Margie Major grew up in Johnson Chapel AME Church in the historic neighborhood, Como, where her father served as one of the deacons. In the early 50's, she was a part of the group that founded St. Simon of Cyrene Episcopal Church, a historical black Episcopal church on the east side of Fort Worth. She went on to start attending the chapel at St. Christopher in 2008 following the split over the ordination of women. She has been a faithful member of St. Christopher since shortly after the Senior Wardens of both St, Simon and St. Christopher worked out an agreement with the bishop that the displaced members would officially join.

Lauryn Smith, while growing up in Houston, Texas did not attend church regularly until the local church Higher Dimension Church (non-denominational opened in her neighborhood in 1999. During her time at SMU, she attended the Highland Park Methodist Church within walking distance of the campus. Once graduating college, she moved to Fort Worth in 2014 where she accompanied Aunt Margie to St. Christopher. She has been attending more regularly since the pandemic in 2020 when she served as lead engineer on the tech team as she helped transform the online services for the church.

About Us: 

• Javier was raised Catholic and I was raised United Methodist. Once we got married, we both became Episcopalian and have never looked back. The church is a perfect blend of the service feeling traditional, but the more progressive beliefs we believe.
• We live in Burleson.
• We found St. Christopher’s during COVID, and watched online for awhile.
• Gabby is 7 and Alex is 3; Javier and I have stopped counting.

Church Involvement:

 • Joined St. Christopher in 2021 after discovering our previous church wasn’t truly Episcopalian, but rather a local offshoot that didn’t align with our family’s beliefs.
• I serve on the Bishop's Committee, Building Steering and Finance Committees and help as Assistant Treasurer. 

Favorite things about St. Christopher:

• We genuinely feel we are loved and matter to the congregation. 

• I love the way the congregation loves our kids; Gabby and Alex sometimes have their moments (shy, upset, need to step out of the Sunday service) and everyone is still thrilled we’re there. 
• St. Christopher’s is growing! There are always so many fun things going on, often more than we can fit into our schedule with kids’ activities and work schedules. We love the opportunities to form friendships and socialize, especially since we don’t have a lot of family super close.

I love the progressive, warm yet reverent and traditional worship at St. Christopher's. When I'm there, I feel connected to my parish friends and family but also to the many generations that have gone before and those who will come after. I also love the music! It matters much to me that there are no barriers at St. Christopher's based on gender, sexual orientation, race, economic status, etc, and to know that, when my husband and I go forward each year on our anniversary to have our relationship blessed, our fellow congregants truly and unreservedly celebrate with us. 

I have been a life-long Episcopalian. I remember going to church every Sunday at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Alamogordo, NM.   I loved this small church. I loved the consistency of the prayers and the songs and was in the children’s choir for many years. I still have my small, gold treble clef pin I was given as a choir member!

My husband, Denis was raised Catholic, but was reconfirmed in the Episcopal church. We were married at St. John’s. We moved to San Angelo where we attended the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd. Both our children were confirmed there and were very active as acolytes and the youth group. 

In 1985, we moved to Fort Worth and attended Christ the King for many years.  Due to some politics within the church, we left and attended several other Episcopal churches -- never really feeling like any of them were a good fit for us. In 2017, Denis and I were celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary, and the church we had been attending for almost 10 years was unable to accommodate us on our wedding day for a simple ceremony to renew our vows. We decided then, that it was time to change churches.  The next Sunday, we attended St. Christopher’s. When Fr. Bill asked if there was anyone celebrating their birthdays or anniversaries, we went up to the altar. He blessed us and asked us how many years, and the entire congregation applauded us.  We had never experienced anything like this in an Episcopal church. St. Christopher’s was over-the-top welcoming! 

St. Christopher’s welcomes all and quickly embraces them as members of the church family