The St. Richard of Chichester Episcopal Church in Skyforest will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the dedication in June 1985 of its church building, parish hall and retreat center.
The parish will gather at 9:00 a.m. on June 1, 2025, for a special worship service with brunch to follow. Bishop John Taylor will be a special guest at a final pastoral visitation before his expected retirement in 2026.
What would become St. Richard of Chichester Episcopal Church under construction.
“Our parish is joyous as we reflect on the past 40 years of faith in action in our mountain community,” said the Reverend Canon Gary Bradley of St. Richard’s. “We look forward to celebrating with former vicars as well as past, present and future members.
“Together we’ll reflect on God’s faithfulness and pray for guidance as we look ahead to the future of our mission,” Father Gary added.
All members of the local community who have been involved with the church during its history are invited. Also welcome are any clients or supporters of the Mountain Homeless Coalition and anyone who would simply like to join the celebration.
Following the service, a complimentary barbecue brunch will be served.
Founded in 1980, the parish is open to and affirming of all people wherever they find themselves on the journey of faith in the context of a loving and accepting, non-judgmental God. The 9:00 a.m. Eucharist service each Sunday is led by the Reverend Canon Gary Bradley, assisted by concert pianist John Reith and Bishop’s Warden Ron Parker.
“The most important reason for the 40th anniversary,” said Parker, “is that the early congregation finally had a building they could call home. For approximately five years before 1985, the people were meeting in various people’s homes and any business or church building where they could gather.”
Like the entire Episcopal Church, Father Gary noted, “St. Richard’s has changed quite a bit since its arrival in these mountains in 1980. It is now a moderately liberal church in a more than moderately conservative religious environment of good churches and good people who worship the same Lord.
“St. Richard’s perceives Christ’s liberal call to serve the world in the manner of the Letter of James – faith without works is not only lacking something but is dead. So, St. Richard’s now flies the rainbow flag of open and affirming inclusion and actively supports the work of the Mountain Homeless Coalition, which it co-founded eight years ago and which serves the needs of the poorest mountain residents.”
Father Gary went on to say that “St. Richard’s supports the ideal emblazoned on our national currency – E pluribus unum – and therefore rejects the goal of Christian Nationalism since there is one God of all, believers of all faiths and those yet to come to faith as well.
“St. Richard’s holds to the truth that no leader of our nation has ever been ‘anointed by God’ to do anything but serve the best interests of all the people of the nation, including those most recent arrivals welcomed by the words emblazoned on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor,” the Rev. Canon Bradley said.
Since the founding of the mission in 1980, St. Richard of Chichester has been a mission church supported by the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and not a self-sustaining “parish.” For that reason, the “pastor” of the mission is our bishop, who assigns a priest to care for the mission in the bishop’s place; the bishop retains pastoral care and authority.
St. Richard’s today.
Over the years, St. Richard’s has had four “pastors” who have assigned, in succession, 10 vicars – the priests onsite – as the onsite “deputies” of the bishops. When a mission finally attains sufficient numbers and financial support from those people, it becomes a parish and the priest is then referred to as a rector with full authority and pastoral care of the congregation.
At one point in time, a pair of vicars – a married couple – served both St. Richard’s and St. Columba’s in Big Bear. The Rev. Bill Hardwick and the Rev. Marion Stinson alternated their presence in each church.
And the assignment of the Rev. Shelley Denney brought a new aspect of pastoral leadership to St. Richard’s as did the assignment of the Rev. Ron Hulbert with his spouse, Terrence Cook.
St. Richard’s is located at 28708 Highway 18 in Skyforest. For more information on the church, visit strichardsweb.org, call (909) 337-3889 or email StRichOffice@gmail.com.
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