On June 20th – 21st, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the dedication of our building. Episcopalians have been worshipping in Fort Mil for just over 50 years. A group from Our Saviour in Rock Hill began meeting at Wolfe Funeral home in the late 1950’s. But we’re not sure of the actual date. But we do know the actual date of the dedication of our building in 1959, June 21st. At that time the people of St. Paul’s were actually members of the parish of Our Saviour. St. Paul’s remained a chapel of Our Saviour until the early 70’s when it became a mission of the Diocese. So our 50th celebration is of length of time in which we have been worshipping in our building.
We will celebrate on June 20th with a festive Evensong and an Anniversary dinner. We have invited members and clergy from our past to return and celebrate with us. Evensong will begin at 5:45PM. Our choir will lead us in glorious worship of our Lord. At 6:30PM we will gather in the parish hall for dinner. The parish will provide the meat for the dinner but we need everyone to bring two side dishes so that we will have plenty of food to feed our guests visiting from out of town. Please call the office by June 10th to let us know if you will be attending so that we know how many people to expect. This will be a time to hear stories from the past, to share old photos, to see the parish scrapbooks, and to find out what was left in the cornerstone capsule by the founders 50 years ago.
On Sunday Bishop Henderson will be present with us at the 10:30AM service. At this festive Eucharist, we will rededicate our building to God’s glory and ourselves to God’s ministry. We will also have the sacrament of confirmation. Following that service we will have a reception in the parish hall and afterwards we will relay the cornerstone time capsule with memorabilia from our own day.
This occasion will be a great celebration of the life and ministry of the parish of St. Paul’s. I hope that everyone will plan to be a part of this celebration. Much has been accomplished in Christ’s name over these fifty years. Now it’s time to celebrate!
