Episcopal Church of the Nativity Greenwood, Mississippi • January

Episcopal Church of the Nativity Parish Profile Greenwood, Mississippi • January 2021 2 CONTENTS Who We Are 3 A Brief History of Nativity 4 Diocese of Mississippi 7 Community 8 400 Howard Street Greenwood, MS 38930 Our Facilities 10 Telephone: 662.453.7786 Fax: 662.453.1329 Rectory 11 Email: [email protected] Our Ministries 12 Neighboring Mission Stations 13 Godly Play 14 Day School 15 Stewardship 16 Financial Management 17 Permanent Endowment 18 Our Staff 19 Parish Assessment 20 Our New Rector 22 From the Search Committee 24 Contact Us 25 “worship, love, belong, grow and serve.” 3 Who We Are The Episcopal Church of the Nativity, located in Greenwood, Mississippi, is a deeply committed parish with members bringing a wide variety of personal histories, interests and talents, all searching for a closer relationship to Jesus Christ and the people in our community. We cherish our long history and look forward to living out the principles of our Anglican heritage. Nativity is an active, eclectic parish represen- tative of our deep Delta roots. Our membership is a diverse group of backgrounds and professions. We are cradle Episcopalians and lifelong members of Nativity, yet many of us found Nativity on our spiritual journey. We are newlyweds, young families, empty-nesters, recent retirees, and octogenarians. We are physicians and medical professionals, educators and coaches, attorneys and judges, farmers, chefs, authors, realtors, bankers, business professionals of all types, civil servants, local leaders, and all in between. Our individual interests are as wide ranging as our backgrounds, and we count among us historians, hunters, birders, gardeners, flower arrangers, musicians, pilots, softball players, runners, walkers, motorcyclists, and fishermen. Our parishioners embrace the opportunities lay and community leadership present. Nativity maintains a leadership presence at the Diocesan level, with its members recently serving on the Executive and Standing Committees of the Diocese. Nativity is a part of the worldwide Anglican community, the Episcopal Church USA, and the Diocese of Mississippi. Above all else, Nativity is a place where all are welcome to worship, love, belong, grow, and serve. Easter Sunrise Service Annual Christmas Pageant “worship, love, belong, grow and serve.” 4 A Brief History of Nativity In 1881, Greenwood was a small, un- Mrs. Alex Henderson, Mr. and Mrs. impressive collection of river wharves, Gideon Montjoy and Dr. and Mrs. J.H. saloons, general stores, and a handful Lucas spent the evening of May 24, of frame houses. The levee systems 1881, discussing that possibility with that would turn the Mississippi Del- Reverend Browne, and plans were laid ta into a cotton-growing powerhouse for a new congregation, to be known as had not yet been completed. There the Church of the Nativity. was little to attract new families will- The most pressing need for this new ing to brave scorching summers, mas- parish was a suitable church building, sive mosquitoes, and the network of and Greenwood had nothing to of- swamps and bayous stretching from fer. Littleton Upshur donated land a this Leflore County seat to the Carroll few blocks south of the Yazoo River County hills. on Main Street (the Without enough indi- current site of Fire viduals to support sep- Station #1), and Gid arate denominational Montjoy began de- buildings, Greenwood livering lumber from worshipers of the his property. The little 1880s met in a com- group’s groundbreak- mon center, designated ing was arranged in as Union Church and October of 1882, located where the ex- and by the following isting Ahavath Rayim March, the new church Synagogue stands on was complete. Thirteen East Market. Baptists, Methodists, Pres- communicants were on the rolls when byterians, and Episcopalians took turns the Church of the Nativity was ad- worshiping in Union Church, and each mitted into union with the Diocese of would eventually break away to start Mississippi in April 1883. their own building programs. In May Those thirteen souls had a building of 1881, four Episcopal families asked but struggled to find a full-time rector The Reverend William P. Browne of in this isolated corner of Mississippi. It Canton to travel north and meet with wasn’t until 1889 that the Reverend Ce- them to discuss a Greenwood parish. cil P. Wilson agreed to move to Green- Mr. and Mrs. Littleton Upshur, Mr. and wood, but his tenure was short-lived, “worship, love, belong, grow and serve.” 