
On January 1, 1978 St. Simon Peter became a new independent parish of the Diocese of Alabama with fifty-seven communicants and eighty-five baptized members. The Rev. Julian McPhillips, priest-in-charge since 1975, became the first rector of the new parish. Over the next two years, the parish raised capital funds, acquired land and constructed a new church building. On Christmas Eve 1980 the first service was held in the beautiful new building. One hundred ninety-five people attended the 10:30 pm service. In 1982 the church’s magnificent pipe organ was donated by parishioners Dr. Dale and Phyllis Brown and in 1985 the parish hall was constructed. By the time of Fr. McPhillips’ retirement in March 1985 the St. Simon Peter membership had grown to almost three hundred parishioners. Through the 1980s and 1990s St. Simon Peter continued to grow, peaking at over six hundred members. Over these decades the church became known as an innovator of local outreach projects. The local Habitat for Humanity chapter, the original Lakeside Hospice and the Christian Love Pantry were all organized and launched by St. Simon Peter. Membership and attendance has ebbed and flowed through the late 1990s and into the first decade of this century. To date, only two rectors have succeeded Rev. McPhillips. The Rev. Van Foreman served the church from 1986 to 2006 and the Rev. Jeff Garner from 2007 to 2012. Over the current five year period membership has stabilized around two hundred with average Sunday Eucharist attendance near one hundred. Even with a smaller membership than the 1990s peak, St. Simon Peter has remained a dynamic factor in Pell City area outreach programs. In recent years the parish led a church community effort to open a shelter for homeless women and coordinated a major tornado relief effort in northern St. Clair County. A successful 2012 capital campaign resulted in the first major repairs and renovations to the beautiful nave and parish hall since the 1980s. From its earliest roots the St. Simon Peter history is one of growth from within our own Godgiven resources coupled with a willingness to give back to our local community in as many ways as possible.
On January 1, 1978 St. Simon Peter became a new independent parish of the Diocese of Alabama with fifty-seven communicants and eighty-five baptized members. The Rev. Julian McPhillips, priest-in-charge since 1975, became the first rector of the new parish. Over the next two years, the parish raised capital funds, acquired land and constructed a new church building. On Christmas Eve 1980 the first service was held in the beautiful new building. One hundred ninety-five people attended the 10:30 pm service. In 1982 the church’s magnificent pipe organ was donated by parishioners Dr. Dale and Phyllis Brown and in 1985 the parish hall was constructed. By the time of Fr. McPhillips’ retirement in March 1985 the St. Simon Peter membership had grown to almost three hundred parishioners. Through the 1980s and 1990s St. Simon Peter continued to grow, peaking at over six hundred members. Over these decades the church became known as an innovator of local outreach projects. The local Habitat for Humanity chapter, the original Lakeside Hospice and the Christian Love Pantry were all organized and launched by St. Simon Peter. Membership and attendance has ebbed and flowed through the late 1990s and into the first decade of this century. To date, only two rectors have succeeded Rev. McPhillips. The Rev. Van Foreman served the church from 1986 to 2006 and the Rev. Jeff Garner from 2007 to 2012. Over the current five year period membership has stabilized around two hundred with average Sunday Eucharist attendance near one hundred. Even with a smaller membership than the 1990s peak, St. Simon Peter has remained a dynamic factor in Pell City area outreach programs. In recent years the parish led a church community effort to open a shelter for homeless women and coordinated a major tornado relief effort in northern St. Clair County. A successful 2012 capital campaign resulted in the first major repairs and renovations to the beautiful nave and parish hall since the 1980s. From its earliest roots the St. Simon Peter history is one of growth from within our own Godgiven resources coupled with a willingness to give back to our local community in as many ways as possible.
