St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church of Gary, an African American congregation founded in 1927, was recently honored with a historic marker, just before reaching its 100th anniversary.
Paula DeBois, the parish historian at St. Augustine’s Episcopal and the applicant for the marker, told The Christian Post that the church was “part of a group of candidates in a cycle that applied to the Indiana Historic Bureau.”
“She deemed that our information was enough to be included in their marker program,” DeBois explained. “We're the first Episcopal parish in the state to receive such a designation.”
St. Augustine’s Episcopal traces its roots to a period when Gary was segregated, and African American members of the original church were not permitted to attend worship during regular times.
“The members were quite brave and forward-thinking,” DeBois noted. “They set about putting together their own church, which would be about eight blocks away.”
According to a press release from the Indiana Historical Bureau provided to CP, the church received support in the 1930s and '40s from Benedictine monks assigned by the local diocese.
The church experienced notable growth in the 1950s under the leadership of the Rev. Wallace Wells and actively participated in civil rights and social justice issues, including desegregating the beach at Marquette Park.
Its current building was constructed in 1959 and designed by renowned architect Edward Dart. In 1961, the church was officially granted parish status by its diocese.
“The St. Augustine’s marker is a reminder of what collective action can build — one bolt and blessing at a time,” said Tyrell Anderson, a local preservationist, as quoted in the press release.
Today, St. Augustine’s Episcopal is part of the Calumet Episcopal Ministry Partnership, a group of six churches that share priests due to declining denominational attendance.
