 |  |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |  |  |
 |  |
Welcome to St. George's Episcopal Church
... In Thanksgiving for our abundance, we are called to serve the community ...
Our Mission
“St. George’s Episcopal Church in Riverside is a loving Christ-filled family that provides an inclusive home of liturgy, music, outreach, and fellowship. We are a supportive place for change as we empower each other through the Holy Spirit to do God’s work of social awareness, environmental consciousness, and spiritual growth. In Thanksgiving for our abundance, we are called to serve the community.
Come join us on the journey!”
About Us
About Us
A brief History of St. George's Episcopal Church
St. George’s Episcopal Church, Riverside was started as a mission by the Rev. Henry Clark Smith in 1954. The Rev. Smith was the Rector of All Saint’s Episcopal Church, Riverside, and saw the need to serve more of Riverside area. A priest from All Saints served Eucharist once a month. The other three Sundays, they would celebrate Morning Prayer. The lay leaders led the worship. In early days all baptisms and confirmations were held at All Saints.
The land the church is presently on was orange groves. This location was also close to the University of California, Riverside. Most of the people in the neighborhood were working for the military, day laborers, students and academics from the neighboring university. The property was bought with the assistance of several people in the area, and funding from the diocese. The women of the parish started St. Anne’s Guild, which also helped raise money for the church by catering functions at All Saints.
It is believed that Rt. Rev. Eric Bloy, the Bishop of Los Angeles, chose the name St. George’s for this congregation in 1954. In its initial stages, several UCR academics served as the Vestry members; it is believed they were influential in choosing the architect of the church. The church was originally planned to be in the round. And the back of the two story part was to have been all glass and stained glass windows.
The current Diocesan Bishop of Los Angeles is The Rt. Rev. John Taylor. The Rev. Dr. Karri Backer began serving St. George's Episcopal Church as Priest-in-Charge in August 2021.
Our Goals
In addition to our ongoing goals to nurture spiritual growth and faith of the church community, building an inclusive and compassionate community and expanding our vision of stewardship, the Bishop’s Committee in its January 2018 meeting came up with the following specific goals. The Bishop’s Committee requests the parishioners to prayerfully reflect upon these goals in our upcoming small gatherings suggesting concrete ways and means to realize our overarching goal “To be a Sustainable, Visible and Eucharistic Church” in the next three years. Here are the goals from the Bishop’s Committee:
· Increase church membership and participation through individual attention and asking.
· Increase visibility in community with at least one open house per year.
· Advertise "Chosen Garment" and any other outreach events significant to the church with direct mailings and banners.
· Create a Grounds Committee of church members to address maintenance and landscape issues. Ensure ALL church landscaping is discussed with grounds committee and decisions are made to its outcome.