St. Bartholomew’s Parish History and State of the Building

Starting around 1908, a group of Black Episcopalians, mostly from the Caribbean – finding themselves unwelcomed at other Episcopal churches, met under the guidance of Mr. John S. Brown, at the home of Mrs. Grace Manuel, on Windsor Street in Cambridge. This group was called the “St. Andrew’s Association”.

As the group enlarged, the  association petitioned the bishop to acquire a separate worship space. They were granted an 80 seat mission building at 211 Columbia Street in Cambridge. We then became the St. Bartholomew’s Church. Our congregation outgrew this space and years later our current building was sold to us by the Methodist who had occupied it at that time. 

We spent many years as a “mission” church – meaning that we were not a vested, independent church, but rather under the financial support of the Diocese. Over the next few years we had several Vicars who administered to our congregation until 1940.

In 1940 Reverend Kenneth de Poullain Hughes accepted a position as vicar. It was he who petitioned the Diocese of Massachusetts to elevate our status to an independent body – or parish, but still under the authority of the Diocese. Hughes was known for incorporating social/political justice with his religious beliefs. The bishop recently appointed the Reverend Zachary Njogu Kinyua as our current Priest-in-Charge. We remain one of the 7 historically Black churches in the Diocese of Massachusetts.