St. Paul’s marks Christmas worship milestone

In 1875, frantic activity preceded the Christmas Day service. The Rev. Reuben Nevius, an Episcopal circuit rider, arrived in The Dalles from Baker City to find no Christmas services in the newly built church were planned — because the side windows didn’t fit.

“However, we all went to work on Christmas morning and the windows were put in place temporarily,” Nevius wrote. “The stove and Chancel furniture were brought in,” worshipers hastily assembled, “and one more new congregational voice was added to that of ‘the Church throughout all the world’ in her Christmas joy.”

The Rev. Marilyn Roth will celebrate this year’s 10 a.m. Christmas service.

The chapel at 601 Union Street served St. Paul’s Episcopal parish until members moved to a new church in 1962. It housed the offices of the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Oregon for more than two decades, beginning in 1980. Presently, Quakers meet there two Sundays a month, and it’s a venue for concerts, art shows and other gatherings.

St. Paul’s Chapel is the oldest church in The Dalles; the 1891 fire that burned 17 blocks of downtown stopped short of St. Paul’s. It has National Historic Landmark status, as part of The Dalles Historic Commercial District.

A planning committee presently is working to preserve the building as an asset to the community, and exploring ways for it to be self-sustaining financially. 

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Jeanie Senior, Hood River, is a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in The Dalles.

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Read Associate Editor Nathan Wilson’s Oct. 29 story, “Committee working to prevent Historic St. Paul’s Chapel from being sold,” at www.columbiagorgenews.com.