Episcopal comes from the Greek word Episkopos meaning bishop. We are a Christian church guided by our bishops, served by our priests and deacons (as ordained ministers) supporting the work and witness of the majority of our ministers, the baptized members of our church.
The St. John's parish family is made up of over 700 souls. We are young and old, married and single, long term members and brand new Christians. The St. John's family is a group of people experiencing Christian worship as a community, studying the Bible for its relevance to their lives, and along the way, learning together how to build stronger lives, marriages and families.
St. John's was founded in November 1853 after the congregation of St. James' Episcopal Church in downtown Wilmington had grown too large for its worship space. Rather than alter their current building, the people of St. James supplied $150,000 in building funds to establish a new church. The land on the corner of Third Street and Red Cross was purchased and then donated by Dr. Armand DeRosset, then the Senior Warden of St. James'. The new church was named St. John's because James and John were two of Jesus' disciples. The name was chosen to emphasize the desire that brotherly love exist between the two churches.
A century later, the parish was relocated from downtown to the new suburb of Forest Hills. The land for the new building was donated by the MacRae family in 1953. The first service in the new St. John's was held on July 10, 1955.
Today, with the construction of the Independence Boulevard extension, St. John's is no longer a suburban church.
St. John's continues into its next 150 years as a vital, active Christian community. We invite you to come and join with as as we give thanks for the past 150 years and look forward to God's presence with us in the next 150 years.