Spring Messenger, 2015

the messenger

ON THE COVER

Our newest priest shares his story of how changing direction helped him realize God’s calling in life.

ALSO INSIDE

An exciting update on the 2015 Joyful Garden Tour

SPRING 2015

Unexpected Stillness

CHRIST CHURCH EPISCOPAL CLERGY

The Rev. Harrison McLeod Rector

The Rev. Robert Chiles Associate for Pastoral Care

The Rev. Gary Eichelberger Associate for Faith Development

& Worship

The Rev. Peter HawesAssistant Priest

The Rev. Jeffrey Meadowcroft Assistant Priest

The Rt. Rev. Donald HultstrandBishop-in-Residence

The Rev. Peggy MuncieExecutive Director of Canterbury

Counseling Center

Known as the “Parish in the Heart of the City,” Christ Church Episcopal is blessed by the beauty of its physical surroundings, which have been preserved and expanded by the energy and vision of its faithful stewards, both past and present. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are inspired to be A Joyful Community Sharing Life in Jesus Christ.

Christ Church is home to a diverse group of parishioners, composed of individuals who live in Greenville proper as well as various communities in and around the Upstate. We are a house of worship, prayer, education, and care for all people, both in our parish and within our community, and offer a place for everyone. We hope you will join us.

The Messenger is a quarterly publication of Christ Church Episcopal. All articles are written by Christ Church parishioners and friends.

1 | The Messenger Christ Church Episcopal | 2

This morning, I am unexpectedly sitting in the den enjoying a pleasant fire and looking out the window at the cold. The ground is white, the bushes are drooped with ice-covered limbs and the sky is grey and still. There is nowhere to go, no place I must be, and no activity on the street beyond the end of my driveway. Because of the ice storm that blew through our city, and much of the South, last night, I am forced to slow down with an entire day in front of me.

How often do we move through the hours of a day with little thought about anything other than the next “thing” we have to finish? How often do we lay down at night and wonder what it was we did all day?

In speaking with a friend by phone, we decided that “snow days” are wonderful gifts given to us every now and again, forcing us to slow down a bit and relax. While the day is still filled with work and tasks to accomplish, somehow just the change of environment, or the ability to work from the sofa at home, changes everything. I wonder what life would be like if we all spent a little more time being intentional about how we spend our time and how we pace ourselves through the day?

Perhaps there would be time to reflect on priorities, nurture relationships, share the gift of laughter and even share cooking a meal with someone important to us.

I know that tomorrow will come and we will all be back at work and moving through a busy day with many tasks to accomplish, but today is still available and filled with potential. Perhaps that may be the greatest gift of all, remembering that we should just be thankful for the gift of today and receive it with gratitude.

Faithfully,

The Rev. Harrison McLeod, Rector

Cover Photo by Davey Morgan Photography • Back Cover Photo by Jerry Mucklow Photography


One reason I love to come to Christ Church is our beautiful grounds. Often in the evening I walk to the church and never enter a building. I just walk around the cemetery and sit on a bench across from the side door dedicated in memory of a former rector, The Rev. Alexander Mitchell, who was rector from 1900 - 1916. There I read and pray, enjoying the flowers and chipmunks. Last year, a dove came and made her nest at the top of the cross on the side wall of the Parish House.

Over the years I have learned to love gardening. I am not in a class with Beth Croft and our master gardeners, but Jennie and I do love our garden. One day sitting on the porch, we realized the yard was obscured by a number of large azalea bushes just off the back porch. So plans commenced. I began to design flower beds, ponds and outdoor railroads in my sleep. Now it is a favorite place to sit and pray.

As we worked on it, I began to think - with the help of a Christian journal named "Weavings" - of the importance of gardens in the Bible. It all began in a garden which God planted called Eden. “Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” The garden was the place of fellowship between God and humanity. Eden was as close to heaven as humans get on earth. That is where God went to “seek and find” His people (Genesis 3:8-13).

In the garden of Gethsemane, instead of forbidden fruit, Jesus faces the cup of suffering and redemption. He wishes He could pass by yet He drinks it to the full.

Golgotha is the non-garden, the anti-garden where nothing lives. It is associated with waste to reject, not with fruit to eat. Yet even here nailed to a lifeless tree Jesus offers paradise to a thief. In Greek the word “paradeisos” translated paradise means garden.

From the non-garden of Calvary Jesus’ body goes to rest in yet another garden. When He first greets Mary Magdalene she assumes He is the gardener. Now the body which experienced an agonizing death has flowered into the risen Lord. “Alleluia! He is risen!” I think of that as the dead hosta in my garden and the lilies in my pond are reborn into new life. God does such beautiful work.

