St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Iola has spent 125 years making itself useful to the people beyond its red doors.
From its earliest days to its current congregation of about 15 regular worshippers, St. Timothy’s has continued to evolve.
The church will celebrate its 125th anniversary at 10 a.m., Sunday, with a service designed to reach back to the congregation’s beginnings and a gathering that welcomes former members, current parishioners and the wider community.
Before the church erected its building at 202 S. Walnut St. in 1901, church archives dating to at least 1888, document a congregation that moved from place to place, with notices indicating where members would gather each week.
Though today’s congregation is considerably smaller than it once was, its members say the heart of St. Timothy’s remains much the same.
“We realize how important it is to help out everybody in the community in any way we can,” Deacon Oliver Bunker said.
The 125th anniversary is about more than marking the age of a building, it’s about remembering the people who built the congregation, those who kept it going through changing times and the people who continue to believe it has a place in Iola’s future.
Bunker, church secretary Marsha Burris, senior warden Donna Sifers, and Candace Sifers each have a different connection to St. Timothy’s, but their stories share a common thread — the church is family.
For Donna, who has been a member since 1980, that family has been a lifesaver. “When I lost my husband, they were my shoulders,” she said.
For Candace, though her parents and brother had joined the church when she was young, she and her sister held back. Candace eventually became a member while attending nursing school, later attending a church in Kansas City before transferring her membership back to Iola.
THE CONGREGATION’S earliest history predates the building.
Old vestry minutes offer glimpses into what life was like for the congregation decades ago. Members operated a thrift shop and Sunday school, sold dishcloths, and in more recent years rented space in the parish house to an Alcoholics Anonymous group that met there once a month.
The building itself has changed as the needs of the congregation changed.
Sunday school rooms and offices were added, and the kitchen and adjoining areas were expanded. The additions became necessary in part because the church’s outreach efforts grew.
That growth tells an important part of St. Timothy’s story, noted Bunker. The congregation has always been small, but its members have often found ways to make its outreach much larger.
It was in 2001, when members wanted to find a way to help people in the community.
