Church and Parish History
Interior view of St. John’s Church cir. 1900
The original Vested Choir cir. 1897
St. John’s Parish was first established in 1856 on land donated by Petaluma pioneer George P. McNear, and located at the corner of 5th and C streets. Our first home was a small wooden church that was destroyed by fire. The cornerstone was laid for the current church in 1890. Designed by Ernest A. Coxhead, it was dedicated six months later on April 5, 1891.
The Ladies Guild of St. John’s cir. 1901
Of the twenty-four churches Ernest A. Coxhead designed throughout California, St. John’s is not only noteworthy for being virtually intact with only a few minor alterations over the years, but for it’s glorious stained glass windows.
Coxhead completed his professional training in London before beginning his career in 1886 in Los Angeles. He had just moved to the San Francisco area when the vestry chose him to design their new church building. Some of the details of interest in the building are a Romanesque entrance arch, a quatrefoil window over the door, the interior’s open beam ceiling with Elizabethan style truss-work. The glorious stained glass windows add to the beauty of this historical builidng. The church is in use today as a continuing congregation of the Episcopal Church.
According to the Heritage Homes Foundation of Petaluma, St. John’s “embodies the characteristics of the rustic California ‘Bay Tradition,’ a regional expression of the 19th century Shingle Style that had its roots in the English Queen Anne.”
The renewal of St. John’s, Petaluma began in early 2007, when a small group vowed not to let the Episcopal Church die out in a town where it had been established. The parish had been in deepening conflict with the wider Episcopal Church over the course of several years, a rift that became a chasm with the denomination’s approval of full inclusion of LGBT persons in its life and leadership. In a vote just before Christmas 2006, the leaders and many members of the congregation decided to break away and form a new church on the premises of St. John’s Episcopal that would maintain the practice of excluding LGBT persons. Resolutely determined to continue St. John’s, about a dozen members opposed to the schism gathered in a private living room the following Sunday morning. A retired Navy Chaplain and former Interim Priest-in-Charge of St. John’s, the Rev. Norman Cram, volunteered his services as pastor of the congregation, and the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California extended his support. The congregation soon outgrew the living room, holding the first public service of the continuing St. John’s Episcopal Church at sunrise on Easter Day 2007. The following week, St. John’s began meeting for worship on Saturday evening at Elim Lutheran Church.
Meanwhile, with the support of the Diocese of Northern California, the parish leaders decided to initiate legal action to recover the property alienated from the church by the breakaway congregation. The case never went to trial, but was settled out of court in the early summer of 2009 when the Supreme Court of California ruled in favor of the Episcopal Church in a similar case involving two breakaway parishes in the Diocese of Los Angeles. In July, 2009 St. John’s Episcopal Church returned to its historic home at the corner of 5th and C Streets in Petaluma. The people of the congregation, which by now included numerous new members, immediately set to work on long-delayed capital improvements and deferred maintenance to the physical plant, on rebuilding the parish organization, and redeveloping the programs of a vital Episcopal parish. These latter included the creation of two Sunday morning services with unique musical and liturgical flavors, a Godly Play Sunday School, First Friday Taizé services and Labyrinth Walks and in collaboration with other faith communities in Petaluma, the Westside Interfaith Food Pantry.
This process of congregational renewal took a further step forward a year later, again with support from the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California, when the Rev. Daniel Green arrived as the full-time Priest-in-Charge. In the past four years a culture of spiritual growth and discernment, with the collaborative development of lay and ordained leadership, have seen the parish gather strength in numbers, participation, and the quality and variety of its activities and programs. Successful fundraising events have enabled us to refurbish and make accessibility improvements to our beautiful and spacious parish hall, rededicated as Norman Cram Hall in November 2012, to be an asset to the whole community.
The congregation made the final transition from dependence on Diocesan support to full economic self-sufficiency at the end of 2014.
On February 13, 2015, after a year of discernment, St. John's celebrated the Renewal of Ministry and Institution of Rev. Daniel C. Green as Rector.
St. John’s Angel of the Resurrection Window History
In 2022 the Vestry of Saint John’s Episcopal Petaluma realized that the main stained-glass window representing the three Marys at the tomb of Jesus that was very much in need of repair. The wood framing around the glass had begun to show signs of deterioration and leaks indicated that if it was to be preserved serious reparations would be needed.
Bill Rhoads and others on the Building and Grounds Committee contacted Nzilani Glass Conservation of Oakland. After a thorough review of the state of the glass, lead and wooden frame, the lead restorer, Lydia Henkel-Moellmann sent a bid to cover the costs required to preserve and repair the window. It turned out to be an extensive job requiring a scaffolding and months of detailed handwork; hence the quote was a shock.
Saint John’s Petaluma, built in 1859 according to the cornerstone by the front door, is part of Petaluma’s early history. And it turns out that this window, a central feature of the church, is in memory of one of its distinguished early citizens. It was given in memory of Dr. J.S. Shepherd by his wife and daughters. What is fascinating is that we know a lot about Dr. Shepherd. Our wonderful historical society has researched and found out from the 1850 Census that Dr. Shepherd was born in England in 1816. He moved to Racine Wisconsin with his wife Rebecca and by 1850 had four children, Emilyn, Clara, Charles and Matilda.
But most fascinating is that in 1850 the doctor and his family began their westward journey by wagon. Dr. Shepherd, a good scientist, kept a careful account of their travels in a diary. He kept daily records of miles covered, weather, food, and water resources. In 1950 the Press Democrat published excerpts from this diary in its newspaper; we can read his account of their journey from St. Joseph Missouri to Hangtown.
Apparently, the family settled originally in Butte County, but by 1870 they had made a home in Petaluma. We know his residence and his office was on Liberty Street between Western and A Street. Today’s address is 4 Sixth Street. It appears there is now a modern home, but we don’t know whether it’s built on the foundations of Dr. Shepherd’s house. The Shepherds celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1888. In 1889, newspaper accounts announce the unveiling of the new stained glass window at Saint John’s as a memorial to Dr. Shepherd. It seems he died in 1892 and his wife after 1896. It’s the last we hear of them. For some reason the researcher could find no obituary of either one.