At the time of its being made a Missionary District the oldest church congregation was St John the Evangelist, Stockton. It is also the third oldest Episcopal Church on the West (Coast. The Rev. Orlando Harriman, Jr. conducted the first services on Sunday. August 25. is So, and the parish was organized that same evening and named by the Rev. Mr. Harriman. He remained at St. John's for a month and "failing to obtain support, and on account of ill health" he left.

     Services were resumed under lay leadership by Mr. J. M. Bissell, the Junior Warden on April 27, 1851, in a building owned by Captain Weber, founder of Stockton. Occasional services were taken by Dr. Orange Clarke and the Rev. John Morgan. With the impending move of Mr. Bissell from Stockton, a meeting was held to determine the parish's future. Although a Rev John Reynolds was resident in Stockton at the time, Mr. Bissell recorded that the Vestry wished to maintain its "independence" and "its inalienable right" of "choosing for themselves their own minister." Reynolds (from San Diego) was "permitted to occupy St. John's Chapel but he was not recognized by any authority in the parish as the minister of this Church." For all its Episcopal polity the Episcopal Church has had a strong strain of "congregationalism" from Colonial Days, and there is no evidence that that spirit is abating.

     Bishop Nip visited Stockton on February 18.1854, shortly after his arrival in California. The Vestry promised a budget of $200 per month for Church and clergyman. Bishop Nip nominated the Rev. Joseph S. Large of Indiana to be Rector. The Vestry acquiesced and the Rev. Mr. Large arrived on November 17, 1854.

     Captain C. M. Weber generously donated two lots and a third was purchased. As the holder of a Mexican Land Grant, Captain Weber was in a position to donate land for all of Stockton's original churches and old public squares and schools. Large resigned in April 1856 and the Vestry called the Rev. Elijah W. Hager of Marysville as their second Rector. Under his leadership the first brick church was erected in 1857-58. Bishop Nip consecrated the church building on Sunday, June 20, 1858. St. John's has thus occupied the same site since Gold Rush days. The oldest stained glass window in the San Joaquin valley was installed at the time over the altar. It is now above the entrance from El Dorado Street.

     Hager was succeeded by the Rev. David F. McDonald, from May 1859 to March, 1862. He was followed by the Rev. J. C. Cassman of Sonora who left in April 1866. Next the Rev. Elias Birdsall served from June 1866 to June 1868. He wrote articles on his trips to the San Joaquin valley which alerted the Rev. D. 0. Kelley to the need for mission work there. Following Birdsall was Dr. James Lloyd Breck (see LESSER FEASTS AND FASTS, April 2) who supplied services from Benicia until March 1869. He was succeeded by the Rev. William P. Tucker who left in little more than a year to become Headmaster of St. Augustine's College, Benicia. The Rev. Mr. Birdsall was called back and he remained until July 1872.

     A Mission Sunday; School was established during this time which flourished under his successor, H. L. Foote, of San Francisco. It lasted for some 20 years, when it became idle, and was sold to meet debt on the new church building. Following Foote's resignation the vestry; called Birdsall back for his third time as Rector - a record of sorts, surely. Birdsall again resigned in November 1880. The Vestry; then called the "tenth" Rector, the Rev. E. H. Ward. who served from January; 1881 until June 1885. In August of 1885, E. C. Mills became Rector and served until September 1888. At the recommendation of Birdsall the Vestry; called W. J. Lemon of Detroit. Under his leadership the new church and guild hall were built. The hall was built first from funds gathered by the Women's Guild and the Sunday School, a total of $9,200. The parish supplied an additional $3,100 for the purpose.

     In November 1891 the old brick building was razed and the bricks sold to help meet the cost of the new building. The cornerstone was laid on April 4, 1892, and the building was completed and the first service held on December 18, 1892. Lemon then resigned because of his wife's ill health. He was succeeded by; D. L. V. Moffett in December 1893. During this time the mission at Lodi was assisted and pews from old St. John's were given them. Moffett resigned in September 1895, and, in the same month, Daniel C. Mackinnon was called to the parish. He arrived in November. In October 1890, the Convention of the Diocese of California met for a week in Stockton, with Bishop Nichols.

