STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

St. Thomas Episcopal Church has been a presence in the Wood River Valley since 1883, when a white clapboard church that later became the Leadville Espresso coffeehouse and Louie's Italian restaurant was erected.

And on Sunday the “Village Church for All,” as St. Thomas parishioners call their congregation, will embark on the first phase of a $10 million campaign to ensure its next chapter.

The campaign will begin with deferred maintenance on the current building, a project that will be visible to the community Monday, Aug. 17, when construction crews arrive to replace the shake roof with a fire-retardant material.

Janet Schaumburg shows the impact of the Ketchum Community Curbside Dinners that have involved the Sun Valley Pickleball Alliance, Sun Valley Community School parents, the Sun Valley Culinary Institute and Church of the Big Wood.

Workers will also add insulation, update the lighting, and improve the sound system.

"It's timely for us to get the word out to the community, because there will be some construction here, and it will be visible," said Schroeder Stribling, who is helping lead the campaign. "We want people to know what we're doing, we want to be good neighbors."

The congregation will celebrate the start of the project with an "Inspired to Serve Sunday" on Aug. 16, with a blessing of the grounds that will be temporarily transformed during construction.

"We're going to bless and thank these beautiful grounds as we start the project," Stribling said.

Janet Schaumburg says the kitchen is hardly big enough to facilitate the church’s Coffee Hour following Sunday services, let alone the cooking of a hundred meals for the curbside dinners.

The church has deep roots in the valley as a mission of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Hailey, whose priest, Rev. I.T. Osborn, made arduous trips through deep snow in winter from 11 miles away. The first worshippers were pioneers and miners, and Valeria Dollarhide and her sister Vinnie D. Swift started the first Sunday School, while a sewing club raised money to decorate the interior.

After heavy snow damaged the church during the winter of 1952, services moved to the Sun Valley Opera House, and a year later the congregation purchased two lots on Sun Valley Road from Sun Valley Co. The congregation broke ground in July 1959, the rock coming from Oakley, and it held its first service on Dec. 18, 1960.

The church was consecrated by Bishop Foote on Dec. 20, 1961, in the midst of an old-fashioned snowstorm. Over the years, the congregation grew, with the Lane, Engl, Earle and Kneeland families gifting a piano and other parishioners donating an altar and silver offering plate. The Sewing Guild raised money for altar drapes, candlesticks, processional cross, prayer books, hymnals and choir robes and had Gladys McAtee make the altar drapes and matching priest's vestments. The Twin Falls Church of the Ascension gifted the pews, Bishop Foote the chandeliers, and Mary Rockefeller of New York provided wall-to-wall carpet.

In 1974, part of a Bing Crosby Christmas Special was filmed at the church, with locals present. The congregation has supported Mark and Margaret Stewart in building a home for street boys in Sudan and Lois Allison in working on a mission in Honduras. In recent years, it’s helped the people of Haiti through earthquakes and hurricanes.

St. Thomas Playhouse outreach has been providing two-week summer camps for a hundred youngsters at a time, including its most recent production “Mary Poppinss Jr.”

Today, parishioners think of St. Thomas as the Village Church, tasked with sharing the love of God with the larger community of the Wood River Valley.

Beyond Bible studies, the church hosts a book club, Women's Wisdom Walks, a Men's Coffee Group that meets at Starbucks and wintertime Taize meditative prayer services. St. Thomas Playhouse presents four theatrical productions a year that involve adults and children from throughout the valley, and the Green Team advocates for God’s Creation.

The shawl ministry knits shawls for those needing a little TLC, and more than 60 people have taken part in Spanish language and English as a Second Language lessons, while the church hosts Dia de los Reyes celebrations and AA and Al-Anon meetings.

Every week the church welcomes members of nonprofits into the church to prepare and distribute 80 to 100 free meals every Wednesday through its Ketchum Community Dinners Curbside ministry.

Schroeder Stribling and Rebecca Waycott say the Fireside Room is used for a plethora of ministries, including a book club, meditation sessions, and the shawl circle.

The current building, which was remodeled and expanded about 25 years ago, is bursting at the seams. The parish hall holds only about 70 people, roughly half the congregation. And Rebecca Waycott, who has been at St. Thomas since 2001, says weekdays tell the real story.

"People ask why we need to expand. During the week, there is no room. There are so many programs going on we just run out of space. Janet (Schaumburg) and I will meet people at Starbucks or somewhere else just because there's no room at the church,” she said.

The campaign's first phase--about $2.5 million of the $10 million goal, focuses on the deferred maintenance, including AV, HVAC, fire alarm upgrades, buttress and window repairs and solar infrastructure. The second phase will build a larger parish hall and kitchen.

The new parish hall will be separate but connected to the main building by a covered walkway and will double the church’s capacity for celebration of life and other events. The kitchen will be relocated to the main floor for easier access.

Outdoors, the church will continue to host a labyrinth. It will add more protected outdoor space for children and bike parking.

The third phase of the campaign involves strategic reserves for the church's long-term sustainability.

Janet Schaumburg says a kitchen dance happens every Friday when cooking teams prepare 80 to 100 meals for the Wednesday night Community Dinners.

"We kind of dance around, choreograph around in the kitchen to try and make it all work," Schaumburg said. "We have to use some of the hallway, as well, to actually put the food into the containers because there's not enough room in the kitchen."

The youth have asked for a space of their own, too. During a focus groups involving more than 100 people, the church heard from young people who want an afterschool space to do homework, hang out and have snacks.

Stribling, whose parents Todd and Georgia Stewart belonged to St. Thomas before she moved here full-time last year, said the church has been meaningful to her family for generations.

"We are happy for an opportunity to give back to the community," she said. "It's been very supportive to my family, and to us, since we moved here."

The capital campaign is already almost halfway to its goal, and the congregation is looking forward to a winter pause in construction before the next phases begin.

"The mission is to be the village church in which all are welcome," Waycott said. "A church that serves its community. And is welcoming to everyone, however they identify or want to show up."

CONCERT TO BENEFIT CAMPAIGN

On Sunday Aug. 23, Louisa Waycott, who grew up in the church's music program and now sings with the Washington Concert Opera and the Washington National Opera in Washington, D.C., will offer a free concert in conjunction with St. Thomas organist Joel Bejot on piano and cellist Ellen Sanders, who has played with the Sun Valley Music Festival Orchestra for a quarter century.

The concert will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the church and will include such songs as “The Sound of Music” and “Someone to Watch Over Me,” reflecting many of the musical ventures the church has nurtured over the years. The concert is free but the church is hoping attendees will offer a donation for the church’s building campaign.