CONNECTICUT: Flagship Charismatic Episcopal Church to Be Demolished St. Paul's Darien will be razed to make way for multimillion-dollar homes
- Apr 5
- 3 min read
By David W. Virtue, DD
April 5, 2026
The former flagship parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut — St. Paul's, Darien — is being demolished to make way for multimillion-dollar homes, according to local news reports.
St. Paul's was for decades the leading charismatic parish in the Episcopal Church, shaped by the vision of the Rev. Everett L. "Terry" Fullam, who served as rector from 1972 to 1989. Under his leadership, the congregation became one of the most active and fastest-growing churches in the United States, with a focus on renewal through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Fullam had come under the influence of Dennis Bennett, an Episcopal clergyman widely regarded as the most prominent progenitor of the modern charismatic movement. The movement's beginning is often dated to April 3, 1960, when Bennett announced from the pulpit of his church in Van Nuys, California, that he had received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and spoken in tongues.
Through Bennett's influence, Fullam became a leading voice of the charismatic renewal then sweeping the country — and a counterweight to the Episcopal Church's accelerating drift toward theological revisionism.
Fullam left St. Paul's in 1989 to pursue a wider global ministry.
In a 2004 interview with this writer at an Anglican Mission in America conference in Destin, Florida, Fullam — then 72 and using a power chair following a stroke — said he did not believe the Episcopal Church could be reclaimed. "I blame the seminaries," he said, "because they do not give proper instruction." Asked whether the Episcopal Church was finished as a major Christian denomination in America, he replied simply: "Yes, I think ECUSA is finished." He praised Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry (now Trinity Anglican Seminary) and Nashotah House as the best remaining sources of hope for any kind of renewal. Fullam died in 2014.
Following Fullam's departure, a succession of charismatic clergy led St. Paul's, but the church eventually became embroiled in serious legal disputes.
The most damaging involved the Rev. George I. Kovoor, who was fired amid allegations that he had misrepresented his background during the hiring process. The vestry sought his removal, which resulted in a lawsuit that also named Bishop Ian Douglas, who had supported Kovoor. A settlement was reached in 2020, with all accusations against Kovoor withdrawn and his position as rector restored. But the damage was done. The legal battle had emptied the pews, and the congregation could not recover.
A group of former wardens and vestry members chose to continue worship independently, forming what they called New St. Paul's Church. The original parish closed, and the property fell into disuse and disrepair. The diocese has not disclosed the sale price; its gay bishop Jeffrey Mello stated that the proceeds would be directed toward ministry objectives.
St. Paul's nearly 60-year history stands as a documented example of charismatic evangelical renewal within American Episcopalianism — and its collapse as a cautionary one. The rise and fall of the charismatic movement in the Episcopal Church coincided with the denomination's increasing embrace of revisionist theology, same-sex marriage, and progressive theological priorities — trends that many observers believe will continue to erode its membership and influence.
Terry Fullam is gone. The building that bore witness to his ministry soon will be too. The faith he proclaimed endures.
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The decline and death of St. Paul's is largely rooted in the fact that, when the split in the Episcopal Church occurred after the the illicit Gene Robinson "consecration" (I would call it "desecration") St. Paul's chose to stay behind in TEC. The same thing happened with the second most well known Charismatic church in TEC, Church of the Redeemer, Houston TX. Why St. Paul's chose to stay behind escapes me. During the glory days of the Fullum era, the church was so packed that they held their services in a local school gymnasium. So holding on to the building should not have held the same grip on St. Paul's that other conservative TEC congregations experienced, But the numbers at…
I looked up the church for old times' sake and was shocked to see it was closed. While I was at Yale from 1976-78, St. Paul's was recommended to me (the Sunday night service in particular) as more or less the only church worth attending in the whole area. So even though I had never attended an Episcopal service before, I drove the 40 miles or so from New Haven to Darien every Sunday night, for a refreshing, vibrant, and fulfilling time. Terry Fullam had my admiration and respect. When I returned to Texas, I left some good friends behind, and great memories. One several-day youth trip to a large Christian gathering in PA was extremely special. I often think…
The Episcopal Church, you said correctly, has declined because of the "increasing embrace of revisionist theology, same-sex marriage, and progressive theological priorities." All this is partly related to logic. In other words, these things should be obvious enough by now that you'd think there would be a deliberate movement in the opposite direction, and so far it's hard to see any sign of that.
The church needs more leaders like Dennis Bennett and Terry Fullam.
Sad news, indeed. I was baptized at Saint Paul's in 1975 and my family attended church there until we moved away in 1982. Terry Fullam was an incredible teacher, and his teachings can still be accessed via audio archive at lifeonwings.org