St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church Pittsboro NC

Our Mission

"Seeking God, Serving God, Sharing God"

We hope that this website will give you a picture of how we at St. Bart's work to reflect the love of God. St. Bartholomew's is a small church that thinks big. We show it in how we worship, how we serve our community and the world, and how we build powerful bonds with one another.

Our History

Our little church has a rich history that began in colonial times, when the Church of England was the established church in the colony of North Carolina. The name of the parish dates from 1770, when a bill was introduced at the Colonial Assembly in New Bern to establish a county "by the name of Chatham County, and St. Bartholomew Parish." The act was ratified in 1771, to become effective the first day of April. The subsequent turmoil of rebellion and the Revolutionary War (1775-1783) resulted in a complete break between church and state and in disestablishment of the Church of England in this country.

The Protestant Episcopal Church of America arose to replace the Church of England. Many years later, in 1820, the earliest recorded Episcopal Church service was held in PIttsboro (probably at the courthouse). A church building needed to be constructed in order for the parish named St. Bartholomew to become a reality, however. The cornerstone was laid in March of 1832. St. Bartholomew's first service was held in December of that year.

Much has happened at St. Bartholomew's since 1832. Many devoted parishioners and clergy have worshiped together here. And many notable people have been buried in our cemetery.

 

Download St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church vCard with Service Times

Click here to contact the church  

Download Rector The Rev. Dr. Wilberforce Mundia vCard with bio

Click here to contact The Rev. Dr. Wilberforce Mundia  

 

http://www.saint-barts.org/  

 

 

Know how to get there? Share the knowledge with others!  

Please share parking information and/or parking experience!  

 

 

 

St. Bartholomew’s Parish Pittsboro, North Carolina

Much of what is written here is taken directly from the work of Martha Hope Smith. The information has been prepared for the purpose of informing visitors to St. Bartholomew’s during the Chatham County Historical Association Tour of Historic Churches December 6, 2015.

St. Bartholomew’s Parish 1833-1983 copyright, 1983, Martha Hope Smith, Printed by Pyb Printing, Pittsboro, NC.

“Out of the ruins of the Church of England emerged the Protestant Episcopal Church of America”.

The earliest recorded service of the Episcopal Church to be held in Pittsboro took place in the summer of 1820. The Rev. William Hooper, a professor at the University of North Carolina, reported to the diocesan convention that he had conducted three services during that period.

An important event for the Episcopalians of Pittsboro occurred October 19. 1823, when the Rt. Rev. John S. Ravenscroft visited them a few months following his consecration as the first Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina.

Shortly after the beginning of the nineteenth century a number of families from the lower Cape Fear section built summer homes in and around the village of Pittsboro. Among these families were the Hills, Moores, Waddells, and Watters. They were all members of the Episcopal Church and were instrumental in establishing the church in Pittsboro.

In a letter dated September 13, 1831 (written by Ann Moore to her cousin, Magdalen DeRosset “there are the number of communicants necessary for composing a Church and a meeting was held to “transact the business”. The group named the Church to be St. Bartholomew.

On October 15 1831, a contract was let for the construction of a church building. There is no information about how the land was acquired for the church building. The Rev. Thomas F. Davis of Wilmington took charge of St. Bartholomew’s on December 29, 1831.

In March of 1832 the cornerstone of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church was laid. The first marriage recorded in the parish register on April 10, 1832, the Rev. Thomas Davis was married to Ann Ivey Moore.

St. Bartholomew’s first representation in a diocesan convention was in 1833. It was at this convention that St. Bartholomew’s was admitted into union with the convention. The parochial report for that year – 18 communicants, a Sunday school of 22 scholars and 5 teachers, and a Bible class of 10.

“Working Society” ladies of the church made improvements in the house of worship in1837.

1838 The diocesan convention was held in St. Bartholomew’s. At that time St. Bartholomew’s had 31 communicants in 18 families.

