St. John's Episcopal Church

The mission of St. John's Church
is to worship God
and to make disciples
for Jesus Christ.

To worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness is a privilege and responsibility of the children of God. At St. John's, Montgomery, we are most fortunate to have an architectural gem in which to gather for our primary worship. Stunning is this place, not only in its beauty, but, also in the atmosphere created by God's stirring Spirit for these many years.

The oldest Episcopal parish in Montgomery, St. John's was organized in 1834 by a small group of pioneer settlers. Although Episcopalians were outnumbered by other denominations in the frontier village, by 1837, St. John's parishioners had bought and occupied all 48 pews of the first brick church in town, a modest building on the corner of Perry and Jefferson Streets.

St. John's was host to the historic Secession convention
of Southern Churches in 1861. During his stay in Montgomery, Confederacy President Jefferson Davis attended services with his wife, an Episcopalian. In 1865, St. John's was closed, with all the other Episcopal churches in Alabama, by order of the Union Army, worship took place in parishioners' homes until the church was reopened in 1866.

The history of St. John's has been inextricably woven with that of the deep South. Although the church did not take an active part in the Civil Rights Movement of the early 1950s and 60s, St John's provided a paradigm for the community during those stressful times.

The house of worship for a current congregation
numbering over nine hundred, St. John's takes pride in being one of Alabams's most enduring landmarks, and looks forward to a future as vibrant as its past.