St. Mary's Episcopal Church | Kansas City
St. Mary's Episcopal Church | Kansas City
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  • Home
  • About
    • What We Believe >
      • The Sacraments
      • The Apostles' Creed
      • The Nicene Creed
    • Get Involved >
      • Ministries
      • Dinner for 8
    • Visitors
    • Leadership and Vestry
    • St. George's Choristers
    • Rinehart Memorial Garden
    • History
    • William Baker Festival Singers (Chorus-in-Residence)
  • Worship
    • Worship Schedule
    • YouTube Livestream
    • Liturgical Calendar
  • Newsletter
  • Calendar
  • Donate
  • Contact

History 


St. Mary’s was founded in 1854 with the original name St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and was officially incorporated in 1857.  The St. Luke’s congregation built its first official building at 8th and Walnut streets in 1867.  In 1872, Mary Troost, a wealthy supporter of the Church, deeded land at 13th and Holmes to the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri for a new building with the stipulation that St. Luke's parish change its patronage to that of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The current church building was built on that land in the neo-Gothic style and was completed in 1887.

During the 19th century, St. Mary’s operated schools for boys and girls in downtown Kansas City.  Members of the parish were instrumental in the founding of All Saints Hospital in the River Market Area which eventually grew to become St. Luke’s Health System, with our bishop serving as chairman of its Board of Directors, even to this day.  The parish operated a hunger relief and health care mission serving the working poor in the West Bottoms.

The parish’s commitment to care for the poor continued into the 20th century as the surrounding neighborhood began to change.  In the late 1950s, the urban renewal movement and plans for a new downtown freeway caused nearly all of the existing buildings on the east side of downtown to be demolished.  The church building had deteriorated.  The roof and exterior masonry were structurally unsound and the building was slated for demolition.  A grant from the David Woods Kemper Foundation supported repairs to restore its structural integrity.  Since then, St. Mary's has been lovingly referred to by some as "Our Lady of the Freeway."

St. George’s Episcopal Church, which eventually became part of St. Mary’s, was started in 1891 at 32nd St. and Troost Ave.  St. George’s occupied several other buildings, including one at Linwood and Paseo that burned down in 1954, until they formed a partnership with St. Mary’s that allowed them the use of their building.  Bishop Arthur Vogel officially dissolved St. George’s Church in February 1989 and allowed the congregation to transfer membership to St. Mary’s.

Through the latter part of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st, St. Mary’s has continued to reach out to the community through its hunger relief and fine arts programs.  The church building was the base of operations for Downtown Outreach which operated for many years distributing groceries to those in need, and serves as an important concert venue for the Kansas City music community.

In 2009, St. Mary’s began a capital campaign for restoration and renovation of the building.  Over $1 million in improvements were made from 2010-2016.  Since 2014, our community has grown little by little from an average Sunday attendance below 50 to over 90 (as of June 2019).

Our tradition of welcoming all who come through our doors as well as reaching out to those beyond our walls continues, now, in the second century of our service to Kansas City.  From beautiful architecture to ancient liturgical customs, we continue to seek to lead sinners to a loving God through the Anglo-catholic tradition we've received from our forebears so long ago.  St. Mary's is a beacon of hope and healing in a broken and weary world, offering a safe and loving community to all.


Click here to access the St. Mary's Archives at the Kansas City Public Library.
Click 
here to access the U.S. Dept. of the Interior National Register of History Places Nomination Form and Photographs.
​​Click here to read an article from The Living Church dated July 2, 2000, which discusses Fr. Jardine and the lore surrounding his alleged haunting of the parish.

Priests-in-Charge and Rectors of St. Mary's Episcopal Church
Dcn.-in-Charge Joseph Ingoldsby Corbyn 1857-1860
Fr. Charles M. Calloway 1860-1861
Fr. Joseph Woods, Jr. 1865-1866
Fr. David Davis Van Antwerp 1867-1872
Fr. George C. Betts 1872-1876
Fr. Mynerson Erastus Buck 1876-1879
Fr. Henry David Jardine 1879-1886
Fr. John Dorsey Sword, Jr. 1886-1891
Fr. James Stewart Smith 1891-1915
Fr. Edwin Walter Merrill 1918-1953
Fr. Charles T. Cooper, Jr. 1953-1961
Fr. James David McCallum 1961-1967
​​​Fr. Phillip Toll Brinkman 1967-1977

​Fr. Robert M. Hutcherson 1978-1983

Fr. Lowell Jacobson Satre, Jr. 1984-1987
​Fr. Richmond F. Thweatt, III 1987-1990
Fr. Bruce Donald Rahtjen 1990-1999
Fr. William Earl Lusk 1999-2000
Fr. Paul Raymond Cook 2000-2002
Fr. Jeffrey Paul Cave 2003-2005
Mtr. Lauren Lyon 2005-2014
Fr. Cecil Patrick Perkins 2014-2018
Fr. Charles M. Everson 2018-2023
Fr. Sean C. Kim 2023-present

To the Glory of God and in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary

St. Mary's is a parish of the Diocese of West Missouri, The Episcopal Church, and the Anglican Communion.

Address

1307 Holmes Street
​Kansas City, Missouri 64106

Telephone

(816) 842-0975

Email

[email protected]