From the Archives: There’s a First Time for Everything
Welcome to our third installment of our church history series, From the Archives. In part one, we explored the initial formation of St. Stephen as a congregation. In part two, we explored the groundbreaking and construction of St. Stephen’s building. In this installment, we examine several “firsts” in the history of St. Stephen.
Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that “there is a time for everything, and for every activity under the heavens” (NIV). Having heard this scripture and reflecting on it throughout my life I have always thought of a similar saying we all know: “There’s a first time for everything.” This is certainly true of events in people’s lives as well as in the histories of organizations, teams, schools, and even a small, but growing new United Methodist Church in South Charlotte.
Remember your first dates, the first time our parents let us drive away from the house when we were newly licensed drivers, first days of school, first nights at home with newborns? All these things define who we are individually and create the lenses through which we see the world. Over St. Stephen’s nearly 57-year history there are too many firsts to mention, but I hope you find it interesting to look at this limited list detailing some of our firsts.
August 29, 1968: Our first pastor, James (Jim) Armstrong drafts a letter to the people who had been visited by early church organizers (see copy) to announce the first service. Karen Irwin, charter member and immediate past historian, vividly recalls knocking on doors in adjacent neighborhoods to share our new church’s plans to establish.
September 8, 1968: The church held its first official service: “An Office For Organizing A Church.” Bishop Earl G. Hunt, Jr. presided for the conference. (See the actual order of worship preserved by earlier church historians). Jamie Armstrong (son our first pastor Rev. & Mrs. James Armstrong) was the first acolyte to serve our church (a corresponding date was not documented. However, I have to believe this corresponded with the newly forming church’s first worship held in the Lansdown elementary cafeteria on September 8, 1968)
October 13, 1968: The first baptismal service took place. Deborah Leigh Griffith, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Lee Griffith, was baptized. Later, Kathy Pace was the first baby to be baptized in St. Stephen’s new sanctuary (see below).
October 27, 1968: A newsletter, very much in a formative state, was mailed. It is included with the exhibits. Notice the six cents stamp! See PDF of this early newsletter.
November 10, 1968: The Friendship Class was formed as the first adult Sunday School Class. Curtis C. Walker served as president; W.R. Boyd, Jr. was Vice President; and Mrs. Barney S. Haynes, Jr. was secretary & Treasurer.
February 26, 1969: A publication “St. Stephen’s Drummer” was issued. Check out the newsletter (PDF). It covers the church’s move to Old Sardis Church, a workday, lays groundwork for a building committee, features new members and much more.
April 13, 1969: The first Communion Service was observed.
August 2, 1969: The first member from St. Stephen’s congregation marries. Although the ceremony was held at Providence UMC the couple, Helen Dane Williams & William John Richard Thomas III wed.
August 11-15th, 1969: The first St. Stephen Vacation Bible School was held. I wonder how many children, members and visitors, have learned about Jesus over the past 56 years as a result of this ministry?
September 7, 1969: After the first year of being officially organized St. Stephen tripled its size from an original congregation of 69 to 229 members. The first anniversary celebration was also Promotion Day.
October 7, 1969: Boy Scout Troop organizational meeting held at 7pm. Earlier that afternoon the first meeting of St. Stephen’s Girl Scouts took place (see original announcements).
March 5, 1972: First service in our “New Sanctuary.”
March 5, 1972: Kathryn Blair Pace (“Kathy”), daughter of Jackie & Stephen Pace, was the first baby to be baptized in St. Stephen’s new sanctuary.
With respect to the importance of all the firsts, there is an exhaustive, lengthy list. However, I wanted to share something of our missional firsts as it is part of our Church’s DNA. If you’ve been around St. Stephen for any amount of time, then you’ve heard of Appalachia Service Project (ASP). I took the opportunity to interview Clonnie Lambert in January. He shared with me that while he served as Senior High youth counselor, he attended an interest meeting at Providence United Methodist. The rest, as they say, is history. It took over a year to get organized and raise funds, but in 1986 St. Stephen’s first ASP trip set out to Rogersville, Tennessee.
The biggest teams included 80 people. Clonnie played a pivotal role for 30 years. He said ASP has had the biggest impact on both him and the youth of any churchwork he has accomplished. As we further steer our look into our history and heritage late this year, we shall take a deeper look into this activity and other events truly defining our church’s missional character.
In late May, look for the fourth installment of St. Stephen history. The feature will be called: “Can You Hear Me Now.” In our world of CCB, iPhones and color laser printers, this upcoming blog promises a fascinating look back at what people did with pen and ink, an IBM Selectric, and mimeograph machines (I can smell that purple chemical now). It took a labor of love to produce early publications, directories, and memberships lists.
Until then, please stop by the glass top coffee table in the resource center to see some of the original documents that accompany this article.
Chris Withrow
Historian