St. Thomas of the Valley Episcopal Church

Mission

The work of St. Thomas' Mission had progressed to the point where, in 1915, the Missionary Bishop of Arizona, the Rt. Rev. Julius Atwood, insisted there was a need for a combination chapel and parish hall in Clarkdale. The following year Bishop Atwood promised $3,000 toward such a building. In May 1917, he announced that he had $3,500 in sight. In that year the combination chapel and parish hall was built for $8,000. Of the total amount, $4,500 of it was given for a memorial to Gerald Clark Kling by his mother, Mrs. Mary Clark Kling, daughter of Senator Clark.The first Christian work in the area began with the formation of Christ Episcopal Church in Jerome on June 6, 1899 in what is now Haven Methodist Church and the last service of Christ Church was held in 1948.

About us

St. Thomas’s congregation came into being on December 1, 1913, when nine persons met in a private home on the banks of the Verde River, and signed the charter which brought into existence a mission of the Episcopal Church in Clarkdale, Arizona. Since the meeting was held near the Feast of St. Thomas, December 21, the parish was named after that saint. Every year, on December 21, the parish pauses to remember its patron.