A garden is shaped by design and tended with loving care. In its soil things are planted and uprooted, grow and die and are reborn. It is a place of beauty and toil and a haven of rest. Friends and lovers go to the garden to stroll, sit, talk, and to meditate.

At Christ Church, our members and the community have a wonderful opportunity on May 8 and 9 to tour six beautiful gardens. We can get ideas to bring home, ask questions, and enjoy beauty in the company of fellow garden lovers.

As you visit these beautiful gardens remember the words of the prophets who tell us of God’s will for His people. Both Isaiah and Jeremiah tell us that we shall become “like a watered garden and shall never languish again. Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow” (Jeremiah 31:12,13).

theGardenof the Soul

By The Rev. Jeffrey Meadowcroft


2015

Christ Church Episcopal is pleased to present the 2015 Joyful Garden Tour. Proceeds from the tour and related events will provide critical financial support for the historic grounds renovation and restoration efforts of Christ Church.

GARDEN TOUR EVENT DETAILS

Friday and Saturday, May 8 and 9 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Featured Gardens

(all located in the McDaniel/Crescent Avenue area)

The newly renovated Christ Church grounds will also be available for viewing.

A SPECIAL EVENING OF THANKS

TO OUR SPONSORS

Tuesday, May 5 – 411 Belmont Avenue

To kick off the Joyful Garden Tour, an exclusive evening reception and garden tour is planned for our sponsors.

The event will be held in a beautiful garden setting at the home of John and Rosalind Mills at 411 Belmont Avenue.

ART PREVIEW, ARTISTS RECEPTION & AUCTION MAY 25 - 31

The week of May 25, you may preview original works of art created during the

Joyful Garden Tour by talented local artists. You will have the opportunity to purchase your favorite works at the artists’ reception and auction on Sunday, May 31 in the

Christ Church Parish House from 10:00 AM until 1:00 PM.

Nancy and Phil Peterson212 Fairview Avenue

Elizabeth and Jacob Mann639 McDaniel Avenue

Esta and Bill McCrary415 Crescent Avenue

Libby and Bill Kehl208 Crescent Avenue

David and Cindy Freeman118 Crescent Avenue

Chesnee and Matthew Klein116 Crescent Avenue


One of the most visible ministries at Christ Church are the Vergers. Our job is to help the clergy with liturgies, including Eucharists, Morning Prayer, Stations of the Cross, Baptisms, Confirmations, weddings, and funerals. We are vested for most of these services in our black cassocks and gray verger chimeres.

We prepare the sanctuary area for services (usually with the Altar Guild), supervise the acolytes, assist during sacraments, and restore the sanctuary area after services (with the Altar Guild).

When vested and doing our liturgical duties, we carry staffs called “virges”. Our virge is an ancient symbol of authority, similar to the mace in an academic or royal procession. We store our virges in a virge rack in the vesting room. Thanks to Jack McKay for building it!

There are six of us at Christ Church, of whom one is currently inactive and one is on medical leave. Three of us are certified nationally by the Vergers Guild of The Episcopal Church and all of us are members of the guild.

We love to talk about our jobs, so please feel free to ask us questions!

Who are the Vergers?(And what is a Virge, anyway?)

By Chris Klasing

Top Row: Mac Gentile, Fletcher Mann, Chris Klasing -- Bottom Row: Gayle Saylors and Nelson ArringtonNot Pictured: Doug Webster (currently inactive)


Before my final year of law school, I spent part of a summer clerking at a law firm in Charleston. For those six weeks, I lived in a room at my Uncle Hugh’s house on James Island. If I was home in the evening, my Uncle Hugh, who was a Presbyterian minister then serving at First Scot’s Presbyterian Church, would invite me to sit out on the back patio, enjoy a glass of wine, and talk about theology, politics, family, or whatever else came to his mind.

At some point during one of those summer evening discussions, Hugh looked at me, with that stern look perfected over so many years of offering people weighty words of wise counsel, and said in his deep, solemn voice, “Gary, someday, you are going to be a priest. And, when it happens, you’ll remember that your Uncle Hugh told you so.” At the time, I chuckled, stored his words away in the back of my mind (alongside many other things that Hugh had said to me over the years), and continued diligently working toward a career as a lawyer.

So here we are, almost seventeen years later, and Uncle Hugh, who has since joined the company of the saints, now looks like a prophet. I have no doubt that he takes great delight in that moniker—and I have no doubt that he takes even greater delight in my current work.

