OUR BISHOP
The Rt. Rev. Susan Brown Snook, bishop
The Rt. Rev. Susan Brown Snook was ordained and consecrated as our diocesan bishop on June 15, 2019. She is the ecclesiastical authority of the diocese, exercising spiritual and temporal leadership over diocesan life.
Supply Priest
The Rev. Kenneth A. Simon
The Rev. David Jackson
The Rev. Dorian Mulvey
The Rev. Wayne Larson
The Rev. Samuel Borbon
Supply Priest for special request services
The Rev. Carlos Garcia
Diana Sanchez, Secretary
Dante Yting, Senior Warden
Frances Stites, Treasurer
Dana Zamora, Junior Warden
Anne Namuhoya, Member at large
Joseph Tibiita ; Member at Large
Our Church History Sharing St. Andrew’s-by-the Lake with the Community since 1930
On September 7, 1930, the Rt. Rev. Robert B. Gooden, Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of Los Angeles, in the first year of his Consecration, consecrated Saint Andrew’s-by-The-Lake in the city of Elsinore.
And though the fortieth anniversary of this event is being observed now in 1970, a brief note regarding the beginnings of the Episcopal Church in the Elsinore Valley is in order.
Services were held first in the town of Murrieta, twelve miles to the south-east, in the year 1889, but were soon discontinued. In 1893 a congregation numbering twenty-five people purchased a building in Wildomar, moved it to Murrieta, and services were resumed. This building served the congregation until 1929, when a new building was erected and dedicated, on November 24 of that year. At that time the congregation numbered seventy-five. Within the next few years, of financial depression, many of the citizens of Murrieta were forced to move, and the lack of support for the Church declined to the point where it was necessary to close the Church. The property was sold later to the Union Church of Murrieta.
The beginning of the Episcopal Church in Elsinore was, as they have been in many another community, based on the wish and need of a small number of people to be able to worship and to receive the Sacraments of the Church according to the usage of the Prayer Book. So, in 1903 the Episcopalians of Elsinore and several who had moved to this community from Murrieta met in the Lakeview Hotel for services. The Rev. Mr. Camp, who had come from DeLuz by horse and buggy to minister to the congregation in Murrieta in former years, came to Elsinore for services on a monthly schedule. The location of services was changed from the hotel to the Presbyterian Church after a short time, and when the arrangements for this proved inconvenient Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Stephens, members of the congregation, offered the use of their home on Graham Avenue. Others active in the Church at the time were Mary Garden, the Wilmots, Murdens, Williams and Burtions.
In the year 1917 the Elsinore congregation, now sufficiently strong, petitioned the Convention of the Diocese of Los Angeles and was admitted into Union as St. Andrew’s-by-The Lake Mission.
As the Congregation increased the need for permanent home was realized, and Mr. Stephen Henry Burton was approached with the request that he erect a church building. Mr. Burton acceded to the request and work was begun, on a newly acquired lot, on Kellogg Street. Mr. Burton’s wife had died in 1929, and when the consecration was made, the Church was dedicated to the Glory of God and in Memory of Ellen Webb Burton.
Numbered among the individuals and families active during this time were Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Stephens, Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Williams, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Anderson, Mr. James Wrench, Mrs. W. W. H. Beach, Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Scherner and family, Mr. and Mrs. Murden, Miss Nancy Webb, Mr. Stephen Burton, Mr. and Mrs. Neal Lansing, Mrs. Laura Burnham, Mr. and Mrs. Horace Bury, and Mr. and Mrs. William Cass. Regular services were provided in the new church from 1930 to 1933 by Lay Readers and Priests, from nearby communities, who came for occasional Communion Services. A Vicar was appointed by the bishop in 1933, the Rev. Horace W. Wood, and the period of resident vicars began.
In 1953, under the leadership of the Rev. Charles Richmond, a building committee composed of Mr. Anthony Junkley, Mr. F. W. Ortmayer, Mrs. Neal Lansing, Mrs. Sanford Burnham and Mrs. W. W. H. Beach worked for the building of a greatly needed parish hall. Through the efforts of many individuals, and the Woman’s Auxiliary of St. Andrew’s, the sum of twelve hundred dollars was raised. This became the basis of a building fund that provided for the erecting of the parish hall, that was dedicated on November 15, 1953.
Three events of major importance have affected the more recent history of St. Andrew’s. Following several seasons of below normal rainfall the level of Lake Elsinore gradually receded until by 1951 it was almost a “dry lake.” The rains of the next year replenished it with some water, but continuing dry seasons had the effect of drying it completely by 1958. Without the lake as an attraction for vacationers and tourists the economy of Elsinore was seriously damaged. As a result, the membership and financial support of the Church were affected to the point where it was no longer feasible to maintain a resident Vicar. It is reported by several, who continued active, that attendance at a Sunday service might number as many as eight persons.
