St. Luke's Church, also known as 'The Parish Church of the Mountains' is a congregation in the Anglican (Episcopal) tradition, located in

Blue Ridge, Georgia Blue Ridge is a city in Fannin County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 1,253. The city is the county seat of Fannin County and the largest city in the county. History Prior t ...

. Founded in 1987 under the auspices of the Traditional Protestant Episcopal Foundation of Alabama, it is now part of the Diocese of the South of the

Episcopal Missionary Church The Episcopal Missionary Church (EMC) is a Continuing Anglican church body in the United States. History The Episcopal Missionary Church (EMC), incorporated in 1992, is an outgrowth of the Episcopal Synod of America (now Forward in Faith, North ...

(Anglican), and is in communion with the Anglican Church of North America and

GAFCON The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (branded as GAFCON or Gafcon) is a communion of conservative Anglicanism, Anglican churches, aligned with the Confessing Movement, that formed in 2008 in response to ongoing theological disputes in th ...

Global Anglican provinces. Worshippers are drawn from Fannin, Gilmer and Union Counties in Georgia and from Cherokee County in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and Polk County in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. Worship is classical and Biblical and is conducted according to the

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...

History

The first Anglican / Episcopal service in Blue Ridge was held on June 7, 1987, in the community room of the Blue Ridge City Hall, with 12 persons present. Several weeks after weekly services began, Mrs. David Henry (Willa) Haight III gave several lots near the city center for the construction of a church. One of the lots included a cemetery from the early 20th century containing graves of early settlers of Fannin County. The earliest grave is from 1904. Additional information about those buried in the churchyard is available in Facets of Fannin: A History of Fannin County, Ga. In 1995, a church of

Carpenter Gothic Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic or Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massin ...

design was constructed on the site located at the corner of Ewings and Jones. The building, enlarged in 2011, has a set of leaded glass windows and much fine walnut woodwork. In 2020, the Clair Wofford Frazier Memorial Organ was installed. It was made in Lancaster, England. The church and grounds are popular with tourists. The church is the site of the annual Georgia Episcopal / Anglican Men's Conference, usually held in September. Since 1995, St. Luke's Churchyard has been the site of the Blue Ridge Community Easter Egg Hunt. The Rev. Victor H. Morgan, a native of

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

, was the founding Rector. Mr. Morgan is a North Georgia newspaper columnist and the author of A Faith of My Own: Preparing for Confirmation. He is a graduate of Mississippi College, attended theological college in Berkeley, Calif., and has served on the Council of the American Friends of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford.

References

External links

*
Episcopal Missionary Church website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Luke's Church, Blue Ridge, Georgia Churches completed in 1995 Christian organizations established in 1987 Anglican church buildings in the United States Churches in Georgia (U.S. state) Carpenter Gothic church buildings in the United States Gothic Revival church buildings in Georgia (U.S. state)