About St. Mary's Episcopal Church
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We are a parish community in the southeast corner of Kentucky, quite close to the borders with Tennessee and Virginia, in the shadow of the Cumberland Gap. The parish has been here since 1890, and currently an average of 40 people gather each Sunday from Middlesboro and the surrounding area. Our members come from all three states, and we are the only Episcopal Church within about 45 miles.
We worship on Sundays at 11am, nearly always using Rite II. Additionally, the major feast days of the liturgical year are marked with the celebration of Holy Eucharist, or with Evening Prayer.
St. Mary's is a member church of the Network for Pastoral Leadership and Healthy Congregations, an initiative started in 2009 as a collaborative partnership between the Diocese and member congregations. Under the Network, newly-ordained clergy are placed into positions of pastoral leadership, and the Diocese and parish leadership work with the pastor to transform the mission of the parish into a learning environment for clergy development. Think of it as a residency program for priests! St. Mary's entered the Network in 2010 with the calling of Father Chris Arnold to be their priest-in-charge. He will serve until 2013.
The parish building is the oldest church building in Middlesboro still in use. A fine example of Carpenter Gothic architecture, the church is on the National Register of Historic Places, and appeared in the book Sacred Places of Kentucky.
