A group of Episcopal citizens, together with some army personnel stationed at Fort Brown, initiated a movement in 1851to establish a parish of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Brownsville, Texas.  The vestry was elected, and a name was chosen, The Church of the Advent.  By the end of that first year, the first rector was called, and the first church services were held.

In 1854 the first church building was erected behind the downtown Post Office.  During the great hurricane of 1867, the structure was destroyed.  Although efforts to rebuild a replica were undertaken immediately, the new church was not completed until 1877.  In the 1920’s, property was acquired on Elizabeth Street where the present Spanish Colonial Revival Style building was completed in 1927 and now stands as a dedicated and recorded Texas Historic landmark, which celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2001. 

As the church of the Advent grew, it developed a missionary mindset, and it established a Spanish speaking mission, St. Paul’s Church in Brownsville, organized in 1952.  Originally served by the clergy staff of the Church of the Advent, during the 1950’s and 1960’s, the congregation has been served by vicars, most of whom were fluent in Spanish.  St. Paul’s and Church of the Advent together became deeply involved in 1988, in addressing a local crisis which was precipitated by a major influx of refugees from Central America.  In 1989, St. Paul’s was designated as a Jubilee Center of the national Episcopal Church because of its outreach ministries.  Church of the Advent and St. Paul’s continued their cooperative relationship until 2004, when the Diocese of West Texas chose to fully fund St. Paul’s.

In 1948, the Episcopal Day School was also established and grew so rapidly that a wing was added to the church building in 1955 to better accommodate its growth. In 1959, a beautiful addition to the school was built several blocks away on Coria Street to serve upper elementary grades.  In 1985, the entire school was moved to the Coria Street location.

From its earliest beginnings to the present time, it is the people of the Church of the Advent who have made it a place of worship, fellowship, and caring for one another, our youth, and the community.  With its renewed relationship with the Anglican church in Matamoros, Mexico, La Ascension, and with the gift of property (22 acres) in North Brownsville and the subsequent dedication of the Rufus Stewart Chapel at 151 Stillman Road, Church of the Advent continues its tradition of embracing the times and reaching out to its community.