More Photos of the St. Philip's Celebration
Thanks to Martha Hartley for sharing her beautiful pictures.
St. Philip's Celebration
The question-and-answer period generated meaningful conversations and, most excitingly, a list of nearly 15 people with a committed interest in being members of an active congregation for St. Philip's!
Six members of churches in the Winston-Salem Episcopal Convocation attended, with four of them having served on the St. Philip's Committee in the past. Preserve Historic Forsyth board memebers joined us, and plein air artists participating in Germanton Gallery's Plein Air event also attended and painted the church. By the end of the day, two paintings were hanging at the Gallery in a show that will run through May.
Former St. Philip's committee members recounted preparing for and participating in services without the benefit of running water, electricity, heat or air conditioning. Other residents talked about attending the Thanksgiving Day services, and Dr. Michael "Mo" Hartley spoke eloquently about the church's importance to its place and the land on which it stands.
One transplant told of seeing St. Philip's, saying "I want to live here," and then doing just that.
Thanks to everyone who came out on Saturday! It was good to see so many people expressing their love for St. Philip's and their willingness to help keep it in Germanton. And thank you to Ed Gambill and Sara Watts for the photographs on this post.
A Bit of History Before This Weekend's Celebration
By Catherine Gross Hendren, confirmed Episcopalian, member North Carolina State Bar, President of the Board of Directors of Preserve Historic Forsyth
As many of you make the pilgrimage to Germanton this weekend, I thought you would like to see the National Register Nomination (below), submitted to the State Historic Preservation Office in September 1981.
It is a wonderful account of a rare creature -- the rural Episcopal church. It was written by Laura Phillips, an architectural historian, who is also a long-time member of St. Anne's Episcopal Church. She is one of the most knowledgeable people in the state about Stokes and Forsyth historic resources.
She prepared the first Stokes County Inventory of Historic Resources, and is co-author, with Gwynne Taylor, of the West End Historic District Nomination to the National Register, which includes St. Paul's as a significant and contributing structure.
In justifying the decision to sell the property and move the structure, the Diocese has characterized St. Philips, Germanton, as vacant and abandoned, and generally unsuccessful as a church. That perspective is convenient, but not factual.
It is true that the Committee Chair had moved out-of-state, but lay members of the Committee, Martha Hartley from St. Elizabeth's in King, and Sarah Werner from Christ Episcopal in Walnut Cove, were willing to serve.
The factual circumstance underlying the decision to sell St. Philips was that no priest from the Winston-Salem Convocation in 2010 was willing to serve on the St. Philips Committee. There were extenuating circumstances in the Winston-Salem Convocation in 2010: several pulpits were filled by interim priests while permanent rectors were sought; longtime clergy with appreciation for St. Philips, Germanton, had retired and moved away; some priests were new and had full plates in their own parishes. However, once the priest in charge of the Convocation certified that no local priest would serve on the St.Philips Committee, the Diocese had authority to dispose of the property.
At a distance from the facts, and with the certification from the Dean of the Winston-Salem Convocation, folks at the Diocesan level in Raleigh mistakenly assumed that the church was "vacant and abandoned."
Another person who knows about the history of St. Philips is the Rev. John Shields. John is returning to Winston-Salem from his interim in Valle Crucis this month. He was a leader in the re-invigoration of St. Philips in the late seventies and early eighties. He was also the priest who buried the last three members of the congregation during that period.
A few other things to appreciate:
St. Philips sits in both Forsyth & Stokes counties.
If St. Philips' church building is moved from tiny Germanton to Chapel Hill, Forsyth County and Stokes will lose their oldest "pristine" Carpenter Gothic church.
To meet Code, the interior will be changed completely, and the historic icon will no longer be "pristine."
Forsyth County will lose its oldest Episcopal Church.
St. Philips, Germanton, will lose, not only its listing on the National Register of Historic Places, but its name.
St. Philip's Celebration on Saturday!
Then we will head up to St. Philip's for a look around the exterior, and maybe even a walking tour of Germanton.
You will also have the opportunity to have a copy made of your photographs of Germanton.
Germanton will be hopping on Saturday with painters participating in Painting North Carolina and Stokesarts Plein Air. Germanton Gallery will be open, too.
So bring a friend and come check out our town! Click here for a map.
Special thanks to Friends of St. Philip's co-sponsors, Preserve Historic Forsyth, Stokes County Arts Council, and the Stokes County Historical Society.
Searching for Photos
We would like to start an archive of photos of St. Philip's and of Germanton. If you have photographs of any age of the buildings, streetscenes, or people of Germanton, we hope you will share them with us.
On Saturday, at our St. Philip's Celebration, you can bring your pictures for us to copy. The Celebration starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 5 at Germanton United Methodist Church.
You can send electronic versions of photographs directly to us at this email address or use this email address to contact us about making a copy of a hard-copy photograph in your possession.
In your email, please include your name, address, and a telephone number if that's the better way to reach you. Also indicate whether you would like your photograph made available to the public through our website and if you would like to be acknowledged publicly as the source of the image.
And whether or not you have a photo to share, don't forget the St. Philip's Celebration on Saturday! We'll have a program about the history of St. Philip's, Germanton, and Forsyth and Stokes counties followed by a walking tour. Please join us at 10 a.m. at Germanton United Methodist Church in the heart of downtown Germanton.
St. Philip's in the Newspapers
Letters to the editor of the Chapel Hill News, the Winston-Salem Journal, and the Carrboro Citizen
Article in the Chapel Hill News (for which we hope to see a guest column printed in response soon)
St. Philip's Celebration on Sat, May 5th at 10 am
The event is held in conjunction with Painting North Carolina and Stokesarts Plein Air, where artists from all over the country will be painting scenes from Germanton and Stokes County before moving on to an afternoon of painting and a live auction at Moon Lake Retreat. Many of the artists have expressed interest in painting St. Philip's. An auction of those paintings will be held to benefit the Friends of St. Philip's at a later date in Germanton.
Join us at 10 am at Germanton United Methodist Church for a short program before conducting a walking tour of Germanton.
Many thanks to our sponsors - Preserve Historic Forsyth, Germanton Gallery and the Stokes County Arts Council.
Please help spread the word with the attached flyers and sign. Both can be printed on any standard home printer. The sign is a legal size document, so it will require different paper.
See you in two weeks!
More Friends for St. Philip's
Lawsonville Elementary School's third grade class visited St. Philip's today as part of a tour of Stokes County's historic sites. By all accounts, they were exceptionally polite and well-behaved! We hope they had a great day and learned a lot about their local history.
Final Tally
Our petition asking Bishop Curry to reconsider moving St. Philip's collected a whopping 645 signatures online and on hard copies!
Of those, over 50% were folks from Stokes County or northern Forsyth County, clearly demonstrating the concern of the local population who will be most severely affected by this move.
Friends of St. Philip's is ready to help the Diocese keep St. Philip's as an Episcopal church in Germanton or take ownership and use it for a variety of community functions, including worship. Hopefully, the Bishop will realize that the truly neighborly thing to do is leave St. Philip's in Germanton with this St. Philip's community.
Help Another Church
On Saturday, April 21, you're invited to a musical jam session with performances going on inside and out of the church. Singing and playing will commence at 4 pm with hot dogs, drinks, and desserts for sale. Bring a chair and enjoy the music!