5 lasting only one year. He was followed The existing rectory was sold for $1750 by the Reverend Jean B.C. Beaubieu to generate the initial funds, and J.E. and the Reverend George L. Neide. Barnes and Company of Greenville By 1895, the congregation had grown was hired to begin construction. The to include 50 members, Diocese of Mississippi and the small Main Street purchased the deed from church was increasingly Mr. Henderson and then crowded. Nativity’s Lay deeded it back to the par- Reader-in-Charge, Charles ish on June 21, 1902. As Wheat Hinton, arrived in was the custom in those 1899 and began campaign- days, the entire building ing for a new and larger was completed in a mat- building. While he was ter of months, and the away at General Seminary first service was held on in New York City, Dr. J.H. August 3, 1902, led by the Lucas spearheaded the Reverend C.W. Hinton drive for a new structure and the Reverend W.C. and an effort to maintain Whitaker of Jackson. The the active congregation, Greenwood newspaper which had dwindled to reported that “Everybody thirty-two by the turn of the 20th cen- enjoyed these services and are profuse tury. in complimenting the appearance of When Reverend Hinton returned the new church building and its splen- from New York, building plans picked did arrangement.” Oddly enough, the up speed. Parishioner J.S. McDonald cornerstone, still in place today by the owned the lot at the southwest corner bell tower, was not inserted until the of Church and Howard Street, a prime following day. piece of property in a town that was Two of the Gothic stained-glass now the fastest growing community in windows of the old Main Street church Mississippi. He had deeded the lot to were removed and installed in the new Nativity in 1896 with the stipulation Howard Street sanctuary. The Jewish that “a suitable brick church…not to congregation paid $550 for the Main cost less than $4000” be built on the Street property and worshiped there site. The land was lost to tax default in until their Market Street synagogue was 1898 and reclaimed by founding mem- completed in the 1920s. ber Alex Henderson for $69.99. In 1912, a two-story rectory was It would be 1902 before the ground completed behind the sanctuary, fac- was finally broken for the new church. ing Church Street during Greenwood’s “worship, love, belong, grow and serve.” 6 boom years. It would serve the church nancial and enrollment stability, adding rectors until a North Greenwood rec- the Godly Play curriculum for children, tory was completed in 1956, leading to expanding the educational offerings in the old house’s demolition for a new Adult Forum, and encouraging greater educational and office wing. In 1926, involvement of the congregation in the original tower on the south side community outreach. During his ten- of the sanctuary was demolished. The ure, all debt incurred due to the physi- Rose Community Building was erected cal expansion initiated under Reverend in memory of Bessie Rose, wife of the Rowe was retired, and a Columbarium Reverend Lysander Rose. By then, Na- was added to Nativity’s courtyard. Also, tivity had grown to 300 communicants while at Nativity, the parish’s Perma- and was one of Greenwood’s largest nent Endowment was established. and most active churches. Rev. Gray was a co-founder of Leflore Throughout the century, Nativity County’s Mission Mississippi chapter was served by a series of outstanding and was involved in numerous venues rectors, including the Reverends Dr. to promote interracial cooperation and Lysander Rose, Randolph Claiborne, serve the entire Greenwood popula- Warren Botkin, Duncan Gray, Sr. (lat- tion. In February 2020, he accepted the er the Bishop of Mississippi), and the position of Chaplain of University of inimitable Reverend Jones Hamilton, the South and remained with Nativity who would lead Nativity for a full until May 2020. quarter-century. He was followed by the Reverends Michael Engle, Larry Maze (later Bishop of Arkansas), and Recent rector timelines: Craig Gates. Ella Breckinridge served 1917-1929 Lysander W. Rose as Interim Priest from 2005 until 2006, 1930-1934 Randolph R. Claiborne when the Reverend Matthew Rowe 1934-1938 Warren Botkin was called. During his tenure, plans for 1939-1943 Duncan Gray, Sr. a large addition were completed and (became the Bishop of accomplished, adding a Great Hall, an Mississippi) office suite, a large kitchen, courtyard, 1943-1969 Jones Hamilton loggia, and extra rooms for adult and 1969-1987 Michael Engle youth education. 1988-1994 Larry Maze (became the Bishop of Arkansas) In 2013, Reverend Peter Gray accept- 1995-2005 Craig Gates ed the invitation to serve as Nativity’s 2005-2006 Ella Breckinridge (Interim) Priest-in-Charge and was named Rector 2006-2012 Matthew Rowe in 2015. Reverend Gray was instrumen- 2013-2020 Peter Gray tal in leading Nativity Day School to fi- 2020-Present Carrie Duncan (Interim) “worship, love, belong, grow and serve.” 7 Diocese of Mississippi Established in May of 1826, the Epis- copal Diocese of Mississippi has approx- imately 18,000 members and oversees a total of 86 parishes, missions, and mission stations.

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