St. John's Episcopal Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about St. John's Episcopal Church in Matagorda County. Now, every good Texas story needs a beginning, and this one starts with a bay.

Tres Palacios Bay, to be exact. Palacios had already planted its roots on one side of those waters back in 1902. Then, in 1908, the community of Collegeport rose up across that same bay — a new town with new ambitions.

Three families in Collegeport decided their community needed an Episcopal congregation. That part you might expect. What you might not expect is the woman who made it happen.

Her name was Grace Theodora Smith, and she set out to do something that tends to humble most people before they even start — she went door to door, business to business, collecting donations to buy land and build a church. Nearly all the money needed. She raised nearly all of it herself.

When she got close to the finish line, Bishop George Herbert Kinsolving stepped in and gave the last dollars toward the building. Smith had a vision for the place too. A Mission style structure, she said.

The congregation purchased the lumber and the concrete blocks, and they built it. Come August of 1911, that church was complete, and the Rev. John Sloan of St.

Mark's Episcopal Church of Bay City came down and held the first service. That November, Bishop Kinsolving consecrated the church, and he gave it a name that tells you everything about how this story was remembered — he called it Grace Church of St. Mary's Mission, in honor of Smith and her hard work.

Three years later, in 1914, Grace Smith herself wed Edgar G. Jones right there inside those walls she had spent so much to raise. You might think that's the happy ending.

But this is Texas, and the Gulf Coast does not make promises. Adverse weather conditions, the marker says, and that phrase is doing a lot of heavy lifting. We're talking a freeze.

A tidal wave. A hurricane. One after another, nature leaned on that community until many of the local residents eventually left the area — and left the church.

By the early 1920s, the sanctuary had fallen into disuse. But here is the thing about a well-built foundation, whether you're talking about concrete blocks or congregation. The story wasn't finished.

In 1922, Bishop Clinton S. Quin established St. John's Episcopal Church in Palacios — the town across the bay where this whole region had first taken shape.

For a time, that congregation met at the home of a woman named Sara Jane Pybus. And in 1926, her son Fred Pybus, along with J.E. Lothridge and George A.

Harrison, did something that takes a certain kind of determination to even attempt. They moved the Grace Church building — the whole structure — from Collegeport to Palacios. Picked it up and brought it across to give it a new life.

On March 20, 1927, Bishop Quin consecrated it as St. John's Mission. Since that day, the congregation has refurbished the sanctuary and added a parish hall.

Membership has remained steady. The people still gather for worship and for education. And if you want to understand why, just trace it back — to three families, to one determined woman, to nearly all the money she raised dollar by donated dollar, and to a building that survived the Texas coast long enough to be worth saving twice.

What the marker says

The community of Collegeport was founded in 1908 across the Tres Palacios Bay from Palacios, which had been established in 1902. Three Collegeport families organized an Episcopal congregation. Grace Theodora Smith collected donations from local residents and businesses to raise funds for land and a church building. She collected nearly all the money needed, and Bishop George Herbert Kinsolving gave the last dollars toward building the structure. Grace Smith envisioned a Mission style structure, and the congregation purchased the lumber and concrete blocks to build it, completing it in August 1911, when the Rev. John Sloan of St. Mark's Episcopal Church of Bay City held the first service. In November of that year, Bishop Kinsolving consecrated the church, which he named Grace Church of St. Mary's Mission in honor of Smith and her hard work. Smith wed Edgar G. Jones at the church in 1914. Because of adverse weather conditions, including a freeze, a tidal wave and a hurricane, many local residents eventually left the area and the church. The sanctuary fell into disuse by the early 1920s. In 1922, Bishop Clinton S. Quin established St. John's Episcopal Church in Palacios, which met for a time at the home of Sara Jane Pybus. In 1926, her son, Fred Pybus, and others, including J.E. Lothridge and George A. Harrison, moved the Grace Church building from Collegeport to Palacios. Bishop Quin consecrated it as St. John's Mission on March 20, 1927. Since that time, St. John's congregation has refurbished the sanctuary and added a parish hall. Membership has remained steady, and the congregation continues to gather for worship and education, a testament to the strong foundation laid by early area Episcopal residents. (2004)