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• 1 media/Holy Trinity, Peru573.jpg 2019-07-17T12:09:16-07:00 Church of the Holy Trinity, Peru (defunct) 76 image_header 2024-09-17T17:29:50-07:00 On 2 May 1843, Bishop Jackson Kemper held the first Episcopal service in Peru, the county seat of Miami County. The first Episcopal Church was organized two years later and was named St. James, with the earliest baptismal records dating from August 1845 in Kemper's handwriting. The congregation's initial attempt at being recognized as a parish in 1843 had proved unsuccessful because its act of organization was imperfect. The convention ordered that proper instruction be given to the leaders of St. James as the correct procedure. The Rev. Francis H. L. Laird of Logansport assisted with the organization and conducted occasional services. Under the leadership of the Rev. Fortune C. Brown, a High Churchman who arrived in November 1845, the church held regular services above the store rooms of a local building. "He came here an utter stranger," parishioner John Mitchell wrote in 1895, "and by his Christian character exemplified in his daily walk, endeared himself to the citizens. Under his care the church flourished, and numbers of persons who had never witnessed the worship of the Episcopal Church became attached to its services."
  
  Brown began competing with the Presbyterian Church for members, which drew the ire of its pastor, the Rev. Asa Johnson. Complaining in 1846, Johnson wrote of Brown, "He is very bold and arrogant in his claims...He has been round among my members & given them tracts & told them they do not belong to the church." In another report, he said, "The Episcopalians are making great efforts...They are a mischievous people." However, Brown left for New York in 1850, and the church declined, much to Johnson's delight. By 1854, after several attempts by H. J. Rees, a lay reader who was not ordained, and several missionary clergy who spent brief periods in Peru, the congregation was abandoned. No baptisms occurred between December 1854 and October 1860, when Bishop Upfold recorded a single baptism while passing through town. Bishop Upfold appointed the Rev. Joseph Large, formerly of Trinity Fort Wayne and Stockton, California, to be a missionary in Peru in June 1857, but he declined to serve after being called rector of St. John's, Louisville, Kentucky.
  
  In 1870, through the efforts of Bishop Coadjutor Joseph Talbot, services resumed under the leadership of the Rev. Warren N. Dunham in the second floor rooms of a building at the northwest corner of Main and Broadway (the Rev. Edward J. Purdy of Logansport also conducting some services). Within a short time under Dunham's leadership, the congregation grew to 44 members. On December 9 of that year, a newly-reconstituted congregation formed under the name Trinity Episcopal Church, and on 19 September 1871, its leaders laid the cornerstone for a new church, a wood-frame building under a design by C.C. Haight of New York City. In 1872, the congregation dedicated the completed building and its "fine stained glass windows" that were memorials to Bishops Kemper, Upfold, and Brownell. A guild hall, financed by the church women, was completed in 1897 under the leadership of the Rev. Edward Averill. Averill, a strong Anglo-Catholic, introduced vestments at Mass and a vested boys' choir. He left to assume the rectorship of Trinity Fort Wayne in 1904.
  
  Sixteen years later in 1913, the congregation erected a Gothic Revival building of brick designed by William A. Otis of Chicago and located at 34 West Main Street. Leading the drive was the Rev. John Hamilton. During the construction, the town suffered significant spring flooding that greatly impeded the work until its completion in 1914. Cole Porter reputedly sang in the choir of the church, but his involvement is only a matter of tradition and not well documented. Other vaudeville stars reportedly attended the church during the time that Peru served as winter quarters for several circuses. In 1917, the parish received a $6,000 gift for a new parish house. On 6 January 1927, the vestry declared the parish to be free of debt
  
  The congregation thrived for much of the first half of the twentieth century and became one of the most Anglo-Catholic parishes in the diocese. The parish maintained a reserved Blessed Sacrament before the time that it became widespread. It also celebrated weekly Mass. During World War II under the leadership of the Rev. Clarence C. Reimer, the parish established a warrior shrine in honor of the men of the parish serving. The parish was known under the name of Trinity until January 1961, when, at Bishop Mallett's urging, the name was changed to the Church of the Holy Trinity, ostensibly because of too many other churches called Trinity in the diocese.
  
  According to a typescript parish history dated 1961, Holy Trinity's rector ministered to the large Bunker Hill Air Force base north of Peru, as well as to the city of Wabash fifteen miles away that did not have an Episcopal Church. The priests also served Greek and Ukrainian Orthodox churchmen in a spirit of ecumenism, with an icon of the Blessed Virgin hung the sacristy in reminder of that friendship. The church women organized the Circle of the Living Rosary of Our Lady and St. Dominic, which regularly prayed the rosary and hung a large wooden crucifix in the sanctuary. In 1957, the Rev. James Parker arrived from South Carolina, and the anonymous author of 1961 wrote in sanguine terms of the expectation that the parish "looks to a growth unequaled in the spread of the Faith" with a congregation "to whom the Catholic Religion is the very center of their lives."
  