The second event was the replenishment of water in Lake Elsinore in 1964. A committee of local residents, of which Mr. Richard Hibbert, a communicant of St. Andrew’s was an active member, dealt with the State Parks and Recreation Department and negotiated for the purchase of water from the Metropolitan Water District. The economy began to recover slightly thru the use of the lake by sportsmen who enjoyed boating, water-skiing and fishing thus provided.
The third event was the establishment of Sun City, twelve miles to the east of Elsinore, in 1962. Among the first residents in Sun City were several Episcopalians who began attending services at St. Andrew’s, and giving their support both financially and spiritually. The Rev. Leighton H. Nugent came to Sun City, in 1964, after retiring from the Ministry in New Orleans, and the congregation was able to arrange with the Department of Missions of the Diocese for The Rev. Mr. Nugent to act as Priest-in-Charge, beginning in 1965. He asked to be relieved of the appointment in June of 1965 and the Bishop appointed the Rev. E. C. McConnell as Vicar in July 1967.
If parish boundaries were to be drawn, it would be shown that St. Andrew’s serves a vast area of the south-western portion of Riverside County: north-west beyond Elsinore, north-east to Perris, easterly to include Canyon Lake, Quail Valley and Sun City, south-east to Wildomar, Murrieta and Rancho California.
Members traveling from the Temecula area made known that they would really like to have a church of their own. St. Andrew’s helped them to start it in 1980. Fr. James Gunn became Vicar of both churches. Soon, St. Thomas secured its own priest. St. Andrew’s then, along with the Church of the Good Shepherd, Hemet, helped the Episcopalians of Sun City begin their own Church, St. Stephen’s in 1982. Fr. Gunn became Vicar of both churches.
On January 1, 1984, Fr. Richard Williams was appointed by Bishop C. Brinkley Morton to be the Vicar of both St. Andrew’s and St. Stephen’s. Both churches grew to the extent that on October 1st of 1985 the Bishop dissolved the yoke of the two churches. Fr. Williams began full-time ministry at St. Andrew’s as of that date. St. Stephen’s now has its own full-time priest.
The future looks bright for St. Andrew’s and the City of Lake Elsinore with an ever-growing population and plans nearly completed to stabilize the lake. The fast influx of families into Lake Elsinore and surrounding areas has brought new members. Other longtime residents of Lake Elsinore are also joining our ranks.
Beginning January 1, 1987, St. Andrew’s was, for the first time, able to ask the Diocese to discontinue grant-in-aid since the Parish was now strong enough to fully support its own life and ministry.
We give the Praise to Our Lord for what is happening to us. Let us continue to uphold our church and our city in prayer as we continue to serve Him in the days ahead.
List of Clergy appointed and supply Clergy from 1933-present Names year
The Rev. Horace W. Wood 1933 to 1936
The Rev. Howard A. Johnson 1939 to 1940
The Rev. George C. Eichelman 1940 to 1941
The Rev. Williston M. Ford 1942
The Rev. John R. MacArthur 1945 to 1949
The Rev. Williston M. Ford 1949 to 1952
The Rev. Donald L. Irish 1952
The Rev. Charles Richmond 1953 to 1958
The Rev. John E. Cline 1959 to 1963
The Rev. Dougleas E. Williams 1963 to 1964
The Rev. Leighton H. Nugent 1965 to 1967, 1974
The Rev. Edward C. McConnell 1967 to 1974
The Rev. Ralph A. Stevens 1974 to 1978
The Rev. Benjamin M. Orozco 1977 to 1978, 1982, 1995 to 2011
The Rev. E. James E. Gunn 1978 to 1983
The Rev. Richard W. Burhans 1983, 1990
The Rev. Richard A. Williams 1984 to 1989
The Rev. Ricardo Linares 1990 to 1994
The. Rev. Ned Kellogg 1990 to 1995
The Rev. D. Betty Nugent 1990 to 1999
The Rev. Juan M. Acosta 1993 to 1994, 2009 to 2011, 2014
The Rev. Robert R. Richard 1995
The Rev. Jose Pacheco 1998 to 2009
The Rev. Carlos Garcia 2009, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
The Rev. W. Clarke Prescott 2011 to 2014
The Rev. Alex F. Nagy 2014, 2021
The Rev. Thomas A. Wilson 2014 to 2015, 2017
The Rev. Reinel Castro 2014, 2016
The Rev. Lonoll Wright 2015 to 2017
The Rev. Kate Baird 2017
The Rev. Kenneth A. Simon 2017 to 2020, 2022 , 2023
The Rev. Maria C. Borges 2020 to 2021
The Rev. Cindy Campos 2021
The Rev. Robert A. Blessing 2021
The Rev. David Jackson 2021, 2022, 2023
The Rev. Dorian Mulvey 2022, 2023
The Rev. Wayne Larson 2022, 2023
The Rev. Samuel Borbon 2023