About St. George's Episcopal Church

About St. George's...

[Staff | Vestry | Choir | Church History ]

Staff

The Rev. Michael Bradley, Rector
Mary Adebonojo, Associate Rector
Abbey Donhauser, Parish Administrator
Beverly Caldon, Organist/Choir Director
Roxanne French, Church School Coordinator
Phillip Ballew, Sexton

Vestry

Officers
Dale Hardy, Senior Warden
Todd Ziemek, Junior Warden
Christie Surette, Treasurer
Robert Battles, Clerk of the Vestry

Vestrypersons
Sarah Nice
Amy Cunningham
Dee Marche
Michael McConnell
Kendree Parker
Chip Triest

Choirs

The Parish Choir rehearses before and after, and sings at, the 10 am Service of Holy Communion on Sundays September through May. The Children's Choir practices on Friday afternoons at 4 pm and also sings at the 10 am Service about twice a month. Our choir director, Frank Kuhlmann, is always open to new members. Anyone who loves to sing is encouraged and welcome to join – e-mail the church office or call Frank Kuhlmann at 742-6869.

The Parish Choir is assisted by the Choral Scholars, four to six area students who are selected by audition and stipended for singing during the fall and spring.

History

While there has been a continuous Episcopal Church presence in Durham since at least the 1880's, the parish of St. George's, as it is known today, was not officially founded until 1948, when the bishop of New Hampshire, the Rt. Rev. John Dallas, recognized it as a mission. The idea of a permanent mission in Durham had taken hold a few years earlier amidst successful chaplaincy work at the University of New Hampshire by the Rev. Clinton Morrill and later, the Rev. Randall C. Giddings, who became the parish's first priest in charge. Bishop Dallas, who gave the parish its name, was an enthusiastic early supporter and booster as was his successor, the Rt. Rev. Charles Francis Hall who followed in 1948.

Services were initially held in a home on Edgewood Road, where it soon became clear that a more substantial church building was required. In 1951, the gardens and caretaker's residence (now the rectory) of the Onderdonk Estate on Main Street was purchased, and planning and eventual construction of the present day church begun. In 1953, services were moved to UNH's Ballard Hall, until the completion of the new church building. Finally, on September 26, 1954 - the 15th Sunday after Trinity Sunday - St. George's was formally dedicated, six years after the parish was formed and almost a year after the arrival of the Rev. Jonathan N. Mitchell, the first rector in the newly consecrated church building. Designed by John Carter, the new structure was in the forefront of modern, postwar, church design, recipient of the best small church award from the Church Architect's Guild, the topic of an article in Life magazine, and its huge stained glass window the subject of a featured article in the national, Episcopalian news magazine Forth, all in 1955.

From its inception, St. George's college work was emphasized as its most crucial ministry, a vision which has continued to this day. Indeed, Dallas Hall, St. George's parish hall, was initially regarded as part student center, when constructed. The rector of the parish has traditionally served the university community as the official Episcopalian chaplain.

In 1959, following an interim rectorship by the Rev. Charles Webb, the Rev. Albert W. Snow accepted a call to be rector of St. George's, a ministry that lasted over 30 years. Upon his retirement, the Rev. Thomas Vanderslice served as interim before the Rev. Michael Bradley arrived as the parish's sixth rector (fourth full-time) in the winter of 1997.

In the first major renovation since the building was constructed in the early 1950's, the original Hale organ was replaced by a vintage 1890 John Sole tracker organ in 1998. Plans are afoot for further renovation and updating of the church and Dallas Hall in the coming years, in response to the growing congregation's needs and fire and building code requirements that were not in place when the church was originally built.

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St. George's Episcopal Church, One Park Court at 16 Main Street, Durham, NH 03824
Telephone: 603.868.2785 FAX: 603.868.6654
Email: officestg@earthlink.net