Black Parishes

The demographics and range of African American parishes in The Episcopal Church have shifted as America’s Black population has experienced new waves of immigration resulting from the West Indian and African diaspora. Several African American congregations stand out as cardinal parishes, which have been self-sufficient communities known primarily for raising up their own lay leadership and for the formation of an ordained ministry. Beginning in 1794 with the founding of the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in Philadelphia, Americans of African descent established themselves in separate worship communities – often carrying on services for years without any sponsorship, recognition, or oversight by an episcopal jurisdiction. The church endorsed a separate cultivation of Black religious life throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth century with the result that newer Black parishes rooted themselves in a legacy of Afro-Anglican liturgical and social traditions.

The following list of historically Black parishes are still in existence today. Many of these congregations have become multi-cultural communities in recent years as the church has become more conscious of its mission to end racism. This list is not definitive and does not include the many historical churches that have been forced to close as a result of a radical transformation of America’s cities since the Second World War. Readers are welcome to comment on missing parishes (still active) and dates of establishment. Copies of parish histories are particularly welcome.

Diocese of Alabama

  • St. Mark's Church, Birmingham, 1891
  • Church of the Good Shepherd, Montgomery, 1900
  • St. Andrew's, Tuskegee, 1950

Diocese of Arkansas

  • Christ Church, Forrest City, 1921

Diocese of Atlanta

  • St. Paul's Church, Atlanta, 1911

Diocese of California

  • St. Augustine's Church, Oakland, 1911

Diocese of Central Florida

  • St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, Orlando, 1896

Diocese of Central Gulf Coast

  • Church of the Good Shepherd, Mobile, 1854
  • St. Cyprian’s Church, Pensacola, 1887

Diocese of Chicago

  • St. Thomas Church, Chicago, 1878
  • St. Edmund's Church, Chicago, 1905
  • St. Andrew’s Church, Evanston, unknown

Diocese of Colorado

  • Church of the Holy Redeemer, Denver, 1894

Diocese of Connecticut

  • St. Luke's Church, New Haven, 1844
  • St. Monica's Church, Hartford, unknown

Diocese of Delaware

  • Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew, Wilmington, 1829/1846

Diocese of East Carolina

  • St. Cyprian's Church, New Bern, unknown
  • St. Mark's Church, Wilmington, 1875

Diocese of Florida

  • St. Philip's Church, Jacksonville, 1872
  • St. Michael and All Angels Church, Tallahassee, 1882

Diocese of Georgia

  • St. Athanasius' Church, Brunswick, unknown
  • St. Matthew's Church, Savannah, unknown

Diocese of Indianapolis

  • St. Philip's Church, Indianapolis, 1913

Diocese of Kentucky

  • Church of Our Merciful Savior, Louisville, 1891

Diocese of Long Island

  • St. Augustine's Church, Brooklyn, 1875
  • St. Barnabas' Church, Brooklyn, 1852
  • Church of St. Mark, Brooklyn, unknown
  • St. Philip's Church, Brooklyn, 1899
  • St. Stephen’s Church, Jamaica, 1903

Diocese of Los Angeles

  • St. Philip’s, Los Angeles, 1945

Diocese of Louisiana

  • St. Luke's Church, New Orleans, 1873
  • St. Michael's and All Angel's Church, Baton Rouge, 1942

Diocese of Maryland

  • Church of St. Katherine of Alexandria, Baltimore, 1891
  • Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Baltimore, 1867
  • St. James' Church, Baltimore, 1824
  • St. Luke's Church, Baltimore, 1879
  • St. Phillip’s Church, Annapolis, 1871

Diocese of Massachusetts

  • Church of St. Augustine and St. Martin, Boston, 1885
  • St. Bartholomew's Church, Cambridge, 1908
  • St. Cyprian's Church, Roxbury, 1910
  • St. John and St. James' Church, Roxbury, 1871

Diocese of Michigan

  • Church of the Messiah, Detroit, 1874
  • St. Clement’s Church, Inkster, 1936
  • St. Cyprian's Church, Detroit, 1919
  • St. Matthew's and St. Joseph’s Church, Detroit, 1845

Diocese of Minnesota

  • Holy Trinity Church, St. Paul, 1894/1903
    Note: Holy Trinity was formed in 2008 from the merger of St. Philip’s Church (1894) in St. Paul and St. Thomas’ Church (1903).

