The History of St. Paul's...

St. Paul’s Church celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2001.
The Episcopal presence in Utah dates back to 1867 when Reverend Daniel Tuttle was sent from New York as the first missionary bishop of Montana.  His jurisdiction extended into Idaho and Utah territories, and for several years Episcopal services were the only services outside those of the LDS church held in Utah.  In 1896, the federal government assigned the Episcopal Church to religious and educational work among the Ute Indians.  Our sister parishes of Holy Spirit and St Elizabeth’s were organized and the construction of St. Paul’s in Vernal began.

In the fall of 1900 the Missionary Bishop of Utah sent Reverend Olin E. Ostenson to build a church.  He immediately organized a parish that met in an opera house and later moved to the Odd Fellows Lodge.  The first parish statistics were kept from September 1, 1900 to August 31, 1901, and showed a membership of 10 adults and 40 children and contributions totaling 50 dollars, far less than church building would require.

Using contributions provided by congregations in the eastern United States, property was purchased in early 1901, for a grand sum of 325 dollars.  Ground was broken for St. Paul’s Church and the cornerstone was laid on August 20th, the date the parish recognizes as its anniversary.

 St. Paul’s was designed in the Gothic Revival style and construction of the building continued for about two years.  The structure was built of locally fired brick and many hours of volunteer labor.  The first services were conducted in the church on September 13, 1903.  In 1905, Utah’s Episcopal Bishop Franklin S. Spaulding visited Vernal for the first time.  He described his trip as traveling mostly through desert and badlands, after which they topped a hill and looked into the Vernal valley—fair as the garden of the Lord before the destruction of Sodom.  He said, “We have a beautiful little brick church and a shed behind called the Rectory.”  On September 6, 1916, Bishop Paul Jones consecrated the church.

St. Paul’s Lodge, located immediately east of the church, was completed in 1912.  Funding for the building came primarily from the Girl’s Friendly Society of New York.  The mission of the lodge that was built by the Episcopal Church was to serve as lodging to girls from outlying areas that sought education.  It was described as a large two-story brick building with electric lights, a furnace and a bath.  The large living room with its fireplace was homelike and cheerful.  The terms for room and board were four dollars a week.  Non-resident members were charged one dollar for use of bath, library and piano. 

During the 1930s and 40s, no resident clergy were available for St. Paul’s.  Parish members had to make do with only occasional services, but they held firm and lay members provided leadership to the congregation.

The Lodge was leased and later sold to become one of two privately owned hospitals in Vernal.  By 1939, the two had combined and were housed in the Lodge, and named Uintah Basin Hospital.  The porch was enclosed and divided, the east end became a business office, and the west end served as a waiting room.  The room at the back of the building was the surgery.  The entry had shelves built into the walls for baby baskets, with a delivery room nearby.  Patients were pulled up to the second floor rooms on a steep ramp, which covered the narrow stairway.  At least one patient was known to have slid right back down! When the Second World War ended a community campaign was launched to build a new hospital that would provide an increased number of medical services.

The Lodge property was resold to the church in 1949.  Since then it has served as a rectory and a parish hall for various church and community activities, such as church school, expanding Alcoholic Anonymous groups, and as a practice place for a local school of music and the arts.

In 1987, St. Paul’s was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the oldest religious building in continuous use, in Vernal.  In 1991, St. Paul’s church and Lodge were partially renovated.  A narthex was added to the front of the church, a sacristy and an office were built at the back, and ramps were included making the buildings handicap accessible. The renovations were done very carefully to preserve all historic aspects of the buildings. The Utah Heritage Foundation recognized the parish’s efforts to preserve these historical landmarks.

The Parish Hall has undergone extensive renovation and remodelling since 2003, and the renewed structure clearly reflects the vitality of our parish spirit.