St. Peter's Episcopal Church

St. Peter’s: A Brief History: The earliest service of the Episcopal Church in the Grande Ronde Valley was held in July 1864. The Valley is an agricultural center and first flourished during the gold rush of Idaho and Eastern Oregon. In 1873, Bishop Benjamin Wistar Morris started a campaign to raise funds for a church in La Grande. With a gift of $500 and a local collection of $1525, a wooden structure, characteristic of Dr. Reuben Denton Nevius, missionary, teacher, and builder, was started at the corner of 4th St. and D Ave. The cornerstone was laid in the summer of 1874 and the first service in the building – a wedding – was said to have been held on September 24 of that year. With the coming of the railroad in 1884, St. Peter’s church was moved to a lot on the corner of 4th St. and O Ave. In 1924, a larger church was needed and with a generous gift from parishioner Annie Honan, the new stone church was built, with a capacity of approximately 150 worshipers. The basement contains a parish hall, 4 classrooms (two that can be opened to expand the parish hall), a well-equipped kitchen, a rest room, and storage areas. Both the sanctuary and the parish hall are accessible to the disabled. A new, safer back staircase was added in 2009 to replace an old, steep entryway.

Source: “The Centennial Story of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, La Grande, Oregon, as of December 1978,” by the Rev. Louis L. Perkins, Historiographer of the Diocese of Eastern Oregon.

St. Peter’s Today: Our People and Our Ministries: St. Peter’s is a congregation composed both of families whose participation in the church spans several generations and of others who have come to St. Peter’s as first-time church-goers, as new residents who transfer from an Episcopal Church in another city, or as “seekers” from a different denomination. Our older members are a vital part of parish life; our younger members greatly benefit from their wisdom. We come from a wide variety of backgrounds; we live in La Grande and her surrounding communities. Our occupations range from the service fields to agriculture to education to resource-based businesses; a typical pew could include a farmer next to a college professor. The thread that ties the congregation together is a hunger for a deeper relationship with God, service to the community, and a deep appreciation for each other.

St. Peter’s embraces the concept of the priesthood of all believers. We live out our baptismal covenant in a variety of ministries, both within and outside of the church, formally and informally. Our primary ministries are Worship, Service/Outreach, and Pastoral Care.