St. Mary's Episcopal Church Laguna Beach

St. Mary's Episcopal Church Laguna Beach Join us for Sunday Services:

8AM | Rite I Spoken
10:30AM | Rite II Eucharist with Choir St.

Mary's Mission is be open to God's love and guidance and to embrace all in the name of Jesus Christ. Mary's Vision is to be an inclusive community called to Serve, Heal and Love in the Light of God.

The Martyrs of UgandaOn June 3, 1886, thirty-two young men, pages of the court of KingMwanga of Buganda, were burned to ...
06/03/2026

The Martyrs of Uganda

On June 3, 1886, thirty-two young men, pages of the court of King
Mwanga of Buganda, were burned to death at Namugongo for their
refusal to renounce Christianity. In the following months many other
Christians throughout the country died by fire or spear for their faith.
These martyrdoms greatly changed the dynamic of Christian
growth in Uganda. Introduced by a handful of Anglican and Roman
Catholic missionaries after 1877, the Christian faith had been preached
only to the immediate members of the court, by order of King Mutesa.
His successor, Mwanga, became increasingly angry as he realized that
the first converts put loyalty to Christ above the traditional loyalty to the
king.
The martyrdoms began in 1885. Mwanga first forbade anyone
to go near a Christian mission on pain of death, but when he found
himself unable to cool the ardor of the converts, he resolved to wipe out
Christianity.
The Namugongo martyrdoms produced a result entirely opposite
to Mwanga’s intentions. The example of these martyrs, who walked to
their death singing hymns and praying for their enemies, so inspired
many of the bystanders that they began to seek instruction from the
remaining Christians. Within a few years the original handful of
converts had multiplied many times and had spread far beyond the
court. The martyrs had left the indelible impression that Christianity
was truly African, not simply a white man’s religion. Most of the
missionary work was carried out by Africans rather than by white
missionaries, and Christianity spread steadily.
Renewed persecution of Christians by a Muslim military
dictatorship in the 1970s proved the vitality of the example of the
Namugongo martyrs. Among the thousands of new martyrs, both
Anglican and Roman Catholic, was Janani Luwum, Archbishop of the
Anglican Church of Uganda, whose courageous ministry and death
inspired not only members of his own country, but also Christians
throughout the world.

Blandina and Her Companions, the Martyrs of LyonsIn the second century, after a brief respite, Christians in many parts ...
06/02/2026

Blandina and Her Companions, the Martyrs of Lyons

In the second century, after a brief respite, Christians in many parts of
the Roman empire were once again subjected to persecution. At Lyons
and Vienne, in Gaul, there were missionary centers which had drawn
many Christians from Asia and Greece. They were living a devout life
under the guidance of Pothinus, the elderly Bishop of Lyons, when
persecution began in 177.
At first, the Christians were socially excluded from Roman homes,
the public baths, and the market place; insults, stones, and blows were
rained on them by pagan mobs, and Christian homes were vandalized.
Soon after, the imperial officials forced Christians to come to the
marketplace for harsh questioning, followed by imprisonment.
Some slaves from Christian households were tortured to extract
public accusations that Christians practiced cannibalism, in**st, and
other perversions. These false accusations roused the mob to such a
pitch of wrath that any leniency toward the imprisoned Christians was
impossible. Even friendly pagans now turned against them.
The fury of the mob fell most heavily on Sanctus, a deacon;
Attalus; Maturus, a recent convert; and Blandina, a slave. According to
Eusebius, Blandina was so filled with power to withstand torments that
her torturers gave up. “I am a Christian,” she said, “and nothing vile is
done among us.” Sanctus was tormented with red-hot irons. The aged
Pothinus, badly beaten, died soon after. Finally, the governor decided to
set aside several days for a public spectacle in the amphitheater.
Eusebius depicts Blandina in particular as standing in the person
of Christ: “Blandina was suspended on a stake, and exposed to be
devoured by the wild beasts who should attack her. And because she
appeared as if hanging on a cross, and because of her earnest prayers,
she inspired the combatants with great zeal. For they looked on her in
her conflict, and beheld with their outward eyes, in the form of their
sister, him who was crucified for them, that he might persuade those
who believe in him that every one who suffers for the glory of Christ has
fellowship always with the living God.”
On the final day of the spectacle, writes Eusebius, “Blandina, last
of all, like a noble mother who had encouraged her children and sent
them ahead victorious to the King, hastened to join them.” Beaten, torn,
burned with irons, she was wrapped in a net and tossed about by a wild
bull. The spectators were amazed at her endurance.
Eusebius concludes: “They offered up to the Father a single wreath,
but it was woven of diverse colors and flowers of all kinds. It was fitting
that the noble athletes should endure a varied conflict, and win a great
victory, that they might be entitled in the end to receive the crown
supreme of life everlasting.”