  Parker remained at Peru through 1966, but the expected growth never materialized. The Revs. Lewis Payne and Russell Northway followed as rectors through 1980, after which the parish experienced an economic downturn. The Rev. Richard Kennison led the restoration of the organ in 1986, but there was growing dissatisfaction within the congregation about the direction of the national church.
  
  Holy Trinity's affiliation with the Episcopal Church ceased in the fall of 1990, when it voted to close due to recurring financial problems from withheld pledges. Average Sunday attendance went from 200 in 1959 to just 40 by 1990, and the building was in desperate need of maintenance. Many of its older members, coming from a strong Anglo-Catholic tradition, were upset by the ideological direction of the diocese, particularly with the ordination of women approved by Bishop Francis Gray, and adamantly opposed change.
  
  Later in 1990, the congregation reconstituted itself and voted to join the Anglican Church in North America, a conservative group that opposed women's ordination and other reforms of the late twentieth century and preferred to use the 1928 prayerbook. The building was sold to the new church, and it is now known as the Anglican Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity. Records of this congregation when still affiliated with the Episcopal Church are housed in the diocesan archives.
  
  Bibliography:
  
  John Mitchell, "The Episcopal Church, " in John H. Stephens, History of Miami County, Indiana, (1896) pp. 149-154.
  
  Clergy:
  Fortune Charles Brown, 1845-1850
  Frederick Durbin Harriman, 1851
  Henry Cook Stowell, 1854
  Warren Nelson Dunham, 1870
  Edward James Purdy, 1870
  Warren Nelson Dunham, 1870-1873
  John Henry Weddell, 1873-1875
  Andrew Mackie, 1875-1877
  David Lardner Trimble, 1877-1880
  William Henry Milnes, 1881
  Joseph Edward Martin, 1882-1884
  William Black Burk, 1884-1887
  Otway Colvin, 1889-1896
  Edward Wilson Averill, 1897-1904
  Adelbert McGinnis, 1904-1905
  Jean Weslau Armstrong, 1905-1907
  William Edward Morgan, 1907-1909
  John Matthias Hamilton, 1910-1915
  James Augustus Baynton, 1916-1918
  George Harry Richardson, 1918
  Edgar Thomson Pancoast, 1919-1922
  Arthur Worger-Slade, 1923-1925
  Jesse Raymond Lemert, 1926-1927
  Warren C. Cable, 1927-1929
  William Edward Hoffenbacher, 1930-1935
  Richard Dawson Taylor, 1937-1942
  Philip L. Shutt, 1942
  Clarence Charles Reimer, 1943-1945
  Frank Bozarth, 1946-1947
  Daniel J. Welty, 1947-1952
  Gail Colyer Brittain, 1952-1957
  James Parker, 1957-1966
  Lewis A. Payne, 1967-1975
  Russell Northway, 1976-1980
  Curtis Ross, 1980
  George Porthen, 1983
  Richard Kennison, 1984-1986
  Lloyd W. Holifield, 1986-1990
  
  Bibliography:
  History of Miami County, Indiana. Chicago: Brant and Fuller, 1887, p. 379.
  
  St. James Episcopal Church, Parish Register, 1844-1860
  
  Trinity Episcopal Church, Peru, Parish Register, 1872-1896
  
  Trinity Episcopal Church, Peru, Parish Register, 1897-1949
  
  Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Peru, Parish Register, 1950-1962
  
  Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Peru, Parish Register, 1962-1989
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 1 media/Christ the King Episcopal Church, Huntington exterior.jpg 2019-07-17T18:28:30-07:00 Christ the King Episcopal Church, Huntington 56 image_header 2024-09-10T08:44:11-07:00

  Episcopalians first organized a church in Huntington under the leadership of Bishop David Buel Knickerbacker on 19 May 1884. The Rev. William Naylor Webbe, rector of Trinity Fort Wayne, conducted the first known Episcopal service. Calling the mission Christ Church, its lay leaders included T. A. Carhart, warden; David Moriarty and George Moses, vestrymen; C. R. McCullough, secretary and treasurer; and Mrs. Carhart, assistant treasurer. In spite of a promising beginning, the mission struggled to continue with a dwindling membership. The Rev. William Burk and the Rev. Otway Colvin, both of Trinity Church, Peru, conducted occasional services. The surviving parish register of this first congregation contains records from 1884 to 1898 with some gaps. In 1900, Archdeacon Torrence reported to the diocese that Huntington has "a neat little church," but no services had been held for more than a year and for a time the building was rented to Quakers. By 1902, after regaining control of the building, various supply clergy held services on alternate Sundays, and the diocesan building commission held a mortgage of $283. The following year the archdeacon reported a leaking roof. It was repaired, but the mortgage remained unpaid until 1904. From 1913 to 1918, James A. Baynton, the archdeacon, held services, but they would cease after Baynton left the diocese.
  
  In the 1920s, the mission of Christ Church was reconstituted under the rector of Trinity Church, Peru, as well as the diocesan archdeacon, the Ven. Joseph Gubbins. The Rev. George Jewell, a missionary at Hartford City and Kokomo, held services, but they were discontinued with the onset of the Great Depression. From 1938 to 1939, the Rev. Raymond M. O'Brien held services, followed by the Rev. Clarence Reimer and the Rev. Philip Shutt, but the mission closed in 1943. These services were conducted in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers building on Market Street.
  
