HISTORY OF ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN KETCHIKAN

St. John's Episcopal Church has played a unique role in the rich history of Ketchikan, Alaska, and for more than a century has grown and adapted as needed.

In his account of the establishment of Ketchikan, Father Watkins, Priest-in-Charge of St. John's from 1947 to 1958, wrote, "The City of Ketchikan was originally a village of the Tlingit Natives who gathered at the mouth of the Ketchikan Creek to catch the salmon going up the stream to spawn.  A trading post was manned by white people going to or returning from the gold rush of 1897-1916 who either by choice or necessity due to lack of funds to continue, settled here.  The abundance of salmon resulted in the building of several canneries.   Some of the Natives of the Tsimshian tribe, who had migrated with William Duncan in 1887 from British Columbia to Metlakatla on Annette Island, came to make their homes in Ketchikan.   The Tongass Trading Company became outfitters for prospectors, game hunters, trappers and loggers.   The village was incorporated in 1900, just three years after our church had opened, becoming the first church to work in Ketchikan.   The main street of the city is Mission Street, named for the presence of our mission. Another nearby street, Edmonds Street, is named after an early worker in our church."

When the Episcopal Church started its work in 1897,  Ketchikan was a community of a few Alaska Native families and only one white man, a trader.  That year Dr. Campbell, an Episcopalian priest serving in Douglas, Alaska, began holding services in Ketchikan.   Although he was able to make regular visits from his church 300 miles to the north, there was at this time an increasing need for an organized church with a resident clergyman.

The Bishop during this era, Peter Trimble Rowe, described how the Episcopal Church gained a permanent residence in the community: "The only white man in the place was a trader.   He offered me two acres of his squatter's claim if I would start a school for the Native children.  Though a hard man, he had a heart of sympathy for the children.   I accepted, arranged for a school, and so the work began."                                                                                                                            

In 1898 Bishop Rowe sent Miss Agnes Edmonds to start a school.   She was the first white female missionary and also the first white single woman to reside permanently in Ketchikan.  Miss Edmonds taught school in a cabin purchased from one of the Alaska Natives.  She also held informal services in the cabin for the Alaska Natives and a few white men of the settlement. In 1902 the first resident priest, Father Thomas Jenkins, was assigned to the church in Ketchikan, which at that time was called the St. Agnes Mission.

Alaska Native volunteers, under the direction of two Tlingit brothers, William and Robert Brown, constructed the St. John's Church building.  It was built without blueprints.  The felling of the trees, milling and transporting of the lumber, and actual construction of the building was done completely by hand.  The church was completed and consecrated by Bishop Rowe in 1904.

From 1904 to 1925 the church operated a hospital. Initially it used the area across the street from the church at what used to be the old Five and Dime, then later it moved to the Yates Building adjacent to the church until a newer facility was constructed at a different location.

As the attendance of the white population increased, desire grew on the part of Alaska Natives to have a church of their own.  St. Elizabeth's Church, located on Woodland Avenue, was built, and flourished with a very active congregation.  In 1961 Bishop William J. Gordon, Jr. ordered the church closed, and the congregation combined with St. John's.  These two churches had both been missions until 1956, at which time St. John's became the first partially self-supporting church in Alaska.  In 1969 St. John's became a completely self-supporting church.

In the 1960’s, donations from parishioners made possible the replacement of the plain-glass-with-decals side windows of the church with stained glass.  In 1981 new vinyl siding was placed on the buildings to safeguard them and provide better insulation, then the vinyl on the church building was replaced with cedar siding in the mid-1990s.  The undercroft was completely remodeled in 1984, and named MacKenzie Hall in honor of parishioner Dorothy MacKenzie ten years later.

Since 1897, beginning with St. Agnes Mission, St. John's has had 22 priests.  Maintaining its presence in the downtown area remained a priority for St. John's. From time to time the property has experienced pressure from the business community to sell. St. John's remains firm in its Mission Statement: "St. John's is an historical Episcopal Church reaching out in love to all believers. We celebrate, through Christ, our colorful differences in this uniquely transient community. God's power in our many gifts is reflected through worship, education, ministry, and example. "

Its location with its steeple rising from the center of town as a symbol of God and His work in the world.