History of St. Mary Magdalene Anglican Church

 

The History of St Mary Magdalene Anglican Church

2012-2022
as told to Jan Hill by Father Bill Owens

"If you read a manual on how to start a Church, this
would NOT be what you do.” Father Bill

 

It normally takes the Church plant committee about a year to raise money for a Rector, even longer to find a suitable meeting place, and still longer to hire the Rector's support staff. Because of the record speed and unusual manner in which the Church was formed, Bishop Steve Wood affectionately refers to St. Mary Magdalene as “a parachute” drop. It was a foreshadowing of what was to be. In August 2012 Father Charles Walton and (then) newly ordained Deacon Bill Owens were sent to Camden by Bishop Wood to meet with people who wished to start an Anglican church in Camden SC.

The first meeting was in the middle of August 2012 at the Drakeford home in Camden, South Carolina. Morgan Drakeford, Dr. Pennebaker, and Thad Bullock along with Father Bill and Father Charlie set out to determine what it would take to start a Church from nothing. It was decided to observe a two week period of prayer and contemplation and reconvene in two weeks. In the meantime, they gathered interested people. It was a monumental endeavor. Father Bill was from a large Church and had served as a youth minister. He was flying by the seat of his pants with Father Charlie as his mentor.

At this point, Father Bill was Vicar. Charlie belonged to the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina. Father Bill was a member of the Anglican Church of North America, the Diocese of the Carolinas under 3 Bishop Wood. Once the two weeks of contemplation and prayer were over, seven people remained adamant that they wanted to start a Church and they chose to be Anglican over Episcopalian. By the third or fourth meeting of the church plant committee, the name St. Mary Magdalene was suggested by Frank Lachicotte. An in-depth study revealed that Mary Magdalene is an impeccable representation of what the Church wished to become. After a week of prayer and consideration, the motion was approved.

September 16, 2012, the first service was held in the Pennebaker home on Lyttleton Street with 29 people attending. After two meetings of 17 attendees and one of 15 attendees, the house was bursting at the seams. It was decided to find a larger place to worship. The Church contracted with the Fine Arts Center Music Studio at the Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County in Camden to hold services on Sundays. The average was 18-19 people in attendance all the way through January 2013. At this point, Father Bill was functioning as a Deacon, and as such, he conducted a Deacon's Mass. Father Charlie consecrated the Elements and fulfilled all other duties that a Deacon cannot up until Father Bill Owens was ordained as a Priest in a formal ceremony at the Fine Arts Center on January 19th, 2013. We had our Priest but not yet a permanent home. Mobility became key.

 

Have Church, Will Travel

 

The clever folding altar and all the other necessary furniture that is required in an Anglican service were ferried between the Owens' home in Sumter SC and the Fine Arts Center music hall each Sunday for services. It was a labor of love. Even though Father Bill and Amy Owens moved to Camden in early November 2012, they continued to transport the required items to the Fine Arts Center until August 11, 2013. Service at the music hall started at 10:00 am. Father Charlie and Father Bill were the celebrants. Amy Owens was an altar guild, church secretary, headphone tree person, and often lay reader/lay Eucharistic minister. Matthew Owens was the primary acolyte with Jackson and Bennett Lee (Father Charlie's grandchildren) helping every couple of weeks. After the service, the fellowship was on the porch with members taking turns providing the food. There were 25-30 in attendance, and it quickly became apparent that even the music hall was too small. Bible study was held at the Dusty Horseman in the middle of the week. The Church needed a permanent home that allowed it to spread its wings and better service its members. So began a Capitol Campaign to raise the funds needed to buy property and search for a home.

A bid was placed on The Granary at 509A Clyburn Lane EXT. The 150-thousand-dollar offer was accepted. The goal was not to have a mortgage. Any needed remodeling would then be 5 financed against the property. Approaching the middle of July, Deacon Scott Lyon and Father Bill purchased pews from Craig's list and obtained permission from the Granary's owners to store them there. They borrowed Alan Wooten's tree farm truck and drove to Atlanta to pick them up. Father Bill and Scott were unloading the first group of pews into the Granary when they learned that the sale was falling through. Mr. VanDam called and invited them to look at a different property. After unloading the pews, they went to 914 Market Street for a tour.

