Church History
Shortly after the town of Monterey was founded by the Cumberland Mountain Coal Co. in 1893, the Episcopal Church purchased the Cumberland Hotel and park and used it as a seminary for young men studying for the ministry, a mission house, and a hospital and nursing school. It was named St. Raphael’s, for the archangel who was the patron of healing. In 1916 the Rev. Dr. A.C. Killefer came to St. Raphael’s to develop its programs, and he and his family stayed until his retirement in 1931. This mission was closed in 1943.
In March 1978 a small group of Episcopalians began meeting in Joyce Collom’s home in Crossville. The small group had Sunday Services and or Morning Prayer. As the group of more or less 12 members grew, the Masonic Lodge in Crossville allowed them to use its facilities for their Sunday Services. Later the group was able to rent a small house on Penfield Avenue.
St. Raphael’s Episcopal Mission Church was organized as a Mission Church of the Tennessee Diocese in January, 1979. Honoring the history and heritage of Episcopalians on the Cumberland Plateau, the Mission Church became St. Raphael’s Episcopal Mission Church of the Tennessee Diocese. Priests from St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Cookeville and St Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Harriman provided Sunday Services. In February, 1980, a portion of the current church and rectory property was purchased, and shortly after that the building of the church was started. The interior of the church was designed by one of the members, Joe Hodge an artist and teacher in Crossville; the work was supervised by church members, among them, Mike Eppolito a current member of the church. The Rev. Joe Pace came to be the first vicar in 1983. The church was completed in December, 1983.and the first service was held.
The Diocese of East Tennessee was established on January 1, 1985. It included that part of Tennesse lying on the Cumberland Plateau and all of Tennessee east of the Plateau. St. Raphael’s Mission Church became part of the Diocese of East Tennessee. Father Paul Wanter was called as Vicar in July 1st, 1985. St Raphael’s rose from Mission to Parish status in 1995, and Father Paul became St. Raphael’s first Rector, serving until 2001. The Rev. Ann Markle became the church’s second Rector in December 2002, she retired on June 30, 2014. The members of the church have begun the process of finding a new Rector. Father Ken Brown is serving as an Interim Rector.
In 2003 fourteen acres to the north and east of the church property, with a small house that subsequently housed the church office and the Cumberland Adult Reading Council, were purchased. Improvement in the church property continued with the completion in 2014 of a paved parking lot.
