St. John’s Episcopal Church To End Regular Services After 136 Years

ARLINGTON, VA — St. John's Episcopal Church, long considered Glencarlyn's "community church," will hold its last regular Sunday service Sunday after serving the Arlington neighborhood for more than 130 years.

The 9 a.m. service will be held at the church, 415 South Lexington St. Fellowship with light refreshments will follow, according to the church's website.

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"With much sadness we share the news that our last regular Sunday service will be August 30," the Rev. Shirley Smith Graham, canon for congregational vitality for the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, said in a statement posted on the church's website.

Graham said a congregation may reach a point when its members can no longer carry its ministry forward. When that happens, the church becomes inactive.

"However, the impact of the church is everlasting," Graham said. "The gifts of the church continue in the people who have been inspired to grow in their faith, in the memories of how the neighborhood has been nurtured by the church and its ministries, and in the items of the church that will be shared with other churches so that the ministry lives on."

A separate final service marking the church's closing is being scheduled. Responsibility for the church's real estate rests with the executive board and bishop of the Diocese of Virginia, according to Graham.

A Community Church Since 1890

St. John's was founded in 1890 after Glencarlyn residents petitioned Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Bill Pritchard wrote in a column published in the Glencarlyn Civic Association's Village View.

The congregation initially held services in private homes and a large pavilion that once stood in the neighborhood park. After Carlin Hall was completed in 1892, services moved there and continued until a small chapel was constructed at Fourth and Lexington streets in 1910.

The existing church building was completed in 1957, followed by an addition during the 1960s, according to Pritchard. The congregation welcomed people from different religious backgrounds to join its services.

Beyond worship, St. John's became a gathering place for the neighborhood. The church hosted Mother's Day teas, Mardi Gras pancake suppers, spaghetti dinners, Christmas caroling and a fall Blessing of the Animals.

A Boy Scout troop was based at the church for decades. During Glencarlyn Day, church families marched in the neighborhood parade, and St. John's served grilled hot dogs and cold drinks. Children were also invited to ring the church's steeple bell.

Church members extended their service beyond Glencarlyn by preparing monthly lunches for residents of a local shelter and volunteering at the Arlington Food Assistance Center.

In 2024, St. John's began hosting Glencarlyn's Little Free Food Pantry. Church members and other neighborhood residents donated food and regularly checked and restocked the pantry for people in need, according to the Village View column. The church's website says the pantry may need a new location after regular services end.

The date of the final service marking the church's closing will be shared with the community once it is scheduled. Community members are invited to attend both the Aug. 30 service and the closing service.