History
Founded on June 8, 1961, St. Giles Episcopal Church of Moraga was made
a mission church by Suffragan Bishop Richard Millard. A site had
previously been selected by Bishop Block and after that land was
purchased, a vicarage was built. Services were first held by the
congregation at the Inland Valley School in Orinda and were later
moved to Camino Pablo School in Moraga.
In 1972 the vicarage and land were sold; St. Giles entered into a
joint venture with the Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church and, in 1976,
made a ten-year loan to the Presbyterians of the $50,000 that was
realized from the sale. In return, St. Giles’ congregation was
allowed to use the Presbyterian Church’s facilities.
In 1980 the congregation called a part time priest, the Rev. Lois
Pinneo, to be vicar. In 1982, the congregation moved to St. Mary’s
Chapel at St. Mary’s College in Moraga by means of an arrangement made
between Rev. Pinneo and Brother Mel Anderson with the Papal Nuncio’s
approval. In 1986, the money borrowed by the Presbyterians was
returned to the diocese of California and was credited to St. Giles.
St. Giles became totally self-supporting in 1988 and became a parish
in 1995. St. Giles has been faithful in paying its Diocesan
Assessment since its inception.
Rev. Pinneo Hoy retired in 1999 and the congregation called Fr. Duane Sisson
to be its fulltime rector in 2001 with Fr. Rob McCann serving as interim during
the search. This was done with the understanding that the church’s income at
that time could not sustain a full time rector, and it was expected that the
parish would be drawing on its reserves in order to address the deficit while
building the parish. It was anticipated that the reserves would be exhausted in
three years’ time. In June 2002 the part-time position of Organist/Choirmaster
was filled by David H. Douma. Fr. Duane retired in June 2010, and Mother
Teri Gilmore is now ministering as Interim Rector.
