The History of SMSJ

Our History

St. Monica & St. James Episcopal Church is one church with two storied histories. On May 28, 1873, St. James Parish was set apart by the action of the Convention of the Diocese of Maryland from a number of churchgoers living in the northeastern section of Washington, DC. St. James was the first Anglo-Catholic congregation organized in the District, and St. Monica & St. James continues that tradition to this day. The first services were held in the parlors of a rented house at 809 H Street NE, and the first baptisms entered in the Parish Register were Albert Edward Hodges and Ida Maria Low on April 16, 1876.

The property on which St. Monica & St. James now resides was purchased in 1883, and the first services at the current property occurred on the eve of All Saints Day, 1886. St. James was blessed with continuous leadership in its early days. Father James Walters Clark was the rector from 1882 until 1925, and a vestry member first elected in 1881 (Henry Lewis Bryan) remained on the vestry in 1933, more than half a century later.

Father Clark set the tone for future rectors of St. Monica & St. James. A testimonial shortly after Father Clark’s death in 1926 reads: “Father Clark has left an unfading picture in the hearts of St. James’ people. . . . They remember the devotion of his long ministry—constantly shepherding his flock, reciting daily in church matins and evensong, saying Mass daily. They recall how sane this beloved pastor was in his counsel; that he was too strong a soul to shrink from any duty or even to express discouragement; that his words were few; his good deeds a host.”

Meanwhile, on December 31, 1899, St. Monica was established as the fourth oldest African American parish in the Diocese. St. Monica’s services were first held in a rented house at 601 Second Street SW. In 1910, St. Monica completed construction of a brick church and school at the corner of South Capitol Street and L Street SW. In 1959, in connection with the much-condemned Southwest urban renewal project, St. Monica sold its property to the Redevelopment Land Agency for the District of Columbia and relocated the church to 1340 Massachusetts Avenue SE.

In 2007, St. Monica & St. James merged into one. When last we searched for a new rector, in 2014, our church was still working through the growing pains of its 2007 merger. That process was difficult, with parishioners still viewing themselves as members of St. Monica or members of St. James. Today, we are a new, united church. A majority of our congregants in the pews today joined the church after the merger, and we identify strongly as one faith community.