A Welcoming Episcopal Congregation on Walnut Street
St. Paul's Episcopal Church sits on Walnut Street in Bellingham, Washington, a few blocks from the heart of downtown. The parish gathers each week as an affirming and inclusive Christian community that welcomes all people just as God created them. Its members and leaders carry that posture into every part of the church's life, from Sunday worship to a Tuesday-morning outreach ministry that has served hundreds of Whatcom County residents in a single year.
Before services begin, the church acknowledges that its building stands on the traditional ancestral homelands of the Coast Salish People, who have lived in the Salish Sea basin, throughout the San Juan Islands, and the North Cascades watershed from time immemorial. The parish specifically names its neighbors, the Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Tribe, and their longstanding stewardship of the land.
What Episcopalians Believe and How the Parish Is Governed
The Episcopal Church follows a middle way between Protestant and Roman Catholic traditions in theology and conversation. Worship is ordered by the Book of Common Prayer, though the style of services can vary. The parish is known for engaging and beautiful worship that respects tradition while maintaining a sense of awe and wonder at the mystery of God. Individual spiritual growth is encouraged rather than prescribed, and thoughtful, respectful conversation is welcome on any topic.
Episcopal refers to government by bishops. The parish belongs to the worldwide Anglican Communion and is a member of the Diocese of Olympia. Bishops oversee the church through geographic dioceses; in the global Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury occupies a special, non-governing position. Bishops meet every ten years to focus on collegiality and communal discernment, while decisions across the church are made by a triennial General Convention and recorded as canons. The Episcopal Church has roughly 1.8 million members across 7,500 congregations in North America, and is part of a global Communion of about 85 million.
Sunday Worship, Thursday Eucharist, and Taizé Prayer
St. Paul's holds two Sunday Eucharists each week. The 8:30 AM service offers a quieter liturgy, while the 10:30 AM service is the larger gathering and is livestreamed on YouTube, going live five minutes before the service begins. Both services include children's programming. The 10:30 service is also where worshippers gather for communion with children after Godly Play concludes upstairs.
On Thursdays at 10:00 AM, the parish celebrates the Eucharist with the Saints in the Great Hall, a contemplative midweek gathering.
Taizé prayer is offered at 5:00 PM on the fourth Sunday of each month from September through May. The candlelit, chant-based service follows the liturgical calendar, with themes shaped by Pentecost, Allhallowtide, Thanksgiving, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Eastertide, and a closing Pentecost in May. A few of those services shift to the third Sunday rather than the fourth to align with major feasts.
A note for visitors: starting July 19th, all services have been held in the Great Hall while the chancel is under renovation. Updates are posted on the church's Facebook page as work progresses.
A Music Program Led by an Award-Winning Organist
Music at St. Paul's is a defining feature of parish life. Dr. Dongho Lee, a native of Seoul, South Korea, serves as Director of Music and Organist. She won both the First Prize (Lilian Murtagh Memorial Prize) and the Audience Prize at the 2010 American Guild of Organists National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance, held at the Guild's 50th national convention in Washington, D.C. Her playing has been praised for its drive and energy, coupled with the ability to tenderly shape a musical line.
Lee has concertized across the United States, Europe, and South Korea, with performances at the Washington National Cathedral, Duke University Chapel, the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, the Cadet Chapel of the United States Air Force Academy, Methuen Memorial Music Hall, and the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City. She has performed concerti by Poulenc and Handel with orchestra, served on faculty at the Montreat Worship and Music Conference, and taught organ at Davidson College and Wingate University. After undergraduate and graduate study at Yonsei University in Korea, where she served as organist of the Seoul Anglican Cathedral, she moved to the United States in 2004 to study at Yale University and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.
The music ministry thrives on the friendship and generosity of dedicated people in the church and in the Bellingham community. A new pipe organ is on the way: after serving and supporting liturgy for nearly a hundred years, the present organ is no longer sustainable, and Richards, Fowkes & Co. has been contracted to build a replacement. Updates are shared through a series called The Organ Trail.
Children, Youth, and Family Ministries
Benjamin Schieber directs Child, Youth, and Family Ministries. A native Oregonian who fell in love with Washington while working at the remote Lutheran retreat center Holden Village, Schieber went on to study storytelling at Western Washington University and most recently mentored at the local nonprofit Wild Whatcom. His work at St. Paul's centers on creating a safe, inclusive environment where children can explore their faith, ask big questions, and build lasting community.