Justin, Martyr, 167In the middle of the second century, there came into the young Christiancommunity a seeker for the tr...
06/01/2026

Justin, Martyr, 167

In the middle of the second century, there came into the young Christian
community a seeker for the truth, whose wide interests, noble spirit, and
able mind greatly enriched it.
Justin was born into a Greek-speaking pagan family about the year
110 in Samaria, near Shechem. He was educated in Greek philosophy.
Like Augustine after him, he was left restless by all this knowledge.
During a walk along the beach at Ephesus, he began speaking with a
stranger, who told him about Christ. “Straightway a flame was kindled
in my soul,” he writes, “and a love of the prophets and those who are
friends of Christ possessed me.” He became a Christian as a result of
this encounter, and thereafter regarded Christianity as the only “safe
and profitable philosophy.”
Around 150, Justin moved to Rome. As philosophers did in
those days, he started a school—in this case, a school of Christian
philosophy—and accepted students. He also wrote. Three of his works
survive: a dialogue in Platonic style with a Jew named Trypho, and two
apologies in defense of the Christian faith. Justin’s First and Second
Apologies defend Christianity against the Greek charge of irrationality
and against the Roman charge of disloyalty to the empire. These two
works provide us with important insights into the developing theological
ideas and liturgical practices of early Christianity.
While teaching in Rome, he engaged in a public debate with a
philosopher of the Cynic school named Crescens, accusing him of
ignorance and immorality. Angered, Crescens brought legal charges
against him. Justin and six of his students were arrested and brought
before the prefect Rusticus. As the custom was, Rusticus gave them an
opportunity to renounce their faith. All steadfastly refused to do so.
Justin and his students were all put to death around the year 167.

🌈 Happy Pride Month from St. Mary's Episcopal Church! 🌈This June, we joyfully celebrate the beautiful diversity of God’s...
06/01/2026

🌈 Happy Pride Month from St. Mary's Episcopal Church! 🌈

This June, we joyfully celebrate the beautiful diversity of God’s creation and honor the LGBTQ+ community—beloved, affirmed, and made in God’s image.

For decades, LGBTQ+ Episcopalians and allies have worked to make The Episcopal Church a place of belonging and inclusion. We have prayed, studied, and discerned, and in doing so, we have seen the evidence of God’s blessing in the lives and love of our LGBTQ+ siblings in Christ.

We celebrate and give thanks for the beauty, strength, and sacred worth of LGBTQ+ leaders across all contexts and callings.
We invite you to join us on the journey. You belong.

🏳️‍🌈 You are beloved.
🏳️‍⚧️ You belong.
✝️ No exceptions.

