St. George's Episcopal Church sits on the corner of East D Street and High Street in downtown Belleville, Illinois, two blocks from Illinois Street and four blocks from Main Street. The 1882 Gothic church with its stained glass windows and its newer 1991 sanctuary, the 33-rank pipe organ, the joint food pantry with neighboring St. Mark Lutheran Church, and the retreat center at Toddhall in Columbia together describe a parish whose roots in this town go back more than 140 years. St. George's is a congregation of the Diocese of Springfield within the Episcopal Church, and it is known in Belleville for fine music, ecumenical partnership, and a long record of outreach to the surrounding neighborhood.
Worship at 8:00 and 10:30
Holy Eucharist is celebrated on Sundays at 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. The liturgy follows the Book of Common Prayer, with Rite I used during Lent and Rite II used during the rest of the church year. All baptized Christians are welcome to receive communion. Ushers guide worshipers to the altar rail, where the congregation kneels, or stands if kneeling is difficult; visitors who prefer not to receive communion may remain in the pew or go forward for a blessing, crossing their arms across their chests to signal that they will not receive the bread and wine. The 10:30 a.m. service is livestreamed for those unable to attend in person.
The service bulletin is easy to follow, and ushers and neighbors in the pew are glad to point newcomers toward the next part of the liturgy. In Episcopal fashion the congregation stands to sing, pray, and declare beliefs, sits to listen to the scriptures and the sermon, and kneels to confess sins and to receive Holy Communion. Hymns come from the blue hymnal in the pew racks, with selections from the great tradition of Anglican congregational singing, supplemented by early American, African American, and ethnic hymns as well as songs from the spiritual renewal movement.
A monthly Saturday evening contemporary service called SHINE is shared with St. Mark Lutheran Church and meets at 6:00 p.m. in the chapel. On Wednesdays a morning Eucharist is followed by one of the parish's most enduring small gatherings.
Christian Education for All Ages at 9:15 a.m.
Christian education for all ages begins at 9:15 a.m. on Sunday mornings between the two services. Children's Sunday School runs September through May and gathers in the chapel for a short time of song before breaking into classes. Curriculum follows Seedlings for preschool through fifth grade, an Episcopal-tradition program covering the major stories and themes of the Bible across four years; sixth through eighth graders use the Sparkhouse Connect program, which combines video, Bible reading, and hands-on activities across three years; high school students use Living the Good News. A nursery is available for children up to six years of age.
Special Sundays mark the year: the Pumpkin Patch the Sunday before Halloween, the Christmas Pageant the Sunday before Christmas, the Easter Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday at 9:30 a.m., and the end-of-Sunday-School brunch the Sunday before Memorial Day. Confirmation preparation is offered for junior high students in alternating years and concludes with the bishop's visitation.
Adults meet in the parish hall for the Rector's Forum, where Fr. Mark leads courses that work through scripture and the Anglican tradition. Recent courses have included a study of the Gospel of Mark and a course on Opening the Book of Common Prayer.
A History in Belleville Since 1880
Episcopal worship took place in Belleville as early as 1860, and baptisms and confirmations occurred in 1865 even before there was a rector. Regular worship began on February 5, 1880, when eighteen people met at the Academy of Music Hall. With a list of prospective members and $300 in pledges, the group applied to the Diocese of Springfield to be admitted as St. Luke's Mission; the name was changed to St. George's, probably to avoid confusion with a new Roman Catholic church also called St. Luke's. The cornerstone of the Gothic church was laid on October 29, 1882, and the building, with its St. Louis-made rolled stained glass windows and pews of ash and cherry, was finished the following spring.
The first century had its share of struggle, with low attendance and short pastorates, but a very active Women's Group helped pay off the debt, and in 1900 the bishop consecrated the church. A rectory was built in 1902, and the congregation voted to incorporate as a parish in 1928. The first pipe organ, an eight-rank Wicks from Highland, Illinois, was funded in 1938 by $100 organ bonds from parishioners and parish organizations, with bourdon bells added sixteen years later. The women of the church at one point donated their gemstones and gold so that artisans in England could create a jewel-encrusted gold chalice still used for special services today.
A new parish hall was built in 1964-65, and the original church interior was renovated in the late 1960s with a new altar, organ, and reredos, plus new pews and carpeting. In 1982 two developments reshaped the parish: Virginia and Charles Todd gave St. George's their estate near Columbia, Illinois, to be used as a retreat and conference center, and St. Mark Lutheran Church, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, began sharing the facilities. The two parishes have worshipped and served together ever since.
A 1989 parish meeting voted to renovate existing space, construct a new church building and parish hall, and raise the money through a capital campaign. The campaign raised a more-than-expected $800,000, and on December 8, 1991, the new 3,800-square-foot church seating 325 was consecrated. The original church became a chapel, with choir rehearsal and music offices, and the parish hall was refitted as classrooms, nurseries, offices, and the food pantry. In 1998 a magnificent 33-rank pipe organ, designed and built by John-Paul Buzard of Champaign, Illinois, was installed as a memorial gift from Audrey Marsh King and first heard that Easter. The mortgage was burned in 2000.
