The Church of the Redeemer, Episcopal in Houston, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 is an Episcopal inner city church. During the late 1960s, under Rector Graham Pulkingham

Graham Pulkingham

The Reverend W. Graham Pulkingham was the rector at the Church of the Redeemer in Houston, Texas, from 1963 until 1975. He and his wife Betty began the developments that led to the founding of the Community of Celebration and the worship band The Fisherfolk...

 and for several decades, it was a center for liturgically-based worship revival. Redeemer was the origin for the Community of Celebration in the UK and the US, and the travelling worship ministry The Fisherfolk. As of Feb 28, 2011 the church is having to give up their current buildings, and will share the use of a nearby Lutheran church of the same name.

History

The church was originally known as the Eastwood Church, named after the planned subdivision where it was built in 1919, on a triangle of land donated by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas at the intersection of Eastwood, Dallas and Telephone. An adjacent "Teleph Hall" and three-story Education Building were added in the 1930s next to the small church building. In the 1950s Tellepsen Construction replaced the church with a new Sanctuary of reinforced concrete. The interior is striking with its use of curved forms, and a massive mural "Christ of the Working Man" by John William Orth.

Worship

In the late 1960s Redeemer setup a downtown "coffee-house" ministry to street people, which also drew in university students. The venue on North Main Street was called the "Way Inn". This disbanded in the mid-1970s as musicians and worship leaders of that group went to the UK to become the FisherFolk teams in the Community of Celebration. The same style of informal worship continued at the church on Friday nights, and on Sunday mornings with traditional hymns. As evidenced by albums recorded by the church, the music embraced a full range of musical styles, including several full settings of the Eucharist set to music by Betty Pulkingham.

Community

Rev. Pulkingham drew around him a group of lay elders, including Lawyer Jerry Barker, Doctor Robert Eckert, Electrician John Grimmett, and men from a variety of business backgrounds: Ladd Fields, Andy Austin. During the 1970s, young adults drawn to the worship were invited to live in extended family households. Each household had a common purse, and all took part in the weekly food co-op distribution of fresh vegetables, fruit and milk. The community was also sent young men registered as Conscientious Objectors to work in their Medical clinics.

Outreach Ministries

Medical clinics were set up in the Fourth Ward of Houston and in Eastwood - this later became a City of Houston clinic. Dr. Eckert and his helpers also set up annual trips to Mexico offering medical clinic service. "LaRoca" minister after-school and evenings to the neighborhood hispanic children and their parents. The church has a volunteer relationship with Lantrip Elementary School next door.