The birth, loss and return of Eatonton’s Episcopal Church
An article published by The Eatonton Messenger in 1895 described the city’s Episcopalians' first meeting with the Bishop of Georgia. Over the next three years, the paper covered a growing number of Episcopalians meeting in each other’s homes for worship services.
Fundraising eventually began, with ice cream and cake served Sunday afternoons in “The Academy Grove” located on the current site of The Plaza Arts Center. By early 1899, the accumulated earnings of 25 cents per plate provided sufficient funds to buy a 50×100-feet lot from Bill Trippe Dennis, where All Angels, a small, wooden-framed church building, was constructed parallel to Jefferson Avenue, where it remains today.
The church’s first rector was Reverend John Jabez Lanier from sponsoring church Saint Stephens in Milledgeville. Rev. Lanier led regular worship services on Sunday or Wednesday evenings, commuting to Eatonton by train each week.
All went well in the little parish until 1916 when the dreaded boll weevil struck Eatonton four years earlier than in any other part of Georgia and quickly devastated the local cotton industry.
Unfortunately, nearly all members of All Angels were involved with cotton to some degree, so as people headed north to find new work, the population of Putnam County dwindled, as did the congregation of All Angels, resulting in the bishop being forced to close its doors in December 1919.
The property was sold back to the Dennis family and congregation members remaining at that time joined the Methodist church, worshipped at home, or commuted to Episcopal services in Milledgeville. Ultimately, the building that was once All Angels were given to Dennis's granddaughter, who converted it into a two-bedroom residence, and it remained for nearly 80 years.
On Feb. 18, 1999, The Messenger posted an advertisement announcing a group of Episcopalians and other Christians would meet three days later at the Eatonton Historical Society headquarters – the Bronson House – for evening prayer. Four people attended, then three more the next week, until eventually 16 were regularly attending.
By June 1999, the small group placed a purchase offer on the original church building and closed the deal in August, almost 100 years to the date after it first served as a place of worship. But the building, in serious disrepair, had to be converted from a residence back to a church. With limited funds, but plenty of enthusiasm, weekly work sessions began immediately.
Led by Bill and Lyn Clark, church members devoted their time and construction talents, while local “angels” donated in-kind services and supplies. All the while, funds were raised through countless garage sales, benefit programs, and generous contributions from individual donors to renovate the building.
Still, the daunting task of convincing the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta that All Angels should be recognized as a viable and official parish church remained. In October 1999, while construction remained underway, the congregation met with Bishop Frank Allan and his canon, Rick Callaway.
They were informed, however, that they had created a non-legitimate vestry (governing committee), had billed themselves as a church, which they were not, and worst of all, a group of only 16 people could not be recognized as a church in the Diocese of Atlanta.
However, upon further reflection, Bishop Allan called to inform the congregation it would be guided after all by the Diocese Congregation Development Committee through the process of becoming a church. Furthermore, he alerted them to some pews available from the remodeling of a church in Atlanta, and that Reverend Bob Dentler would be retiring from his Kennesaw church, moving to Lake Country, and would be interested in serving as the first rector of All Angels Episcopal Church.
Ultimately, All Angels were granted Worshipping Community Status by the 9th Bishop of Atlanta, John Neil Alexander, and held its first service in the newly renovated sanctuary on Christmas Eve 1999.
The church was formally admitted as a parish on Nov. 19, 2001, to the Diocese of Atlanta and was consecrated and dedicated the following May by Bishop Alexander.
An adjoining parish hall was constructed in 2008 for meeting space and in August 2019 Bishop Wimberly of the Diocese of Atlanta visited to bless the church and its new St. Francis Garden, recognizing the 120th anniversary of the church’s origin and 20th anniversary of its renewed formation.
All Angels Episcopal Church remains a long-standing member of the Eatonton Christian community in support of Bible study classes, the Eatonton Fire Department’s Christmas toy drive, the county school meal backpack program, and Putnam County Outreach initiatives, with a Blessing of the Animals, also conducted annually.
As a sacramental church, All Angels offers Holy Communion each Sunday, as well as Holy Baptism and other services when requested. All are welcome to worship services at 10 a.m. on Sundays at 405 N. Jefferson Ave., Eatonton, where brunch is served the first Sunday of each month. For more information, visit All Angels Episcopal Church online at allangels-eatonton.org.
Read the full article in the March-April issue of Lakelife, available free on newsstands and at www.lakelife.today.