ANNA PAULINE (PAULI) MURRAY

November 20, 1910 – July 1, 1985

by Margaret (Meg) McCann, St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, Durham, 2012

THE REV. DR. PAULI MURRAY, Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, 1977

The Rev. Dr. Anna Pauline (Pauli) Murray was many things – writer, lawyer, professor, and advocate for the rights of African Americans and women. She was also the first African American woman ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church. In 2012, she was memorialized as a saint in The Episcopal Church.

Pauli’s maternal grandmother, Cornelia Fitzgerald (Mrs. Robert), was the daughter of a slave, Harriet, and a slave owner, Sidney Smith. Cornelia was baptized in 1854 at The Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, as “one of the five servant children belonging to Miss Mary Ruffin Smith.” Cornelia had her own daughters baptized at St. Matthew’s, Hillsborough, and raised them as Episcopalians.

Pauli was born in Baltimore and baptized at St. James’ Episcopal Church. At age 3, after her mother died, she came to live in Durham with her maternal grandparents and her mother’s sister, Pauline. The family worshiped at St. Titus’ Episcopal Church, which Pauline and a third sister, Sarah, had helped establish. At age 9, she was confirmed by the Rt. Rev. Henry B. Delany, Suffragan Bishop for Colored Work who later, on his deathbed, said to Pauli, “You are a child of destiny.”

Perhaps Pauli’s first inclination of a call to ordination came in 1955 when her Aunt Pauline was dying and Pauli read to her from the Book of Common Prayer. After planning the memorial service for her partner, Renee Barlow, in 1973, she responded to a stronger call and entered General Theological Seminary. Three years later, The Episcopal Church approved the ordination of women priests, and Pauli was one of the first women (as well as the first African American woman) to be so ordained, on January 8, 1977.

When celebrating her first Eucharist at The Chapel of the Cross on February 13, 1977, Pauli read from her grandmother Cornelia’s Bible, from a lectern given in memory of Cornelia’s owner, Mary Ruffin Smith. (This was also the first Eucharist celebrated by a woman in North Carolina.) In her autobiography (Song in a Weary Throat), Pauli wrote, “Whatever future ministry I might have as a priest, it was given to me that day to be a symbol of healing. All the strands of my life had come together. Descendant of slave and of slave owner, I had already been called poet, lawyer, teacher, and friend. Now I was empowered to minister the sacrament of One in whom there is no north or south, no black or white, no male or female – only the spirit of love and reconciliation drawing us all toward the goal of human wholeness.”

In February 2007, in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Pauli’s ordination, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori preached at The Chapel of the Cross, saying, “I know that I stand here today only because she [Pauli] stood here before me. Her proud shoes carried many others down the road to freedom.” (Proud Shoes is the book Pauli wrote about growing up in Durham.)

More information is available at paulimurrayproject.org.

KATHRYN SEWELL NELSON

b. October 1, 1927

by Mamré Marsh Wilson, Saint Paul’s Church, Beaufort, 2012

Miss Kathryn on the left and her great granddaughter celebrating a birthday!

Kathryn Sewell was the only daughter of Lottie, a housekeeper, and Capt. Jack Sewell, a chief engineer on a Beaufort-based menhaden boat. One grandfather traveled on horseback downeast in Carteret County as a Free Will Baptist minister. The family lived on north Orange Street, overlooking Town Creek. Three older brothers served as Kathryn’s protectors and friends. She recalls many grocery delivery trips with a brother to Harkers Island, including bumpy roads and ferry boat rides.

Kathryn began school at Saint Paul’s School for kindergarten. After graduation from Beaufort High School and college in Greensboro she returned to Beaufort and became active in the USO. She helped the town watchmen monitor the coast for German submarines. She worked in the personnel department at Cherry Point Air Station, where she met her husband, Ed Nelson. On their first formal date, Kathryn took Ed to Saint Paul’s for a Maundy Thursday service. He was from New Bern, but it didn’t matter to the person who needed ushers. Ed’s first time in the church was the beginning of a long life for both of them.

As a “cradle” Episcopalian with a mother who was very active in the church, Kathryn has attended and served her church all her life. She was able to walk from home to Sunday School, where her class met in the church, in a special small pew below the “lamb” window. At age 8, Kathryn had diphtheria and was quarantined at home. Upon her return from the long absence from Sunday School her teacher said, “Well, looka here, little Kathryn’s back from the dead!”

