St. John's Episcopal Church

MISSION AND CORE VALUES

As a parish, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we have a clear mission:

To love and serve Christ and our neighbors in Tallahassee and the world.

We are unified by five core values that have guided us since 1829:

• Worship   Worship is at the center of all that we do. We value powerful liturgy rooted in Episcopal tradition, preaching that brings God’s Word alive with clarity and conviction, and an exceptional music program.

• Compassion   We are committed to compassionately serving our local and global neighbors, especially through our pastoral care and outreach ministries. Whether it’s caring for those in need in Tallahassee or embarking on international mission trips, we are passionate about selfless service in Christ’s name.

• Openness   We are firm at the core and open at the edges, which means that we adhere closely to the core teachings of Holy Scripture and Episcopal tradition, while meeting all persons wherever they are on their spiritual journey. We are an inclusive church that seeks to embrace all of God’s people.

• Community   Daily worship, a bustling café and bookstore, and meeting spaces open to the public—we are a 24/7 downtown church that joyfully extends hospitality to our members and the community.

• Stewardship   Since 1829, we have valued faithful stewardship of the time, talent and treasure with which God has blessed us. We seek to be good stewards not just for our own benefit, but also for the wellbeing of generations to come, that future members of St. John’s will share in our faith and love God and their neighbors.                                                               

         View our VISIONING THE VINEYARD  2012-2017 Strategic Plan.

         View the VISIONING THE VINEYARD FORUM ON 2015 INITIATIVES.

         View the  VISIONING THE VINEYARD 2015 INITIATIVES & ACCOMPLISHMENTS

HISTORY & DESCRIPTION OF ST. JOHN'S

St. John's Episcopal Church, Tallahassee, Florida, is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida and is located in downtown Tallahassee within walking distance from the state capitol building.

St. John's is the mother church of the Diocese of Florida. It was founded as a mission parish in 1829, and the church's first building was erected in 1837. The Diocese was organized at St. John's in 1838 and Francis Huger Rutledge, who became rector of St. John's in 1845, was consecrated the first Bishop of Florida in 1851. The original church burned in 1879; a new church was built on the same site and consecrated in 1888, and it is still the parish's principal place of worship.

Today, St. John's possesses a strong sense of mission as a downtown parish that is committed to remaining downtown. St. John's actively seeks to involve the downtown community in the liturgical and educational life of the parish through such outreach ministries as St. John's Cafe, St. John's Bookstore , seasonal liturgical and teaching events, and a weekday 12:10 p.m. service of Holy Eucharist.

As an Episcopal parish, St. John's is under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Florida, who is the chief priest and pastor of the diocese. Our primate, or “chief bishop,” is the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, one of the 28 national and regional churches of the Anglican Communion. All together there are about 70 million Anglicans, the world's third-largest body of Christians.

Under the spiritual leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury, we uphold the historic faith and order of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church as set forth in The Book of Common Prayer. We gather each Sunday to celebrate Holy Eucharist, the central act of Christian worship, and to proclaim Jesus Christ to be true God and true Man, who by his birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension brought salvation to the world.