St. Mary’s was founded in 1854 with the original name St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. The parish was officially incorporated in 1857. Its name was changed in 1870. For many years parishioners worshiped in a building at 8th and Walnut where the Gumbel Building now stands. Construction on the building at 13th and Holmes was completed in 1888.

During the 19th century, St. Mary’s operated schools for boys and girls in downtown Kansa s City. Members of the parish were instrumental in the founding of All Saints Hospital in the River Market Area which eventually grew to become St. Luke’s Health System. The parish operated a hunger relief and health care mission serving the working poor in the West Bottoms.

The parish’s commitment to care for the poor continued into the 20th century as the surrounding neighborhood began to change. In the late 1950s, the urban renewal movement and plans for a new downtown freeway caused nearly all of the existing buildings on the east side of downtown to be demolished. The church building had deteriorated. The roof and exterior masonry were structurally unsound and the building was slated for demolition. A grant from the David Woods Kemper Foundation supported repairs to restore its structural integrity.

Through the latter part of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st, St. Mary’s has continued to reach out to the community through its hunger relief and fine arts programs. The church building is the base of operations for Downtown Outreach which distributes groceries and serves a hot lunch every Saturday. The church offers the building for use as a performance space by various fine arts ensembles at a very affordable cost.

Since 2005, membership has nearly doubled. In 2009 St. Mary’s began a capital campaign for restoration and renovation of the building. Nearly $1 million in improvements have been made since that time. Our tradition of welcoming all who come to our doors as well as reaching out to those beyond our walls continues, now, in the third century of our service to Kansas City.