Might the Episcopal/Anglican Tradition have something to offer Elizabethton and Carter County in Southern Appalachia? Might Elizabethton and Carter County — Appalachia — offer greater understanding and ministry for the Episcopal/Anglican family of Christianity? “May we,” asks the Reverend Timothy Holder, priest and pastor at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, “spiritually, culturally and liturgically more fully appreciate the abundance and beauty of God right here at home?”
“Appalachia Evensong” celebrated at St. Thomas on the First Sunday of Advent in December 2018, was the subject of a paper selected for presentation by Holder at the Appalachian Research Symposium at the University of Kentucky on March 1-2 in Lexington.
“Appalachian Evensong,” according to worshipers, began to reveal the power and great riches of traditional mountain and English Traditional hymnody. Hymns from 18th and 19th century England, melodies and songs known to the first settlers of the Watauga Valley raised spirit, voice and worship as hammered dulcimer, guitar, and mandolin joined piano and organ.
Bible readings were each followed by song. As the Prophet Isaiah promised a “new heaven and new earth,” a Free Holiness pianist and singer rang out, “I Am in a New World,” a Ralph Stanley favorite. As the congregation encircled the nave of the beautiful, historic church, hand-in-hand, ‘call-and-response,’ the people concluded singing “How Great Thou Art.” “The Spirit of my grandparents from over in Morganton (North Carolina) blessed me here tonight,” commented a family member asking, “When can we do this again?” A younger couple declared, “This is who we are, there is nothing but love here tonight.” The same couple brought a pew-full for a similarly planned service at Midnight Mass at St. Thomas.
Plans call for a “Summer Appalachian Bluegrass Evensong” on Thursday, June 13, on the Church’s West Lawn during the City’s Annual “Covered Bridge Festival,” June 14-15. “We give God thanks for opening up our minds and hearts to welcome Appalachia more beautifully into our lives,” said Father Holder.
Holder, whose family settled here before the American Revolution, was educated at Happy Valley Elementary and High Schools. He is a graduate of The University of the South at Sewanee where he was named “Fellow of the School of Theology” in 2002. He graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 1997 spending time at Keble College, Oxford. Today, he is a doctoral candidate at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria with a focus in Appalachian Studies at East Tennessee State University.