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600 Roundhouse Drive
(mail to: 420 Cedar)
Laurel, MT 59044
Worship
Sundays at 9:00 AM
Lunch with the Vicar
Mondays at 12:30 PM
Twistees in Laurel
Hooks & Needles
4th Thursday - 7:00 PM
Theology on Tap
1st Tuesday - 7:00 PM
The Caboose
1st Wednesday - 7:00 PM
Sid's
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An Episcopal Church preaching station was originally formed in Laurel in the early 1940’s. A small congregation met in members’ homes, and clergy from Billings conducted services on a monthly basis. Late residents of Laurel could could remember vividly some of the places early services were held, and some of the ingenious ways early missioners used to “round up” a congregation.
On October 19, 1957, 14 active Episcopalians met to sign an application to the Diocese asking that St. Alban’s (named for the earliest known Christian martyr in Britain) be created as a Mission Church. For a few months services were held in the homes of the congregation, with many celebrations of the Holy Eucharist on dining room tables, and once a baptism in a washtub on the buffet. Soon a regular meeting place was found, and for about five years the new congregation met each Sunday morning in the basement of the Masonic Temple.
Land was purchased in 1961 and plans for a new church building were adopted. A loan was obtained from the national church offices, land was purchased, and ground was broken in May, 1962. Most of the building work was done by members of the congregation. The note was repaid in full on March 2, 1972, and a joyful mortgage burning celebration was held.
Between 1957 and 1989 St. Alban’s had a variety of active ministries. They were the first church in the state to welcome the service of girls as acolytes, to serve at the altar. In 1991, St. Alban’s joined the Yellowstone Cluster, which also includes churches in Joliet, Red Lodge and Absarokee.
Recently St. Alban’s has undergone a period of discernment, realizing that the church building as it stood was no longer able to be supported financially, nor was it serving the current needs of the congregation and its ministry. After prayerful consideration, they made the decision to sell their property and begin again, holding to the promise of the resurrection as their model. On May 6, 2008, Bp. C. Franklin Brookhart presided at a service to formally deconsecrate the building and restore it to secular use.
Meanwhile, St. Alban’s Church is still very much alive and at work! The congregation continues to worship together in the chapel at The Crossings, and is growing again. We celebrate Holy Communion each Sunday at 9:00 AM. Other activities include regular Bible study; “Lunch with the Vicar” every Monday at Twistees; Hooks & Needles (a monthly gathering of knitters, crocheters and other artisans), and monthly "Theology on Tap" evenings at a couple of the local bars. We have also taken on a variety of service and outreach projects as we strive to “Seek Christ, Serve Christ and Share Christ” in all that we do.
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