While in high school Kathryn became a Sunday School teacher herself, following in the footsteps of her role model, Florence Brooks. Children she taught as a teenager are still members of the parish today. Sunday School lasted an hour, beginning with an assembly, a learning time for the Creed, Lord’s Prayer, colors of the church seasons, and singing. Kathryn played the piano for the assembly, and Mrs. Brooks commented one time to her “You’re getting more out of this than we are!” A window in the present-day classroom was painted by her friend Mamré Wilson and dedicated to Mrs. Brooks.

Kathryn and Ed Nelson had two children, Charlotte and Ed Junior. When “little” Ed was old enough, he went to Sunday School. He was in his mother’s room, as she had volunteered, once again, to teach a class of kindergarteners. Her classroom in the parish hall was surrounded by the love of God, with three little pews built by a parishioner and dedicated in memory of the infant son of a parish family. While rector of Saint Mary’s in Kinston, our present bishop, Clifton Daniel 3rd, secured the specifications for the pews. A retired priest built the small altar. The piano that Kathryn played as a young teenager rested against the north wall. Nearby was her storytelling area.

Kathryn celebrated 50 years as the kindergarten teacher in 2005, then continued serving until her retirement in 2010.

MARGARET McLEOD HERRINGTON

December 17, 1932 – December 17, 2000

by Debbie McCarthy, Church of the Holy Family, Chapel Hill, 2012

Margaret Herrington

Margaret McLeod Herrington: a beautiful Southern woman whose grace-filled spirit, gentleness and elegant charm were coupled with a core of remarkable strength, resilience and resolve.

Born in Chesterfield, SC, to John and Eva McLeod, Margaret earned a degree in education from Queens College, Charlotte, then met and married the love of her life, Robert T. Herrington. They moved to the Pacific Northwest where Bob attended medical school and she taught in the Seattle public schools, then eventually called Chapel Hill home for 46 years.

Margaret was the loving mother of four children; the pillar of many community organizations. She helped establish the Pediatric Teaching Program so hospitalized children could keep current with their school work. She served on the Boards of the UNC Hospital Auxiliary and Orange County Habitat for Humanity. She worked to preserve the Chapel Hill Junior Service League Country Store that raised funds for myriad community projects. Margaret received the League’s 1971 Cup of Service Award for outstanding volunteerism. She somehow found time to co-own and operate Pace Gifts for twelve years.

Margaret’s devotion to the Church of the Holy Family was profound. She served on the vestry and as senior warden, a post not normally held by women at the time. She had a special place in her heart for the Augustine Project, a parish outreach ministry founded in 1994 to train and support volunteer tutors who provide free, long-term, one-on-one instruction in reading, writing and spelling to low-income children and teens who struggle with literacy.

When the Augustine Project nearly died from lack of funds and trainees, Margaret refused to let it go. Her dedication and tenacity convinced the vestry to: 1) keep the project alive; 2) establish a board to oversee it; and 3) hire a director to run it. She was named the first board chair. A director was hired. Today, the project serves at-risk students in 119 schools and after-school programs across the Triangle. More than 700 tutors have been trained locally since Margaret chaired the board, while replication chapters are thriving in eleven other cities in three states. Margaret had a vision; she understood the need and the potential for Augustine tutoring. As cancer foreshadowed her untimely death at age 68, Margaret asked that memorial gifts go to the Augustine Project, a gesture that enhanced its credibility and bolstered its financial stability.

Each year the Augustine Project remembers and honors its guardian angel by presenting the Margaret Herrington Award to an outstanding volunteer. Margaret was also memorialized through her family’s gift of the stained glass window behind Holy Family’s baptismal font.

In the homily at Margaret’s funeral, the Rev. Lisa Fischbeck said, “Margaret died knowing that she loved and was loved. Hers was a grace-filled death. Margaret also died with the comfort of knowing that death is not the end… that is why she wanted us to be sure to sing hymns with Alleluias. Lots of Alleluias.”

For the life and legacy of Margaret McLeod Herrington, “Alleluia!” indeed.

