When you travel east of Clinton on Hwy. 7, you pass St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, the white church with the red door.
The church is less than 25 years old, but when you enter the red door, you’ll discover a sanctuary with traditional features — an ornamental screen called a reredo, behind the altar, a stained-glass rose window, tapestry paraments, and a carved wood pulpit and baptistry.
The pulpit, the baptistry, and the reredos, which have Celtic crosses with central floral motifs, were made by a church member Bob Crossley.
“Bob worked on the designs until everyone was happy,” Kate French said. “He would bring the pieces to church on Sunday. He wanted to make sure everyone loved them.”
Kate is the Bishop’s Warden at St. Paul’s, representing the bishop of the West Missouri diocese, the Rt. Rev. Diane Jardine Bruce. You’d never know that in the last few years, the church has survived a plague, when the church was shut up during the pandemic, followed by a flood, which ruined the flooring and damaged the walls.
Luckily the reredos, along with the pews, was not damaged. With all the work done on the interior, the sanctuary doesn’t show any sign of the back-to-back disasters that have assailed it.
“It was really a test of faith to get this done,” Kate said. “It’s not just back the way it was, but it’s better because all the little things that needed fixing were repaired.”
It was when they had to close up the church during the pandemic in 2020 that the first disaster occurred — because there was no air circulating, mold grew on the hymnals and other surfaces, she said. The hymnals had to be thrown out, she said, but were replaced by the diocese. After a thorough cleaning, church members installed an ion filter, and felt confident the church was free of mold.
Then, just when St. Paul’s was planning to reopen, came the flood.
It was March of 2021 when a cold snap hit, Kate said. They had turned up the heat and opened cabinet doors under the sinks. But a pipe broke, flooding the sanctuary.
They didn’t discover the damage until four days later, when they went to the church to get ready for the bishop’s visit.
“There was water covering the carpet,” she said.
The church visit was delayed, and when the bishop visited the next week, the walls were ripped out. Everything was piled behind the altar and covered with sheets, Kate said.
They still had services during the next year, but it took that long to get the sanctuary completely repaired, she said. Water had damaged the walls halfway up, so those sections had to be removed and replaced, along with the insulation. Then they had to replace the drywall, paint it, and move the furniture back.
They also had to stain all the wood needed to reinstall the baseboards, she said.
“Work went on for eight months,” Kate said. “We were back together by Advent.”
But it took even longer to get the floor of the sanctuary replaced because they couldn’t get anyone to do it. Eventually they hired ServPro, whose staff brought in more than 30 fans to dry out the sanctuary. As well as replacing the flooring, the company dealt with the church’s insurance company, so the church was compensated for the cost.
“It wasn’t finished until April of last year,” Kate said of the job.
Clinton’s original Episcopal church, called St. Mark’s, stood on the corner of Second and Grandview, holding its first service in November of 1869. The name was changed to St. Paul’s in 1886. The church was closed in 1925 after the building developed structural problems. The site is now a playground, Kate said.
The Episcopal congregation then met in a house church at 315 S. Third St., north of Ohio. There used to be a cross up under the eaves of the house, Kate said.
About 25 years ago, the congregation decided to build a new church. When they couldn’t find land in town, they bought 9.2 acres beyond the east edge of Clinton, and built the white church. There are only two stained glass windows in the back of the sanctuary, plus the rose window over the altar. The arched windows on both sides of the sanctuary are clear glass.
“We like the view of the open field,” Kate said.
Bob Crossley was a hobby woodworker who made the interior what it is today, she said. The material for the reredos, made of red oak, cost $2,500 and was paid for by contributions from church members.
“After Bob cut out the wood, his spouse, Barbara, stained and varathaned the larger pieces in their garage, and the smaller pieces in her kitchen,” Kate said.
The Crossleys were also the official grandparents of St. Paul’s, she said, greeting everyone with a hug. After Bob passed away, Barbara moved from Clinton to be closer to family.
