Before 1870, an Episcopal parish to serve the needs of the Black community of San Francisco did not exist.
In the early 1870’s, a group of Black Episcopalians gathered together with the assistance of Rev. Fr. Peter William Cassey to form a new church. This group became known as Christ Mission, and services were held in Youngmen’s Hall on Pacific Street in the City.
Thirty years after the close of Christ Mission, the remaining church members and their families revitalized their quest to obtain their own church. With the assistance and guidance of Rev. Fr. David Wallace, a priest of St. Augustine’s Church in Oakland, a San Francisco Guild was started, sponsored by St. Augustine’s.
With the completion of the Panama Canal, many laborers from that project began migrating to California. These were people of West Indian origin who were born and raised in the Church of England. Black Americans who were affiliated with the Episcopal faith had also migrated to San Francisco from other parts of the country. These two groups joined forces to work for a common goal: their own Episcopal church. During the celebration of the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, members of this fledgling Black congregation held church services on Sunday afternoons at St. Paul’s Church, and later transferred their worship to the Chapel of Grace at Grace Cathedral in 1922.
A committee was formed to discuss plans for creating a Black Episcopal church in the Diocese of California, and the group received the approval of the Rt. Rev. Edward Lamb Parsons, Bishop of California. A vestry was elected, and the new church was named “St. Cyprian’s.” The first formal service as St. Cyprian’s Church was held in Grace Chapel on April 8, 1923. St. Cyprian’s Guild was formed and began raising funds for a church building.
The congregation was forced to move several times during this period: first to St. Stephen’s on May 23, 1923, then to the Church of the Advent of Christ the King in 1926. At this time St. Cyprian’s became a mission with the Church of the Advent. The Church of the Advent was staffed by the Society of St. John the Evangelist (Cowley Fathers), a monastic order headquartered in Cambridge, MA. St. Cyprian’s was placed under the charge of the Cowley Fathers until 1934, when the Rev Fr. Robert Humphrey, SSJE, became St. Cyprian’s Mission full-time vicar.
Fr. Humphrey and members of the church wanted to secure a permanent location for St. Cyprian’s, and purchased a building on the corner of Sutter and Lyon Streets. The first service at this new location was conducted on December 22, 1935 by Bishop Parsons. However, regular worship did not take place in this building until Christmas Eve 1937, as the building needed further construction and repair. St. Cyprian’s had several priests lead the congregation from 1938 until 1947, when the Rev. Elmer A. McLaughlin became vicar. Rev. McLaughlin worked hard and vigorously for the growth of the church until his retirement in 1966. In February of 1953, St. Cyprian’s was given parish status in the diocese. Bishop Karl Morgan Block decided that St. Cyprian’s church building should be replaced rather than repaired, and a new church building was constructed on the corner of Turk and Lyon Streets, where it stands today. The first service was held in the new church on December 18, 1960.
