St. John's Centennial

In 2022, St. John’s Episcopal Church Celebrated 100 years in downtown Kirkland!

We at St. John's Episcopal Church in Kirkland, WA honored our first century of existence by hosting a variety of public events throughout the years of 2022 and 2023.

On November 20, 2022, we prepared to "exchange" rectors with The Church of the Epiphany in Seattle for that day's service. This exchange symbolized and celebrated this parish's roots in its own historic relationship with Epiphany Church.

Below is a featured video from our Centennial Events video archive. The full video archive can be found further down the page.

SJK Complete History

A few of our faithful congregants have dived into the history books and news records to assemble a detailed and colorful history of our parish, from its first breath in the 1920s to the 100-years strong fixture of Kirkland, WA it has become today.

Click here to learn about the origins St. John's Episcopal Church in Kirkland, WA.

Centennial Events 2022

Pulpit Exchange with Fr. Doyt Conn, Rector at Church of the Epiphany in Seattle, WA

To celebrate St. John's Kirkland's centennial, we honor our common roots with Epiphany Church in Seattle. To celebrate and renew the legacy of hope and sacrifice shared by our two churches, we "swapped" our rectors for one day. Fr. Doyt Conn of Epiphany presided over SJK's 10 a.m. service, while Fr. Michael presided over both of Epiphany's morning services.

Below we have placed videos of both services side-to-side and encourage you to watch the gospel readings and sermons from both of them. Epiphany's Gospel reading begins @20:23.

Gospel Reading & Sermon begin @20:32

Centennial Celebration – Father Hayman

The Rev. Robert F. Hayman, who was the Vicar/Rector at St. John’s for 19 years, including during the church’s 50th anniversary, was with us on March 13 as we begin our celebration on past clergy.

Father Hayman preached at our 10:00 a.m. service and shared memories about his years of ministry when we gather in Marsh Hall following the service. Anna Aubry led the discussion.

Fr. Hayman was assigned to St. John’s as Vicar in September 1958. He came from St. George’s by the-River in Rumson, New Jersey. He became Rector on April 19,1960, when St. John’s laid aside its title of mission and became a parish. He married Sarah (Sally) Ann Pritchard on September 8, 1962, and they celebrated 60 years of marriage in 2022. Sally also joined us on March 13.

Fr. Hayman shared about his 19 years at St. John’s, including the 50-year anniversary, the purchase and installation of the organ, and the beginnings of the preschool and the Saints Alive thrift shop.

St. John’s Centennial Inaugural Celebration

In 2022, we began our nearly 2-year celebration of St. John’s Episcopal Church as the first Episcopal church on the eastside of Lake Washington. Why now and why so long? St. John’s became a mission of the diocese on February 1, 1923, when Rt. Reverend F. W. Keator, the first bishop of the Diocese of Olympia, granted formal consent to families that were then meeting to organize a mission. That is documented in a 69-page booklet, titled “The Decades of St. John’s” (“Decades”).

The 50th year edition was written by Tom Stockley, a noted writer – especially concerning wine – who worked for The Seattle Times. The 75th year edition was written by Anne Payne, with assistance from LaRue Krumm and Larry West. They used February 1, 1923 as the date of St. John’s official beginning and, as two who knew well all four of those wonderful, now deceased, members of St. John’s, we see no good reason to use a different date now.

So why begin our celebration on January 9, 2022? Because it was on January 8, 1922, that the first service took place in a private home in Kirkland. Quoting from page 4 of Decades, it says:

During the first two decades of [the nineteenth] century there was a large emigration from the British Isles, professional people, tradesmen and skilled craftsmen, seeking new opportunities in the rapidly expanding northwest. Some few found their way to Kirkland. Among them were several devout Scotch-Irish families who brought their Prayer Books with them. Joined by other kindred souls, they began meeting in each other’s homes for prayer and sociability, and so was St. John’s brought into being.

Then, on page 8, Tom Stockley wrote:

…Recorded in the notebook of the records of early meetings is this entry: “An Episcopalian mission was started in Kirkland on the 8th of January, 1922, with the meeting in a private home with a pastor from St. Luke’s (then St. Mark’s) in Ballard.” The home was that of Mr. and Mrs. Roger Caldwell, and the priest was the Reverend D. C. Lees of St. Mark’s.

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St. John's Centennial

SJK Complete History

Centennial Events 2022

Pulpit Exchange with Fr. Doyt Conn, Rector at Church of the Epiphany in Seattle, WA

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