Through the early 2000s the parish called the Rev. Christopher V. Coats, who was deployed to Iraq soon after his arrival; the assistant rector, the Rev. Emily Schnabl, served as acting rector during his absence. The Rev. Dale Coleman arrived in 2007, first as interim and then as rector, and was joined by his wife, the Rev. M. Joan (Jody) Coleman, as deacon in 2010. The Rev. Robert Eaton came as interim in February 2020 and guided the parish through the COVID-19 pandemic, including initiating the livestreamed Sunday services. The Very Rev. Mark William Ohlemeier was called in 2022 as the current priest.
Music, Organs, and Three Choirs
Music has long been central to worship at St. George's. The 25-member Adult Choir sings at the 10:30 Holy Eucharist each Sunday from September through May, at most special services, at occasional Evensongs, and as requested at weddings and funerals. In March 2005 the choir traveled to Washington to represent Illinois at the National Cathedral's Illinois Day, presenting a 25-minute choral prelude before the cathedral's principal celebration of Holy Eucharist. The Folksingers lead contemporary music at the monthly SHINE service shared with St. Mark Lutheran Church. The Choristers, made up of children in grades three through seven, sing once a month at the 10:30 Eucharist and traditionally present a musical production each spring on Mother's Day.
Nancy S. Ypma, D.Mus., has served as Director of Music and Organist since 1989. She holds a bachelor's degree from UCLA and master's and doctoral degrees from Northwestern University, and she is professor of music and chair of the Division of Visual and Performing Arts at McKendree University. She is active in the St. Louis chapter of the American Guild of Organists and concertizes throughout the Midwest, California, and Canada. She directs both the Adult Choir and the Choristers.
The parish's two organs each have their own history. The 1998 Buzard organ fills the new sanctuary with thirty-three ranks of pipes. The chapel organ, an eight-rank Wicks from 1938, was completely rebuilt and restored by parishioners in 1999 and 2000 and provides music for smaller services.
A 40-Year Partnership with St. Mark Lutheran Church
Since 1982 St. George's has shared its buildings and its ministry with St. Mark Lutheran Church. The relationship is unusual in its depth: the two congregations operate one of the busiest food pantries in St. Clair County together, occasionally hold joint education programs, and worship together several times a year under the terms of the full-communion agreement between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Clergy and St. Mark pastors frequently stand in for one another in pastoral ministry. From worship to education to service to property maintenance, the two parishes describe themselves as "better together."
On Sunday mornings, St. George's worships at 8:00 and 10:30, with Christian education at 9:15; St. Mark worships at 9:00, with education at 10:30. The shared parking lot on High Street is St. Mark's contribution to the 1991 redevelopment. In the fall of 2022 the two congregations celebrated forty years together with a joint service and banquet attended by the Episcopal bishop of Springfield, the ELCA bishop of the Central/Southern Illinois Synod, and the parish clergy. A Joint Use Task Force meets monthly to plan facility improvements, and several recent bathroom, classroom, and meeting-room updates were completed through shared volunteer effort and donated funds.
Toddhall Retreat and Conference Center
About fifteen miles south of Belleville, in Columbia, Illinois, the Toddhall Retreat and Conference Center sits on forty-five acres that were given to St. George's in 1982 by Virginia and Charles Todd. Toddhall provides six meeting rooms, a chapel, a dining room, and forty-five guest rooms with private baths. It hosts workshops, lectures, retreats, and discussion groups and welcomes guests from across the country and the world, staffed by church volunteers and full-time center employees. Kevin Korte serves as executive director, with a board that includes parishioners and outside friends. Toddhall is a frequent site for the parish's own Cursillo weekends and other renewal events and was the place where, in September 2005, the parish welcomed and helped resettle an evacuee family from Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.
Community Service and Outreach
St. George’s has long had a heart for service. The current Community Service Commission coordinates outreach programs in the surrounding neighborhood, sponsors parish involvement in social issues, and arranges monthly ministry focus areas for the congregation. Regular giving supports the Violence Prevention Center of Southwestern Illinois and Bethany Place with hygiene and comfort items, supports the Franklin Neighborhood Association's summer day camp and tutoring programs, donates school supplies to Franklin School teachers, and at Advent joins with St. Mark in buying Christmas gifts for roughly one hundred children through Lutheran Child and Family Services.
The food pantry is a joint ministry with St. Mark Lutheran Church. Food is distributed to families in Belleville and Swansea from 9:00 a.m. to noon on Saturdays, and volunteers are welcome. St. George's also hosts the local Meals on Wheels program, with the kitchen and parish hall serving as a staging area for drivers from St. George's, St. Mark, Scott Air Force Base, and the wider community. The parish sponsors Cub Scout Pack 2 of the Boy Scouts of America, which draws boys and girls ages six to eleven from the Belleville community and collects food for the food pantry during Scouting for Food each November. Each October, St. George's and St. Mark run a booth at the Belleville Chili Cookoff, selling Dragon's Breath white chili to raise funds for ministry. Members of the parish have also taken part in Kairos prison retreats at the Menard Correctional Center in Chester.
