 St. Margaret of Scotland, whom we honor as our patron saint, was canonized because of her concern for and ministry to the poor, the orphaned, the widowed, and the sick. She built many schools and hospitals and spent time each day listening to the needs of her people in the outer court of the castle where she reigned as queen with her husband, King Malcolm. The entire history of this parish has continued the witness of our saint. During the tenure of each of the rectors of St. Margaret’s, the expression of our call to love God and to serve our neighbor has taken different forms, but it has always been faithful to St. Margaret’s commitment to be Christ’s witness to the world. A New Church Is Born A portrait of the Reverend Richard Lewis Howell, first rector of St. Margaret's from 1895 to 1899
In 1894, the year St. Margaret’s was founded, the area surrounding the church was an affluent suburb with wide open spaces. Dairy cows grazed in pastures within sight of the church. What is now Florida Avenue was then Boundary Street, which defined the northern limits of the city of Washington, DC. The families who lived in the Victorian homes on the hill along Connecticut Avenue and Columbia Road recognized their need for a church in the neighborhood and came together to found St. Margaret’s. The first services were held in a basement room in a home in the neighborhood. At which time four families joined together to form the nexus of a new faith community; the Tuttles, Truesdells, Weimers, and Fishers met in the Truesdell home on 11 April 1892 to plan for the design and consecration of a new church and to raise funds for its construction. A site was selected at the corner of Connecticut and Bancroft and six lots were purchased for the grand sum of $47,500. The small chapel, running east and west, was completed in 1895, with the front steps on the Bancroft Place side. The altar was placed in the west end where the present “Sower” window is located. The first rector, The Reverend Richard Lewis Howell, was called and served until February 1, 1899, when his reason for resigning was communicated as due: “to the continued ill health of my wife and of myself, which in our mutual love for St. Margaret’s we feel should no longer be permitted to stand in the way of its prosperity.”  This image shows the church as it appeared in a cold and snowy winter in 1895. Recognizable from it's modern iteration; the photographer was no doubt standing in a cow pasture to take this image! A far cry from the neighborhood in which we find ourselves today; a neighborhood of immense and wonderful diversity! The Beginning of the 20th CenturyThe Rev. Herbert Scott Smith was called to be the second rector on March 17, 1899, and arrived on April 1, 1899. His salary was $100.00 per month! By 1900, the congregation had grown to the point of needing a larger building. As a result, it was proposed that the structure be shifted to a north/south axis, so that the two ends of the original structure would become the transepts for the redesigned church. The cost of this extension was to be capped at $2,500. The new configuration of the building with all of its construction was completed in 1904. By 1909, at least one of the three Tiffany windows was place, with the others to follow soon there after.
By 1913, St. Margaret's was feeling growing pains, and the available space was deemed insufficient for the needs of the ministry and mission of the parish. It was the Rector's Aid Society, an organization for the women of the church, that proposed to the vestry the idea of purchasing the Bingham property that was directly adjacent to the sanctuary north on Connecticut Avenue for the addition of a much needed parish hall. And while the vestry was all male, it is interesting to note that the initiative of the women played such a forward- looking role in the young parish's development. To punctuate their serious intentions, the RAS also pledged $1000.00 annually to the construction and outfitting of the hoped-for parish hall.  A bulletin from about 1915, during the Rev. Herbert Scott Smith’s tenure, states the parish services and hours and displays a photograph of the church in the early years of the 20th century. Perhaps most significant to our present ethos is the slogan at the bottom, "ALL WELCOME ALWAYS." It's a blessing to know that we continue to uphold this simple promise nearly one hundred years later. An Era EndsThe Rev. Herbert Scott Smith served St. Margaret's for forty-one years. St. Margaret’s became, under his leadership, one of the largest churches in the diocese. He was, from all accounts, an exceedingly proper and meticulous man. He never married and lived with his sister Caroline, who served as his hostess, in the rectory on Mintwood Place. He led our parish through the economic trials of the great depression and the upheaval of World War I. His long tenure at St. Margaret’s and the growth of the parish under his rectorship suggest