Our History

    St. Peter's Church was formed as a Mission of the Diocese of Arkansas in 1880. A former Methodist church was bought as a house of worship. In 1912 a fire caused by lightning destroyed the building. In 1940 a group of churchmen gathered together and held occasional services under the leadership of the Very Rev. C. P. Lewis, Dean of Trinity Cathedral. An Army chaplain from Camp Robinson in North Little Rock also provided services during this period. In 1942 St. Peter's was admitted as an organized mission at the Diocesan Convention of 1942. In January 1944 work began on a new building, and in September that same year St. Peter's celebrated its 40th birthday in a new church.
    In March 1945 the Rev. John M. Allin, who later went on to become Presiding Bishop, became minister in charge. The church building continued to accommodate worshipers until 1993, when the Diocese of Arkansas presented St. Peter's with a seed grant to build a new church. This grant, coupled with generous capital gifts from members and friends of St. Peter's, made possible a new church. Dedication ceremonies were held in November 1993 for the present Mitchell Street church.
"When we ran out of money to do the balcony, Tom McNutt and I hung the sheetrock, laid flooring and built the handrails to save the church money." Jerry Southard 1996 Building Committee Chair
    From 1990 to 1995, St. Peter's average weekly attendance had increased by 150%. At the Annual Meeting in January 1996 the people of St. Peter's gathered to review their future facility needs and examine the potential for continued growth and its impact on facility usage. They voted to build new Christian education facilities, add office and meeting space, and remodel the original church into a chapel. The estimated price tag was $400,000. A new capital campaign was launched in April 1996, and soon St. Peter's was once again ready to build. St. Peter's current facilities were completed in 1998.
    "St. Peteršs has been a place of healing and hope for me. I've been a member for about 20 years and experienced the lean times. I had the pleasure of knowing some of the early pillars of the church, the people who paid the light bill out of their own pockets when there was no money, the people who bought the stained glass windows in the old church, the people who stayed when times were really tough. I've watched our parish grow in love, in mission and in purpose."
Vicars of St. Peter's:
   P.A. Johnson 1881-1882
   Archdeacon Rhames 1901-1912
   George William Culleney 1941-1943
   John Maury Allin 1945-1949
   Charles B. Hoglan, Jr. 1951-1956
   Sylvan W. Law 1956-1959
   Rollo L. Rilling 1959-1962
   Limuel G. Parks, Jr. 1963-1970
   A. William Krumback 1971-1977
   John Gray 1976-1977
   Festus H. Powell, Jr. 1977-1984
   William S. Smothers 1984-1985
   James McLean 1985-1990
   Peggy Hays 1990-1998
   Greg H. Rickel 1998-2001 
   Gar R. T. Demo 2002-2006                                                                            Jack A. Rogers, Jr. 2006-2007