Our History
In the late 19th century, Episcopal churches were typically
established by the Department of Missions based on where they wanted
a church, and they would commission a missionary for that purpose.
St. James may be the only church started because of local demand.
In 1891, one year after the founding of the town of El Paso de
Robles, a group of six women, collectively known as “The Guild,”
submitted a request to the Diocese of California to establish a
mission church in Paso Robles. At that time, the nearest Episcopal
church was St. John’s in San Miguel, seven miles away, a significant
distance in the horse-and-buggy days. The diocese sent a missionary,
the Rev. John Abbott Emery, to investigate and his initial report
was not favorable. However, his sister, Julia Chester Emery, who was
national president of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Episcopal Church,
convinced him to reconsider, and even provided funds from the newly
created United Thank Offering. The Rev. Emery first administered the
sacraments of baptism and confirmation in Paso Robles in April 1891.
In July of the same year, the Rev. Arthur Lumsden Mitchell was
appointed Missionary in Charge of the Church of St. James the
Apostle.
One of the early meeting places of the congregation was over a
butcher shop, and the odor of hot lard inspired Rev. Mitchell to
undertake “construction of the physical facilities necessary for a
mission.” Under his direction, a guild hall was built where services
were held for a time. The cornerstone of the church building was
laid January 14, 1892, and the first recorded service in this
building was Palm Sunday, April 10, 1892. Two weeks later, the Rt.
Rev. William Ford Nichols, Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of
California, blessed the building.
The building was remodeled in 1911 with funds raised from bake
sales, teas, jumble sales, cake walks, and, in true Anglophile
tradition, birthday parties for the King. It was also at this time
that the tradition of the Shrove Tuesday pancake supper began.
In 1921 the Rev. Charles L. Thackeray was appointed vicar at St.
James. Rev. Thackeray had been president of the Deanery of San Jose,
and was so widely known as “Dean Thackeray” that many assumed that
Dean was his given name. Dean Thackeray found a growing division
between town residents and country residents, and decided to start a
social event where both groups could mix. Stores would close, and no
commercial activity would take place. “Leave your purse at home and
come to town” was his call. This vision turned into the event that
became Pioneer Days in 1931. Pioneer Days is still observed in
October each year, and over the years many St. James parishioners
have been elected King and Queen of the event.
During Dean Thackeray’s tenure, the church acquired its 1863 Stevens
organ. It is believed to be the oldest continually used pipe organ
on the West Coast.
In 1938, The Rev. Mr. Lloyd Thomas came to St. James, and in 1944
would become the church’s last vicar and its first rector as St.
James converted from a mission to a parish.
The church was extensively remodeled in 1948, at which time a bell
tower was constructed to house a bell that came to St. James from
St. John’s in San Miguel after a fire destroyed that church.
During the 1980s, the Rev. Carl Hansen, rector of St. James, saw the
need for a pantry to distribute food to the needy. This resulted in
the formation of an organization called Loaves & Fishes, which
was initially housed at St. James. Eventually its operations
exceeded available parish space and it moved to another facility.
Today Loaves & Fishes occupies its own building and is supported
by a number of local churches and secular groups. Although Loaves
& Fishes is no longer an outreach exclusive to St. James, our
deacon, the Rev. Jacqueline Sebro, on Sundays welcomes a food basket
brought to our altar for Loaves & Fishes.
St. James observed the centennial of its founding in 1991. At that
time, a history of the parish entitled Celebrate the Journey was
written by church member James Holloway, drawing on church records
and the memories of many parishioners and former priests.
St. James has a long tradition of supporting civil justice. During
the anti-Asian hysteria of the early 1900s, the church went on
record as supporting full citizenship for Asian Americans. During
the Depression it operated a desegregated soup kitchen in the parish
hall, despite demands from local authorities that it be segregated.
St. James provided support for servicemen at local military bases
during World Wars I and II, and in the late 1940, the Rev. Leon
Harris began the “Teen Canteen” in the parish hall, a place for
teens to meet, socialize, and even dance!
In the 1960s, St. James rector Thomas Steensland marched in Alabama
with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
©St. James Church