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Our History

A Foundation of Lasting Tradition

The Beginning of St. James' Ministry

In the same spirit that moved Abraham and Ananias, three families gathered in Pewee Valley on May 24, 1858, in what was to be the first parish meeting of Pewee Valley's St. James Episcopal Church. The purpose of the meeting, at the home of Thomas Smith, was to petition for admittance to Diocese of Kentucky at the Convention being held the next day.

On May 27, the Diocesan Convention did admit St. James as a Parish of the Diocese of Kentucky, and the parish was born. From that time on, St. James has stood, through abundance and trial, as an Episcopal church with a strong identity: Lord, here we are.

The tiny congregation, consisting of only three families and three communicants, had existed for two years prior to its charter. In an agreement with the Rollington Methodist Church, several Protestant Episcopal families had been holding worship services in the borrowed building twice a month. Ministers from nearby Louisville, assisted by lay readers, had been conducting services. The Rev. John West took charge of the new parish, serving for one year.

In 1868, with the end of the Civil War, the parish was duly incorporated by the Kentucky General Assembly, and the vestry commissioned former Confederate General E. Kirby Smith to canvass the cities of Louisville, Lexington, and Frankfort, Kentucky, as well as the surrounding area of Pewee Valley for subscriptions and contributions to be used in building a church for St. James. General Smith and the vestry were successful, and in 1869 the building, of native Pewee Valley limestone, was completed at a cost of $4,000.

The St. James building is modeled on a 12th-century English country church. It began with sketches made by Kentucky Bishop Benjamin Bosworth Smith on a trip to England and became a significant work of William Henry Redin (1822-1904), a Louisville architect who was well known as an ecclesiastical architect and builder. The building was named to the Nation Register of Historic Places in the 1980's.

The little parish grew under the direction of several rectors until the early 1870's, when Bishop George David Cummins, Assistant Bishop of Kentucky to Bishop Smith, took charge. Bishop Cummins had some ideas about theology that were unacceptable to the church and finally, in 1874, was deposed and defrocked by the House of Bishops. In response, he boarded up the windows of St. James and padlocked the doors.

Bishop Smith broke the locks, opened the church, assigned a new priest and ordered Cummins never to set foot on St. James property again. The parish weathered this storm, as it would others in its 137-year history.

In 1908, members of the church began the process of building a rectory. Fifteen acre4s of the original 20-acre site were sold to provide construction funds. Two years later the building was ready for occupancy and, in 1911, the Rev. Simon Clinton Quinn and his wife moved into the rectory.

Even in those days, most Pewee Valley residents worked in Louisville, taking advantage of the regular commuter trains operated by the L&N Railroad and the interurban railway. Pewee Valley was a quiet piece of early 20th-centry suburbia and St. James was active with such rituals of Americana as the old-fashioned ice cream social.

Despite the fact it didn't receive its first full-time priest until 1975, St. James has been served by many spiritual leaders who have gone on to positions of authority in the Episcopal Church. Among them were the Rev. Quinn, who became bishop of Texas, and Bishop Smith, who admitted the fledgling parish, became Presiding Bishop.

The women of the congregation, always a strong support, often were asked to raise funds for the church. About 1900 the St. James women solicited favorite recipes from individuals worldwide. From this effort, they published a book that remained popular for many decades -- a cookbook, Favorite Food of Famous Folks. Again in 1920, the Women's Guild was called upon to repeat its earlier successes. To raise money toward the purchase of a Pilcher pipe organ, the women conducted burgoo suppers, lawn socials, a play -- and a circus! In 1924, the organ was purchased and installed. It Fr. White was followed by Logan Jackson who was here from 1978 to 1984. Fr. John MacLean came home to Louisville from Ontario, Canada, and ministered to our parish from September 1986 to January, 1997.

Today, the building of St. James Episcopal Church, the only Episcopal parish in Oldham County, remains a fine example of the rural Gothic Revival parish church style. This church and its picturesque setting have been a community landmark since 1869. Its people remain proud adherents to a traditional, but inquiring, faith in their church.

Since its early beginnings, with three families and three communicants, this "English Country Church" in Pewee Valley, Kentucky, was and is an alive and active church. The congregation is firmly dedicated to growth in: spirituality; Christian education; community outreach; and communicants.