05/31/2026

May 31, 2026 The Trinity Sunday

Mechthild of MagdeburgMechthild of Magdeburg was one of the most original medieval mystics,and the first to write in the...
05/28/2026

Mechthild of Magdeburg

Mechthild of Magdeburg was one of the most original medieval mystics,
and the first to write in the German language. She was a Beguine, a
member of a group of women who lived in a quasi-monastic community
but did not take formal vows. Instead, they pledged to be bound by the
traditional vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience only for as long as
they lived in the community. Typically, Beguines lived in a communal
house and supported themselves through their own work, such as
nursing, weaving, embroidery, burial of the dead, and housework.
Mechthild is known to us primarily through her work The Flowing
Light of the Godhead, which consists of seven books written over a
period of thirty years. It is clear from the work that she was familiar
with courtly poetry and vernacular literature, but she does not seem to
have had any formal training in theology or in Latin.
Her work alternates between passionate descriptions of her love
for God and scathing denunciations of many clergy and of the laxity
that she perceived in the official church of her time. Because of these
criticisms, her work was at times controversial. Shortly after her death, a
Latin translation of her work was produced by Dominican priests, who
faithfully conveyed the majority of the text, but significantly toned down
both her erotic imagery and her critiques of the vices of the clergy.
Mechthild spent the last years of her life at a Cistercian convent in
Helfta, whose nuns were famous for their education and scholarship.
It is clear that she felt somewhat uncomfortable in this very different
environment, but the sisters seem to have warmly welcomed her and
protected her from anyone who criticized her work. During the last years
of her life, she became blind, and so the last chapters of her book were
dictated to one of the sisters of the convent.
In one famous passage of her book, she writes:
“A fish cannot drown in water,
A bird does not fall in air.
In the fire of creation,
God doesn’t vanish:
The fire brightens.
Each creature God made
must live in its own true nature;
How could I resist my nature,
That lives for oneness with God?”

Join us for the May meeting of the Episcopal Church Men’s Group (ECM), space for connection, conversation, and community...
05/27/2026

Join us for the May meeting of the Episcopal Church Men’s Group (ECM), space for connection, conversation, and community.

St. Mary’s Vestry Meeting Room (Lower level, under the Sanctuary. Is ADA accessible. Light refreshments (drinks & snacks). Recommend BYOB.

Questions? [email protected] (949) 528-5897

AugustineFirst Archbishop of Canterbury, 605Although Christianity had existed in Britain before the invasions ofAngles a...
05/26/2026

Augustine
First Archbishop of Canterbury, 605

Although Christianity had existed in Britain before the invasions of
Angles and Saxons in the fifth century, Pope Gregory the Great decided
in 596 to send a mission to the pagan Anglo-Saxons. He selected, from
his own monastery on the Coelian hill in Rome, a group of monks,
led by their prior, Augustine. They arrived in Kent in 597, carrying a
silver cross and an image of Jesus Christ painted on a board, which thus
became, so far as we know, “Canterbury’s first icon.”
King Ethelbert tolerated their presence and allowed them the use
of an old church built on the east side of Canterbury, dating from the
Roman occupation of Britain. Here, says Bede, they assembled “to sing
the psalms, to pray, to say Mass, to preach, and to baptize.” This church
of St. Martin is the earliest place of Christian worship in England still in
use.
Probably in 601, Ethelbert was converted, thus becoming the first
Christian king in England. Around the same time, Augustine was
ordained as a bishop somewhere in France and named “Archbishop
of the English Nation.” Thus, the see of Canterbury and its Cathedral
Church of Christ owe their establishment to Augustine’s mission, as does
the nearby Abbey of Saints Peter and Paul, later re-named for Augustine.
The “chair of St. Augustine” in Canterbury Cathedral, however, dates
from the thirteenth century.
Some correspondence between Augustine and Gregory survives.
One of the Pope’s most famous counsels to the first Archbishop of
Canterbury has to do with diversity in the young English church.
Gregory writes, “If you have found customs, whether in the Roman,
Gallican, or any other churches that may be more acceptable to God, I
wish you to make a careful selection of them, and teach the church of
the English, which is still young in the faith, whatever you can profitably
learn from the various churches. For things should not be loved for the
sake of places, but places for the sake of good things.” This counsel
bears on the search for Christian “unity in diversity” of the ecumenical
movement of today.
Augustine died on May 26, probably in 605.

