| St. Margaret's Episcopal Church | |
|---|---|
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Episcopal Church in the United States of America |
| Ecclesiastical or organizational status | active |
| Leadership | The Rev. Andrew Butler III, Rector |
| Year consecrated | 1965, 1989 |
| Location | |
| Location | Palm Desert, CA, USA |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Milt Chambers |
| Groundbreaking | 1987 |
| Completed | 1989 |
| Specifications | |
| Direction of façade | east |
| Capacity | 1000+ (worship) |
| Materials | Metal Frame and Stucco |
| Website | |
| www | |
St. Margaret's Episcopal Church is located in Palm Desert, California, United States, on State Route 74 in the Coachella Valley region. Parishioners come from Palm Desert, Indian Wells, and the Coachella Valley area. The parish is currently located in a modern church building completed in 1989. In 1963 St. Margaret's congregation was approved by the Bishop of the Diocese of Los Angeles as a mission. The congregation moved became a parish in 1967 with Fr. Brownlee as the first rector. [1] The church facilities are designed as a multi-functional facility with sanctuary, multi-purpose rooms, and administrative offices.
President of the United States Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford were seasonal members of St. Margaret's. Upon his death, Ford was taken to St. Margaret's for a private prayer service, and for public repose. [2]
In 1962, John Connell, Senior Warden at St. Paul’s in Palm Springs spoke to Fr. Barnhill about planting a new Episcopal church in the newly developed area of Palm Desert. A committee was formed to gain approval from Bishop Bloy of the Diocese of Los Angeles. The Bishop approved the new congregation in 1963. In 1964, The First Eucharist was celebrated at the Fairway Café in Palm Desert. [1]
The first church building was consecrated in August 1965 by Bishop Rusack of Los Angeles. The Rectory was completed in 1967, and Fr. Brownlee became the First Rector as the congregation became a Parish. Rev. John Harrison became the Second Rector upon Fr. Brownlee's retirement in 1970. [1]
A sanctuary expansion was devised in 1971 which included a new organ developed by Frank Own of St. Paul's Cathedral of Los Angeles. The bell tower was donated in 1974, which included a C bell cast in 1908. [1] Since 1991, world-famous concert organist Frederick Swann has been artist-n-residence.
In 1978, Rev. Bob Burton became the Third Rector as Fr. Harrison retired. [1]
Former President Gerald Ford participated in the ground-breaking ceremony for the new church building in 1987. The current sanctuary was consecrated by Bishop C. Brinkley Morton of San Diego on November 19, 1989. The current chapel was consecrated in 1990 by Bishop Morton. [1]
President of the United States George H. W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush attended services at St. Margaret's Church in 1991. [1]
On December 29, 2006, the casket of former President Gerald Ford was transported by motorcade from Eisenhower Medical Center to St. Margaret's Episcopal Church. [2] The arrival ceremony included musical honors by a Marine Band from Twentynine Palms Marine Base. The casket was carried into the church, where Mrs. Betty Ford and family members attended a private prayer service.
Mrs. Ford and the family received several hundred invited friends and guests for visitation. A time of public repose began at 4:20 p.m. PST and concluded at 8:00 a.m. PST the following day due to overwhelming crowd numbers. [3] [4]
On July 12, 2011, a memorial service was held for former First Lady Elizabeth Ford at Mt. Margaret's, attended by former president George W. Bush, First Lady Michelle Obama and former first ladies Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan and Hillary Clinton. [5] [6] The service was broadcast live on C-SPAN, including eulogies by Rosalynn Carter, journalist Cokie Roberts, and Geoffrey Mason. [7]
The mission statement for St. Margaret's Episcopal Church includes "a telling presence in the community." St. Margaret's has several community outreach ministries including a food pantry, Angel Tree, Food In Need of Distribution (F.I.N.D.), prison ministry, soup kitchen, domestic abuse shelter, and a literacy program. [8] St. Margaret's also supports the Episcopal Relief & Development Fund, which provided international relief and development.
The church has a columbarium as part of the Lee and Karns Buildings. [9]
Elizabeth Anne Ford was the first lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977, as the wife of President Gerald Ford. As first lady, she was active in social policy and set a precedent as a politically active presidential spouse. Ford also was the second lady of the United States from 1973 to 1974 when her husband was vice president.
