St. George's Episcopal Church

University of Rhode Island, University Archives and Special Collections
15 Lippitt Road
Kingston, RI 02881-2011
Tel: 401-874-4632

email: archives@etal.uri.edu

Published in 2009

Collection Overview

Title:	St. George's Episcopal Church
Date range:	1833-2007
Creator:	St. George's Episcopal Church, Newport, RI
Extent:	43 box(es) (23.25 linear feet)
Abstract:	The Records of St. George's Episcopal Church consists of materials from the years (1833-2007). The Church was founded under the name Zion Church, was renamed St. George's in 1888, and it merged with St. Mary's Episcopal Church of Portsmouth in 2007. The collection contains parish records, vestry meeting minutes, committee reports, publications, bequeaths, church registers, and realia.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	University of Rhode Island, University Archives and Special Collections
Collection number:	Mss. Gr. 211

Scope & content

This collection includes records from St. George's Episcopal Church of Newport, RI, containing information on the history and the day-to-day activities of the Church. The Subject Files contain administrative records, such as letters of transfer, treasurer's reports, financial documents, letters and correspondence, diocesan convention reports, apportionment reports, insurance claims, appraisal estimates and event planning materials. The Vestry Meeting Minutes describes the events and issues of the parish from the deliberations of St. George's Vestry from 1833 to 2007. The Parish Reports are reports from various parish organizations, such as the Georgians, the Women's Auxiliary, the 20/30 Club and the Annual All-Parish Meeting. The Publications series contains several of the parish publications from as early as 1899 to 2007, including the Parish Post, The Dragon's Tale, St. George's Evangel and the weekly Sunday bulletin. The Bequeaths series contains information on endowments left to the church in the wills of church patrons. The Church Registers contain accurate accounts of church members, their personal information and baptisms, confirmations and marriages within the church. The last series contains photographs, newspaper articles, posters, prayer books, scrapbooks, realia and other oversized materials.

The following is a list of clergy members that served as rectors at St. George's Church:

• Rev. John West (1834-1842)
• Rev. Benjamin Watson (1842-1855)
• Rev. L. P. Dickinson (1855-1858)
• Rev. W. Colvin Brown (1858-1860)
• Rev. W. S. Child (1961-1868)
• Rev. Thomas Logan Murphy (1868-1875)
• Rev. E. H. Kettel (1875-1881)
• Rev. J. C. Hewleth (1881-1883)
• Rev. Frank Woods Baker (1883-1885)
• Rev. Charles G. Gilliat (1885-1900)
• Rev. Gilbert William Laidlaw (1900-1905)
• Rev. Bertal Heeney (1905-1907)
• Rev. Nassan S. Stephens (1907-1909)
• Rev. George Vernon Dickey (1909-1918)
• Rev. John Howard Deming (1918-1929)
• Rev. John B. Lyte (1930-1932)
• Rev. Nelson W. Bryant (1933-1945)
• Rev. David E. Evans (1945-1948)
• Rev. Robert Hampton Mercer (1948-1956)
• Rev. Edward. R. Mason (1956-1960)
• Rev. Gene Rose (1960-1965)
• Rev. Edwin P. Bailey (1965-1973)
• Rev. Donald L. Hastings (1975-1987)
• Fr. Jack Chrisman (1991-2001)
• Rev. Marsue Harris (Priest-in-charge, 2004-2007)

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into seven series as follows:

• 1. Subject Files
• 2. Vestry Meeting Minutes
• 3. Parish Reports
• 4. Publications
• 5. Bequeaths
• 6. Registers
• 7. Photographs, Scrapbooks, and Realia

Historical note

On February 21, 1833, the Zion Church was founded according to the order of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. Most of the founders were members of Trinity Church who believed that another Episcopal church in Newport could be established and maintained without detriment to the only one existing in town. In May, a lot at the corner of Touro and Clarke Streets was purchased. Zion Church was granted its charter in January 1834. The reverend John West of Bristol became its first minister. The Church building was consecrated on Friday, June 13, 1834. Because of a lack of accommodations in the Church proper, the Sunday school met at different places until 1851, when a building was erected for the Church School.

