A History of the Parish
The Anglican Parish of Saint John the Baptist was formed in 1991 by former members of the Episcopal Church to carry on the worship of the traditional Book of Common Prayer, and to bear witness to the faith and practice of the undivided Church as received from the Church of England.
The parish is a member of the Diocese of the Holy Cross, a non-geographic diocese of the Anglican Catholic Church in full communion with the Anglican Church in America and the Anglican Province of America.
The parish has had a notable succession of rectors from the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and the United States. The current rector, the Rev’d Canon Jonathan J.D. Ostman SSC, was born in Thailand to missionary parents and is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. He undertook a business studies programme at the London School of Economics and has a Master in Divinity, cum laude, from the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia.
The Anglican Parish of Saint John the Baptist is in everyday use and represents the very best of the Anglo-Catholic tradition. Mattins (Morning Prayer) is said daily at 9.30am and Evensong (Evening Prayer) is said daily at 5.30pm Monday through Saturday. On Sunday, Low Mass is said at 8am and the Sung Mass is celebrated at 10.30am. Feast Days throughout the year are celebrated with Mass at 6.30pm.
A History of the Church Building
The building, which is now the home of the Anglican Parish of Saint John the Baptist, was built in 1848 in the Carpenter Gothic style of architecture for the Piedmont Parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. The one-and-one-forth acre cost a little less than $200 in those days and prominent citizens of Marshall put up the $2,500 it took to erect the building.
The church’s location made its use as a Civil War hospital - by both sides - inevitable. And during World War II, American Red Cross volunteers rolled surgical bandages in the Vestry room.
In the 1920's, the church was extensively remodeled in a Neoclassical style, complete with Doric columns and pediment, but still retaining elements of the original Gothic architecture in the interior.
In 1997, the Church sanctuary was renovated with the plain arch and pilasters covered with a faux marble treatment, giving the appearance of authentic stone even upon close inspection. The expanse inside the arch is filled with a Tudor pattern in royal crimson and gold, copied from the court of Henry VIIIth. The nave was left unadorned.
The dominant centerpiece over the altar is a replica of the Cross of San Damiano, the original of which hangs in a side chapel of the Basilica of Saint Clare on the mountaintop plateau of Assisi, Italy. It was in prayer before this cross that S. Francis of Assisi received the commission from Our Lord to “rebuild My Church.”