Episcopal Community Services history

The St Andrew’s Mission was formally organized in 1877, and in that same year, William Bell donated a lot in the center of Manitou Springs for the erection of the Episcopal church.

Fundraising for the building began immediately, though by 1880, the congregants had raised only enough money for the erection of a temporary wooden structure on the site donated by Bell.

To allow for the construction of a permanent stone church, in 1884 the original wooden church building was relocated across Canon Avenue, where it stands today.

Episcopal Community Services traces its origins back to 1894 and the Mission of the Good Samaritan, later named Canon Kip Community House, a small relief center on Second Street.

Kip died in 1902, the center was renamed Canon Kip Memorial Mission in his memory.

When construction finally began, the cornerstone for the new church was relocated from the original building, then was re-laid for (then Bishop) John Franklin Spaulding on January 10, 1905.

The Canon Kip Memorial Mission is the first diocesan entity to reopen after the 1906 earthquake and fire.

The pipe organ was installed in 1909 by the St Agnes guild as a tribute to the founding member, Mrs.

Deaconess Sophie Miller helped establish the first Episcopal Home in Alhambra, CA, in 1923, for the purpose of caring for widows of Episcopal priests.

ECS was incorporated in 1955 and obtained its first government contract with San Diego County to provide counseling and jobs for men released from prison.

In 1983, the Episcopal Sanctuary was formed in response to a growing number of people sleeping on the streets of San Francisco.

In 2004, The Covington welcomed its first residents to a new and truly distinctive lifestyle, an unusually delightful climate and ocean breezes, all within a secluded neighborhood of luxurious conveniences.

In March 2015, ECS launches the first Navigation Center in the US in the Mission District.

In December 2018, ECS opens an 84 bed navigation center in the South of Market neighborhood with 20 beds designated for women.