Diocese of Mississippi

  • St. Bernard’s, Okolona, unknown
  • St. Mark’s, Jackson, [1883]

Diocese of Missouri

  • All Saints Church, St. Louis, 1874

Diocese of Nebraska

  • Church of the Resurrection, Omaha, 1882
    Note: Church of the Resurrection was formed in 1986 from two parishes, one of which, St. Philip the Deacon (1882), was historically African-American.

Diocese of Newark

  • Church of the Epiphany, Orange, 1905
  • Church of the Incarnation, Jersey City, 1910
  • Trinity Church, Montclair, 1918

Diocese of New Jersey

  • St. Augustine's Church, Atlantic City, unknown
  • St. Augustine's Church, Camden, 1886

Diocese of New York

  • All Souls' Church, Harlem, unknown
  • Church of the Crucifixion, New York, 1918
  • St. Ambrose's Church, Harlem, 1928
  • St. David's Church, Bronx, 1895
  • St. Luke's Church, Bronx, 1921
  • St. Philip's Church, Harlem, 1809

Diocese of North Carolina

  • St. Ambrose Church, Raleigh, 1868
  • St. Cyprian’s Church, Oxford, 1906
  • St. Luke's Church, Tarboro, 1872
  • St. Matthias’ Church, Louisburg, 1895
  • St. Titus’s Church, Durham, 1887

Diocese of Northern Indiana

  • St. Augustine’s Church, Gary, 1927

Diocese of Ohio

  • St. Andrew's Church, Cleveland, unknown
  • St. Augustine's Church, Youngstown, unknown

Diocese of Oklahoma

  • Church of the Redeemer, Oklahoma City, unknown

Diocese of Oregon

  • St. Philip the Deacon Church, Portland, 1979 (Incorporated)

Diocese of Pennsylvania

  • African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, Philadelphia, 1794
  • Church of the Crucifixion, Philadelphia, 1847
  • Church of St. George St. Barnabas, Philadelphia, unknown
  • Church of St. Simon the Cyrenian, 1894
  • St. Augustine's Church of the Covenant, Philadelphia, 1902
  • St. Mary's Church, Philadelphia, 1888

Diocese of Pittsburgh

  • Holy Cross Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh, 1917

Diocese of Rhode Isalnd

  • Christ Church, Providence, 1843

Diocese of South Carolina

  • Calvary Church, Charleston, 1847
  • Church of the Redeemer, Pineville, unknown
  • St. Mark's Church, Charleston, 1865

Diocese of Southeast Florida

  • St. Agnes' Church, Miami, 1896
  • St. Peter's Church, Key West, 1866

Diocese of Southern Ohio

  • St. Andrew's Church, Cincinnati, 1895
  • St. Philip’s Church, Columbus, 1891

Diocese of Southern Virginia

  • Grace Church, Norfolk, 1883
  • St. Stephen's Church, Petersburg, 1867

Diocese of Tennessee

  • Holy Trinity Church, Nashville, 1852
  • St. Luke’s Church, Knoxville, 1937

Diocese of Texas

  • Church of St. Luke the Evangelist, Houston, 1920
  • St. Augustine's of Hippo Church, Galveston, 1884
  • St. James' Church, Austin, 1941

Diocese of Upper South Carolina

  • Church of the Epiphany, Spartanburg, unknown
  • St. Luke’s Church, Columbia, 1874
  • St. Philip’s Church, Greenville, 1914

Diocese of Virginia

  • Meade Memorial Church, Alexandria, 1869
  • St. Peter's Church, Richmond, unknown
  • St. Philip's Church, Richmond, 1861
  • Trinity Church, Arlington, 1870

Diocese of Washington

  • Calvary Church, Washington, D.C., 1902
  • Church of the Atonement, Washington, D.C., 1914
  • St. Luke's, Washington, D.C., 1873
  • St. Mary's, Washington, D.C., 1865
  • St. Monica's, Washington, D.C., 1899
  • Church of St. Philip the Evangelist, Washington, D.C., 1887

Diocese of Western Michigan

  • St. Philip's Church, Grand Rapids, unknown

Diocese of Western New York

  • St. Philip's Church, Buffalo, 1861

Diocese of Western North Carolina

  • St. Matthias' Church, Asheville, 1896

Diocese of West Missouri

  • St. Augustine's Church, Kansas City, 1911

Diocese of West Tennessee

  • Emmanuel Church, Memphis, 1883

Diocese of West Texas

  • St. Philip’s Church, San Antonio, 1895
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