The Episcopal News Service series on the Diocese of Fort Worth continued this week, with stories, photos, and videos featuring St. Stephen’s, Hurst, and The Episcopal Church of Wise County.
Reinventing St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in shopping center took ‘a lot of miracles’
The story on St. Stephen’s begins, “At first glance, Village Plaza looks like any other shopping center in the Fort Worth metro area – until you see that there’s not one but three storefront churches. The newest, situated between Yori, an Asian fusion restaurant, and Thai Thip restaurant is St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church.
“The shopping center is the third place St. Stephen’s Episcopalians have called home since 2008. First, there was the local Women’s Club building and then the Northeast Wedding Chapel. Each place was limited by the cost of rent and when it was available. So, some members went looking for a new place and the idea of moving to a shopping center came up because, as Diane Snow put it, they thought such a location ‘might be appealing to non-traditional church goers.’”
Rooted in an old building, Wise County Episcopalians find new ways to be church
The story on the Episcopal Church in Wise County starts, “The story of the Episcopal Church of Wise County is rooted in Ellen and Mark Whitley’s search for a good place to worship. As Ellen tells it, the couple moved to the area north of Fort Worth, Texas, just before the diocese’s 2008 split and found the local Episcopal congregation. However, when she asked if she could be a lector, she was told, ‘the men would have to agree to it.’”
“’We left and I had a sour taste in my mouth,’ she said. ‘And I didn’t look (for another church) for quite a while.’
‘But at the end of 2014, she wrote to then-Bishop Provisional Rayford High, saying God had ‘smacked me up the back of the head’ and told her to do something about the lack of a place for Episcopalians to gather in Wise County. High came to their house to discuss the need and the Rev. Tracie Middleton, a deacon with the diocesan staff, helped support their effort.”
Series continues
The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg, ENS reporter, visited the diocese in early November. The series will continue next week with a story on St. Luke’s, Stephenville.