Our Story

Our story as St. Francis Episcopal Church begins in 1879 when ten people gathered together to establish a new church in what is now Plainfield. This mission, the Church of the Heavenly Rest, was later renamed as St. Andrew’s Church. St. Andrew’s struggled to maintain a vibrant congregation, as did another local church, Church of the Holy Innocents in Dunellen. In 1979 Rev. Mark Chattin became Vicar of both St. Andrew's and Holy Innocents thereby creating a fully yoked relationship between the two congregations. The synergy from this new relationship resulted in an official merger of the parishes in 1980. A much stronger church emerged from this - St. Francis Church - and its congregation began to grow.

The terms of the merger included a new name for the combined parishes and the erection of a new church building and rectory. The new parish chose Francis of Assisi as its patron saint. The new structures were built in 1984 and 1990 on the grounds of Holy Innocent’s Church in Dunellen. The property of St. Andrew’s was sold in order to finance the new buildings. The new church would include artifacts from both churches to honor their history, and yet provide the new church with a fully new identity. One such artifact is the stained-glass window above the altar in St. Francis’ church (shown above). This was a gift from the Mallery family to show their love and devotion to St. Andrew's and later St. Francis (Rev. Cortlandt Mallery served as St. Andrew’s vicar/rector from 1909 to 1946).

From the late 1990’s through much of the first decade of the 21st century, there was frequent turnover of clergy. Solid lay leadership sustained St. Francis through this time. The Rev. Jack Zamboni was called as Vicar in 2008 and became St. Francis’ first Rector after the congregation was recognized as an Independent Parish of the Diocese of New Jersey in 2013. Rev. Jack remained Rector of St. Francis until his retirement in 2021. Strong lay leadership and our Deacon, Gerry Welch, carried the St. Francis parish through the search process for a new priest. We are pleased to say that in 2024 the Rev. Ayden Petrone answered our call to be our Priest-in-Charge.  

Today St. Francis' is a very active church community within our area and beyond. We serve Dunellen, Piscataway, Plainfield, South Plainfield, Middlesex and other surrounding areas. By God’s grace, St. Francis is a vibrant entity within our Diocese and continues its rich heritage as we move into the future.