History of Calvary Episcopal Church
History of Calvary Episcopal Church
The present Church was built during the ministry of Reverend Joseph Blount Cheshire during the years 1859-1868. The architect was an Englishman, William Percival, whose work can be seen elsewhere in Tarboro and North Carolina.
A search for earlier Episcopal endeavors in Edgecombe County would yield little. St. Mary’s, the original Church of England parish in the county located eight miles northeast of Tarboro, was finished about 1749, but today not a trace of it remains. Its register was burned as waste paper and the congregation was attracted to a new wooden church in the newly incorporated Town of “Tarborough.”
After the Revolutionary War, the Church of England was virtually outlawed. Not until 1819 was an Episcopal congregation formed in Tarboro by the Reverend John Phillips. His ministry covered the area between Raleigh and Washington, North Carolina, and in a few years his communicants had dwindled in number from ten to four.
By 1833 the church was growing, and in that year the congregation of Calvary Church incorporated, formed a vestry and called a minister. In 1834 Town Lot No. 44 was granted to the vestry by a trust left by an eighteenth century clergyman, the Reverend Henry John Burgess. On this lot, located in the southern part of the present churchyard, a small frame church was built in 1840.
All who are thankful for Calvary Church and its beautiful churchyard should mark well October 1842. It was then that the Reverend Joseph Blount Cheshire arrived to head the parish. In addition to caring for the spiritual lives of his congregation, he had a fence erected around the churchyard and then proceeded to plant it full of both native and exotic trees and shrubs.
The congregation, small as it was, soon outgrew its church. While plans were made to erect a larger church, the vestry acquired a half-acre lot on the northeast side of the churchyard. An adjacent half acre was given to the church by a group of prominent citizens.
In 1859 the thirty-three communicants of Calvary Church began work on the new building with a subscription of $9,000. The plans called for a church which could accommodate a congregation of 500. The population of Tarboro in that year was around 1,200. By 1860 the walls, towers, spires, roof and floors were done, but the construction was interrupted when the Civil War began. Windows and doors were boarded up and stayed that way until 1866.
In the interim between the end of the War and the repercussions of the Reconstruction, a healthy cotton crop enabled the parishioners of Calvary to contribute an additional $10,000 to finish the Church. It was consecrated on May 10, 1868. Finishing, furnishing and refurbishing have proceeded over the years causing many to acclaim Calvary the most beautiful church they have ever seen. This feeling is only enhanced by the beautiful and botanically diverse churchyard.
In the last seventy years, Calvary church has proved to be an excellent training ground for young clergy. From this parish, three former clergy became bishops: M. George Henry, Gray Temple and John S. Spong. Our most recent rector, the Reverend William E. Smyth, served the people of the parish from January of 1992 until he retired as rector in June of 2010.
Location, Buildings & Staff
Calvary Church is located in the historic district of downtown Tarboro. The Church is a few blocks from the County Courthouse, City Hall, and the three other downtown churches – Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist. The Gothic-style Church is built of red brick. The Cheshire Memorial Parish House and All Saints’ Chapel, housed in the same building, were built in 1922. The brick cloister connecting the Parish House and the Church was given as a memorial in 1926, and in the same year the brick wall surrounding the churchyard was given as a memorial. The interior of the Church is adorned by many beautiful stained glass windows, all of which were given as memorial gifts over a period of time.
In 1958, the Vestry and congregation realized that the Parish House was no longer adequate for Christian education and church school purposes. A detailed study was made, and property was acquired on the North side of Church Street across from the existing Parish House. A building fund campaign raised $150,000, and the new two-story brick building was erected. Memorial Hall houses the present church school rooms, two parlors, a kitchen, and a multi-purpose room which is used as gymnasium, dining room, and meeting room. A pre-school for two-, three-, and four-year-old children has operated in this building for over thirty years.
Cheshire Memorial Parish House now houses the rector’s office, administrative offices, music room and acolyte, choir and clergy vesting rooms. The auditorium of the Parish House, known as Clark hall, is used for receptions, group meetings, lectures, concerts and other similar activities.
In 1971, Calvary Church received a challenge gift from a faithful parishioner to help finance the purchase of a new organ. This organ is of German make, designed and constructed by the Zimmer Company of Charlotte, North Carolina, and was installed and officially dedicated on September 24, 1972. It is a two manual organ with nineteen independent ranks of pipes, suited especially for baroque music with modifications for liturgical use.
Calvary maintains a two-story, colonial style residence for its rectors and their families. The Rectory, located at 1008 Saint Patrick Street, is a few blocks from the church in Tarboro’s Historic District. It was built in 1940 and renovated in 1960. It has four bedrooms; three full bathrooms and a fenced in back yard.
Realizing the necessity to rebuild, improve, and update the buildings, Calvary Parish has been blessed by numerous Capital Campaigns. The most recent, raising $775,625 was held in 2007. This money has been designated for maintaining and updating Calvary’s beautiful buildings.
The staff consists of a part-time parish administrator; a part-time director of Christian Education; a part-time organist and choir director, who is a professional musician; and a full-time parish secretary. The parish also has a full-time sexton/groundskeeper. In addition to the paid staff, Calvary has a Vocational Deacon assigned to the parish by the Bishop.