 When a tornado ripped through Fayetteville late in the afternoon of February 29, 1952, one of the many buildings destroyed was the only Protestant Episcopal Church in Lincoln County. In the rubble of stone and wood which remained of the once-elegant little stone edifice that was St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church, a register dating back to 1881 remained intact. The small gray ledger recorded in handwriting a great deal of the history of the church as well as births, deaths, marriages and other items of interest among members of the congregation.The building destroyed in 1952 was first completed in 1883 after the formation of the church in Fayetteville in 1881. Prior to the erection of the church building at the corner of what is now East Washington Street and North Elk Avenue, services were held in homes of members or at Lincoln County Courthouse. The first congregation was organized by A.S. Thomas, a banker from Columbia, Tennessee who moved to Fayetteville in 1881. The register records of that year list the Lamb, Edmonson, McGehee, Kingsley, Thomas, Dougherty, Murray and Carter families as members. The cornerstone of the church was laid with appropriate ceremony on September 22, 1882, and that the first Eucharist was celebrated in the unfinished Church of St. Mary Magdalene on May 4, 1884. The minutes of the Guild of St. Mary Magdalene (the forerunner of the current Episcopal Churchwomen) state that the church was dedicated on St. Mary Magdalene's Day, July 22, 1884 and in 1890 the mission became a parish.
The ivy which grew on the walls of the old church until it was destroyed was brought from Kennilworth Castle, the home of Sir Walter Scott, in England. A "Rev. Hale," the second priest at the church, was an Englishman and on various trips back to England he brought articles to be used in the church. Articles included brasses, an altar cross, communion candles and a candelabrum. These items were slightly damaged in the tornado but were restored and are still in use. A huge brass eagle, whose out-spread wings held a large Bible, was purchased by the Rev. Mr. Hale and is still in good condition. Suspended from the exposed aged wooden rafters above the chancel of the original church were seven brass lamps with red glass chimneys enclosing candles. The lamps represented the seven churches of Asia. They were demolished by the tornado and one was blown through the wall of the rectory next door.
There was also a unique organ in the original church which came from Christ Church in Memphis. During the War Between the States, this organ was seized from Christ Church by drunken soldiers who took it into the streets of Memphis and danced by its music. Later it was retrieved and sent to St. Mary Magdalene where it was used for many years. The unusual feature of the organ was that it was ground by hand, and a person had to be behind it grinding before it would emit a sound. Early members of the church report that if a sound did not come from the instrument, it was usually found that the little boy organ grinder had fallen asleep. Even before the disastrous tornado of 1952, another tornado had damaged the church slightly in 1890, but it was evidently not very serious. The laying of the cornerstone of the present church occurred May 23, 1954, when a dedication service with Bishop Garth officiating was held. A cross, a Book of Common Prayer, a Holy Bible and a history of the church including names of its founders were placed in the cornerstone. Also placed there was the original box which was in the cornerstone. Of Gothic design, the new building used the stone of the former structure and was especially planned to simulate many of the features which had made the old church an outstanding and much-loved landmark.
Only 30 famlies were members of the church at the time the first building was destroyed, and they undertook to rebuild the church. In 1959 a parish house was constructed next to the new church. Both are now completely paid for, the last payment on the $12,500 parish house note having been made. From the time of its founding until about 1920 the church was served by a full-time resident clergyman, but from 1920 to 1955 it was served by seminarians and supply clergy from the University of the South at Sewanee. During these years without a minister the church was forced to go from "parish status" (being entirely self-supporting) to "mission status" (depending on the diocese for financial support.) The church did not have a resident clergyman again until 1955.
Following the 1952 tornado destruction the nine families with 33 active members, who were the church family of St. Mary Magdalene, rebuilt the church on the same spot but rotated 90 degrees to the south.
At the regular meeting of the Mission Council on December 11, 1991, the members voted unanimously to apply to the Diocese of Tennessee at the 160th Convention, for parish status. In the calendar year 1991 the church became financially independent of the Diocese of Tennessee. In January 1992 it obtained parish status. |
Bishop Barth officiated at the laying of the cornerstone of the present church on June 7, 1953. The first parish hall was built in 1960; it was divided into Sunday School rooms in 1985 when a new parish hall was added. In 1982, St. Mary Magdalene celebrated its Centennial, and buried a time capsule to be opened in 2007.