MARIAN LAMBETH SAFRIET

b. December 14, 1923

by William Horsley, St. Thomas, Reidsville, 2011

Marian Lambeth Safriet

Marian was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, but grew up in Florida. She graduated from Florida State University in 1945 with a degree in accounting. She taught at FSU for a year when the university became co-ed. She attended graduate school at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. In 1951 she married Hubert Safriet and for 10 years they lived in Kannapolis, North Carolina, moving to Reidsville and St. Thomas in 1961, when Hubert’s job with Wachovia Bank transferred him.

Marian began working in the business office of Annie Penn Memorial Hospital in Reidsville as an internal auditor and became Chief Financial Officer of the hospital. Upon her retirement from that position, she assumed the volunteer position of coordinator of volunteers. She recruited a number of St. Thomas members to serve as volunteers at the hospital. From 1981 to 1982 she served as the first woman President of the North Carolina Chapter of the Healthcare Financial Management Association. On her retirement, she was made an honorary life member of that organization.

At St. Thomas, she became nothing less than a driving force.  She has a lovely soprano voice and sang in the choir until her health dictated that she move to be near her daughter. She served several terms on the vestry, including serving as Senior Warden. For several years she was the church treasurer and was one of the persons responsible for instituting correct accounting practices to the church finances. There was not an office in the ECW at St. Thomas that she did not hold, at one time or another. Most often, she was Treasurer, but she also served several terms as President. She was a long-time member of the St. Thomas Finance Committee, frequently serving as Chairperson.

Locally, she served as President and as Treasurer of the Reidsville Federated Woman’s Club and was on the board of the Reidsville Family YMCA and was Treasurer of that organization. She was on the board of the Reidsville United Way and, you guessed it, was also Treasurer.

She also lent her considerable energy and talents to work within the Diocese of North Carolina. She was on the board of the Diocesan Episcopal Church Women for a number of years and was Treasurer for three years. She served on the Board of the Penick Home for fifteen years and was Treasurer of the Penick Home for several years. At St. Thomas, she was always an advocate for donations to the Penick Home and still is a contributor. She is the only member of St. Thomas to have served as a delegate to the General Convention in 1991. When Bishop Estill asked the Convention to select a Coadjutor in 1999, Marian was named to the search committee. Her job on that committee was to be the “angel,” or contact person for Rev. Michael B. Curry, who became our 11th Bishop in 2000.

Since 2008 Marian has been living near her daughter in Asheville, North Carolina.

BERTHA MERRILL "B" HOLT

August 16, 1916 – June 18, 2010

by Shara Partin, Church of the Holy Comforter, Burlington, 2010

My friend was born and reared in Eufaula, Alabama. She graduated from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA, attended UNC Law School and got her LLB from the University of Alabama in 1941. Luckily for us, she married a North Carolina classmate who, after WWII, took her to live in Burlington where they reared three children. At Holy Comforter she became one of their treasures, loved and respected by all. Always outspoken, she was the first woman elected to the Vestry and the first female Senior Warden.  The Diocese was also blessed by her leadership and example. She was the first women elected to the Standing Committee, served on Diocesan Council and numberless committees. She was often the first woman blazing a trail for others.

In 1975 she was appointed to represent the 25th District in the North Carolina House of Representatives and served until 1994. With grace, warmth, charm and a bee pinned on her shoulder she determinedly sponsored and got passed legislation to provide a chapel in the Women’s Prison, inmate substance abuse programs, half way houses for female inmates and their children and the marital rape law. In 1995 she was a member of the delegation to the 4th UN Conference on Women held in Bejing. Until her death this past June at age 93 she spoke with a clear and urgent sense of what’s right and just on behalf of those unable to speak for themselves or whose voices were unheeded.

She received numerous awards, among them the Distinguished Alumnus Award from UNC; an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Agnes Scott, and the Frank Porter Graham Award. In 1995 the ECW of the Diocese of North Carolina made her their Honored Woman at the Triennial Meeting in Indianapolis. In her acceptance of the Faith Active in Public Life Award given by the NC Council of Churches in 1987 she defined her life when she said “I had to do some re-thinking in my mind about religion and politics. I asked myself, shall I divide myself into two little compartments — one that says Church and one that says State: I realized I couldn’t possibly do that.”

Bertha Merrill Holt, “B” a woman to remember.