Should I have taken Hugh’s words more seriously at the time? Maybe. In my defense, however, I also heard his words with the cultivated knowledge that my Uncle Hugh liked to say things that would shock people—challenge their presumptions and possibly get their spiritual blood flowing a little faster.

My path to the priesthood could have been more direct, but I’m not sure that it was intended to be so. And Hugh didn’t say that I should change direction that evening. He just predicted that, some day, I would (and that I would remember him when I did—which I have clearly have). In doing so, he planted a seed – or perhaps he merely watered a seed that was already planted – and that seed took life over the years that followed.

Several years would pass before I would begin to hear the murmurings of God’s call. It would happen over eight thousand miles away from Uncle Hugh’s patio – in the small chapel at Bishop Gaul Theological College in Harare, Zimbabwe, where I would spend a year – during an interlude to my legal career – teaching young Anglicans preparing for the priesthood.

While I was there, every weekday morning, the students would gather prior to breakfast for Morning Prayer in a small garage that, in lieu of any other appropriate space, served as their chapel. In that space, which was about twelve by fifteen feet in width and length, we sat together on benches lining the four walls around an altar in the middle of the

God’s CallingBy The Rev. Gary Eichelberger


room, and we worshipped God together.

The highlight was the glorious music. With hand drums and maracas and the power of more than a dozen inspired voices weaving a harmonious tapestry of worship and praise—from sung prayers to traditional Anglican hymns translated into Shona, they shared the gift of the Spirit with one another and with me.

And it was in that context that I first began to experience the quiet stirrings of a call: the simple recognition that, in some sense, the life I was helping prepare

them to live was the one my heart had been formed to desire. Once I was home from Zimbabwe and started work as a lawyer at a large law firm, the stirrings of a call persisted and very gradually grew louder. Nonetheless, several

more years would pass before, in early 2009, I finally began meeting regularly with a priest in Chapel Hill to talk and pray about the discernment of God’s call on my life.

Soon thereafter, with Father Timothy’s encouragement, I entered the formal discernment process in the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina—a process that many of you saw consummated on January 23 here at Christ Church as Bishop Curry placed his hands upon my head and asked that God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, make me a priest in his Church.

Much has transpired in my life since that evening on the porch with Uncle Hugh—and many of

those things have had a significant impact on who I am and on my understanding of this calling.

Ultimately, I cannot point to a specific day or a particular moment when I concluded that God was calling me to ordained ministry. Instead, what began as a suspicion gradually developed into a resolve – that I have been purposed, with all of my gifts and all my shortcomings, all my experiences and wanderings, to be a pastor, priest and teacher, a minister of God’s Word and Sacraments.

And, though less than a month has transpired since my ordination, I can confidently say that it is a joyful thing finally to be doing that thing that God made me to do.

“In doing so, he planted a seed – or perhaps he merely watered a seed that was already planted – and that seed took life over the years that followed.”


It all started with one pinwheel...

Four years ago, leaders from the South Carolina Children’s Trust assembled partners from across the state to collaborate on the development of a child abuse prevention campaign. Each partner was given a single blue and silver pinwheel, the national symbol of child well-being and hope, and challenged to develop a local effort to raise awareness about child abuse and prevention.

Today, what began with one pinwheel has evolved into a multi-county effort in the upstate of South Carolina and Project Pinwheel now has over 200 partners including schools, non-profits, businesses, neighborhoods, and the faith community, including Christ Church, working together in a campaign to ensure the safety and well-being of the most vulnerable members of our community.

In March of 2014, students from Christ Church Preschool, in collaboration with members of the Christ Church staff, participated in the planting of a pinwheel garden on the Christ Church campus that contributed to the overall total of 45,000 pinwheels planted throughout Greenville County. Each of the blue and silver pinwheels planted in 2014 represented a child in our community under six years of age, and served to demonstrate how

a collective impact can make a difference in raising awareness and advocacy for the prevention of child abuse.

While the simple planting of a pinwheel garden at Christ Church was designed as an opportunity to involve our parish in an important community-wide endeavor, the collaborative effort between the students at the preschool and members of the church staff has developed into an innovative program called Kindergarten Connections that is serving to establish, foster, and promote significant and meaningful relationships between the members of the church staff and the kindergarten students at CCEP. Through formal and informal social, service, and academic activities, our students and adults are working together to further our vision of being a “joyful community sharing life in Jesus Christ.”

