St. Philip's Episcopal Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Hopkins County. Now settle in, because this story moves slow and steady, the way a good congregation does.

Episcopal missionaries were already preaching in Sulphur Springs as early as the 1860s. Long before there was a building, before there was even a proper congregation to speak of, those missionaries were out there doing the work. Then came 1872, and something shifted.

Bishop Alexander Gregg and Father Francis R. Starr made a visit to the community, and after that visit, this church was founded. You have to appreciate a story where two men ride into town and a church comes out of it.

Now, the young congregation had a roof over their heads, but it wasn't their own roof. For over twenty years, the small Episcopal congregation worshiped inside the Presbyterian Church building. Twenty years, sharing someone else's pews, someone else's walls.

That takes a certain kind of patience, and maybe a certain kind of faith too. Then 1887 arrived, and so did a moment of real generosity. C.

M. Houston, born in 1809, and his wife Nancy, born in 1823, donated the land that would finally give this congregation a place to call their own. C.

M. Houston would pass in 1896, and Nancy in 1890, but what they gave outlasted them both. The original portion of the present church structure went up around 1895, built on that donated ground.

It was later enlarged and remodeled, grown into something bigger than its beginning. That's how a church works, really. Somebody preaches in the open air.

Somebody visits. Somebody gives the land. And what started in the 1860s with a missionary and a message is still standing today.

What the marker says

Episcopal missionaries preached in Sulphur Springs as early as the 1860s. This church was founded in 1872 after Bishop Alexander Gregg and Father Francis R. Starr visited the community. For over 20 years, the small Episcopal congregation worshiped in the Presbyterian Church building. In 1887 C. M. Houston (1809-1896) and his wife Nancy (1823-1890) donated this land for a church site. The original portion of the present church structure was erected about 1895. It was later enlarged and remodeled.