On October 10th, 1961 a letter was sent to the Diocese to petition for Mission Status. On October 12th: Bishop C. Avery Mason granted Mission Status to St. John the Divine under its first Vicar, The Very Rev. Francis W. Fowler with expectations that Rev. Eugene McCrary, Missionary Curate on staff at All Saints’ Church, Wichita Falls, would handle ministrations and work in the Mission. And so the journey began.
Initially only Morning Prayer Services were held until Fr. McCrary was Ordained into the Priesthood on December 21st, 1961. St. John’s first Holy Eucharist was held on Christmas Eve, 1961 in the First Christian Church. Over the next year the small church was built. Part of the building plan included a ‘tiny apartment’ behind the Altar where Fr. McCrary lived the first winter after the church was completed – without any heat. The church was two blocks beyond the city gas lines.
In March 1963 the first services were held in the shell of the church with only the foundations and walls completed. On October 31st, 1964 St John the Divine was dedicated with Bishop Theodore H. McCreary officiating.
In June 1977 ground was broken for the Parish Hall and is completed in February 1978. It was dedicated and consecrated by Bishop Davies, and named for former vicar, Fr. Neil Hess.
Over the years, the ladies of St. John the Divine sold baked Altar Bread and linens sewn by hand. Additionally, through Blessed Angel Glass Works, the men of St. John the Divine have designed, made and repaired stain glass throughout the Diocese, including the Diocesan Center in Ft. Worth, and even the Synagogue in Wichita Falls.
Today, we continue as a Catholic Mission in the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth under the leadership of The Right Reverend Ryan S. Reed.