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St. Francis on the Hill Episcopal Church
St. Francis on the Hill Episcopal Church
6280 Los Robles Dr, El Paso TX 79912 (915) 581-9500
6280 Los Robles Dr, El Paso TX 79912 (915) 581-9500
St Francis on the Hill Episcopal Church
6280 Los Robles Dr, El Paso TX 79912
(915) 581-9500 St.Francis.Episcopal@gmail.com
6280 Los Robles Dr, El Paso TX 79912
(915) 581-9500 St.Francis.Episcopal@gmail.com
Reverend Constance Delzell
"Mother Connie"
I have had the great privilege of a ministry that has been both rich and varied. My chief work has been as a church builder. I have been the vicar and rector of two missions who quickly grew to parish status. In an up-scale suburban neighborhood in Boulder, CO., I, along with my husband and daughter and thirteen other intrepid souls, founded a new church. During that time we built every ministry from scratch, survived and even triumphed through two building/capital campaigns, the restoration of our first building following a flash flood, a year-long ministry of pastoral care for a family blessed by the birth of quintuplets, and the growth of the congregation from 16 to 400 parishioners. St. Mary Magdalene was a chief joy of my heart.
I was called to St. John’s Cathedral as its Canon Missioner and vicar to an historic inner-city church, St. Andrew’s. St. Andrew’s had fallen on hard times, and the cathedral had adopted it in hopes of reviving it. Three successful capital campaigns resulted in a complete renovation, restoration, and eventual expansion of a hundred year old church and the installation of a fine new pipe organ. We achieved parish status in 2002 at which time I was elected rector.
One of my intentions when called to St. Andrew’s was to promote programs of excellence that would draw people into the city again to worship, revitalize the parish, and welcome new members into the communion and a deepening relationship with Christ. With these goals in mind, shortly after my tenure, we were able to stretch what were then very limited resources in order to hired an exceptional choirmaster and an equally skilled organist who have contributed immensely to the meeting of those goals. St. A’s music offerings are quite remarkable, even to me, who has a tendency to dream big dreams. They have drawn untold new parishioners and choir members, as well as enriched our worship and uplifted our spirits. In addition to liturgical music, St. Andrew’s built a multi-faced music program which includes; a joint choral concert series undertaken in co-operation with a nearby Lutheran congregation, Music at the Saints; a keyboard concert series; a neighborhood children’s choir, St. Cecilia Singers; and has also spawned the only professional choral group in Colorado, St. Martin’s Chamber Choir.
St. Andrew’s is also blessed with many who work in the plastic arts, as well as clergy and professors who as parishioners are very generous with their time and talents. Rarely a year goes by when we do not host an art show or two, and our adult education/formation program is blessed with almost unlimited opportunities. It is my firm belief that adult and children’s educational programs are key to a Christian’s devotion, maturity, churchmanship, and service. Offerings include; a nine month catechumenate; four Education for Ministry groups; a contemplative prayer group; and a yearly variety of six week classes exploring such topics as the Gospel of Thomas, Islam and the West, Anglican Plainsong, and Paul - Prophet and Pioneer, The Gospel of Mark, The Letters of Paul.
St. Andrew’s has also nurtured a deep commitment to service. During my tenure, we developed, bought, and managed Bethany House, a residence for people living with AIDS; established The Children’s Center for Arts and Learning, a nationally recognized 5 day-a-week arts program for disadvantaged urban children; joined with neighbors to promote and revive the blighted Cole neighborhood; and raised $6,000,000.00 from individuals and foundations, to restore, and re-open a boarded-up Victorian elementary school as a charter school serving the Cole neighborhood. We also founded an elementary Episcopal day school for inner-city children which emphasizes the arts, St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal School.
I was called to St. John’s Cathedral as its Canon Missioner and vicar to an historic inner-city church, St. Andrew’s. St. Andrew’s had fallen on hard times, and the cathedral had adopted it in hopes of reviving it. Three successful capital campaigns resulted in a complete renovation, restoration, and eventual expansion of a hundred year old church and the installation of a fine new pipe organ. We achieved parish status in 2002 at which time I was elected rector.
One of my intentions when called to St. Andrew’s was to promote programs of excellence that would draw people into the city again to worship, revitalize the parish, and welcome new members into the communion and a deepening relationship with Christ. With these goals in mind, shortly after my tenure, we were able to stretch what were then very limited resources in order to hired an exceptional choirmaster and an equally skilled organist who have contributed immensely to the meeting of those goals. St. A’s music offerings are quite remarkable, even to me, who has a tendency to dream big dreams. They have drawn untold new parishioners and choir members, as well as enriched our worship and uplifted our spirits. In addition to liturgical music, St. Andrew’s built a multi-faced music program which includes; a joint choral concert series undertaken in co-operation with a nearby Lutheran congregation, Music at the Saints; a keyboard concert series; a neighborhood children’s choir, St. Cecilia Singers; and has also spawned the only professional choral group in Colorado, St. Martin’s Chamber Choir.
St. Andrew’s is also blessed with many who work in the plastic arts, as well as clergy and professors who as parishioners are very generous with their time and talents. Rarely a year goes by when we do not host an art show or two, and our adult education/formation program is blessed with almost unlimited opportunities. It is my firm belief that adult and children’s educational programs are key to a Christian’s devotion, maturity, churchmanship, and service. Offerings include; a nine month catechumenate; four Education for Ministry groups; a contemplative prayer group; and a yearly variety of six week classes exploring such topics as the Gospel of Thomas, Islam and the West, Anglican Plainsong, and Paul - Prophet and Pioneer, The Gospel of Mark, The Letters of Paul.
St. Andrew’s has also nurtured a deep commitment to service. During my tenure, we developed, bought, and managed Bethany House, a residence for people living with AIDS; established The Children’s Center for Arts and Learning, a nationally recognized 5 day-a-week arts program for disadvantaged urban children; joined with neighbors to promote and revive the blighted Cole neighborhood; and raised $6,000,000.00 from individuals and foundations, to restore, and re-open a boarded-up Victorian elementary school as a charter school serving the Cole neighborhood. We also founded an elementary Episcopal day school for inner-city children which emphasizes the arts, St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal School.