that he was a man perfectly suited to his job—minister to an affluent parish in an affluent neighborhood. A highlight of his ministry was no doubt his officiating at the wedding of President Woodrow Wilson to his second wife, Edith Bolling Galt in 1915. His tenure steered the parish through its hope-filled beginnings to a present that witnessed St. Margaret's as an established, growing, and positive presence in its community within the District of Columbia. In his letter of resignation dated February 8, 1940, he wrote: "St. Margaret's will always have my affectionate regard and earnest prayers for her future prosperity." Perhaps no single fact testifies to this more clearly than the action of the vestry taken on May 6, 1940, in regard to the role of women in the life of the parish. At that a meeting on May 6, 1940, a resolution was passed expressing the earnest prayers of the vestry that the Diocese of Washington would "....give to the women of St. Margaret's the same right to vote and to hold office as is now conferred upon men...." This statement placed St. Margaret's squarely in the vanguard of the movement for gender equality; the Diocese would take a decade before such a simple act of justice as permitting a woman to serve on parish's vestry would be permitted. Rounding out 1940, the Reverend Armand T. Eyler was called to serve as rector on September 13. The Rev. Mr. Eyler would serve the parish through 1947, during the years of World War II and immediately thereafter. The war years were years that saw the parish open its doors to provide shelter and food for the thousands of servicemen in transition through the nation's capital. The Marshall Years The Reverend Malcolm Marshall posing with a newly married couple around 1965. The Reverend
Malcolm Marshall was called to be the fourth rector of St. Margaret's in 1948,
and thus began a service to the parish that would last for the next thirty
years. The Rev. Malcolm Marshall's tenure at St. Margaret's encompassed a time
of unparalleled growth and transition for the neighborhood. Homes and row houses
were replaced by office buildings, new high-rise apartments, and a modern
Hilton Hotel. Socially, the civil rights movement was changing the face of
America, and the neighborhoods around the church were leading the way, becoming
the bastions of ethnic, economic, cultural, and sexual diversity that they are
today. Throughout each and every turn and challenge, the Reverend Mr. Marshall
led the parish with grace and wisdom into new acts of service and witness to
those around it. In time, the parish would spend half of its resources on
ministries of outreach, spending in the Rev. Malcolm Marshall's own words,
"....about fifty cents for others, for every dollar spent within the
parish." One ministry in particular grew out of Marshall's vision for
those around St. Margaret's, that of engaging the youth of the Adams-Morgan
neighborhood, "...teenagers, supposedly 'toughs'" whose welfare and
spiritual guidance became one of the many outreach foci of the Marshall years. The
retirement of the Rev. Malcolm. Marshall in 1979 presented St. Margaret's with
another difficult challenge: how to replace a beloved and cherished priest. And
again, the task was pursued with hope and faith. As an aside, in 1992, the church honored the memory of the Rev. Malcolm Marshall with the installation and dedication of our newest stained glass window Stained Glass window over the door of the narthex. The Rev. Malcolm Marshall died in 1988, but his widow, Ellen Marshall, attended the dedication and assured everyone that Malcolm would be most honored by the beautiful gift in honor of his life and service at St. Margaret's. Years of Transition The Reverend Stephen Arpee at a church picnic
circa 1980. The Rev. Stephen T. Arpee was called in 1979. The Rev. Mr. Arpee came to St. Margaret's after beginning his call to ministry in the nation of Iran. St. Margaret's was his first appointment in the United States, and as such, his time with us was a time of much adjustment and growth for both parish and rector. Under his leadership the Education for Ministry program from the University of the South was introduced, and a rich and important tradition in the education of St. Margaret's adults was begun, and continues on today. In 1984, the Rev. Mr. Arpee offered his resignation to the vestry of St. Margaret's. For the next two years
the parish was served by an interim priest while it reflected on the many
lessons learned through both the retirement of the Rev. Malcolm Marshall, and
the ministry of the Rev. Stephen Arpee. These years were an opportunity not
only to not only reflect upon and learn from the past, but also a chance to
recast our vision, renew our mission, and look to the future with a sense of
conviction and hope. Living into Our Vision of Justice Our public bulletin board announces our joy at the calling of the first female rector in a D. C. parish in the Diocese of Washington.
