Our story began in 1949…

In 1949, a new church was needed to serve the far western edge of Houston. The first service of what would be St. Francis was then held in August. The application was soon made for St. Francis to become a Mission of the Diocese of Texas. Exactly 75 years ago, on January 28, 1950, St. Francis was accepted as a mission of the Episcopal Church at the Diocese of Texas Council meeting. St. Francis Mission then began the work of establishing itself as a Parish, which it achieved in 1952.

 The most important concern of the new Mission/Parish was clearly the Christian Education of children, as is evidenced by the 1950 Building Committee notes, which reported that “the Sunday School building should be the first part of the structure to be built…and that the remainder of the Church would be built later.” Groundbreaking for the Parish Hall took place in January 1951, with the first service held in the as-yet un-air-conditioned building in May 1951.

First Service

On August 28, 1949, the first worship service for what would become St. Francis Episcopal Church was conducted by Bishop Clinton S. Quin. It was held on the property belonging to Dr. Palmer Archer, located on Strey Lane at Memorial Drive. In preparation for this service trees had been cut down to clear a space for the gathering. Some of these trees were then used to make an Altar and communion rail, which were used at the initial service. A cross borrowed from St. John Divine, our sponsoring Parish, was used.

1951

Music in the Early Days of St. Francis

In March 1951, a committee was appointed to begin discussing the opening of a day school at St. Francis to be incorporated and self-supporting. In September 1952, a special Vestry meeting approved the creation, and a class of 24 young children was enrolled in what we would call pre-school. Higher grades were added gradually over the years until St. Francis Episcopal School now has more than 1000 students from Pre-primary through High School, with an outstanding reputation.

A portable military-surplus field organ, owned by Mrs. Charles Stone, the choir director, played an important role in both the groundbreaking for the Parish Hall and the weekly services held there beginning in 1951. Mrs. Stone transported the organ to and from her home on Hedwig Road near Beinhorn until she moved away in 1953. Ruth Mary Ruston was hired as full-time organist and choir director that year and had the use of an electric organ donated by St. John the Divine. (Ruth Mary began a tradition of musical excellence which continues to this day.)

In 1949, the Memorial area of Houston was definitely country, with few homes that were not farms. The western edge of Houston proper was Post Oak Road (now Boulevard). Memorial Drive was paved only as far west as Strey Lane, and the US 90, the current Katy Freeway, was a meandering two-lane roadway. Many homes along Piney Point Road had stables, and children on horseback were a frequent sight. This was the area to be served by the new Episcopal Parish. Among the first suggested names were St. Martin’s in the Fields and St. Francis in the Woods.