St. Stephen's Episcopal Church

Duane's take

Here's how the marker tells it, and I'm just passin' it along. Way back in 1861, a man of the cloth made his way to Goliad County with a mission, and that's exactly what he called it. The Very Reverend W.

R. Richardson, Dean of St. Mark's down in San Antonio, started what would become St.

Stephen's Episcopal Church as just that, a mission. A beginning. A seed planted in Texas soil.

Now, a man named R. P. Wilkinson donated the site, which is the kind of generosity that tends to outlast the man himself.

The mission took root, and the years rolled by, and in 1882 the church was built. Not just assembled, built. Then in 1885, the Right Reverend R.

W. Elliott, the first bishop of western Texas, came and consecrated it. The first bishop of western Texas.

That's not a small thing to have on your church's resume. Then comes 1913, and the Reverend Frank Juhan is leading the congregation when St. Stephen's gets elevated to parish status.

Full standing. No longer a mission, no longer a work in progress. And Reverend Juhan, well, he went on to become bishop of Florida.

So this little church in Goliad County, that started as a mission in 1861, turned out to be a pretty good place to begin.

What the marker says

Begun as a mission, 1861, by the Very Rev. W. R. Richardson, Dean of St. Mark's, San Antonio. R. P. Wilkinson donated site. Church was built 1882, consecrated in 1885 by the Rt. Rev. R. W. Elliott, first bishop of western Texas. Elevated to parish status in 1913, under the Rev. Frank Juhan, later bishop of Florida. (1972)