St. Peter's and St. Andrew's Church, Providence (Mss. Gr. 87)

Historical Information

St. Peter's and St. Andrew's Episcopal Church of Providence, Rhode Island was incorporated in 1972 by the merger of St. Peter's Church of Manton (Johnston) and St. Andrew's Church of Providence. Both parishes for some time prior to the merger had been suffering from financial problems and declining membership and had been encouraged to merge by the Bishop. A formal merger agreement was signed on December 31, 1971. The newly created parish headquarters was established at St. Andrew's Church and the charter for St. Peter's was amended to form the new parish. St. Andrew's Church ceased to exist as a separate corporate entity.

Prior to the merger, both churches had long histories as separate parishes. St. Peter's Church was established as a mission church in the Manton section of Johnston in 1842. Services were held in an old schoolhouse until 1846 when the first of three churches to bear the name of St. Peter's was built on land donated by a family from the parish. The modest wooden church was replaced by a more substantial stone edifice in 1857. This structure was destroyed by fire in 1936 and another church was built on the site within a year of the fire.

St. Peter's also suffered from continuous financial difficulties. Twice it had become what is known as an "aided parish," i.e., a parish which receives financial aid from the diocese. It also regularly lost parishioners to other parishes. For many years, the parish was forced to share a minister with other parishes which reduced the number of services.

St. Andrew's was originally established as a missionary church. Beginning in 1890, the Church held services in the Odd Fellows Hall on Academy Avenue in Providence. Two years later a church was erected on Pomona Avenue in Providence. St. Andrew's also suffered from the financial problems and declining membership in the 1950's and 1960's. It also became an aided parish of the diocese in the mid-1960's.

In 1970, Bishop John Seville Higgins ordered St. Peter's to begin merger discussions with St. Andrew's Church of Providence. As these negotiations were entering their final stage, a fire destroyed the interior of St. Peter's Church in November, 1971 and accelerated the merger discussion. The negotiations were successful and the two parishes signed a merger agreement on December 31, 1971.

St. Peter's Church was demolished, but an open air chapel was operated on the site for several years. The land on which St. Peter's Church had stood was deconsecrated in 1977. The headquarters of the newly created parish was established at the former St. Andrew's Church in Providence.