The Closure of St James' Black Episcopal Mission (2012)

Undergraduate: Virginia Thomas

Faculty Advisor: Michelle Robinson
Department: American Studies

---

In 1833, Bishop Ives consecrated St. Bartholomew’s Church. The church grew and in 1879, a prominent white member of the congregation proposed that they build a mission for black members who had attended St. Bartholomew’s. Bishop Lyman consecrated St. James’ Episcopal Mission in 1883. St. James’ became a hub of activity for the black community of Pittsboro with a school for black children. In 1968, the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina deemed St. James’ “impractical” and ordered for St. James’ to be deconsecrated. Some families from St. James’ joined the congregation at St. Bartholomew’s. Others did not. Historical research on this transition has not included perspectives on this event from former members of St. James’. This paper investigates the 1968 administrative decision that resulted in the unwelcome dismantling of a historically African American Episcopal mission and the partial merger of Pittsboro’s white and black Episcopal congregations. Drawing on archival materials and oral histories conducted with former members of St. James and members of St. Bartholomew’s, I assemble the complex chronology of interactions and internal struggles that culminated in the demolition of St. James’. I also closely examine the activities of the Women’s Auxiliary of St. James’ and St. Bartholomew’s, to determine what, if anything, St. James’s closure reveals about actions and influence of women in both congregations events leading up to the final decision to close St. James’.