  On September 11, 1949, several Episcopal families formally petitioned Bishop Reginald Mallet to establish a new mission church in Huntington. The Rev. David Reid of Marion arrived and held services in Engineer's Hall. The response was strong enough for Reid to continue weekly services, and eleven people were confirmed on November 6, 1950.  After receiving approval for diocesan mission status, the congregation purchased a house for $8,000 at 904 Jefferson Street and converted the downstairs into a chapel with another house at 916 Jefferson Street becoming a vicarage. During the tenure of the Rev. John T. Russell from 1952 to 1954, the congregation officially adopted its new name, Christ the King. Upon his death in 1984, Russell left the church five thousand dollars in his will, which was applied toward purchasing its present organ.
  
  On July 18, 1958, the congregation purchased the Ayres home, a large Victorian house at 1224 North Jefferson Street, and converted it into a chapel. The first service in the new location was celebrated on September  7, 1958. The present crucifix, now located at the baptistery, was then located at the altar. 
  
  In 1967, Bishop Walter Conrad Klein requested that a new church edifice be erected that more befitted a church. Choosing to remain at 1224 North Jefferson Street, the congregation demolished the Ayres house and built the present A-frame structure. Ground was broken on November 25, 1968, and the cornerstone laid on August 9, 1969, with the Rev. Ian Schlotterbeck as vicar. In the cornerstone the congregation placed a copper box containing a cross, a Holy Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, a record of the Founders, and the original church petition, which listed the 24 original church members of 1949. The new facility was dedicated on December 7, 1969. In March of 1970, the present Christus Rex was hung on the east wall for Easter. It was hand-carved by wood carvers in Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany, as a gift from the Morrett family.
  
  In the summer of 1989, a new entrance and baptistery were constructed as a first phase of an expansion plan. As the congregation continued to grow in number and in faith, Christ the King became a parish of the diocese in 1994. Construction of the parish hall with five classrooms took place in the spring of 2001.
  
  Those serving as priests in charge and vicars since 1948 include: David A. Reid, Hugh N. Barnes, John T. Russell, Horace L. Varian, Carl R. Bloom, John R. Patston, Rodney W. Jarchow, Ian Schlotterbeck, Peter D'Alesandre, Arnold Hoffman, John Miles, Jack Bliven, Curtis E. Ross and Margaret Harker. The Rev. M. Richard Miller later served as Priest in Charge. Presently the church is served by the Rev. Ted Neidlinger, who was installed Priest in Charge in 2014.

  Clergy:
  
  William Naylor Webbe, 1884-1885
  William Black Burk, 1885-1886
  George Davis Adams, 1888
  Otway Colvin, 1890-1894
  Willis Darwin Engle, 1897-1898
  James Augustus Baynton, 1913-1918
  Joseph William Gubbins, 1928-1930
  George Arthur Peters Jewell, 1930
  Raymond Mansfield O'Brien, 1938-1939
  Clarence Charles Reimer, 1941-1942
  Philip L Shutt, 1942-1943
  David Reid, 1949-1951
  Hugh N. Barnes, 1951-1952
  John T. Russell, 1952-1954
  Horace Lytton Varian, 1954-1956
  Carl R. Bloom, 1956-1960
  John Ralph Patston, 1960-1965
  Rodney W. Jarchow, 1966-1968
  Ian J. Schlotterbeck, 1968-1975
  Peter D'Alesandre, 1975-1980
  Arnold Hoffman, 1980-1981
  John Miles, 1982-1983
  Jack Bliven, 1984-1985
  Curtis E. Ross, 1987-1993
  Margaret Harker, 1993-2004
  M. Richard Miller, 2005-2014
  Theodore Neidlinger, 2014-

  
  Adapted from Christ the King's website: http://episcopalchurch-huntington.org/
  
  Christ Church Parish Register, Huntington, 1884-1898
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• 1 2020-10-11T08:01:32-07:00 Rev. William Black Burk 1 plain 2020-10-11T08:01:32-07:00 The Rev. William Black Burk was born in 1849 in Philadelphia, the son of Charles and Elizabeth (Lowth) Burk. He attended Philadelphia Divinity School and was ordained a deacon in 1872 and a priest in 1874 by Bishop Stevens. He married Sarah Catherine Radcliffe on 19 October 1873. He began his career as an assistant priest at All Saints Church in Torresdale, Pennsylvania, from 1872 to 1875. He then moved to Reading to become rector of St. Barnabas Church from 1876 to 1881. He went from there to Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, initially as a missionary, and helped organized Calvary Church. From 1884 to 1887 he was rector of Trinity Church in Peru, Indiana, and was instrumental in helping to form Christ Church in Huntington. In 1887 he returned to Tamaqua, initially as priest-in-charge and then as rector from 1887 to 1893. He then returned to Reading as rector of St. Luke's Church, serving from 1893 to 1911. He died in Reading on 8 March 1928.