Through purposeful engagement, the adult-student pairs work closely together throughout the academic year to not only contribute to the Christ Church and Greater Greenville communities, but also to foster the critically important positive relationships that research has proven lay the foundation for developmental outcomes including self-confidence, motivation to learn, scholastic achievement, and conflict resolution.

From eating snow cones together in the Sloan Courtyard to working collaboratively to create placemats for the Parish Thanksgiving Dinner, the Kindergarten Connections program at Christ Church has not only served to further the vision and mission of the church and the school, but is also offering tangible evidence of the power of healthy adult-child relationships that extend beyond the home.

This spring, the students and their adult mentors will again plant pinwheels to celebrate not only the success of this important child abuse and prevention initiative, but also, the success of the Kindergarten Connections program that was born “from a single pinwheel” last March.

As our adults and children work to further the local efforts of Project Pinwheel, we will continue to expose our children to relationships that engage them in the “human community” in ways that will help them define who they are, what they can become, and the influence they have on others. It is our firm belief that the power of pinwheels will have a sustainable impact on the lives of all of those within our parish and beyond as even the youngest among us answer the call to advocate and contribute based on the positive examples set by the important adults in their lives.

We encourage you to join our efforts by participating in the planting of a pinwheel garden or by joining the Christ Church team in the Walk for Prevention on April 12. To register for this family- friendly event, please visit www. projectpinwheel.com and select Walk For Prevention to join the team from Christ Church.


Since cooking is something I thoroughly enjoy, it was a logical step for me to inquire about how I could help in the kitchen here at Christ Church. What a happy move that has been for me! The first kick-off Sunday after I returned to Christ Church, I asked with whom I should speak about my interest and was directed to Karen Walker. The following Wednesday, I headed for her kitchen when I got off from work and was hooked.

Wow! Karen is amazingly talented, kind, generous and even-tempered to boot. (I have worked in private clubs and know how volatile chefs can be!) Yes, Karen has taught me all kinds of new tricks to make the tasks easier as well as giving me ideas to use in my own home. But that is not the point I wish to make.

When you add the wonderful friendships you develop with not only her and her very special staff, Joyce and Jordan, but also the other grand volunteers, for me it is an over-the-top experience. One does not need to have any particular talent; there is always something that needs doing be it chopping, setting tables, serving fellow parishioners, etc. All you have to do is come and join the fun!

Now that I am retired, it is a real gift to know that I can give more time to help and be with such wonderful people. To me, it is not a service, but a blessing to participate in our "Joyful Community Sharing Life in Jesus Christ."

One of God’s MiraclesHampton Benedict Niles

Hampton Benedict Niles was born March 14, 2014. The Rev. Jeffrey Meadowcroft baptized him on March 22 in the hospital. He was airlifted to MUSC and had two heart surgeries. After a time at home he had another surgery in Charleston.

On November 2, All Saints’ Sunday, we received Hampton into the church. At their home after the service Russ said to me," I know how close we came to carrying a banner instead of a baby." As we approach his first birthday, Hampton is doing well. This past month we celebrated Congenital Heart Defect Awareness week. Check out our Super Hero!

Ashley, Russ, and Anna Grace join The Rev. Jeffrey Meadowcroft in thanking you for your prayers. You are truly the body of Christ.

The JOYS of Helping with the Food Ministry

By Harriet Brown


I attended my first mission trip the summer going into my seventh grade year. Since this first trip to Charleston, I have been on a total of nine mission trips to South Carolina, Texas, Mississippi, and Costa Rica. These nine mission trips have forever impacted and changed my life.

I was first inspired to do mission work by my grandfather, Poppie. He passed away the fall after my first mission trip, but still remains one of my biggest inspirations in life. He lived life being the perfect example of this because he always helped others. Where others saw problems, he saw ways to serve. Seeing the joy and love Poppie had from those years of service inspired me to be like him. Without Poppie I might never have discovered my love of service and mission work.

Doing mission work, you never really know what to expect except that you will see God working in amazing ways. After nine mission trips, this has never failed to amaze me. I still find it truly astounding just how much God can teach you on a mission trip. It is humbling how you go into a mission trip thinking you will change so many lives, but come out realizing that the people you served changed your life more than you could ever expect.

Through these trips, I have found an amazing church family and formed a stronger faith. The joy I have felt on mission trips is too great to try to explain and is

most powerfully understood by experiencing it. This joy is so great that I cannot imagine my life without it. I know that I never want to go too long without experiencing the joy that I only find while serving others.