Adult Spiritual Formation and Prayer Groups
Beyond Sunday morning education, the parish offers a wide range of spiritual growth opportunities. The Wednesday morning prayer group has met weekly for more than thirty years. After the morning Eucharist the group reviews and updates the parish's intercessory prayer list and maintains the prayer tree, which sends urgent prayer requests to participating parishioners. The parish holds vigils for major events, participates in the Diocesan Prayer Fellowship and the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer, and encourages attendance at retreats and conferences on prayer and the spiritual life.
The Order of St. Luke the Physician is one facet of St. George's healing ministry. The group offers a healing prayer station at the main Eucharist and, through priest referral, sends prayer teams to homes and hospitals. The local chapter is affiliated with the international Order of St. Luke the Physician, an ecumenical organization dedicated to the Christian healing ministry.
Cursillo has been a powerful means of spiritual formation in the parish since the 1970s. "Cursillo" is Spanish for "short course," and the three-day Cursillo weekend combines teaching, deep fellowship, singing, and a lot of laughter. More than one hundred St. George's parishioners are Cursillistas and take part in reunion groups that meet weekly. Lent at St. George's includes weekly soup suppers whose proceeds have gone to Heifer Project International, Honduran housing relief, and the national church's Relief and Development Fund, with educational programs following supper, often in cooperation with St. Mark Lutheran Church. The rector also conducts annual Inquirers and Confirmation classes for adults interested in joining the parish. Parish renewal events, planned by the Spiritual Enrichment Commission, include conferences, workshops, and dramatic presentations.
Children, Youth, and Family Ministries
Children are welcomed into the life of the parish at every level. Children's Sunday School is offered September through May, with curriculum tailored by age group as described above. Confirmation preparation is offered for junior high students in alternating years. Special seasonal events - the Pumpkin Patch, Christmas Pageant, Easter Egg Hunt, and end-of-year brunch - give families a chance to gather together beyond the classroom. Children's backpacks receive a special blessing at the start of the program year, and a prayer shawl ministry makes shawls and lap blankets for patients at local hospitals and nursing homes, as well as for anyone who requests one, including for new babies.
Fellowship and the Round of the Year
The Fellowship Commission plans and coordinates church-wide gatherings that mark the seasons. Every year in August the parish kicks off the program year with Rally Day, a celebration with refreshments, displays from ministries, and sign-ups for Sunday School, Choristers, the Adult Choir, and committees. On the Sunday closest to the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi in early October, the clergy hold a Blessing of the Pets, blessing dogs and cats, fish and lizards, rabbits and horses, and the occasional stuffed animal. Each summer the parish picnic brings everyone to Toddhall for Holy Eucharist near the labyrinth, a potluck lunch, and games. Other gatherings through the year include Guys' Nite, the Women's Ecumenical Dining Group, an annual trip to the St. Louis Symphony, and parish potlucks and movie nights whenever the spirit calls the community together.
Clergy, Staff, and Lay Leadership
The parish is served by The Very Rev. Mark William Ohlemeier as Rector (Priest-in-Charge). Fr. Mark is a native Kansan and cradle Episcopalian with a background in radio broadcasting and government relations. He earned a Master of Divinity from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, was made deacon in 2017, and was ordained a priest in 2018. He served as Curate and Assistant Rector at Christ Episcopal Church in Springfield, Missouri for four years before being called to St. George's. The Rev. Canon Elliot Blackburn serves as Rector Emeritus after his long tenure leading the parish. The diocesan bishop is The Rt. Rev. Brian K. Burgess, the Twelfth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Springfield, consecrated May 21, 2022.
Henry Evans serves as Parish Administrator and can be reached at the parish office. Nancy S. Ypma, D.Mus., is Director of Music and Organist. Lay leadership includes Senior Warden David Buckley, Junior Warden Stephen King, Treasurer Brian Maves, and Clerk of the Vestry Diane Earhart, along with the full vestry. The work of the parish is organized through commissions for outreach, fellowship, liturgy, property, stewardship and finance, and spiritual enrichment.
Practical Details for Visitors
St. George's is located at 105 East D Street, Belleville, Illinois, at the corner of D Street and High Street. Parking is available in the lot on the opposing corner of East D Street and High Street. The parish office is open from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. daily, and the parish administrator can be reached at 618-233-6320 or stgeorgeoffice@sbcglobal.net. Online giving is available through a secure link, with options for electronic checking, savings, or credit card, and a free mobile app for recurring gifts. Those unable to attend in person may join the 10:30 a.m. service through the livestream.