Father Bill was not impressed. Built in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it was not a handsome facade. A crumbling asphalt parking lot stretched from the street's edge to the entrances of what had been two storefronts. The roofs were old and flat and 6 frightening. As Father Bill toured the building, he discovered what had once been gallery walls that were multi-colored and carpeted to the ceiling throughout the current parish hall. Tiny tacky rooms abounded. Only two toilets serviced 6,000 square feet with a problematic double brick wall running down the middle of the current sanctuary. It presented a daunting task.

Mr. VanDam asked 350 thousand for the property which includes 2 acres of land. Father Bill did not wish to have the congregation bear such a burden, so he declined. Scott and Father Bill got back in the truck and went back to Atlanta to fetch the remainder of the pews.

On the return from Atlanta, Mr. VanDam called with a counteroffer of 275 thousand and invited Father Bill to take a second look. The next day, Father Bill and Scott toured 914 Market Street once more. Various owners and assorted businesses had remodeled and re-imagined the building with confounding results. Inexplicable wiring and sometimes plumbing had no beginning and apparently no end. It would be an immense undertaking to make it a proper Church. Yet it offered far more square footage than the Granary and allowed for the opportunity to have offices, a parish hall, and classrooms, not to mention two acres of land.

Father Bill countered Mr. VanDam's offer with 225 thousand dollars with Mr. VanDam to carry a 25 thousand note without interest to be paid in full within a year. Mr. VanDam accepted. The money was raised in cash with just 20 pledges. The accepted offer, signed June 2013, stated that construction could begin immediately. And it did!

 

Work Begins

The work first began on the “Church” side with contractor JP Smith of Camden donating his services as general contractor. He pulled all the necessary permits at no cost and supplied the names of his sub-contractors for work that needed to be done. It took a week to strip it down to the concrete pad. The interior double brick wall was brought down. Doors on the outer walls were bricked up and moved. One of the greatest concerns was the $1600 a month electric bill and the inefficient air conditioner which dangled from the middle of the future Nave ceiling. The halogen lights were replaced with LED lights and 3 Mitsubishi AC units were installed which dropped the electric bill to $500 a month. In a mere five weeks, the Church side was ready to be consecrated by the Bishop.

Churches statewide either donated the things needed to begin worship or sold them to the Church for a nominal fee. In a short time, we had a sound system, and all the required liturgical vessels. The buildings were nowhere near finished. The day before the consecration ceremony, the dry 8 wall was still going up and the painters were waiting for the dry wall mud to dry. The Church consecration took place, with bagpipes, on August 24, 2013. Afterwards, work continued and, in the meantime, we made do. The flower cooler with a heavy door from a former owner remained in place and served as a temporary vesting room. Parishioners knew when the procession was beginning by the clunk of the weighty door. The Narthex served as a temporary Parish Hall. Then State Representative Laurie Slade Funderburk expedited the permits required to remove the ugly asphalt parking lot. DOT came out immediately, made the drawings and returned the next day with the permit. A Church was rising from the rubble. The Parish Hall roof was so poorly designed that rainwater cascaded unchecked down the front facade forcing Mr. Drakeford, to redraw the plans for better control of the runoff. That work was delayed due to ongoing rains until May of 2014. Father Bill had been warned that the permitting process could be tedious and slow.

On December 23, 2013, the roof collapsed into the Narthex thus kick starting the second phase of work. The scuppers had plugged up with leaves which allowed an accumulation of 2 9 feet of water all of which cascaded down into the Narthex. Father Bill promptly chose Christmas sermon to be Noah and The Flood. Chris Hawkins was selected as general contractor for the next phase. A team was able to save the still existing carpet, but Mr. Hawkins condemned both roofs. Morgan Drakeford`s father and architect, Mr. Cecil M. Drakeford Jr., AKA Drak, worked pro Bono. Along with the roof plans, he drew the plans for the new entry into the Narthex eliminating two existing bay windows and moving the front door over to a more central location on the front wall. He presented his bill to be used as collateral against the loan.

In 2017, the third phase of renovation involved moving the wall between the Narthex and the Nave enlarging the Nave as well as the removal of the flower cooler and door. Chris Hawkins was the contractor on that project as well. After negotiations stalled over the cost, Mr. Hawkins threw up his hands and exclaimed, “Father Bill, why don't you tell me the number and I'll do it for that!” Father Bill named the price and Mr. Hawkins agreed! Construction went on during the week, allowing for services to be held on Sunday enabling parishioners to witness the progress. It was completed in three weeks. Bishop Wood toured the renovation and was thrilled with the work. The Lord's providential hand has always been unmistakable in St. Mary Magdalene's inception and it continues to be true to this day. The city of Camden decided to bury the power lines resulting in a handsome new sidewalk that frames the front facade beautifully. The farmer's market has relocated to across the street which, along with further improving the neighborhood, brought St. Mary Magdalene more local attention. 10 Other renovations and development were done over time, including the backyard and Parish Hall. It has become welcoming and functional. Easy to maintain, it offers a food pantry and clothing closet for those in need. There is a library, Anne Clarke's office and a room for the treasurer's use.

