On a quiet corner of Denver's Park Hill neighborhood, where Dexter Street meets 22nd Avenue, St. Thomas Episcopal Church has kept its doors open every day since 1908. Six founding families laid the cornerstone that year for what would grow into a 90-family parish by 1916. The 16th-century Spanish-style building that stands today was completed in 1918, with a final expansion eleven years later. In 1977 the City and County of Denver recognized the structure as an historic landmark.
The stone walls and stained glass enclose a congregation that calls itself a Jubilee Ministry and describes its purpose in three lines: offering an inclusive, welcoming space for all; seeking the holy in ourselves, each other, and the world; and making a difference in the community. The parish belongs to the Episcopal Church in Colorado, one of 109 dioceses in the wider Episcopal Church and part of the global Anglican Communion. Its current bishop is the Rt. Rev. Kym Lucas.
St. Thomas is known in Park Hill for two things at once: a deep love of music and a long history of standing with neighbors in the struggle for civil rights. The parish welcomes everyone regardless of age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious background, social or economic circumstance, political affiliation, or where they are on their spiritual journey. "We are a community church that participates in the life of our Park Hill neighborhood," the parish writes. "We believe that all people are beloved of God. We are all God's children."
Sunday Mornings at Ten
Sunday mornings at St. Thomas center on a single service at 10:00 a.m., an Inclusive Holy Eucharist with Music. The service is hybrid: members and visitors gather in the sanctuary while others join by Zoom from home. The Rev. Terri Hobart, the parish's priest, usually preaches, though guest preachers regularly take the pulpit. Recent homilies have been delivered by The Rev. Karen LaJoy Smith, The Rev. Tory Moir, Deacon Cate Colburn-Smith, and Br. Scott-Michael Pomerenk.
The liturgy uses the Book of Common Prayer and the Hymnal 1982, supplemented by Lift Every Voice and Sing II. St. Thomas has committed to inclusive language: more contemporary prayers and hymns are chosen where possible, and when older texts with patriarchal language are used, worshippers are invited to substitute the pronoun that resonates most with them. On the south side of the nave, a nursing, reading, and play corner welcomes small children and their caregivers throughout the service, and older children may leave for Godly Play during the homily and return for communion.
The service opens with a question from Barbara Brown Taylor that captures the parish's posture toward newcomers: "What if people were invited to come tell what they already know of God instead of to learn what they are supposed to believe?" What if church felt more like a way station than a destination? What if the church's job were to move people out the door instead of trying to keep them in, by convincing them that God needed them more in the world than in the church?
A sermon archive reaches back several years, with audio available for each Sunday's homily.
A Week of Prayer and Practice
The rhythm of the week extends well beyond Sunday morning. Tuesday evenings are set aside for prayer and meditation in person and on Zoom. Wednesday mornings at 8:00 a.m. bring a lay-led Morning Prayer that follows the worship service format and includes the Saint of the Day. A book and conversation group meets Thursdays from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. through the program year, sharing reading and conversation about faith and life.
Two lay religious orders meet at the parish. The Daughters of the King gather under the care of Morgan Harrower, and the Order of St. Luke is led by Brother Daniel Klawitter.
The parish has also launched a Lead With Love Challenge, inviting the congregation to commit to concrete actions over nine months to grow in faith, deepen relationships with God and one another, and become a community that Leads With Love. A commitment card is available to walk through the choices.
Music That Holds Many Voices
Music has long been a particular strength at St. Thomas. The choir and musicians sing weekly, blending traditional hymns, anthems, African American spirituals, gospel selections, and more contemporary pieces. Both the Great Hall and the sanctuary hold grand pianos, and the sanctuary adds a pipe organ for concerts and special services.
Advent and Christmas services feature Christmas spirituals and gospel songs. The Christmas Eve program includes a 3:30 p.m. Christmas Family Service and a 7:30 p.m. Traditional Candlelight Christmas Service, and the New Year's Eve Lessons and Carols draws on music from around the world. Easter Sunday fills the sanctuary with bells, the organ, candles, and the first celebration of the Eucharist after the Paschal fast, following the Great Three Days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil.
Godly Play in the Nave
Children are a particular focus under Samantha Church, the Director of Children's Programs. A Denver transplant with a master's degree in social work focused on youth development, she has spent fifteen years in the youth development field. She oversees the parish's Godly Play program, which is rooted in Montessori principles and built on a spiral curriculum to help children explore their faith through story, religious language, wonder, and play. The parish teaches that children have an innate sense of the presence of God and that the program is meant to honor that sense from early childhood through later years.
Godly Play videos for the Advent story, Holy Baptism, and the Faces of Easter extend the children's ministry to families at home. A nursing, reading, and play corner on the south side of the nave welcomes small children and their caregivers during Sunday worship, and a brochure outlines the parish's children and family ministry in more detail.
A Sacred Space for the Neighborhood
St. Thomas treats its buildings and grounds as a sanctuary for the wider neighborhood. The Spanish-style courtyard opens Tuesday and Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for visits to the columbarium; appointments can be made through the office for other times. A walking labyrinth, painted in the Baltic wheel pattern, invites seekers of every faith and none to walk its ancient path. Signs welcome walkers in English and Spanish, and walkers are invited to chalk blessings, prayers, and images along the path.