In 1862 the vestry resolved to offer the church bell be given to the Confederate Government “…to aid in casting cannon for said Government in its present struggle for independence. The generous offer was not accepted and the bell remains.”

About the third year of the war St. Bartholomew’s joined with several other churches to raise funds to purchase five bales of cotton which were sent to England to pay for the printing of an edition of the Book of Common Prayer. The name “Confederate” was put in place for “United” in the services of Morning and Evening Prayer. The prayer books came safely through the blockade and were distributed throughout the Confederacy.

According to Bishop Joseph B. Cheshire, it was “really the only edition of a ‘Confederate Prayer Book’ known in the Confederacy”.

The Episcopal Churchwomen: Beginning as the “Working Society of the women” they sang, held fairs, sewed, prayed, polished and even gave their own silver to be melted and made into a communion service.

In 1880 in the Church Messenger (now known as The Disciple published by the Diocese of North Carolina) that the society had been organized for the purpose of aiding foreign missions and was responsible for an annual scholarship of $50 in aid for Bishop Charles C. Penick’s work in West Africa. (Historical note: Penick Village in Southern Pines was built and named in honor of Bishop Edwin A. Penick).

In 1882 the society had resolved to become a branch of the Women’s Auxiliary. In 1892 the Thompson Orphanage Guild was organized at St. Bartholomew’s. The Thompson Orphanage Guild became a part of the Women’s Auxiliary to the board of missions, and still later, that group became the Episcopal Churchwomen. Thompson Orphanage is now known as the Thompson Child and Family Focus located centrally in Matthews, N.C. www.thompsoncff.org.

Today the Episcopal Church Women of St. Bartholomew’s actively participating in the life of the Church and community is represented in the Durham Convocation of the Diocese of North Carolina.

The Churchyard: Filled with stone and flora all monuments of those who have loved and served this little church. In the spring, all who visit will find a quiet garden of pink and white dogwood and azalea in bloom. All other times visitors will always find evergreens, ivy, boxwood and holly in addition to the birds and squirrels.

The plantings of the cemetery are themselves a memorial to Henry Adolphus London (1808 – 1882) who placed many of them there long ago. A giant holly stands by his grave.

Gravestones with the earliest death dates are those marking the resting places of William Boylan (1806 – 1828) graduate of the University of North Carolina living at Buck Horn plantation; Mary E. McClenahan, 3 months, who died in July 1830; and John Waddell (1770 – 1830).

More than twenty persons buried at the church were soldiers in the Confederate Army some officers and some enlisted men.

As one walks through the beautiful cemetery that is St. Bartholomew’s churchyard, it is hard not to believe that the real heroes that rest here are the mothers and fathers who gave so much to the church and the community.

Many tiny graves tell a history of struggles by men and women during the past one hundred and eighty years, struggles to survive and grow in spirit, and to contribute to the well-being of generations to come.

St. James’

In response to the state’s enacted Jim Crow legislation St. James mission was established in 1879 for the colored people in Pittsboro under the supervision of the rector of St. Bartholomew’s. The Methodist parsonage was purchased for the use of the mission. One may be able to locate the metal stob marking a corner of the former tract which is now in the cemetery of the Pittsboro United Methodist Church.

Rev. Mr. Joyner in his parochial report for 1882 remarked that “the mission was doing all we could expect, and its progress in many respect has been beyond the hopes we at first felt to entertain. This has been due…to the zeal and devotion of Mr. White, the Lay Missionary”. The property served as a schoolroom, chapel and living room for a teacher.

In June 1882 Bishop Lyman visited and held a service and confirmed eight persons. The families that were the strength of St. James’ Mission in its early years were: Womack, Quince, Harris, Tinnen, Evans, Anderson, Ramsey, Alston, Bland, Crump and Council.

Communicant strength at the end of 1963 was listed as 14, with 5 baptized children. St. James’ was built large in hope and expectation, but the communicant strength lessened and its very size made it impractical. By 1968 most of the communicants of St. James’ had found new ecclesiastical homes. Many became members of the St. Bartholomew’s family.