A THUMB NAIL SKETCH OF
ST. JOHN’S
St. John’s
Church, Norristown, stands as the oldest church building in continuous use by an Episcopal
congregation in Montgomery County and as the first Episcopal parish organized after the
Revolutionary War in the Diocese of Pennsylvania. Throughout its long life, the church
has been a symbol of not only the Episcopal Church in the Norristown area, but also of
firm Christian witness through service to its community by both laity and priests. Her
beginnings were brought about by the same desire to worship God and to minister to his
people that continue to be the spirit behind the parish today, nearly 175 years after its
foundation.
Founded during the
Summer of 1812 as “The Rector, Wardens, and Vestrymen of St. John’s Church at
Norristown in the County of Montgomery,” the first Bishop of Pennsylvania, the Right
Reverend William Allen White, said at the consecration of the church building on April
6,1815 that “the size and beauty of the building does great credit to the zeal of the
few members of our communion resident in the small town and its vicinity.”
The
“zeal” spoken of by Bishop White has never flagged and St. John’s continues
to minister both to a widespread congregation and to her immediate neighborhood. With
members living as far as twenty-five miles away the parish has an area of influence far
beyond the limits of the borough in which it stands. Through the Diocese of Pennsylvania
and the local Deanery, made-up of near-by Episcopal parishes, Saint John’s voices and
acts upon concerns to both the Church and the world at large.
Today St.
John’s stands as a witness to the catholic faith. Since the turn of the century it
has been an Anglo-Catholic, or “high church” parish, but one which sees its
Catholicism as something vital, and which witnesses to, and maintains the historic faith
of the Church in ways which speak to today’s people. In a sense, this parish has
“made peace” with the twentieth century. This is one reason the church remains
committed to the downtown area, which surrounds it. The parishioners and clergy are
engaged in programs to be of service not only to the prisoners of the Montgomery County
Prison, next door, but also the Courts and those who are employed in the legal and other
professions, businesses and the county offices near-by. These make-up a weekday
congregation for the parish. Special services, in addition to the regular daily schedule;
concerts; Lenten programs and luncheons are but a part of St. John’s work. An
annual Bazaar and Supper, held the first weekend in November of each year, was begun in
1840 and is the oldest continuous affair of its sort in the County. In conjunction with
other downtown churches, we participate in counseling, feeding, housing, clothing and
generally assisting any and many of those who live around us--or those who are simply
“passing-through” and need assistance. At the same time the church provides
varied and on-going programs - social, educational and charitable - for its family of
parishioners. A School of Religion meets each Sunday and involves adults as well as
children. It is organized into two semesters and makes use of team-teaching and
group-grading. The adult program, Taster’s Choice, covers a wide variety of topics
and varied ways of presentation. Parish organizations involve people at all levels and
with a breadth of interests. All of these are but highlights of St. John’s concern
and involvement not only in the lives of its parishioners, but also in the Norristown of
today.
