Sep 8, 2016 2 min read

Members and friends of St. Thomas Episcopal Church of Canonsburg will mark the parish’s sesquicentennial Sunday.

The worship service will begin at 10 a.m., followed by a celebratory luncheon in the parish hall.

Canonsburg’s Episcopal mission was founded in the aftermath of the Civil War in 1866 with the help of the Rev. James A. Brown. The next year, the Rev. John Barrett Kerfoot, first bishop of Pittsburgh, visited and named the mission for St. Thomas the Apostle.

For much of its early history, the church shared clergy with Trinity Church in Washington, St. George’s, Waynesburg, and Atonement, Carnegie.

Parishioners first worshipped in a boarding house, then moved to the Canonsburg Odd Fellows’ Hall, where they worshipped from 1897 to 1901. In November 1901, Bishop Cortlandt Whitehead blessed the current building. It cost $5,000 to build.

In the 1950s, the development of suburbs in Pittsburgh’s South Hills prompted the church to consider relocating from North Jefferson Avenue. However, parishioners remained in town and supported the church.

Stained-glass windows were added to the vestibule, nave and chancel. The largest window honors the patron saint of the parish, while the majority of windows are part of a series depicting the chronological life of Christ using symbols and scriptural references.

David L. Kinsey’s appointment as minister-in-charge in 1970 marked the start of a 25-year tenure, the longest in parish history.

During his leadership, the congregation embraced disparate theological views between evangelical and progressive Christians. Kinsey’s sermons favored more evangelical views, and lay reader Janet Shaw favored more progressive positions as she became the first woman to preach at St. Thomas.

Kinsey retired in 1994, and the Rev. Rosalind Brown became the first female priest and member of a religious order to serve as vicar. Brown was succeeded by two more females.

Members of the congregation often refer to themselves as members of the “St. Thomas’ family” due to the closeness of parishioners. That mutual affection and Christian love helped the church withstand divisive theological debates relating to female clergy, ordination of gay clergy and gay marriage.

Today, clergy leadership is provided by the Rev. Canon Cathy Brall, former provost of Trinity Cathedral, Pittsburgh. Specific ministries include Bible studies, regularly hosting meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous and providing outreach opportunities to elderly residents in nearby Canon House and the North Jefferson Avenue neighborhood.