Our History
St. Augustine's in-the-Woods has been a spiritual and service partner to the Whidbey Island community since the early 1960s. The seed for our church was planted in 1949 by a handful of South Whidbey Island families who desired to worship as Episcopalians.
We became a "mission church" in 1950, dedicated our first church building at our beautiful, wooded location on SW Honeymoon Bay Road in 1963, and were formally designated as a parish member of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia in 1981. Through the past four decades, we have expanded our buildings and experienced ongoing growth even as the demographics of our parish have matured from young families to a significant retiree population. Recently we have welcomed an increasing number of visitors and new members to our parish community.
The Whidbey mission was begun in response to a request for regular services by a small group of Episcopalians living on the island, which at the time was sparsely populated with narrow, winding roads and frequently undependable ferry service. For the first dozen years, we held services at the Langley Public Library, then in a dance studio in Langley, then at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Freeland. For our first confirmation service in 1952, the Bishop arrived from Seattle by boat and hiked up to the Langley library from the beach.
St. Augustine's in-the-Woods has always been deeply involved in our community and takes seriously the call to serve others. Our volunteer work is both hands-on, seeking to meet community members' needs face-to-face, and in the background, providing administrative and financial support. Our outreach, advocacy, and ministry activities address a broad range of topics: environmental policy, social justice, animal welfare, refugee resettlement, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. As the banner at our church entrance proclaims, "No matter where you are on your journey, you are welcome here."