Welcome to St. Mary's!
A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE PARISH HISTORY
Following the Congress of St Louis, held on September 14-16, 1977, and the establishment of the Anglican Church in North America, later renamed the Anglican Catholic Church (ACC), a group of twelve orthodox and traditional Anglicans from the St Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Akron’s North Hill met in the afternoon of December 4 that same year to celebrated the first service of Holy Communion. This first service was held. This group would constitute a parish named for Saint Mary the Virgin, the Theotokos (God-Bearer) as defined by the Council of Ephesus in 431AD. Saint Mary’s was one of the original eight parishes of the Diocese of the Midwest.
The Parish met at a local Unitarian-Universalist Church, but could only hold services on Sunday afternoons. Members of the U-U church at one time picketed during services in protest of the ACC’s refusal to admit women to holy orders of bishop, priest, and deacon. Beginning on February 26, 1978, the parish held services in the chapel of the North Hill United Methodist Church, but again, services could only be held in the afternoon. The Reverend James Ryerson was instituted as the first Rector, serving from April 1978-Januray 1979. The first confirmation took place in on September 24, 1978, under the first Bishop of the Diocese of the Midwest, the Right Reverend David Dale Dornan. The Reverend Roderic Dibbert was Saint Mary’s second Rector briefly, serving from September 1978-October 1981. The Reverend Shelbert Harris served a priest-in-charge from 1981-1986.
In October, 1986, the Reverend Kenneth P Vinsel was instituted as the third Rector. Thanks to a generous bequest and the faithful support of parishioners, the parish was able to purchase the current church building located on Triplett Boulevard, constructed in the 1950s as an Evangelical Congregational church. There was a church hall and Sunday school building adjacent to the church that was later converted into a rectory. The first services were held at the Triplett Boulevard location on November 12, 1989. Following the reassignment of the third Rector, Deacon Quentin Parsons served as curate to the Bishop as rector of St Mary’s during the interim, assisted by several visiting priests.
On October 1, 1998, the Reverend Joseph E DeHart began serving as priest in charge. Father DeHart and his wife, Edy, were the first occupants of the newly converted rectory. Fr DeHart was instituted as the fourth Rector by Bishop Joseph P Deyman on September 10, 1999. The vestry had recently retired the mortgage; and so on September 11, 1999, the Bishop consecrated the church and a new permanent altar specially designed and built for Saint Mary’s. During Fr DeHart’s tenure, numerous improvements were made to the parish hall and chancel. Other improvements were made to improve accessibility. The parish by-laws were also revised to address changes in state and federal laws. Father DeHart was later appointed Archdeacon of the Diocese of the Midwest by Bishop Rommie M Starks. Sadly, after over twelve years of service, aided by his wife, Edy, Archdeacon Dehart passed away of complications from cancer on February 26, 2010.
The fifth and current Rector, the Reverend Canon Leigh Aaron Kester, PhD, conducted his first on June 6, 2010, and was instituted as Rectory by Bishop Starks on June 27. The first major project was repairing the church tower and restoring the masonry, which included a large cruciform sandstone insert to replace the original glass block cross facing. The parish continues to make improvements, including a new lift chair, making both the nave and the parish hall more accessible.