History
St. James Church is the oldest Episcopal congregation on Colorado’s western
slope, established in the 1870s. The church building originally housed a
carpenter's shop in the booming mining town of Lake City, high in the San
Juan Mountains, and was later used briefly as a public school. Local Episcopalians
purchased the building in December, 1876, and converted it to a worship
space. For nearly a century, a rare Estey reed organ has provided music
for our services.
St. James is a part of the
Episcopal Diocese of Colorado and the national
Episcopal Church, a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, born
out of the Church of England with roots extending back to the earliest days
of Christianity. As Anglicans, we uphold and proclaim a catholic and apostolic
faith, “based on scripture and interpreted in light of tradition and reason.”
There are over 70 million Anglicans in 38 national churches or provinces.