The people of St. Margaret's have always been open to the power of God's grace, which sees and knows and calls each of us to realize our fullest potential as human beings created in God's very image. On March 1, 1987, The Reverend Dr. Vienna Cobb Anderson was called to be the sixth rector of our parish. The Rev. Dr. Anderson's calling was a testimony to St. Margaret's commitment to face the challenges and changes which the future of the Episcopal Church was struggling to embrace. The Rev. Dr. Anderson brought with her a tremendous energy and flair for the theatrical in worship and liturgy. During her time with us, the parish increased significantly in membership and as a result the ministries of outreach also increased. Within the parish's liturgical life, the celebration of the Eucharist became a part of both Sunday morning services, and the participation of the laity was broadened and increased. A healing service was added to the monthly calendar of worship services--a tradition that has continued and increased to two services per month. And most significantly, the voice of justice from the pulpit took on a new authority, which led to the membership of the parish becoming far more diverse as it grew. Under her leadership, the Roman Catholic organization Dignity was offered a home at St. Margaret’s when it was forbidden to meet in Roman Catholic churches. It was as if the mantra of the then Presiding Bishop Edward Browning found a home in which to flourish: "There will be no outcasts in the Episcopal Church.” No Outcasts" and ALL were welcome. In the spring of 1995, the Rev. Dr. Anderson announced her retirement. Though well deserved, her retirement presented St. Margaret's with its next challenge--how would the parish continue its desire to be in the vanguard of expressing Christ's unconditional love and justice in the world? The process would involve a period of reflection, and this period would be helped along by the service of an interim priest. The Reverend Gene Sutton would lead St. Margaret's while the vestry and search committee sought God's will. In this we were most blessed to grow in the love and service of our first African-American priest. The Rev. Gene Sutton helped us to prepare for a new ministry by actively challenging us to reconsider all aspects of our parish life and ministry. Life With the Reverend Blue Susan N. Blue comes aboard Our time of
searching ended in the summer of 1997, when the vestry called the Rev. Susan N.
Blue to be our seventh rector. Her first Sunday was St. Margaret's Day in
mid-November of that year. Susan came to us from a parish in the diocese of New
Jersey, and her call was the result of an exhaustive, extensive search, the
efforts of which our search have been amply rewarded by her ministry to us. Under her leadership and guidance, St. Margaret's continued to grow in both its membership and attendance. The hallmarks of her ministry have been a devotion to pastoral care and a commitment to transparency in all her dealings with the parish. This commitment has enabled us to deal with potentially difficult issues with honesty and diversity. She has continued to encourage our call to diversity, fostering the creation of programs for our growing population of couples and children without lessening our commitment to any of the other constituencies that were already an important presence in the life of our parish. In recognition of Susan’s dedication and love for the St. Margaret’s buildings and properties over the last 13 years, the Vestry voted to rename our building fund the “Rev. Susan N. Blue Building Preservation Fund”. Her leadership included overseeing major projects such as the beautiful Parish Hall renovation, which is something we can see every day, and the repair of our roof and plumbing systems, which is something we can’t see but should still be thankful for. Susan Blue retired in June, 2010, and the parish selected Anne-Marie Jeffrey as its interim rector. Several events were held to honor Susan Blue's service to St. Margaret and the Building Preservation Fund was named in her honor. For more information about church archives please contact Farar Elliott. |