Our History

The San Marcos Historical Society gave the derelict church at the corner of Pico Avenue and San Marcos Boulevard to Grace Episcopal Church with the understanding that we would move the church from that location. Under the direction of Rev. Ted Johnson, the church was moved to its present location at 1020 Rose Ranch Road. On November 4, 1984, Grace Church was dedicated. The ability of Rev. Johnson to put it all together will always be remembered by those of us who witnessed his ability and dedication.


When Bishop Gethin Hughes started the Season of Transformation, Rev. Eric Menees was at Grace Episcopal Church and many of us gave additional financial support to upgrade the church. The wall on the north side of the church was removed and the area where the church offices had been was opened up to be where the choir and organ are now. The pews that had been given to us by St. Bartholomew in 1984 were replaced by ones that fit better, and a new carpet was installed. The steps to the east of the main entrance were installed. A new exit from the north side of the church was also installed. As an interesting side note, this transformation began on September 11, 2001, it was comforting for those who were here on that day to be a part of a new life on such a tragic day.


In 2005 we realized a long-time goal of becoming a self-sustaining Parish after years of being a Mission Church. In September 2006, the schism that affected many Episcopal churches over the ordination of the openly-gay Bishop Gene Robinson also affected Grace. Rev. Eric Menees left Grace taking a number of parishioners with him. Rev. William Lieber was asked by the bishop to be our interim priest.


On December 7, 2008, Rev. David Marshall joined the church and remained its Priest-in-Charge until April 2012. Then Rev. Hugh Tudor-Foley was our transitional priest until the end of 2013. At this time Grace went back to Mission status.

Grace was the backdrop for a Quilt in A Day episode on PBS

In December 2013, the Rev. ClayOla Gitane joined the Grace family as our Priest-In-Charge. She was the first woman priest called to Grace and served until August 2016. These were hard times for Grace financially but we kept the doors open and attendance at our services slowly increased.


In May of 2018 Rev. Gwynn Lynch, our interim priest since May 2017, became our Priest-in-Charge and served until January 2020 when she was called to be the Canon to the Ordinary for the Diocese.


In 2018 we started a capital campaign fund and were able to do much-needed repair work to the church and coach house. All dry rot was removed, the porches were replaced and the church received a new coat of paint. In 2019 we were able to replace the roof on both the church and Coach House.


In 2020 The Rev. Dr. Frank Munoz became Grace’s current Priest-in-Charge. Also in 2020, we had a disastrous flood in the coach house after torrential rain. With the help of insurance money, we gutted and refurbished it with a completely new kitchen, carpeting, and cabinetry, and now it’s practically brand new! In 2022 we revitalized our landscaping with drought-resistant plants and installed a butterfly garden.


A Biography of a Country Church

by Charlotte Geary

Close to 120 years ago, in 1887, a small group of people in the coastal community of Encinitas built a lovely little church in which to praise God. They constructed it well, using the finest heartwood lumber from the giant redwoods of Northern California. It is not known why the Encinitas Methodist Church was moved to San Marcos in 1902. Perhaps the congregation had outgrown its original building. At any rate, the structure was cut into four sections and transported to San Marcos by four horse-drawn wagons.


Like a butterfly, the little church had fluttered its wings and settled on a new flower … the site, which is now the corner of Pico and San Marcos Blvd. During this same period, another church had been established in nearby Richland to serve the folks of what is now east San Marcos. It was located on the corner of Mission and Richland Rd, across the street from the old school house. Known as the Richland Methodist Episcopal Church, this congregation eventually disbanded.


Another butterfly’s wings were stilled.


In 1902 this church building was also moved to the Pico/San Marcos Blvd. location. Local ranchers supplied the transportation using a steam tractor that burned wood and straw. Another conveyance carried water for the boiler. Once at the new site, the Richland Church was sawed in half and the two sections were placed on either side of the Encinitas Church, making the larger winged sanctuary, as it still remains.


Look closely at the church today and you will see the windows of the side wings are shaped differently than those of the center section. On September 16, 1909, papers of incorporation were signed and sealed for the “San Marcos Methodist Church”, and a deed to the land was transmitted six months later in March of 1910. A former member of that church shares some of his childhood memories, “I recall San Marcos Community Methodist Episcopal Church at its old site in town as "center stage" on Sundays for a country boy seven years old. In those good old days (around 1922) San Marcos had two stores, a gasoline station, a real estate office, a blacksmith shop, and a railroad station. I reached the ‘1910 school house’ by way of a short cut … a footpath by Chrysler’s store, and through olive groves and a stand of eucalyptus trees. San Marcos had no fire station in those days but needed one badly. Our country store, where Saturday night dances were held upstairs, suffered a severe fire about 1925. I remember the bright glow of the fire was visible from our ranch, near the present campus of Palomar College. That little church is so dear to my heart where footsteps of early youth were guided on a moral path by Sunday school and sermons at the worship services in the “Valley of St. Mark”. My dear mother taught the Thunderbird Sunday School Class from 1928 to 1931, as I recall. Mother awarded special pins of the thunderbird to her young folk who did well in their studies of the Sunday lessons. We were a happy lot. Our social life found a youthful outlet in those Sunday morning classes. The beginning of church services was marked by the ringing of the big bell, activated by pulling the stout rope attached. The sound of familiar old hymns brings back a flood of rich memories.”


