St. Andrew’s Church
It luis stood for more Ilian a Iiiin-
ilrcMl years near Wood leaf. in
■Iowan County and for many
years was an outstanding' house
of worship for Episcopalians in
that section.
Hi/ HARRY
Ж.
TUCKER
NKAlt ilir- village **f W’oodlenf, religions life for hundreds of people,
in Kownn County, stand-
л
It was here descendant* of the pioneer
weather-beaten. tin pa in ted English fu ini lies came to worship in
country church. You will find it at the manner they had chonoii ; and they
the end of a winding lane; alone, contributed untold riches in good
lonely, and deserted. Thu old church works and character to the life of
bell i.- never rung on Sunday now, the North Carolina,
doors are always kept looked, the A venerable and well-loved church,
wooden shutter» always closed. Ex* it has not ceased entirely to lend in¬
cept for the last Sunday in August, spiral ion to free men who desire to
when the anniversary sendees an- worship in the ancient manner of
held, the trend of echoing feet me their forefathers,
scldoinly heard at St. Andrew's. Long ago, in 1840, the picturesque
You will final thi- Episcopal house little church was erected. The present
of wor-hip nestling in a grove of building, except for the roof, is the
ancient tree*. a veritable church of original. 1 1 was first built on the main
the wild wood, where a straggling highway lending from Salisbury to
forest meets the country road. It is a Mncksville. Hut the highway moved
sturdy te-mment to bumble faith, for away and left quaint St. Andrew's at
all its simplicity. Not large, still on the end of the lane. Therefore, the
occasion it ha' held a surprising ntltu* congregation erected a new church,
ler of
|ич.р|«*.
It ha> mueh to inten^t St. George's, in the iieighlmring town
the visitor, for its architectural line, of Woodleaf, where* descendants of
are excellent, chmvhly facets in proper the builders of St. Andrew's worship
keeping, and the entirety presents an today.
effect that befits a house of worship of Heart throbs and honest love went
the ante-bellum |x>riod. into the construction of old St.
< 'lean ami simple of line, for many Andrew's Church. One can but
long years St. Andrew'- drew the tide wonder how it» roots ever penetrated
of farm and home life of the adjacent the rich Yadkin Country so deeply,
countryside to it- door, and served situated as it wn- among a hetero-
a- the gent and center of social and geneous church people— Lutherans
• a
and Presbyterians. es|*ccially, who
were the followers of a faith that knew
no brandishment-. of religious tenets
that bad survived and grown in spite
of the pressure sometime brought Oil
by the Established Church.
The people who built St. Andrew's
Church were mild, sweet, and long-
suffering. They, too. believed in
searching among the hedges and along
the highways.
Constructed of heart pine timber,
put together with nails forged on the
church lot. and weatherboarded with
planks that awe the visitor by their
width. St. Andrew's has much to
interest the architect and the anti¬
quarian. From the old slave gallery,
one observes that the rafters and joists
are handhewn and mortised, that the
massive beams are also meticulously
bumlfiiiished. The entire building,
taken collectively, is quite deserved
of attention and preservation. Unlike
most old churches, it stands in its
pristine state. It is not a restoration.
Copy of an English Chapel
The interior of St. Andrew's,
though crude and primitive, is said
to Ik- a copy of
л
rural chapel some¬
where in England. Nothing has been
changed. The family pews arc still
in place, though the names of the
planters have long since been erased.
These pews of pine, striking for line
and cut, are nailed to the floor. A
loose pew at St. Andrew's would not
have been in keeping with churchly
decorum.
When the writer visited this his¬
toric church, the woolen brackets
• hat wcie once used as receptacles
for candles, and still later for kero¬
sene lamps, were in place; hut there
was something still more interesting:
there hang- on the wall a framed and
yellowed document :
"Know all men of these present
that I. Levi Silliman I ves, by divine
permission. Bishop of the I’rotestant
Episcopal Church in the diocese of
North Carolina, did on the thirteenth
day of August, it being the 11th Sun¬
day after Trinity, in the year of our
Lord, one thousand eight hundred
and forty, consecrate, to the services
of Almighty God. according to the
form set forth. . .
It was with a pang of pride that
I gazed upon this original order of
consecration, left alone here so long
in this deserted little chapel. And
then I wondered what havoc in the
lives of the Churchmen of North
Carolina Bishop Ives, in that long
departed day. brought about. It will
he remembered that the loved Bishop
built an abbey, in INLY seven miles
( Continued on page eighteen)
