On May 3, 1882, in
the home of English gold-mining engineer, Josiah Remfry, fifteen
Anglican communicants met with Bishop Lyman of the Diocese of North
Carolina to organize St. James Mission, later to be called St. Mary's.
The first priest was Alfred Stubbs, who was at the time rector of what
is now Holy Trinity in Greensboro.
Observing the
floundering efforts to raise money to build a church was a remarkable
woman, Mrs. C. A. Hamner. Although not an Episcopalian, she maintained
that it would be to everyone's advantage to have an Episcopal Church
built in High Point. She not only spearheaded various fund drives, but,
with her husband, (and unknown to the parishioners at the time),
actually financed the cost of erecting the new church. She was confirmed
in 1887, and soon became parish treasurer; her husband was confirmed in
1892.
The
cornerstone of the little brick church was laid on July 20, 1890, at the
corner of Kivett Avenue, with an entrance facing Hayden Place. The
building was 60 feet long and 24 feet wide, with a seating capacity of
124. Consecrated on October 17, 1912, by Bishop Joseph Cheshire, St.
Mary's was sometimes a mission, sometimes a parish, but always small and
pressed for money. The present building dates from 1928, and set into
the narthex wall is the cornerstone of that first little brick building
on Hayden Place.
With the coming of the
Great Depression, the parishioners faced renewed work and sacrifice. The
organ mortgage was paid off by the Church Women from the operation of a
food stand in the summer of 1931 on the construction site of Ferndale
Junior High School; a few church men even mortgaged their own homes in
order to renew the property loan, which was threatened with foreclosure
by the bank and insurance companies that held the mortgage. Finally, in
1947, the mortgage debt was paid.
During wartime (World Wars
I and II, Korea, and Vietnam) the people of the church performed all
those tasks that mixed mission work with helping a threatened country;
Civil Defense, Emergency Canteen, Red Cross bandage rolling, United
Nations clothing drive, Philippine war relief, gifts for hospitalized
veterans, and other charitable works.
After World War II, general
national prosperity brought renewed growth to St. Mary's, and its first
enduring financial security. It was during the 1940s that a strong
ministry of music developed. Gardner Nichols, an organist and
choirmaster, organized the St. Dunstan's Boys' Choir. This group of
about 20 boys, ages 6 to 15, gave four annual concerts of both sacred
and secular music, even acting out an entire opera in full costume! The
boys took their show on the road throughout North Carolina, and once all
the way to New York City. The boys' choir was later combined with the
men's choir.
In the 1960s there was only
an adult choir, although in recent years the music program has grown to
include the adult choir, three children's choirs, a handbell choir, and
a contemporary music group. A new organ was purchased in 1988, and in
the last several years CD's of our choral programs have been made
available through the church.
From 1953 to 1980 the Rev.
William P. Price was rector. During his tenure, property was purchased
next to the church, and an education building was completed in 1962.
Between the two buildings a columbarium was constructed as an addition
to the Memorial Garden. Such a church site for interment of ashes was
unique in High Point at the time. The most recent building project was
construction of a parking lot in 1993.
Outreach can be much more
daring than offering good music to a community, as those who lived
through the '60s know full well! Those were the years the Episcopal
Church Women ran a kindergarten for underprivileged children (no public
kindergarten then!) The civil rights revolution had begun, and in June
1963, St. Mary's Vestry made a statement of support for merchants and
businessmen who would open their places of business to
African-Americans.
In 1968, St. Mary's held a
summer school called Venture '68, that offered assistance to the
African-American rising seniors now absorbed into previously all-white
high schools. In 1969 St Mary's shared with an African-American
congregation the sponsorship of a non-profit organization for a low cost
housing project through the FHA. Also in the '60s land was purchased for
a mission and 150 communicants volunteered to go to the new church, to
be named St. Christopher's.
In the '70s two revolutions
were taking place. Women joined African-Americans in asking for equal
rights. Not only women, but also men, were playing new roles in church
liturgy. A radical view of the ministry of the laity was getting
started. These changes, along with a revised Book of Common Prayer, were
difficult for some members, but the parish managed to stay together. In
2001 St. Mary's has a woman deacon, the Rev. Delia Higgins, ordained in
June 1989, and a vestry with six men and six women. Men and women serve
as lay Eucharistic ministers, lay readers, and ushers. Boys and girls
are crucifers and acolytes.
From January 1981
to March 2008, the
Rev. Dr. Glenn Busch
was rector of our church. He is now Rector Emeritus. Under Dr. Busch's leadership, outreach continued through such projects as resettling a refugee family,
allowing the Piedmont School (for children with learning disabilities)
to use the Education Building for daily and nightly activities, and
accommodating various social programs' need for meeting space. In 1988
the parish began its first involvement in building homes for Habitat for
Humanity, culminating in St. Mary's financing one house. A lighthearted
community outreach effort was the beginning in 1988 of a Halloween
celebration called GhostWalk, sponsored by the Episcopal Church Women.
The parish continues to be
very supportive of Open Door Ministries, West End Ministries, Hispanic
Ministries, and other needs in our community.
St. Mary's Banner next to
the altar was made by parishioners.
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