Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church

Canterbury/Campus Ministry:  The Episcopal Mission to Rice University

The principle outreach of this Diocesan mission located at Autry House on the Palmer campus  is to the university community of students, faculty, and staff at Rice University, located just across the street. We also focus our efforts on the University of St. Thomas and the Texas Medical Center community, especially through the nursing and dental schools. The ministry provides worship services, Bible studies, fellowship activities, service projects, and overseas missionary trips and serves as a training ground for mission, leadership and a launching point for young adults to become lay and ordained leaders in the Episcopal Church. Contact The Rev’d Patrick Hall for more information.

Archway Academy--Archway is an official Recovery High School, meeting all membership criteria for the national Association of Recovery Schools (ARS). Located on the campus of Palmer, Archway is an independent, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. We aim to create a community of diversity, compassion and mutual respect. Archway is not affiliated with any religious organization but is spiritual in nature, following the 12-step recovery model.

Christian Formation:  Palmers recognize that we are each on a journey of faith,  in community and relationship with God and one another, and we are in a constant process of transformation that lasts our entire lives.  Children actively participate in worship as they are invited to follow the children’s cross to St. Bede’s Chapel where they pray, sing, and explore the Gospel together. The children return to their families during the Peace. They, the youth and  adults join in formational opportunities during the 10:00 hour where we all learn to connect our Baptismal promises to our life practices and actions.  Other opportunities for faith formation include  Women’s Spirituality Group, Men’s and Women’s Bible Studies, and Retreats – including an annual Parish Retreat, as well as  a class for parents of young children.

Great Wednesdays begin with worship at 6:00PM followed by a delicious meal served from 6:15-7:00PM.  Classes for youth and adults take place after the meal.  Great Wednesdays at Palmer are  a mid-week spiritual break, a mini-Sabbath. Join us.

We believe that we can encounter and give praise to God through our music. Palmer  embraces the rich Anglican heritage of liturgy and music .and is a member of the Royal School of Church Music in America, the American Choral Directors Association, and the Anglican Association of Musicians.  Our primary goal is to bring traditional sacred music into the everyday lives of as many people as possible. Therefore, we offer music-making opportunities to all ages—newborn through senior citizens, including:   adult choir, children & youth choirs, Evensong, internships for young musicians, recordings, pilgrimages and change ringing on a peal of tower bells. 

Palmer Medical Center Ministries helps Texas Medical Center patients (non-Palmers) and their families by offering and connecting  them to our various pastoral care ministries. Palmer is located adjacent to the Texas Medical Center and we want to support the spiritual dimension of healing and serve as a “home away from home” for those who come to Houston for treatment.  Contact Suzie Dennis, Palmer Medical Center Coordinator, for more information.

Pastoral Care:

Healing service—6:00 pm. Wednesdays.  This peaceful service provides spiritual nourishment with the sacrament of Holy Eucharist. The major emphasis is healing of mind, body, and spirt through laying on of hands, prayers for healing, and anointing with holy oil.

The St. Andrew’s Guild provides a community meal in the Parish Hall from 6:15 to 7:00pm for a donation of $5.00.  This dinner iis offered mid-September through the end of April.

The International Order of St. Luke the Physician  is an ecumenical organization dedicated to the Christian healing ministry, through the study of Scripture and books on Christian healing, as well as the practice of healing prayer, often with the laying-on of hands.  

The Order of the Daughters of the King® is an International Order of women  whose members are dedicated to a life of Prayer and Service .  Prayer requests are kept confidential.

Prayer Shawls are made with prayer and are given to those in need as a tangible example of God’s love and care.

The James Ministry is a lay ministry devoted to demonstrating Christ’s love in action.  Members help meet the short-term, practical needs of our extended parish family, including parishioners, visitors, medical patients—as well as those who care for them. 

Palmer Place Apartment Ministry currently manages and maintains five fully furnished one-bedroom apartments in an  apartment complex just south of the Texas Medical Center.  Affordable, fully furnished, safe and comfortable, these apartments are intended to provide love and spiritual support for Texas Medical Center patients and their families who come from out of town for treatment.

Stephen Ministry equips lay ministers to give skilled, one-to-one pastoral care to individuals experiencing difficulties in life, whether related to illness, work, relationships, aging, grief, loneliness or a spiritual crisis. The Stephen Ministry program is Christ-centered and confidential. It began at Palmer in 1995 and 125 people have now been trained as Stephen Ministers.

Ministry 7 The Community of Hope, an international pastoral care ministry, is a Christian community of volunteer lay chaplains trained as  representatives of the larger Palmer community  to visit with hospitalized and homebound persons.  Partnering with Christ the King Lutheran Church, they serve in hospitals, hospice centers, and nursing homes. 

Walking the Mourners’ Path is a Christ-centered grief support program for those who are grieving the death of a loved one.  Two trained facilitators and a member of the clergy guide mourners as they learn ways to honor their loved ones, seek spiritual direction, and discover Jesus’ promise of comfort.

The Wemmicks (so named after a character in Dicken’s novel Great Expectations) is a small group for mutual support to those caring for elderly loved ones. Caregiver participants share aspects of the caring relationships, receive helpful and practical feedback, and pray together. 

Mission Teams

Domestic Mission Teams form in response to needs as they develop.  Teams have served in New Orleans and Galveston, TX following hurricanes and in Bastrop, Texas following wildfires. 

The international Mission Team traveled to Costa Rica in June of 2015 in partnership with the Diocese of Costa Rica, and we plan to return there in 2016. In previous years, teams served in Bolivia and these trips have proven to be life changing for both the givers and the recipients as we’ve followed God together into the unknown, trusting that God’s power will do “infinitely more than we can ask, or imagine.

Kairos Prison Ministry is an ecumenical Christian ministry to men and women in correctional institutions.  Teams of laity and clergy, experienced  in Christian renewal movements, share the transforming love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ to touch the hearts and lives of the incarcerated participants so that they may become loving and productive citizens of their communities.  For more information, contact Pat Robson

Refugee Resettlement --As partners with Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM), the Diocese of Texas, and Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston, Palmer co-sponsors one arriving refugee family per year as they resettle in Houston after years of living in refugee camps around the world.  Providing furniture, food, and welcome, we minister to people who were once strangers and are now our neighbors and friends.   Contact Frances Vonk

Star of Hope Mission-- Palmer has just partnered with this multi-focused ministry to serve the needs of hungry and homeless men, women and children in Houston after closing our own on-campus homeless ministry of more than 24 years.  We look forward to serving in new ways and reaching even more people.

Yellowstone Academy is a private Christian school in the nearby Third Ward and serves some of Houston’s poorest  children and families.  Join us as we coordinate snack food and supply drives, mentor ,volunteer, and explore the many other ways we can assist the school and its students.

The Emergency Aid Coalition (EAC) is an outreach program of 16 interfaith member congregations serving the homeless , hungry and poor with basic needs.. EAC’s programs include a clothing center, food pantry, back to school program, grocery delivery program for the homebound, and a sack lunch program six days a week.  contact Mary Bradshaw or Tim Raymond