Nestled in the foliage on Goodyear Boulevard in Picayune, lies one of the city’s oldest churches.
Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church was formed in 1928 and was admitted to the diocese in 1929.
Daniel Herrington has been attending St. Paul’s for the past 16 years and said that to his knowledge, the church may be the oldest liturgical one in Picayune.
Services were initially held in the Maple Room of the Pear Tree Inn.
According to church history, the original location for the church building was on the corner of Norwood and Williams.
The church is currently located at 1421 Goodyear Blvd.
The Parish Hall was constructed in 1962 and includes an office and gathering space, Herrington said. The Lonnie Smith education building was built in 2003.
“The current church was constructed in 1985,” Herrington said. “The style is characterized as modern modified gothic. The stained glass windows and Stations of the Cross were handmade by Mississippi artists.”
Herrington said that if the inside ceiling were to be inverted, it would resemble the bow of a ship which is characteristic of early Gothic churches.
In 2001, the church opened St. Paul’s School.
“The school was for children in grades kindergarten to third,” Herrington said. “There was, and still is, a need for a private school in the area.”
The school was closed in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina.
Next to the church building is a memorial garden that was built in 2002.
“The gardens were built for the internment of cremated remains of parishioners and their family members,” Herrington said.
The parish’s property suffered water damage during Hurricane Katrina and the rectory was demolished and rebuilt, church history states.
St. Paul’s is a liturgical church in apostolic succession and there is a good deal of lay participation, Herrington said.
“There are many roles that people can take in the church,” Herrington said. “I’m a licensed lay reader, chalice bearer, lector, usher and serve on altar guild.”
The Sunday service Holy Eucharist begins at 10 a.m.
For more information, visit the church’s website at www.stpaulspicayune.dioms.org.
Contact them by phone at 601-798-2802 and by email at stpaulssec@bellsouth.net.