Saint Paul's Episcopal Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Back in 1864, right in the thick of the Civil War years, Bishop Alexander Gregg rode into Navasota and organized an Episcopal mission. That was just the seed.

Two years later, in 1866, that mission grew into a full parish, and they called it the Church of the Holy Comforter. A good name, for hard times. But the story doesn't stop there.

In 1870, something interesting happened. There was a church building sitting down in Washington, about seven miles southwest, belonging to St. Paul's.

That congregation and that building had their own history, and somehow the deal got made to acquire it and move the whole structure up to Navasota. Now, moving a church building across seven miles of Texas ground is no small thing, and the land to put it on was donated by the Houston and Texas Central Railway. When the dust settled and that building was standing in its new home, the congregation took the occasion to do one more thing: they renamed themselves.

The Church of the Holy Comforter became Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, carrying the name of the very building they'd brought north. Decades passed, the congregation put down deeper roots, and by 1891 they had completed an entirely new church building. Through all of it, through the moves and the renaming and the rebuilding, Saint Paul's kept showing up for Navasota.

Worship, education, outreach. The marker says it plain: throughout its history, the church has been actively involved in the community. Some buildings move.

Some congregations just keep growing right where they stand.

What the marker says

In 1864, Bishop Alexander Gregg organized an Episcopal mission in Navasota that became a parish in 1866. Originally known as the Church of the Holy Comforter, it was renamed in 1870, when the church building from St. Paul's in Washington (7 mi. SW) was acquired and relocated to Navasota on land donated by the Houston and Texas Central Railway. The congregation completed a new church building in 1891. Throughout its history, St. Paul's has been actively involved in the community with worship, education, and outreach programs.