St. John's Episcopal Church records, 1873-2023

On January 31, 1873, Episcopal Bishop Daniel S. Tuttle arrived in Logan riding on the first railroad train to reach the town. His mission was to establish a new Episcopal parish, St. John's, as a northern outpost in Utah. Despite initial hostility from the dominant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints population, the church was established along with a school. (Prior to Utah's statehood in 1896, there was no public school system.) While the Episcopal congregation remained small the school did quite well, and eventually a majority of the students attending came from Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints homes. In 1876, three years after its founding, the church purchased property on Center Street at 300 West, although a permanent building was not erected until 1888.

The church moved again to its current location (85 East 100 North) in 1909 when a new church building was completed. This move coincided with the active and high-profile ministry of the Rev. Paul Jones and the Rev. Donald Johnson. The two young priests were active proponents of the Social Gospel movement as well as Progressive Era reforms. They did extensive public outreach, including establishing the first lending library in Logan along with a smoker's lounge. (Other notable firsts included the first indoor shower and first tennis court.) During their tenure in Logan, Jones and Johnson published a journal called The Portal (Special Collections call # 979.26 P831), which contained articles on a variety of literary, theological, community, and social reform issues. Following Johnson's departure to Pennsylvania in 1911 and Jones' move to Salt Lake City in 1913 (where he subsequently served as Bishop of Utah until being forced to resign for his pacifist views during World War I), St. John's entered a prolonged period of decline. This eventually resulted in the discontinuance of regularly scheduled church services (and the absence of a resident clergy) from 1927 to 1942.

St. John's resurrection occurred with the onset of World War II and the influx of military personnel at the Utah Agricultural College (now USU). Major Ben B. Blair spearheaded the renewal with help from Walter P. Cable, a licensed lay reader from Ogden who was assigned to St. John's by the Diocese of Utah. In 1945, a permanent priest was once again assigned to the Logan church. Although the fortunes of St. John's continued to wax and wane during the next several decades, by the 1980s, the church entered a period of relative stability and gradual growth. This growth eventually resulted in a massive renovation and expansion of the church as well as the construction of a new social hall/classroom wing (replacing the earlier parish house), which was dedicated in October 2004.

Sources of Information:

Building the Goodly Fellowship of Faith, by Frederick Quinn (Main stacks: BX 5917 U8 Q85 2004).

"The Reopening of St. John's Church," by Sandy Hays (Spec. Coll.: Pam C 219)