A Hundred Years on South University Boulevard
St. Michael and All Angels' Episcopal Church sits on the east side of South University Boulevard in Denver's University Park neighborhood, between East Florida and East Arkansas Streets. The parish was founded on September 29, 1925, the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels (called Michaelmas among Anglicans), by the Reverend Canon Harry Watts. Canon Watts had arrived in Denver in 1917 to serve as Rector of St. Peter's Church, and from the Cathedral of St. John in the Wilderness he was asked to plant a new mission in the rapidly growing south Denver area. Worship began in a small abandoned concrete basement with ten to fifteen communicants. By 1928 the mission had grown to about 150.
The parish came under the Diocese of Colorado in 1929 and became a self-supporting parish in 1944, when its first rector, the Reverend Albert Edward Martyr, was installed. In 1953 and 1954, a new church building rose next to the original, with parishioners doing much of the construction themselves. The Reverend Leon Conkling King, rector from 1951 to 1971, oversaw that project and the carving program that gave the interior much of its character. He commissioned the statue of Christ the King (Christus Rex) on the east wall of the sanctuary and seventeen three-quarter-relief woodcarvings from a German Black Forest carver known as Herr Mussner, who completed all but one before his death; his son carved the Ascension.
The Reverend Ralph T. Walker served as rector from 1975 until his death in November 2012, the longest tenure in the parish's history. His incumbency included a complete renovation of the building in 1985, when cinder block walls were plastered over, stained-glass windows were installed, the organ was rebuilt, and the Lady Chapel was constructed. St. Clare's Needlepoint Guild was founded during this period to stitch the kneelers, pew cushions, and other needlework that continues to adorn the building. In May 2013, the Reverend R. Trent Fraser accepted the call to become rector, taking up the living on August 1 and being formally instituted on Michaelmas 2013 by the Right Reverend Robert J. O'Neill.
Mass Six Days a Week
The Mass, the Holy Eucharist, is celebrated six days a week at St. Michael's, the central act of a parish that describes itself as community-centered in the Eucharist. The Sunday schedule opens at 8:00 AM with Mass using Rite One language, a quieter and shorter service that lasts about forty-five to fifty minutes. Between the two Sunday Masses, from 9:15 to 9:45 AM, Christian Education classes meet for adults and children. The 10:00 AM Solemn High Mass, using Rite Two, is the centerpiece of the week: full ceremonial, incense, hymns, a sermon, and on occasion a choral Mass setting, with the service running roughly an hour and twenty minutes.
Weekday Mass is offered Tuesday through Saturday at varying times: Tuesday at 9:30 AM, Wednesday at 7:00 AM (followed by breakfast and a Bible study), Thursday at 9:30 AM, Friday at 9:30 AM, and Saturday at 9:00 AM. Weekday services generally take place in the Lady Chapel. Solemn High Masses are also scheduled on major feasts throughout the year (Epiphany, Candlemas, Ascension, Corpus Christi, and others), typically at 6:00 PM, occasionally followed by a parish dinner. The Daily Office of Matins (Morning Prayer) and Evensong (Evening Prayer) is recited daily, with the Apostles' Creed forming part of those offices. The Mass schedule may be reduced during the summer while the rector is on holiday.
Sunday Mass is livestreamed at 10:00 AM Mountain time, and recordings of previous Masses are kept on the parish's YouTube channel. Parking is available in the lot on the east side of the church, and a ramp on the west front of the building provides step-free access.
One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic
St. Michael and All Angels' has identified itself from its founding with the Catholic Revival of the Church of England, also known as the Oxford Movement. The parish adheres to what it calls the Faith and tradition of the Universal Church, summed up in the four marks of the Church given in the historic creeds: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.
The three ecumenical creeds shape the parish's prayer life. The Apostles' Creed is said daily at Morning and Evening Prayer and forms the introduction to the Baptismal Covenant. The Nicene Creed, the text from the councils of Nicaea in 325 and Constantinople in 381, is sung or said at Mass on Sundays and Holy Days. The Athanasian Creed, included among the historic documents of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, is used primarily for education and reinforces the parish's core values, particularly the doctrines of the Trinity and the two natures of Christ.
The parish teaches that there are seven Sacraments (Holy Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Holy Penance, Holy Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Holy or Extreme Unction), described as outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace given by Christ. The Church's bishops are understood to trace their orders in an unbroken line back to the Apostles through what is called the Apostolic Succession, a guarantee the parish holds to have been preserved in the Anglican Communion since the English Reformation.
The Music Programme
The traditional Anglo-Catholic liturgy at St. Michael's is supported by a two-manual pipe organ of twenty-one stops and three divisions. The instrument's nucleus was built by the Reuter Organ Company in Lawrence, Kansas. It was located by Larry Burt of Broomfield, purchased by the parish, and installed in the gallery after the present church was built. In 1982 it was renovated and revoiced, and in 2000 the powerful Trompette En Chamade was added in celebration of Father Walker's twenty-fifth anniversary as rector. A 2024 revoicing by the Denver firm of Morel & Associate Pipe Organ Builders brought a refreshing sound to the instrument while retaining its versatility. The organist is Fritz Anders, a Juilliard graduate whose particular interest is the music of Charles Arnould Tournemire.