Sunday morning offerings begin with nursery care for children ages 0-4 during both the 8:30 and 10:30 services, located in room B21 in the basement near the playground. Godly Play, a Montessori-inspired curriculum, gathers at 10:00 AM each Sunday. Storytellers learn stories from the Bible, the lives of saints, and modern heroes by heart, then tell them to the circle of children, who are invited to wonder through open-ended questions before responding with art, craft materials, or the story materials themselves. The session closes with a simple feast of crackers and water before children rejoin their families upstairs for communion.
Older youth have options too. Bridge meets after the 10:30 service for middle and high schoolers and uses the Holy Trouble Makers curriculum, exploring people of faith who spoke truth to power, with time for discussion, conversation, Lego, or friendly Wii competition. Adventure Guild gathers on Thursdays from 6:00 to 8:30 PM, a social program where middle and high schoolers imagine and problem-solve together through storytelling.
Wednesday evenings center on a 6:00 PM community dinner followed by 6:45 to 8:00 PM formation classes, with nursery childcare provided. Parents' Night Out, typically on the last Friday of the month from 5:00 to 8:00 PM, offers pizza and a movie for children ages 2-12 with a suggested donation of $10 (no one is turned away for lack of funds). Each summer the parish hosts Vacation Bible School, often in partnership with St. James Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church. Family trips and pilgrimages round out the calendar.
The Alms Ministry: A Tuesday Morning Outreach
One of the most visible ways St. Paul's serves the wider community is through its Alms Ministry, held every Tuesday from 9:00 to 10:00 AM at the church. The mission is to provide personal, helpful, and faith-based support to people in need by offering individual conversation, available resources, and effective referrals to other churches and community agencies.
Guests sit down with two or three Alms ministers to share their story and their needs. The ministry offers emergency financial assistance for personal needs such as utility bills, gas, medical costs, bus fare, insurance, clothing, groceries, and auto repair parts (rent and auto repair labor are not covered). It also helps with Washington State IDs and driver's licenses, provides referrals to other local resources, and offers a kind listening ear with an offer of prayer. Guests are warmly welcomed with coffee or tea, and there are toys, books, and treats for children. Financial support is available once every six months per guest.
In 2024, the Alms Ministry gifted a total of $34,150, served 497 people, and held 775 meetings with guests. The ministry also partners with other Bellingham churches for larger financial requests, including Humanitas at Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Hillcrest Chapel, and Assumption Financial Assistance at Hope House, as well as programs in Lynden and Blaine.
Clergy, Staff, and the Wider Anglican Family
The Rev. Dr. Jani Wild became Rector of St. Paul's in March 2023. A Michigan native who spent thirty years in California before moving to the Pacific Northwest, Wild worked as a physical therapy assistant, a silkscreen company owner, a film production assistant, a facilities technician, an EMT, and as director of operations at Christ Episcopal Church in Los Altos for fifteen years. She completed her Master of Divinity at Church Divinity School of the Pacific, was ordained to the priesthood in April 2018, and earned a Doctor of Ministry at Claremont School of Theology in May 2025, with a focus on the intersection of art and creativity in spiritual formation, especially Art as Prayer. Her ministry has included overnight parking for the unhoused, anti-trafficking work, and jail ministry.
The Rev. Lindsay Ross-Hunt serves as Associate Rector and Campus Chaplain, with a portfolio that includes Episcopal Campus Ministry at Western Washington University. A Pacific Northwest native, she was ordained at St. Paul's by the Bishop of Oregon after completing a Master of Divinity at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary and a certificate in Anglican Studies at Bexley-Seabury Seminary. Her earlier career in social services and public health in Portland, along with organizing for the Wild Goose West Festival and convening Community Missions, shapes her commitment to identifying and building bridges across theological and denominational communities.
The church is part of the Diocese of Olympia and the global Anglican Communion, and its worship draws on the Book of Common Prayer.
Getting Involved and Staying Connected
The church office is open Tuesday through Thursday from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Visitors and members can stay informed through Ruach, the parish's weekly newsletter, and can livestream the 10:30 Sunday service on YouTube. Online giving is available, and a capital campaign called Extend the Table with Hearts, Hands and Voices is currently underway to support the new organ and other parish priorities.
Volunteers are welcome across the church's ministries, including music, the Alms Ministry, the library, and children and youth programs. The library itself is a quiet treasure: an adult collection on the basement level and a children's library on the lower level near the Godly Play rooms, with an online catalog available to browse at home.
For nearly a century, the organ has supported the liturgy at St. Paul's. With a new instrument on the way, a Tuesday morning outreach that has served hundreds, and a music program led by an internationally recognized organist, St. Paul's Episcopal Church continues to be a place on Walnut Street where tradition, creativity, and community meet.