There's also a food prep area, a room for youth and access to a generous back yard, which transformed over a four-year period. Thirteen large dump trunks of sand were brought in to build it up 3.5 feet to make it more usable and to control water, which has always been a concern with such low land. A shed was installed along with playground equipment and a zip line. The back portico and patio slab were built and electrified and then covered with a tin roof. Benches were added as well. The whole of it was done by Church members' labor who were and are willing to step up for the betterment of the congregation. We will always be grateful to all those who donated their time, their money, and their expertise to bring St. Mary Magdalene to where it is today. Among our generous and skilled Church members are John Clarke and Scott Lyon who helped Father Bill with building projects. Chris Thomas is an excellent electrician/electronics/jack-of-all-trades. Their handmade items are throughout the Church and include: the Chancel rail and the back screen on the pulpit. It is fashioned from oak, hand rubbed with wax and stained by hand using Old English.

They remade several of the Craig's List pews to fit more effectively in the space allowing Parishioners to move freely throughout the Nave which was especially fortuitous due to Covid-19. The wooden cross that was carved in the 1800s was mounted on a pole so that it can be carried in service and remains in service today. Countless other projects have benefited from their touch. And of course, Father Bill and Amy Owens were and still are key. While working full time, Amy Owens has participated, led, and 11 spearheaded many projects, programs and committees. Most importantly, Amy has supported her husband and her Church in every endeavor. The next challenge was not the building, it was the world.

 

COVID-19

 

In 2020, Camden was the first Covid-19 hot spot in the state of South Carolina. The new and dangerous virus rapidly spread throughout the state. Churches, businesses, and schools closed. We were confined to our homes. Information was spotty and confusing with officials contradicting each other. There was no clear path forward. Father Bill and Julian Burns, Kershaw County Council Chairman, worked together to meet parish needs but also to remain within government guidelines as well as the parameters set down by the Diocese. Anne Clarke worked from home while Father Bill kept St Mary Magdalene open. In that first three-week period, the number of people were limited which gave Father Bill the opportunity to work out how best to conduct Mass and communion safely. With an eye toward eliminating all possible avenues of contamination, Father Bill consecrated the wine and the host and donned surgical gloves.

Dipping a gloved finger into the wine, he allowed a drop to fall on the host. It was then placed on parchment paper and put into the oven to dry out. Each piece was individually packaged into small bags. While there was mixed feeling about the result, it made communion possible once more. People within the Church were masked and socially distanced. Our large space and small numbers allowed us freedom others didn't enjoy. Gallons of hand sanitizer were brought in from Texas and put in use. The HVAC system offered several preventions and solutions. Not only is it ductless which bypassed the concerns that duct work might harbor the virus, its fans run 12 continuously. Virus killing UV lights were added which protected both the Sanctuary and the Parish Hall.

Broadcasting Anglican services through the internet presented a multitude of obstacles. The equipment had to be purchased and configured so that audio and video came together properly. A subscription with DaCast, a specialist in video streaming, smoothed out the process so that as Covid-19 raged, the parishioners could view Mass from home, but it was not ideal. Anglican Services are exceedingly difficult to do in a live stream format. It depends on people's participation and without them, there is no service. As the country moved slowly towards vaccination, St. Mary Magdalene instituted two services. The early service was for the older and most at risk and the second, for the younger parishioners. Once vaccination was available to all, St Mary Magdalene returned to one service and eventually, masks became optional. Communion moved forward with intinction of the host. There is hope for a return of the communal cup.

Covid has been a challenge but in many ways a blessing. There is renewed excitement for the return of our traditional calendar. We grew in numbers and added programs. We learned how to do online Bible Study. Concerned about the impact of locking down the children who had nothing to do, Father Bill and Amy Owens started the youth group 3:58 (because the business of God is too important to put off until 4:00). They were outside as much as possible. Inside, they were socially distanced and had a snack and Bible study. They are our future. As the 10th anniversary approaches and we consider all that has gone before, it is exhilarating to consider what will be. Come and See!

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