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Our Congregation
Our Congregation’s History
Trinity Parish, in which Saint James is
located, was established in 1762, but it was not until 1852 that Episcopal
worship services were first conducted in Louisa. They were held one Sunday
each month in the then new Methodist Church. In 1869, the We shared pastors with other churches over the years until 1985, when the Reverend John von Hemert accepted the call as our first full time Vicar. In 1989, having been financially independent for a number of years, we petitioned the Diocese of Virginia to relinquish our Mission status and in 1991, after 110 years as a Mission, we became a full-fledged Parish.
Those 125 years of prayer and sacrifice
which have gone before provide us strong underpinnings as we look to
the future with hope and joy. We would be pleased if you choose to
accompany us on our spiritual journey into the next 125 years.
Our
Church
Saint James Episcopal Church |
congregation
was formally organized and the first Vestrymen elected. The following
year, the congregation decided to build a church, but it was not until
1881 that sufficient money was raised and the present church built. We
consider this year our birthday.
Our
heartfelt sense of family is perhaps our greatest strength. The bonds
forged through the past 125 years have formed us into a closely knit
church family, quick to provide support to our old members and reach
out to new ones. We are growing slowly but steadily as Louisa County
grows. As you can see, almost half our church members are fifty or older,
but we are delighted that the fastest growing segment comprises young
couples with small children. To give you a quick sense of us we have
depicted the age distribution of our congregation in the chart at left.
