St. Peter's Episcopal Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Rockport. Now settle in, because even a church story can have a little drama baked right into it.

It was November 30, 1871, and the Rt. Rev. Alexander Gregg, Bishop of the Diocese of Texas, stood up and made it official, dedicating St.

Peter's Episcopal Church right there in Rockport. A proper occasion, no doubt. Fine words, solemn ceremony, the whole thing.

But what came next was a different kind of story altogether. For much of its early history, St. Peter's was led not by ordained clergy but by lay ministers.

Folks who stepped up, week after week, and held that congregation together. That's a quiet kind of courage that doesn't always make the history books, but the marker remembers it. And where was this church standin' during all of that?

Right at the corner of Live Oak and Wharf Streets, close to the railroad depot. Now, picture it. You're mid-sermon, maybe the lay minister has just reached the good part, and here comes a train rolling in off the tracks.

Whistles, brakes, the whole percussion section. Services were halted, more than once, on account of arriving and departing trains. The Lord may have infinite patience, but a locomotive is on its own schedule.

In 1954, St. Peter's was relocated to this site, and things settled down considerably from there. Ten years after that move, the church became a self-sustaining parish.

From lay ministers to a full parish, from train noise to quieter ground, St. Peter's found its footing. And it's still there, still serving the Rockport community with a variety of programs.

A long way from that noisy corner by the depot.

What the marker says

The Rt. Rev. Alexander Gregg, Bishop of the Diocese of Texas, officiated at the dedication of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Rockport on November 30, 1871. Led by lay ministers for much of its early history, St. Peter's first was located at the corner of Live Oak and Wharf Streets near the railroad depot, where services often were halted due to the noise of arriving and departing trains. Relocated to this site in 1954, St. Peter's became a self-sustaining parish ten years later. It continues to serve the community with a variety of programs. (1991)