St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square is a historic Episcopal church located at Sixteenth Street and H Street NW, in Washington, D.C., along Black Lives Matter Plaza. The Greek Revival building, designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, is adjacent to Lafayette Square, one block from the White House. It is often called the "Church of the Presidents".
William Croswell Doane was the first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany in the United States. He was bishop from 1869 until his death in 1913.
The Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, USA is one of 20 dioceses that comprise Province IV of the US Episcopal Church, and is a diocese within the worldwide Anglican Communion. The current bishop is Frank S. Logue, who succeeded Scott Anson Benhase on May 30, 2020, when he was consecrated 11th bishop of Georgia at a service held in Christ Church in Savannah, Georgia.
The Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma dates back to 1837 as a Missionary District of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The General Convention of the Episcopal Church recognized the Diocese of Oklahoma in 1937. The diocese consists of all Episcopal congregations in the state of Oklahoma. The ninth Bishop and sixth diocesan Bishop is Poulson C. Reed, consecrated in 2020.
The Parish Church of St Margaret is a Church of England parish church situated on St Margaret's Road, off Bury Old Road (A665) in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, England. The Grade II listed church, in the Diocese of Manchester, was designed in the Decorated style by the Manchester architects Travis and Mangnall in 1849 as a chapel-of-ease to the ancient Prestwich Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin. Opened in 1851, it was extended in 1863, 1871, 1884, 1888 and 1899, and is notable for its fine Arts and Crafts wood carvings by Arthur Simpson of Kendal and late twentieth-century fittings. The church's daughter church of St George, Simister, is in the same parish.
On December 26, 2006, Gerald Ford, the 38th president of the United States, died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California at 6:45 p.m. local time. At 8:49 p.m. local time, his wife of 58 years, Betty Ford, issued a statement announcing his death. The causes of death listed on the death certificate were arteriosclerotic cerebrovascular disease and diffuse arteriosclerosis.
St. James Episcopal Church is an historic parish in Amesbury, Massachusetts.
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church is an Episcopal Church located in Georgetown, Kentucky.
St. John's Cathedral is an Episcopal church near downtown Los Angeles that serves as both a parish church and the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, an area covering five and a half counties. Though St. John's was formed in 1890, the current Romanesque Revival architectural style church was built in 1925. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
St Boniface Church is the mother church of the Anglican parish of Germiston, Gauteng which also includes the chapelries of St Mary and St John in Lambton, and St Mark in Rosedeep. The parish is part of the Diocese of the Highveld, which is in turn part of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.
St. John's Episcopal Church is an episcopal church in Canandaigua, New York. It was built in 1872.
William Hampton Brady was a bishop in the American Episcopal Church.
Thomas Fielding Scott was the first missionary Episcopal Bishop of Washington and Oregon territories.
The Diocese of Cascadia is a founding diocese of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), created in June 2009. It encompasses 25 congregations. The name Cascadia was chosen because the Cascade Range is a prominent geographical feature of the region.
St. James's Episcopal Church is the third oldest Episcopal congregation in Richmond, Virginia. Only the older St. John's Episcopal Church on Church Hill also remains an active congregation.
Brian James Thom is an American prelate of the Episcopal Church who was Bishop of Idaho from 2008 until 2022.
Saint Barnabas on the Desert is an Episcopal church located in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Founded as a mission church in 1953, the church was granted parish status in 1955, and was incorporated in 1958. The church moved into its present structure in 1961.
Grace & St. Peter's Church is an Anglo-Catholic Episcopal parish in the city of Baltimore, in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland. The congregation is the product of the 1912 amalgamation of two earlier parishes, St. Peter's Church and Grace Church. Its building, constructed in Brownstone, is an elaborate example of English Gothic Revival architecture dating from 1852. Today, Grace & St. Peter's is distinguished by its Anglo-Catholic liturgy and professional choir. From 1940 to 2020, it was also home to the Wilkes School at Grace & St. Peter's, an Episcopal day school which closed in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
All Saints Anglican Cathedral is an Anglican church in Long Beach, California. Founded in 1923 as All Saints Episcopal Church, it left the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles in 2004 as part of the Anglican realignment and joined the nascent Anglican Church in North America. In 2017, it was designated as the cathedral of the ACNA Diocese of Western Anglicans.
