Bishop's visit caps church anniversary

The current Christ Episcopal Church building at Scott Street and Capitol Avenue in Little Rock was completed in 1941 and features native Arkansas stone. The congregation is celebrating its 175th anniversary today and Sunday with a visit by the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.
The current Christ Episcopal Church building at Scott Street and Capitol Avenue in Little Rock was completed in 1941 and features native Arkansas stone. The congregation is celebrating its 175th anniversary today and Sunday with a visit by the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, will be in Little Rock this weekend to celebrate the 175th anniversary of Christ Episcopal Church.

As presiding bishop, Jefferts Schori serves as chief pastor to the roughly 2 million members of the Episcopal Church spread across 110 dioceses in 16 countries. Jefferts Schori, the first woman elected as presiding bishop, announced in September that she won't seek another nine-year term. A new bishop will be elected during the church's General Convention on June 25-July 3 in Salt Lake City.

The Rt. Rev. Larry Benfield, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas, will join Jefferts Schori in a forum at 7 p.m. today at the church, located at 509 Scott St. She will also talk with parishioners at 9:15 a.m. Sunday and preach during the 10:30 service. A reception will follow in the church gallery.

The Sunday service is the culmination of a year-long celebration. A highlight will be the performance of an anthem, "Haste the Day," commissioned of composer Daniel E. Gawthrop, best known for his song "Sing Me to Heaven." The new anthem will be sung by the Christ Church Choir with organ accompaniment.

Steve Bullock, organist and choirmaster, said the choir has been practicing the piece for four or five weeks.

"It's very appropriate for Advent," he said.

The Rev. Scott Walters, rector of the church, said anniversary events throughout the year have included a photography exhibit and a time-lapse photo project of the church, a fundraiser for the church's Green Groceries program to help low-income residents and more. One event involved parishioners walking a stone from the church grounds to each of their fellow Episcopal churches in the Little Rock and North Little Rock area. Some were close, but the walk to St. Margaret's on Chenal Parkway was almost 14 miles.

Christ Episcopal Church was established on March 10, 1839, and soon after property was purchased on Scott Street, where it remains today. The first building was completed in 1846 but burned in 1873. Eventually another church was completed in 1887. In 1938, fire again destroyed the church. The current neo-gothic structure was completed in 1941.

The Episcopal Church, like many mainline Protestant churches, has been losing members for decades, but Christ Episcopal Church is defying that trend.

"What's really cool is that we average a little over 300 on a Sunday -- that's among our three services, two in the morning and one at night," Walters said. "We were down to 125 by the end of the '90s and having a really rough time until Larry [Benfield] came and the church opened itself to new life and opened its doors figuratively and literally to people. It didn't rest on its laurels."

Benfield was rector at Christ Church before he was elected bishop. Walters has been serving the church for nine years. He said he thinks the church is growing because of its welcoming spirit and openness to new people. The downtown revival has also helped.

"It would be silly not to acknowledge what's happening in downtown Little Rock. A new generation is starting to rethink the flight from the urban core to the suburbs," he said. "We've really embraced that, too."

Even as other churches moved to the suburbs, Christ Episcopal Church stayed put and Walters said its urban location is essential to its identity.

"It wasn't too long after that first meeting in 1839 that we staked our claim on the corner of Capitol and Scott and there's something really grounding about that," he said. "There's a lot of richness to be taken advantage of because we've stayed put and so much has happened to Little Rock in 175 years around this corner."

Information about the church and this weekend's events is available at christchurchlr.org.

Religion on 12/06/2014

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