History

Our Church and Community

Ocean Springs, Mississippi, lies at the heart of the beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast on the eastern shore of Biloxi Bay. It’s known as the City of Discovery in recognition of the French establishment of a settlement here in 1699. Long before the French arrived, however, the area was appreciated for its beauty and natural resources by Native Americans. The attributes that brought these early residents have attracted a diverse stream of people during the past 300 years. Ocean Springs has been flavored by many influences during its rich history, and now in the 21st century, it has a unique character that makes us happy to call it home.

Originally organized as St. Paul’s in 1856, the name was changed to St. John’s Episcopal Church in 1877.  Local legend says that the famous architect Louis Sullivan, the teacher of Frank Lloyd Wright and a winter visitor to Ocean Springs, worked with the church’s “Fortnightly Guild” to develop building plans for the church.  Actual plans were drawn by the Rev. Nelson Ayers, a prospective minister, from illustrations in the “Churchman” and adopted by the guild on October 11, 1891. According to the book, Historic Churches of Mississippi, which features St. John’s on the cover, the design of the church building was based on the Church of the Ascension in RockvilleCenter, Long Island, New York, designed by Manly N. Cutter, a New York architect.

Until the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi approved St. John’s as a parish in 1955, the church was served by rectors in Pascagoula or Biloxi.  The rector of the Church of the Redeemer in Biloxi became priest-in-charge in 1921 and served for thirty-four years until St. John’s became a parish. Because there was no highway bridge between Biloxi and Ocean Springs, and because the trip around through D’Iberville was much too long, the priest-in-charge often walked across the bay on the railroad bridge to hold one service each Sunday. 

In 2010, St. John’s celebrated the completion of a new parish hall of 11,000 square feet, for a cost of $1.8 million.  The parish hall has the capacity to serve up to 150 for dinner utilizing a commercial-grade kitchen and has been host to numerous receptions as well as church and community events. The addition of a multi-media center in the parish hall complete with roll down screen and permanently mounted projector make presentations of all types more impressive. The parish hall is available for rental to both parish members and people in the community. In addition to the large hall, there are multiple rooms for Christian Education, a youth room, choir room, and staff office.  Attached to the nursery is a “crying room” complete with live video/audio feed capabilities from the church. The Rt. Rev. Duncan M. Gray, III led the dedication and blessed the new addition in January 2010.