     In the preceding year, the General Convention had created the Diocese of Los Angeles. Bishop Nichols called for the creation of a Convocation of San Joaquin. Stockton, however, was part of the Convocation of San Francisco at the time. By early 1898, the clearing of the debt on St. John's was within reach, and an effort was made to enable the consecration to take place on Easter Sunday, April 10. With $1,500 yet to raise and Easter only; a few days away. Mrs. Wm. H. Crocker, formerly Ethel Sperry of Stockton, who had given the carpet for the building, was sent a wire in Europe where she was at the time, asking for assistance. She generously promised to cover the remaining sum. Bishop Nichols then consecrated the church building as planned. In February, 1899, St. John's was transferred to the Convocation of San Joaquin.

     Mackinnon resigned in January; 1900. and was followed in August of that year by the Rev. John I. Bryan, who stayed one year. In December 1901, Bishop Nichols presided at the Vestry meeting and nominated Alfred S. Clark, who was duly elected and assumed his duties at once. Ill health forced him to resign in January 1905. He was succeeded by P. H. Starr of New York who served until May 1908.

     A number of supply clergy followed Dr. Starr, but one young man, William T. Renison, "won the hearts of all the people in the parish," and was called to he Rector in October 1908. He remained for 14 years the longest rectorship to date. Renison resigned in January 1922 to accept a call to Church social work as chaplain of the Syracuse Seaman's Institute. He retired in 1947, and returned to Stockton to serve as a voluntary assistant until his death in 1957.

     Hugh F. Montgomery; became Rector on July 15, 1922. His was an innovative ministry that succeeded in greatly enlivening the parish. He was elected Dean of the Northern Deanery in 1924, and held many other elective positions in the District of San Joaquin. In 1925, the Rev. Mr. Montgomery was called to All Souls' Parish, Berkeley, California.

     C. P Leachman was called in late 1927 but served a scant six months. He was followed by the Rev. Seth C. Hawley. In spite of its being the beginnings of the Great Depression period members of the Church living in the Terminous area of Northwest Stockton opened a small chapel consecrated by Bishop Nichols as "Emmanuel Chapel." The Rev. Mr. Hawley resigned in 1939.

     He was followed by the Rev. George F. Pratt of Hoquiam Washington. Stockion prospered during the years of World War II. During the late '40s the church was extensively renovated and the crypt was made into classrooms. On July 3, 1950, St. Anne's, Stockton. was opened in Lincoln Village to serve north Stockton. The Rev. Mr. Pratt left St. John's in the fall of 1950.

     Late 1950 saw the Rev. Paul E. Langpaap called from his first cure at St. Timothy's, Bishop, to be Rector of St. John's. A concern over the move of parishioners out of downtown assumed major proportion during his tenure. With one exception, other pioneer Stockton churches had moved from the city center to the suburbs. St. Stephen's was organized as a parochial mission of St. John's on September 27, 1954, and property purchased with the idea that it might be the site for St. John's to relocate; but a reversionary clause in the deed was settled by Charles Weber, III, in a quit-claim in 1955. In 1957, adjacent property to St. John's was purchased from Chase Chevrolet, providing the church with desperately needed office space and room for the 'Budget Shop," which opened in 1964.

     In January 1958, the Rev. Peter Barker succeeded Paul Langpaap who had accepted a call to Seattle, Washington. During Peter Barker's tenure a Master Plan Committee was set up to examine the location question in detail. The study proved inconclusive. However, by the 1970's. renovation and renewal of the downtown area was progressing, and in 1972, the Stockton Cultural Heritage Board declared St. John's Guild Hall an historic city landmark, in recognition of its unique Nordic style. In 1975, complete restoration of the second floor of this building was made.

     The Rev. Charles Smith became Rector in January 1971 and remained until the Spring of 1974. In August, on the eve of St. John's 125th Anniversary, The Rev. James T. Booth left his position as a Canon of St. James' Cathedral. Fresno, to be the new Rector of St. John's.

     In the last several years St. John's had generously and graciously provided accommodation for the newly formed Filipino Mission, Holy Cross, under the leadership of The Rev. Justo Andres. It has also provided a much needed social service in the downtown Stockton area under the leadership of Fr. Booth. They have a regular meal service for the needy and provide various other social services as outreach to those in need.

     By the end of 1987, St. John's church building was undergoing extensive restoration. Under the leadership of Fr. Booth, not only is the church structure being overhauled, but a new interest is developing in mission responsibility to the community and to the thousand of Filipinos, Hmongs, Vietnamese, and Mexican-American communities that are settling in this valley.