The labyrinth experience is framed in four movements: Remember, Release, Receive, and Return. Walkers slow their breathing, bring a healing question if they wish, sit in the center for as long as they like, and walk back out the same way. A second accessible Baltic wheel labyrinth sits inside St. Anne's Chapel.
The parish opens an outdoor altar at any time for prayer, contemplation, or meditation. Comfortable benches and landscaped grounds draw neighbors, children learning to ride bikes, and dog walkers throughout the day. Inside the sanctuary, icons by the artist Kelly Latimore are displayed in several places; visitors can explore his online gallery to learn more about the work. A Refugee's Way of the Cross has lined the sidewalk at the northwest corner of Dexter and 22nd with images and texts that can also be walked online.
A Long March for Justice
Social justice has been central to St. Thomas since the 1960s, when the parish became a leader in the civil rights struggles, school desegregation, and fair housing. Along with other Park Hill congregations, St. Thomas led the fight against redlining in the neighborhood. The parish has welcomed bi-racial families, supported same-sex marriage, and provided sanctuary to immigrants seeking asylum.
That legacy continues today. The parish has committed to supporting neighbors in North East Park Hill who have faced urban decay and displacement, advocating for affordable housing, generational wealth-building, economic opportunities for local and BIPOC-owned businesses, healthy food access, and protection from further displacement. The parish serves on Mayor Mike Johnston's faith community working group supporting House 1000, an initiative to bring one thousand unsheltered individuals indoors. A prayer written by the parish accompanies the work: "God of Love, keep our unhoused neighbors close in our hearts. May they receive compassion, mercy and justice."
St. Thomas has also organized a multi-denominational forum on White Christian Nationalism, bringing Dr. Jemar Tisby, the New York Times bestselling author of The Color of Compromise, to Denver for a weekend of teaching. A letter signed by the parish and its partners argues that White "Christian" Nationalism is more akin to a political ideology than a faith tradition, and that the values promoted by the movement are a perversion of the gospel values. The parish has also taken public stands against immigration enforcement actions in partnership with the wider Episcopal Church's public affairs office. A weekly newsletter called Called to Action tracks the parish's social justice engagement and encourages members to learn, advocate, or act each month.
Hands Beyond the Doors
Several ministries extend the parish's work beyond its walls. The Greater Park Hill Community Food Bank collects non-perishable goods on the first Sunday of each month and accepts donations at the office door throughout the month. The parish is actively involved with the Colorado Haiti Project, providing financial, vocational, and spiritual support to the rural Haitian community of Petit Trou de Nippes and to St. Paul's School and Church there. Members also work with Colorado Faith Communities United to End Gun Violence to raise awareness of gun violence as a public health issue.
At home, a Community Garden provides plots for neighbors and parishioners, with two additional beds dedicated to producing food for the food bank and flowers for the altar. A monthly Gardening Guild brings together anyone with a passion for growing things. A Called to Action newsletter shares updates on voting rights, gun violence prevention, care of creation, and other advocacy efforts with the wider parish.
A Sanctuary Built to Be Shared
The Spanish Colonial sanctuary holds up to 230 people and is regularly used for concerts, speaker series, weddings, funerals, and quinceañeras. A grand piano and pipe organ support performances. St. Anne's Chapel holds fifteen to twenty people. The Great Hall, an open arts and crafts-style hall lined with fully operable stained glass windows, seats 150 in a banquet layout and 200 in theater style and connects to the courtyard for indoor-outdoor events. The courtyard itself accommodates seventy-five people in theater seating or one hundred standing. A basement Community Room, a parlor, a classroom with running water, work rooms, and second-floor offices fill out the building's rentable spaces.
All ground-floor spaces and restrooms are handicap accessible, with Wi-Fi throughout. Two offices on the second floor of the administration building are currently rented to small nonprofits and sole proprietors; the parish keeps a waiting list for inquiries. The whole building is available as an affordable resource for the local community, hosting meetings, fundraisers, retreats, music recitals, theater productions, scout groups, recovery meetings, dance and yoga classes, and birthday parties. Giving supports the parish's work and its commitment to social justice, sacred space, and music.
Visiting Park Hill
The parish welcomes visitors at the corner of 22nd Avenue and Dexter Street, in the heart of Park Hill and seven blocks east of Colorado Boulevard. A neighborhood grocery, coffee shop, restaurant, book store, and pet supplies store are all within walking distance. Parking is available on the street or in the parking lot on the southwest corner of East 22nd Avenue and Dexter, just across from the church. Handicapped parking is reserved in front of the church on Dexter, and wheelchair access to the sanctuary is available through the north door under the cloister roof. A ramp inside the nave reaches the chancel, and a ramp in the courtyard reaches the Great Hall.
Visitors are encouraged to dress comfortably and come as they are. Holy Communion is open to all baptized Christians, not only Episcopal members. Anyone interested in baptism, confirmation, reception, or marriage is invited to speak with The Rev. Terri Hobart. Office hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The office phone is 303-388-4395 and the office email is office@saintthomasdenver.org.