For this reason, I know that my future hold lots more mission work and maybe even a career being a missionary. I cannot wait to see where God takes me through mission work and how it will continue to change my life. It is unbelievable to think that something I started when I was only eleven years old has forever changed who I am.

God’s Amazing PlanBy Emma Wetenhall

Summer MissionsVacation Bible School: June 15 - 19 >> Cost: Free

Charleston, SC: July 13 - 17 >> Cost: $325

Roanoke, VA: July 26 - August 1 >> Cost: $550 (ages 14 and up only)

Fundraising and scholarships are available. Detailed information about each trip, including deposit and registration, can be found at www.ccgsc.org/youth-missions.php.

Adult leaders are needed for each trip. There is no cost for you.

Registration Deadline: Friday, March 13


IN HONOR OF THE WEDDING OF

Leigh Watson & Jack Bacot by Elizabeth V. Yarbrough

GIFTS WERE GIVEN IN MEMORY OF:

Brenda Davis Bettger by Mr. & Mrs. James S. Whitten

Judy Byrum by Bill & Cindy Poe

Madeline Haynsworth Chandler by Mr. & Mrs. Robert Ellis

Louise Stanley Donald by Mrs. Thomas H. Coker

The Rev. William Marion Gilfillin by Nancy & Phil Peterson

Deanne Skipp Gushue by John F. Gushue

Helen Haltiwanger by Mr. & Mrs. Johnny Aiken, Dena S. Benedict, Clarkson, Walsh, Terrell & Coulter, P.A., Mr. & Mrs. Marcus Cunningham, Jackie Highley, Bob & Page Hoyle, Mr. & Mrs. Rolfe E. Hughes III,

James & Denise Kempson, Nell & Will Lucius, Howard D. McEwen, Virginia & Henry McFaddin, Bill & Cindy Poe, Dr. & Mrs. Jennings Pressly, Mary P. Weston

Allen Johnson Simpson by Bill & Cindy Poe

Jane Brown Wallace by Hugh & Clairene Aiken, Kathryn R. Allen, Frances T. Apperson, Dena Benedict, Jay T. Betette, Jeanne B. Bouton, Hal & Pat Brown, Doris Chandler Family, Lena B. Chapman, Sally H. Coble,

Marcus & Christine Cunningham, Emily Woodside & Bill Falvey, Virginia W. Fenton, Helen & Al Hagood, Marcy & Dexter Hagy, Bob & Page Hoyle, Dr. & Mrs. E. D. Jervey, Dr. & Mrs. Wayne McDonald,

Douglas & Joy Page, Mrs. C. C. Pearce III, Mr. & Mrs. F. M. Perry, Jr., Bill & Cindy Poe, Florence G. Pressly, Mr. & Mrs. F. Dean Rainey, Jr., Albert & Jennie Ritchie, Dawn & Jim Rodgers, Evelyn & Louis Runge,

Dr. & Mrs. H. E. Russell, Jr., Chuck & Susan Salley, Martha & Bill Stephenson, Harry Stephenson & family, Joanna B. Stone, Claire & Gene Stuart, Helene G. Vetrecin, Cary Walker, Bette K. Waters,

Hamlin M. Withington, Marian H. Withington, Mary Beebe Woodside

Dorothy Colmery Webster by Nancy & Phil Peterson

Marianna A. Wheeler by Mr. & Mrs. Stewart T. Smith

Elizabeth Withington White by Celia W. Clark, Doris W. Goodlett, Joanna B. Stone, Tom & Gail Sturtevant, Marian H. Withington

Memorials Given in the Fourth Quarter of 2014

A memorial gift to Christ Church is a thoughtful way to express sympathy for the loss of a special person. Gifts can also be made in honor of or in thanksgiving for those that are living. The church acknowledges these gifts to the donor and provides a list of the donors to the family of the deceased or to the honoree. Memorial funds may go to a ministry that touched the deceased or the honoree, or to the Christ Church Endowment.

In addition to memorials, there are opportunities to invest in the future needs of Christ Church as you

pre-plan legacy giving. Gifts can be made in life, by bequest or on a deferred basis. Did you know that a portion of our budget is funded by proceeds from the Endowment each year? A gift to the Christ Church Endowment truly does support our parish’s ministries in perpetuity.

We will continue to publish memorials in The Messenger each quarter - please look for more information highlighting our Endowment. Learn more at www.ccgsc.org/legacy-giving.php.

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10 N. Church Street • Greenville, SC 29601 • 864.271.8773 • www.ccgsc.org

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Spring Messenger, 2015