In 1867, the parish numbered about one hundred and ninety members and had a flourishing Sunday school and Industrial School. Despite its success, St. George's was in poor financial condition. Bishop Clark suggested the property on Washington Square be sold and the congregation moved to a more eligible location. At a corporation meeting on February 16, 1885, it was voted to sell the property to St. Joseph's Church, which used it for services until they built a new church on Broadway. The property was later bought and used by the Jane Pickens Theater. After considering several locations, the Rhode Island Avenue site was purchased in March 1885. The building was consecrated on September 21, 1886 by Bishop Clarck. A building for the Sunday school was added in 1890.

In May 1888, the Charter amended and Zion Church was renamed as "The Minister, Church Wardens, Vestry and Congregation of St. George's Church, Newport."

The Rev. Nelson W. Bryant was rector of St. George's between 1933 and 1945. During this period, the parish served the community and grew slowly with an influx of military families after 1940.

In 1958, Esau Kempanaar, a parishioner and owner of the Boulevard Nurseries, offered a piece of land on Valley Road in Middletown, provided the Church relocate and erect a building on the site. After preliminary discussions and consultations, a vote to relocate was taken at the annual meeting in January 1959, with 183 votes for and 135 votes against. However, because of the lack of financial support, and opposition form neighboring Episcopal Parishes, the motion to move was rescinded in September 1959. The Reverend Edward F. Mason, rector at the time (1957-1959), resigned shortly afterward. Although this event shook the parish, only a few families left St. George's.

Through the interval of 1960-1973 (the Reverend Gene Rose 1960-1965, and the Reverend Edwin P. Bailey 1965-1973) the Church benefited from a small but enthusiastic and dedicated group of military families which supported the local parishioners. In 1973, the drastic reduction of the navy resulted in a decrease of parish pledges.

During the rectorate of Reverend Donald L. Hastings (1975-1987), efforts were made to improve the financial structure with limited success. After Rev. Hastings retired, St. George's had several interim rectors until a permanent rector was chosen in 1991. Fr. Jack Chrisman served for ten years until he retired in April of 2001.

In 2004, Rev. Marsue Harris, an interim and visiting rector, was invited to take up a permanent leadership role and become the parish's priest-in-charge. St. George's had experienced significant growth, but by 2005, the deficit had not changed. In late 2005, St. George's entered a working agreement with St. Mary's Episcopal Church of Portsmouth to merge. The agreement was not finalized until January 2007.

The two congregations merged on April 22, 2007, but St. George's name, its legal and spiritual identity did not disappear. A new parish center was built at St. Mary's that retains the name. It also includes stained glass windows from the chapel on Rhode Island Avenue and the original altar stone from the Zion Church. The lay ministers of St. George's will continue to exercise their liturgical, pastoral and committee ministries at St. Mary's.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	Any qualified person doing scholarly research is permitted to use material housed in the Special Collections Unit.
Use of the materials:	Terms governing use and reproduction: Photocopying and scanning of materials is a fee based service available in the repository and is allowed at the discretion of the Archivist when in compliance to the Unit's policy on copyright and publication.
Preferred citation:	Records of St. George's Episcopal Church, Mss. Gr. 211, University of Rhode Island, University Archives and Special Collections.
Contact information:	University of Rhode Island, University Archives and Special Collections 15 Lippitt Road Kingston, RI 02881-2011 Tel: 401-874-4632 email: archives@etal.uri.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	The records were transferred in December 2007.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Daniel Mallin.
Encoding:	Finding aid encoded by Daniel Mallin 2009 August 03, updated by Erin C. Mullen on 2011 December 13, updated by Mark Dionne on2020 May 04
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Related material:	Related materials include the Records of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, Mss. Gr. 41 and 41.2. The University Archives also has records from several other Episcopal Churches from Rhode Island.
Separated material:	The latest church register was removed from the collection and moved to St. Mary's in order maintain an accurate register during the merger.

Inventory

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Inventory