History & Haven in the Pines
Just before ten o’clock last Thursday evening, my wife called to ask when I’d be finished practicing for the night. Our daughter Norah was crying for, “Daddy to come home.” When a 3-year-old is missing a parent, it’s hard to console them. So, I packed up my music, turned off the organ and lights in the church and climbed into my car to head home.
When I drive home after an evening of practice, oftentimes practicing until midnight, I drive home without the radio on. My ears need a rest. I usually drive home with the windows down, luxuriating in the pine-scented night air. That particular night, as I was driving home, I kept thinking about the buildings and houses I was passing, some of which had been standing here since the late 1880s, mixed with those that had just been erected. I thought about the layers of history that make up this place. I thought about the people that have been forgotten, but who helped shape our town into the place it is today. Some of those people were instrumental in the decision-making processes of Southern Pines. Some were seasonal. Some led lives of service. Others were the first doctors, lawyers, newspapermen, and proprietors of businesses of all kinds. Others, then, built upon the work of those who came before.
I certainly am a recipient of the work done by those who came before me. This is true of the cultural life of Southern Pines. This is true of the musical leaders connected to Emmanuel Episcopal Church. This is true of the work done by those who dug the first shovels of sands to create this haven in the pines.
I have always had an awareness and interest in the history of a place, no matter where I was living. When I came to Emmanuel, I became interested in the history of the parish partly because of my own interest and partly inspired by the capital project that was being promoted at the time of my arrival. Over the years, the more research I have done, and the more digging I have done, the more I have realized how very interesting and beautiful the history of this place truly is, in particular, our early history, that, until now, much of which had been lost to time.
Do you ever sit in our church building and wonder how it is this place came to be? Did you ever wonder why it is that there is an Episcopal Church here in Southern Pines?
I invite you to come to the chili potluck and Century Project forum that will take place this Sunday beginning at 11:30 A.M. At this event, I’ll be making a presentation about the history of our parish. Much of what I will discuss will be a telling of our origin story. It is a fascinating story that I argue will help each person present gain a deeper understanding about their place in the continuum of this community. I will dispel some long-told myths about our parish and instill a new sense of pride in our local Episcopal history.
Need a teaser? The exterior signs for our church say, “Founded 1899.” That date is quite wrong. Want to learn the true date? Want to learn the year that our church was named? Want to learn when the first baptism happened? Want to learn when communion was first celebrated in Southern Pines? Come to the Century Project forum…and don’t let a funny thing happen along the way.
Dr. Homer A. Ferguson III
Organist/Choirmaster