The story of St. James, Pittsboro
By the Rev. Mac Brown, Sarah Swann and the Rev. Canon Lindsey Ardrey
The following is excerpted and adapted from “Truth Bursting into Bloom,” the first-person accounting by the Rev. Mac Brown and Sarah Swann about the history of St. James and the events that led up to the reunion recounted below. Read the full story at episdionc.org/reparations-and-restitution.
St. James was a mission church in the Diocese of North Carolina. Like so many historically Black churches, its tale is one of faith, pride and service that lives alongside a parallel tale of hurt and broken promises.
On September 28, five former members and six descendants of members of St. James, Pittsboro, gathered to share memories of the church and grieve its last days and the decades that followed. We heard stories of mischievous teens in the sacristy with the subsequent punishment of polishing all the church’s silver, the recounting of baptisms and leaving church after dark, the community gathering like family. It was a day full of joyful reunions and new revelations, sobered by moments of grief punctuated by the desire for honest reckoning. This is one step along the path of repair. We have many more to walk. And God will be there beside us for every single one.
UNEARTHING HISTORY
The second St. James building, consecrated in 1889 after the original church burned down, is pictured in an archival photo.
St. James was founded in the days following emancipation for those who were formally enslaved. It was a thriving congregation of 130 members that founded a parochial school. Its first building burned down in the 1880s and was rebuilt. The Rev. Primus Alston, who was raised in St. James, and the Rev. Dr. Edward H. Butler, who served there, were two of the first Black clergy in the Diocese of North Carolina. In the 1890s, St. James purchased a plot of land and consecrated it for their burial grounds.
For almost a century, St. James was an active and vibrant congregation, despite a decided lack of support from the larger church structure. After Butler left St. James in 1886, the diocese never sent another full-time member of the clergy. The church instead shared clergy with one of the nearby historically Black churches, or when no clergy were assigned, care and oversight fell to the rector of St. Bartholomew’s, the white church in Pittsboro. Archival records show the clergy at St. Bartholomew’s to be at times empathetic and helpful, and at other times suspicious and uncooperative.
The history book of St. Bartholomew’s shows years of declining membership and deferred maintenance at St. James. Under the prompting of one of St. Bartholomew’s past rectors, the diocese evaluated the St. James building because he reported there was a leaking roof, a rotting floor, a broken door and windows, and that vandals had been in the church. All of it transpired while the mission was under that particular rector’s care, but that was never addressed.
Following the assessment, the diocese deemed the church impractical and started the process that would lead to the deconsecration of the building and the sale of the property in 1967. The building and property were sold to a Methodist church, with the proceeds going to St. Bartholomew’s and St. Titus’, Durham. The graves adjacent to St. James were incorporated into the Methodist church that purchased the property, though no perpetual care plan was put into place for St. James’ Cemetery, the acre of land a mile away consecrated in the 1890s.
St. Bartholomew’s took on the care of the grounds of St. James’ Cemetery, but by the 1990s, the cemetery was landlocked after a series of property sales. St. Bartholomew’s had access through neighborly agreements, but in 2004, the property changed hands once more, and access was lost. For the last 20 years, St. Bartholomew’s has been unable to visit the cemetery or care for the grounds without special permission, and they are unable to take any vehicles or equipment onto the property. There is no regular access for family members to visit the graves of their ancestors.
The indignities didn’t end there. Upon his death in 1931, Butler left his estate, in part, to St. James. As the diocese had not allowed the mission to become a parish, the Trustees of the diocese were responsible for the management of Butler’s estate and the honoring of the written intent of his will. Butler’s estate included multiple properties in Pittsboro that his will instructed should be continually rented and the proceeds used for the payment of the clergy of St. James. Within a decade or so, the Trustees liquidated Butler’s estate, incorporated some assets into the Butler Fund and sent others to St. Bartholomew’s. At times St. James received small interest payments, but not enough to meet their needs.
St. James Episcopal Mission was supposed to succeed. There were resources left to ensure its success. But the story of what was once a thriving congregation became one of abandoning our neighbors. A story of how our institutions, both parochial and diocesan, failed to honor the dignity of the lives lived in that church or preserve their stories. But it doesn’t have to be the end of the story.
St. Bartholomew’s is actively working to find the facts of their history with the hope that by finding those facts, honestly telling the stories and acknowledging the breadth of the damage done by those on their behalf, it will be the beginning of earnest personal and institutional efforts to reconcile the relationships that were broken.
A FIRST STEP
One of the first of those efforts took place in September when the five former members and six descendants of members of St. James took part in a reunion and listening session of their experiences and stories. Those in attendance were there following exhaustive research and collaboration with the diocesan reparations and restitution ministry, the Rev. Canon Lindsey Ardrey, diocesan archivist Lynn Hoke, ourselves and others.
The day of the event dawned slightly chilly and damp, but it didn’t daunt anyone who had planned to attend. Those who took part heard some real talk about what had transpired and how people were hurt. Canon Ardrey spoke of how this was to be the first of several conversations about what happened and how we would like for those affected to guide us in the way we move forward. Those invited appreciated the opportunity to see members of their church family who they had not seen in years. They shared fond memories of life at St. James with us. They appreciated the displays of family trees carefully researched and recovered, and at least one person even learned something new about their family.
It was a day of revisiting old stories and sharing memories. It was a first step. The story continues unfolding.
The Rev. Mac Brown is the rector of St. Bartholomew’s, Pittsboro; Sarah Swann is a diaconal intern at St. Bartholomew’s; and the Rev. Canon Lindsey Ardrey is the canon missioner for diocesan reparations and restitution ministry. Contact them all via Ardrey.