BedeAt the age of seven, Bede’s parents brought him to the nearby monasteryat Jarrow (near Durham in northeast England) ...
05/26/2026

Bede

At the age of seven, Bede’s parents brought him to the nearby monastery
at Jarrow (near Durham in northeast England) for his education.
There, as he later wrote, “spending all the remaining time of my
life . . . I wholly applied myself to the study of Scripture, and amidst
the observance of regular discipline, and the daily care of singing in the
church, I always took delight in learning, teaching, and writing.” Bede
was ordained as a deacon at nineteen, and as a priest at thirty.
Bede was the greatest scholar of his day in the Western church. He
wrote commentaries on the Scriptures based on patristic interpretations.
His treatise on chronology remained standard for centuries. He also
wrote on orthography, poetic meter, and especially on history. His most
famous work, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, remains
the primary source for the period from 597 to 731, when Anglo-Saxon
culture developed and Christianity triumphed.
Bede took his vocation as a historian seriously. He consulted many
documents, carefully evaluated their reliability, and cited his sources.
His interpretations were largely balanced and judicious. He also wrote
The History of the Abbots (of Wearmouth and Jarrow), and a notable
biography of Cuthbert, both in prose and in verse.
He died on the eve of the Ascension in 735 while dictating a
vernacular translation of the Gospel of John. Around 1020, his body
was removed to Durham and placed in the Lady Chapel at the west end
of the cathedral nave. Together with Cuthbert, who is also buried in the
cathedral, he remains beloved by the Christian community in Durham
and by pilgrims from around the world.

Jackson KemperWhen the General Convention of 1835 declared all the members ofthe Episcopal Church to be members also of ...
05/26/2026

Jackson Kemper

When the General Convention of 1835 declared all the members of
the Episcopal Church to be members also of the Domestic and Foreign
Missionary Society, it provided at the same time for missionary bishops
to serve in the wilderness and in foreign countries. Jackson Kemper was
the first such bishop. Although he was assigned to Missouri and Indiana,
he also laid foundations in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska,
and Kansas, and made extensive missionary tours in the South and
Southwest.
Kemper was born in Pleasant Valley, New York, on December 24,
1789. He graduated from Columbia College in 1809 and was ordained
as a deacon in 1811 and as a priest in 1814. He served Bishop White
as his assistant at Christ Church, Philadelphia. At his urging, Bishop
White made his first and only visitation in western Pennsylvania. In
1835, Kemper was ordained as a bishop, and immediately set out on his
travels.
Because Episcopal clergy, mostly from well-to-do Eastern homes,
found it hard to adjust to the harsh life of the frontier—scorching heat,
drenching rains, and winter blizzards—Kemper established Kemper
College in St. Louis, Missouri, the first of many similar attempts to train
clergy and laity for specialized tasks in the church. The College failed in
1845 from the usual malady of such projects in the church—inadequate
funding. Nashotah House, in Wisconsin, which he founded in 1842 with
the help of James Lloyd Breck and his companions, was more successful.
So was Racine College, founded in 1852. Both these institutions
reflected Kemper’s devotion to beauty in ritual and worship.
Kemper pleaded for more attention to the Native Americans
and encouraged the translation of services into native languages. He
described a service among the Oneida which was marked by “courtesy,
reverence, worship—and obedience to that Great Spirit in whose hands
are the issues of life.”
From 1859 until his death, Kemper was diocesan Bishop of
Wisconsin, but he is more justly honored by his unofficial title, “The
Bishop of the Whole Northwest.”

Address

428 Park Avenue
Laguna Beach, CA
92651

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 3pm
Tuesday 9am - 3pm
Wednesday 9am - 3pm
Thursday 9am - 3pm
Friday 9am - 3pm
Sunday 8am - 1pm

Telephone

+19494943542

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when St. Mary's Episcopal Church Laguna Beach posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Place Of Worship

Send a message to St. Mary's Episcopal Church Laguna Beach:

Shortcuts

Share

Category