incarnation:history

Brief History of The Church of the Incarnation - Great Falls

The Episcopal Church in Great Falls began in 1888 as a small mission served by clergy from the principle mission in Fort Benton. The original church building, Grace Mission, was located on the northwest corner of Third Avenue North and Sixth Street, diagonally across from the present site of the Church of the Incarnation. The church incorporated as a parish in 1894, and it was agreed that the parish would be named the Church of the Incarnation. The new parish had twenty-eight members. At a meeting of the vestry in September of 1902, the rector, the Reverend Charles E. Dobson, announced that the deed for three lots (the present site of the church and parish hall) had been placed in the offering plate the previous Sunday. At the same meeting, the vestry adopted a resolution to build a new church at a cost not to exceed $20,000.

Congregation The first bids for construction were deemed too costly, so it was not until September of 1906 that a contract was let for the new church building at a cost of $19,500. The cornerstone for the new building was laid by Bishop Leigh R. Brewer on November 29, 1906. The first service in the new church was on December 8, 1907. Most of the furnishings were given as gifts, including the organ (The Church of the Incarnation houses one of the city's significant pipe organs, a Moller, built in 1946), the altar and altar rail, the pulpit, the pews, the reredos and the carving of ‘The Last Supper’. The Church of the Incarnation was consecrated on Sunday, February 15, 1920, by The Rt. Reverend William F. Faber, Episcopal Bishop of Montana, when, according to canon law, the church building and the property on which it stands were completely free of debt.

Since 1894, eighteen men have served as rector of The Church of the Incarnation, three of whom, the Reverend Granville G. Bennett, the Reverend Jackson E. Gilliam, and the Reverend Jeff Terry, later became bishops.

The renowned Western artist, Charles M. Russell, was a member of the Church of the Incarnation. He did not participate in various church activities, but he did attend the early Communion service quite regularly, coming in late, sitting behind a pillar, and leaving early. He was buried from the Church of the Incarnation on October 27, 1926.