Augustine Episcopal Church, informally referred to as “St Augies”, is located in Danville, Indiana, six blocks north of the Hendricks County Courthouse. Our warm small sanctuary features wonderful stained glass windows on all sides. Folks who attend services not only reside in Danville but drive in from the surrounding areas: Brownsburg, Avon, Plainfield, Heritage Lake, and Indianapolis. Our paris
h is made up of about 175 families and individuals. We are a diverse group of God's children brought together to experience the love of God revealed through Jesus. At St Augies, we seek grow in that love so that we may better share that love to the world. A sacrament can be defined as, an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual nature. We have several "sacraments" through which we try to share love. We have a Blanket Ministry where blankets made by parishioners are available to give to those in need of comfort. We supply a snack basket to the ICU Waiting Room at Hendricks Regional Hospital. We provide a meeting place for Narcotic Anonymous, Project Headstart, Boy Scouts & Girl Scouts. We actively support Project Homeless, Sheltering Wings, Shared Blessing Food Pantry, and Project Angel. Augie’s
Our Sunday services are both informal and traditional (our Priest usually wears cargo shorts & Croc shoes). We also think that we are warm and have a lively sense of humor. The 8:00 am service is described as “said” service because there is no music. It also has more traditional language with ‘Thy’ and ‘Thou’ used in the prayers. The 10:00 am service uses more modern language and includes hymns and other sung portions. Both services focus on Scripture readings, a homily (mini-sermon), prayers, and communion (the sharing of bread and wine). Most of the year, we have Sunday School for children in the Apple House located just northwest of the Sanctuary building. The kids meet at 10:00 am during the first part of the service then come to the sanctuary so that we all join together in communion. We often have social time after the 10:00 service in the parish hall located underneath the sanctuary. Coffee and tea are provided and anyone can sign up to bring food. We have several special gatherings through out the year such as our Epiphany Pitch-in, Chili Lunch Summer Camp Fundraiser, and Project Homeless Funnel Cake and Elephant Ear Fundraiser Sunday. We would like you to know that when you visit with us, you will not be singled out or asked to stand before the congregation. You will worship with us, we are all God’s children seeking to better know God’s love so that we can better share love with the world. If you wish to know more about the Episcopal Church please see the Episcopal Church website at https://www.episcopalchurch.org
ST. Augustine's was born in the chapel of Canterbury College, an Episcopalian co-educational liberal arts college founded in 1946. The college experienced financial problems soon after, and eventually closed in 1952. The church continued on as a mission, however, thanks to the dedication of six families. They met in the basements of several other Danville churches. Visiting priests helped the congregation stay alive through these years. Eventually the congregation was able to purchase a house on East Clinton Street in Danville, and they refurbished it to hold a sanctuary and Sunday School rooms. During that time, 1954-1957, Fr. Bill Cassady served as St. Augustine's priest. In 1955, Mr. & Mrs. Charles Eckler donated two acres of their orchard property on North Washington Street as a building site for a new church. In 1956, St. Augustine's received its first full-time priest, the Rev. Reese Thornton, a former missionary to Cuba. Under his leadership, the mission grew spiritually and financially. On August 4, 1957, Bishop Craine officiated at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new church building. The last service at the house on East Clinton Street was December 15, 1957. On December 22, 1957, Holy Communion was celebrated for the first time in the new church building on North Washington Street. During the early 1960's the Rev. W. Kenneth Williams was the priest, and in 1962, the Rev. Gary Gloster (who later became the Suffragan Bishop of North Carolina) was our third full-time priest. In 1966, the Rev. John Roof became the fourth full-time priest. He led St. Augustine's from a mission to full parish status. On November 7, 1970, at the 133rd Diocesan Convention, St. Augustine Episcopal Church was voted full parish status, and Bishop Craine designated us as a parish on November 24, 1970. Parish status had been made possible by a very generous bequest from Elsie Blessing in 1970. Her gift made it possible to repay all the diocesan aid the mission had received and allowed St. Augustine's to purchase the rest of the Eckler property on North Washington Street. This land had been planted by the Ecklers as a tree nursery. They planted trees of every variety native to Indiana: maples, oaks, redbud, pink and white dogwood, tulip poplar, and pines of all kinds. The Eckler home was remodeled and turned into a rectory. One by one, over many years, stained glass windows of the Saints were installed in the north and south windows of the sanctuary. Stained glass windows with angels, wheat, and grapes were added in 1993 to remind us of the gifts of bread and wine. Stained glass entrance windows of the Adam and Eve, and Christ's resurrection were also installed in the mid 1990's. Also on the Eckler property was an old glazed block building that had sat empty for many years until, in 1977, the vestry voted to remodel the building to use as a Sunday School and meeting area. Through a tremendous effort of volunteer labor, led by parishioner John Knox, the Apple House renovation was completed five years later. Sunday School was held in the Apple House for the first time on January 25, 1981. In the late 1980's, St. Augustine's established a memorial garden behind the church. Landscaping with flowering trees, shrubs, and hundreds of tulips and daffodils enhance the natural beauty of the site. St. Francis watches over the gardens and the souls of those laid to rest there. In 1996, the congregation remodeled the inside of the church. Dark paneling was replaced with sparkling white walls, and the old alter was retired and replaced by a new one. The organ was moved to the rear, the pews were refinished and new carpeting was installed. Once again, volunteers did all the work. The result is the beautiful sanctuary we love and appreciate today. In October 2009, after 42 wonderful years of service to our parish, Fr. John retired. The Rev. Tom Van Brunt was very creative and energetic as our interim rector for about a year and a half after Fr. John's retirement. We then welcomed many thoughtful and dedicated supply priests for another year and a half. Thanks to many months' hard work by our search committee members, we were joined by The Rev. Bill Barfield as our new rector in March 2012. We were seeking a spiritual leader with a good sense of humor and Fr Bill was looking for a warm small parish who liked to laugh; we think we have found a good match which we think will last for many years. In 2012 we added a handicap accessible lift as well as remodeling a restroom for handicap accessibility to help our building and services be more welcoming to all folks. Sadly, Fr. John passed away in March of 2013. We continue to feel the blessings from the time he spend with us, and as he always encouraged, we strive to "keep the love going."