The adult choir is largely made up of volunteers, with four paid choral scholarships sponsored by the parish. The choir sings the Propers and an anthem most Sundays and on major holy days from September through Corpus Christi, drawing on a repertoire that ranges from Renaissance polyphony to contemporary works: Thomas Tallis, Mozart, John Stainer, Charles Wood, and Herbert Howells among the pieces they count as favorites. Congregational singing is taken seriously, with the assembly joining in the Kyries, Gloria, Nicene Creed, Sanctus and Benedictus, and Agnus Dei, drawn from the Hymnal 1982, the 1940 Hymnal, and successive editions of The English Hymnal, including the Revised English Hymnal of 2014.
The junior choir, directed by Nancy King, sings anthems for special occasions and introduces children to musicality and music theory. The Director of Music is Matthew Norwood, a singer and conductor who holds a Master of Music from the University of Nebraska and has worked in professional choirs in New York and Washington.
Christian Education from Pre-K Through Adult
Christian Education at St. Michael's begins with the parish's nursery and continues through adult formation. The Church School runs from the first Sunday after Labor Day to the Sunday before Memorial Day, with classes meeting between the two Sunday Masses from 9:15 to 9:45 AM. Children begin in the pre-kindergarten year (age three) and continue through eighth grade. Volunteer catechists teach the Bible in sequential order through age-appropriate stories and activities, with the goal of forming what the parish describes as a Catholic understanding of Scripture. The school year includes an All Saints program and a Nativity Play at Christmastide.
During the 10:00 AM Mass, younger children are invited to take part in Children's Chapel, a separate Liturgy of the Word that runs during the older children's Mass. First Communion is preceded by a meeting with Father Fraser for the child and parents or sponsors. The parish teaches that anyone baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity may receive Holy Communion, and children who begin asking questions about the Sacrament are seen as ready to explore fuller incorporation into the Body of Christ.
Adult Christian Education meets at the same hour as the children's classes, from 9:15 to 9:45 AM, led by the rector or the deacon. Topics include Church History, Theology, Biblical themes, Church Music, and Anglo-Catholic devotions. In the summer, the formal class is replaced by informal fellowship and discussion. The Young Believers' Discovery Zone on the parish's online resources supplements Sunday School with seasonal activities and teachings aimed at pre-kindergarten through young adults.
Devotional Societies
St. Michael's offers a number of fellowship and prayer groups rooted in the devotional societies of the Anglican tradition, which trace their origin to the Church of England and came to the United States in the nineteenth century. The most active ward at the parish is the Queen of Angels' Ward of the Society of Mary, the principal Anglican devotional group dedicated to the Mother of God and to service to the poor in her name. The St. Teresa of Avila Ward of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, founded in 1862 in the United Kingdom and in 1867 in the United States, gathers those praying and working for a greater devotion to Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. The parish also has ties to the Guild of All Souls (under the patronage of St. Michael), whose members pray for the dying and for the repose of the faithful departed, and to the Living Rosary of Our Lady and St. Dominic.
The rector, Father Fraser, is a member of the American Branch of the Society of Mary, the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, the Council of the American Branch of the Guild of All Souls, and the Holy House of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. Stations of the Cross are prayed during Lent, and seasonal Quiet Days deepen the parish's devotional life.
Service and Outreach
Outreach at St. Michael's is woven into the parish calendar. Through the Queen of Angels' Ward of the Society of Mary, the parish partners with Christ in the City to serve the homeless, with collections taken on the first Sunday of each month through the "Little Glass Jars." On the third Sunday of each month the parish observes Food Collection Sunday, donating the cost of a selected item to Denver Rescue Mission. A special Thanksgiving collection supports Denver Rescue Mission's Christmas dinner, and on Remembrance Sunday, the Sunday nearest November 11, funds are raised for the Wounded Warrior Project to assist veterans and their families.
Acolytes and lectors, ushers and oblation bearers, and the volunteer teachers and chapel leaders who staff the Church School form the everyday fabric of parish life. Books 'n Brunch is a parish gathering built around reading and conversation. Pastoral inquiries concerning Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Matrimony, and the Burial of the Dead are directed to the rector.
St. Clare's Needlepoint Guild
St. Clare's Needlepoint Guild was founded during Father Walker's incumbency to stitch the needlework that now adorns the pews, choir loft, altar rail, and chapel. The guild continues to create works of art in needlepoint, beautifying the building stitch by stitch and adding a quiet, hand-made layer to the parish's worship space.
Becoming a Member
Members of another Episcopal parish may transfer their membership to St. Michael's by speaking with the rector. Those who come from Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox backgrounds may be received into the Episcopal Church. Members of Protestant denominations are invited to speak with the rector, who determines what steps are needed for membership; the Sacrament of Holy Confirmation, administered by a bishop, requires attendance at an Inquirers' class. Holy Baptism, what the parish calls the Sacrament of radical inclusion, may be scheduled at any time by speaking with the rector.
St. Michael and All Angels' Episcopal Church, in the hundredth year since its founding on a September Michaelmas, continues to worship six days a week, teach across the generations, and keep the Anglo-Catholic faith in its Anglican expression as its founder Canon Watts once hoped.