By the 1940s the church complex had been “modernized”. A stable was torn down and a garage containing two restrooms was built to the rear of the church.
The old windmill was dismantled and replaced with an electric pump for the water supply, and a new gas heater replaced the wood-burning stove. Known as
“The Little Church in the Valley”, the Methodist congregation continued to worship there for many years. After they moved to their new location on Mission Road, a Hispanic Pentecostal group used the church for about 12 years. Ultimately they, too, built a new church, and the “little church in the valley” stood vacant for about two years.


The wings of the butterfly again were still. The building was vandalized, windows were broken, and other damages were inflicted. Transients used it for shelter from the elements until city officials began to consider the building an “attractive nuisance” in addition to being an eyesore in its rundown and unkempt condition. The Fire Department was ready to condemn it, possibly even use it as a practice burn. The San Marcos Chamber of Commerce, recognizing the historical value of the building, considered moving it to another location to be used as their office but found the moving cost prohibitive. The Historical Society thought about moving it near the present museum and “The Barn” but had to abandon the idea for the same reason … too high a cost for the move.


In early 1983, the building was offered to the newly formed Grace Episcopal Church (officially considered a “mission”) as an outright gift in exchange for a promise of full restoration and preservation. The Vicar of this congregation [Rev. F. Ted Johnson] looked at the building and liked the idea. He invited his Bishop and other church officials to come and take a look. They, too, could capture the vision of the potential beauty of such a restoration and gave the venture their sanction. A 3.5-acre site had already been purchased at the intersection of Mulberry and Rose Ranch Road where it had been planned that a new church would be built. Instead, plans for moving the old church were shifted into high gear.

 

The wings of the butterfly would fly again!


It was determined that the move would be more economical if the roof and the steeple could be removed first and moved separately, eliminating the need for the temporary relocation of power lines along the travel route. Before that could be accomplished, four layers of old shingles were removed from the roof, enough to fill several trucks. Then lath and plaster were removed from the ceiling and walls. This removal revealed more than the bare bones of the building: it uncovered more vagrants living in the attic and belfry….bats! After fumigation, some 1,500 dead bats were disposed of, along with untold quantities of “evidence."


The move to the new site finally took place in January 1984. The building was again split into four parts—the roof, the main sanctuary, and the two side buildings. Without the roof to stabilize it, the structure loosened up considerably requiring some skillful re-squaring before the roof could go back on. All the electrical wiring was replaced with new. The exterior of the church was sandblasted to remove layers of old paint, then the beautiful redwood of the original construction was again painted white. The old square nails, many rusted through, were replaced and the interior wainscoting was sandblasted and stripped of many generations of paint. The steeple had to be newly braced and squared. A crane was hired to lift the roof sections into place, and then the steeple was swung into its lofty perch.


The Vicar and his flock of willing workers put in many, many long hours accomplishing all the tasks necessary. Some of the jobs were grossly unpleasant and others were just plain hard work but they always kept the vision of their goal before them. The old church building kindled and sparked the congregation into a steady flame of enthusiastic participation. The pioneer spirit was alive as hammers, scrapers, paintbrushes, and rakes worked in concert.


In the reconstruction, the cross atop the steeple was somewhat askew so the Vicar cut it off with a hacksaw. He approached a workman on a job in a nearby residential area and asked him if he would weld the cross in place sometime when he had some spare time. The man showed up early the very next morning, completed the welding, and smilingly told the Vicar that he did the job “for the Lord” and there would be no charge. There have been many such instances of donated labor and/or materials from non-church members, given for the honor and glory of God, by way of people’s affection for this “born again” church.


The original bell disappeared long years ago, but God knew of the need and supplied a 300-lb. beauty that had been just sitting in storage, awaiting a new home. Its resonant tones now ring out over the valley from this resurrected church…this beautiful butterfly. The old round stained-glass window over the main door was preserved and as it catches the morning sun its reflected colors paint rainbows inside the church. Three new round windows, including the “Apostle Window” Over the altar, were designed, crafted, and donated by a local stained glass artisans’ guild. Grace Episcopal Church now sits on a knoll in a pastoral setting with grazing cattle and horses on the surrounding rolling hills. Nearby neighborhoods of new homes have swelled the membership as families have come to worship in the little country church.


The beautiful butterfly has once again spread her wings.

 


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