A photograph on the wall in the back section of the sanctuary, next to the door to the kitchen, is of Cliff Campbell, another church benefactor. Cliff, a welder for the Peabody Coal Company at the Tebo mine, paid off the mortgage on the church, Kate said.
“He truly loved the church and the people here,” Kate said.
Other figures that have passed through St. Paul’s history are Father Larry Lewis and Father Rolf Leed. Fr. Leed, who worked part-time as a counselor at Pathways, was the priest at St. Paul’s for 20 years, serving at both the house church and the new church, she said.
St Paul’s morning service is as traditional as its sanctuary. It begins with a processional to the altar, led by a person holding high the cross, followed by the priest, lay readers and acolytes. Candles glow in brass candlesticks on the altar and below the rose window. There’s a hymn board on the wall behind the pulpit where hymn numbers are posted. The Book of Common Prayer, first printed in 1549, contains liturgies and daily prayers, is in the pews.
Off the side of the chancel is the sacristy, where Father Mike Kyle, the supply priest who serves St. Paul’s, gets ready for the service. Framed pieces of old vestments decorate a wall in the sacristy.
St. Paul’s Altar Guild sets up the altar for communion. Church members also serve as lay readers or Lay Eucharistic Ministers to help with communion, Kate said. The Lay Eucharistic Visitor takes communion to shut-ins.
The flood damaged the sacristy and the communion box, used to transport the elements, which was stored in the sacristy. Kate’s nephew, Robb Gallogos, volunteered to make the church a new one, she said, choosing symbolic wood for the box.
“He made the box out of African mahogany, and used ash wood for the interior dividers,” she said. “The cross on top is apple wood.”
Robb lives in Denver and didn’t want to mail his handiwork, so Kate and her husband picked the communion box up when they visited Colorado last December. It is now in a drawer in the Sacristy.
“It was another step in getting the church back,” Kate said. “It was like when we got the baptistry up. It did my heart good.”
Episcopalian churches trace their heritage back through the centuries, Kate said. The word “episcopal” means that the church is headed by bishops, who according to tradition, have been ordained in an unbroken succession from the time of the apostles. In addition to the House of Bishops, there is a House of Deputies, made up of priests, deacons and lay members.
Kate’s father was an Episcopal priest who served in Valparaiso, Indiana, where she grew up. Kate and her spouse, Sam French, moved to Clinton 20 years ago, where Kate taught English for 13 years at Clinton High School.
Sam is head of the Henry County Ministerial Alliance, which plans the World Day of Prayer in May and the city’s ecumenical Thanksgiving service, and has an office at First Baptist Church where people can apply for aid.
As Bishop’s Warden, Kate attends diocesan council meetings, where representatives from Episcopal churches are discussing how to serve as the hands and feet of Christ in the world. The Episcopal Church partners with other denominations to serve others, she said, and is inclusive, with women serving as bishops, priests and deacons.
“St. Paul’s is a church with an open atmosphere, where all are accepted as children of God,” she said. “It’s all about love.”
The red doors of Episcopal churches are a tradition that goes back to ancient England, signifying the building is a place of sanctuary. It still signifies a place of refuge, Kate said, where people can find peace, comfort and healing. Red is also the color of the Holy Spirit.
“I would love everybody in the community to come and share a Sunday morning at St. Paul’s,” she said. “Everybody’s friendly. You will be spoken to.”
Services are Sundays at 10 a.m., with communion, which is open to all, every other Sunday. Morning prayer is on alternate Sundays. Coffee and fellowship time is held in the back part of the sanctuary after the service.
Lent starts next week on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 22, making this a good time to find a church home, and have a church family to celebrate with on Palm Sunday, April 2, and Easter, April 9.
The church with the red door was only a year old when she and her husband moved to Clinton, she said, but it is her favorite church, not only for the beauty of the sanctuary, but because of the people who created and care for it.
“It’s a very loving church,” she said. “This is so much a family.”
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is located at 1837 E. Hwy. 7, Clinton, MO 64735. Go to stpaulsepiscopal.diowestmo.org or St. Paul’s Episcopal Church - Clinton, Missouri Facebook.
