Field Education - Site Analysis - St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church

 Site Analysis - Lahoma Howard (Seminary Intern)

St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church

3321 Wheeler Road, Augusta, Georgia  30909

Office phone : 706.738.6676

Emblem: The Canterbury Cross

Mission Statement: “A home where all belong and experience God’s Love”

Neighborhood

Mostly residential, upper/middle class single family dwellings. 

Within a 10 block radius there are a number of churches - this is pretty much the case for everywhere in Augusta - there are a LOT of churches in the area, people here in the bible belt really do still go to church regularly. 

There are a number of shopping and restaurant areas and “strip malls” within a few minutes drive. 

It is impossible for me to tell  if the churches in the area are “anchor” institutions for the neighborhood residents without actually knocking on doors and asking people where they go to church. I can say that from looking at our directory there are few if any parishioners who come from the immediate neighborhood. Many of our parishioners come from the surrounding areas, some quite far - like me, coming from Appling which is 20 miles, others from Evans, Grovetown, Wrens, Harlem, and N. Augusta (which is actually S. Carolina), and McCormick, SC. 

The immediate neighborhood has one of the lowest crime rates in the area, being rated as “Safest” by Neighborhood scout:

Google Map of the area with St. Augustine’s pinned:

The immediate neighborhood is largely residential. There are several schools nearby - Warren Rd. Elementary School, A.B. Merry Elementary school, Lake Forest Elementary School, and Langford Middle school. I would say that these two places probably could be considered as “Anchor Institutions” in the area, in particular during the pandemic schools have served as distributors of food and meals for children and families who have struggled with food insecurity. 

There is also the Summerville campus of Augusta University within a few minutes drive, and this is where St. Augustines has traditionally operated its Episcopal Campus Ministry. 

The racial makeup of the neighborhood is largely white. 

 

However it is in close proximity to a majority black area just on the other side of the Walton Way Extension. The City of Augusta is more than 50% black. 

The neighborhood is in the “High” income category, however not in the “Top1%” income category for Augusta. 

This is pretty typical of the locations for many Episcopal Churches. The Episcopal church is considered the denomination with the highest average SES of all Christian Denominations. 

Considering the high income, like most of Augusta the average rent for the neighborhood is only $1000 a month. In order to get much higher rent you have to go pretty far out into the suburbs, and nearby neighborhoods have a lower average rent of about $850 a month. 

https://bestneighborhood.org/rent-cost-augusta-ga/

The politics of the neighborhood are liberal leaning/mostly liberal, however as you can see from this map Augusta is kind of a conclave of liberalism within the larger area of conservatism that surrounds it. 

That being said, the Rev. Jim Said who is the Rector of St. Augustines has had to remove his rainbow banner that said “Proudly Welcoming All” during pride week as it got vandalized. 

We now have this banner up outside: 

Theological beliefs

The Episcopal church in canon is very liberal, open and affirming of LGBTQ individuals, and ordains women, and openly LGBTQ people. However, at St. Augustines it would be difficult if not impossible to convince the current vestry to approve the wedding of an LGBT couple. There is an undercurrent of conservatism and accompanying homophobia/transphobia that is part of the culture of this region of the US that we are working to change. 

The theology/professed beliefs of the Episcopal church are mainline protestant, liberal, open and affirming, and profess radical welcome. However, there are still pockets of churches that are more conservative on the spectrum, like St. Augstines. 

The statement of belief from the Episcopal Church USA website:

“We Episcopalians believe in a loving, liberating, and life-giving God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As constituent members of the Anglican Communion in the United States, we are descendants of and partners with the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church, and are part of the third largest group of Christians in the world.

We believe in following the teachings of Jesus Christ, whose life, death, and resurrection saved the world.

We have a legacy of inclusion, aspiring to tell and exemplify God’s love for every human being; women and men serve as bishops, priests, and deacons in our church. Laypeople and clergy cooperate as leaders at all levels of our church. Leadership is a gift from God, and can be expressed by all people in our church, regardless of sexual identity or orientation.

We believe that God loves you – no exceptions”.

https://www.episcopalchurch.org/about-us/

The Episcopal Church is considered to be in “Full Communion” relationship with: 

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Moravian Church

Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar, India

Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht

Philippine Independent Church 

Church of Sweden

Full communion is described as the following:

“We understand full communion to be a relation between distinct churches in which each recognizes the other as a catholic and apostolic church holding the essentials of the Christian faith. Within this new relation, churches become interdependent while remaining autonomous…Diversity is preserved, but this diversity is not static. Neither church seeks to remake the other in its own image, but each is open to the gifts of the other as it seeks to be faithful to Christ and his mission. They are together committed to a visible unity in the church’s mission to proclaim the Word and administer the Sacraments”.

The Episcopal Church considers the following to be “Ecumenical Dialog Partners”:

United Methodist Church

Presbyterian Church

Anglican-Roman Catholic Church

While I am a member of the UCC currently, I was raised Episcopalian and was confirmed in the Church in 2019. I have 35 years of experience with their liturgy and know the Book of Common Prayer well, and am familiar with their political structure and governance. I have been able to seamlessly integrate myself into the parish, and am familiar with many of the ins and outs of daily life in an Episcopal Parish. 

Church Clergy: 

Rev. Jim Said

Rev. Terri Degenhardt 

Rev. Thomas Barron

Rev. Dr. Kurt Miller

Rev. John Warner (Deacon)

Rev. Faye Forbes (Deacon)

Shelley Martin - Seminarian/Postulant (Sewanne)

Lahoma Howard - Seminary Intern (PSR)

https://staugustinesga.wixsite.com/staugustineaugusta/leadership

Biographies of all clergy are available at the above link. 

As part of my internship with St. Augustines I am working with the Canterbury Club Episcopal Campus ministry. One of the big issues that they have had is that there is little interest in the Episcopal church at the local Summerville campus. This campus is largely Black students, who are doing vocational training. When I sat with Rev. Terri Degenhardt and discussed the history of the Canterbury club one thing I discovered is that they had not gone to the Augusta University Medical campus at all, and if you want to find the students who are current Episcopalians that might be a good place to start because of the association of the Episcopal Church with higher SES. I have a suspicion that the black students on campus may already have religion/churches that they are involved with or at least have an affinity to, and that they may be a hard sell for the Episcopal church. I do not believe that the Campus ministry should strive for diversity simply for diversity's sake, as there is some value to be had in affecting the faith formation of white people in the region in more liberal/progressive/liberative theological directions. It has been my recommendation that we expand our campus ministry outward to the Medical College Campus and also to the main AU campus where we may encounter students who are curious about more liberal ideas, but who are only loosely affiliated with a church. I know that the more conservative Southern Baptists and Pentecostal Churches are very active on these campuses and it is hoped that we can perhaps rescue some of these students before they get captured by the conservative armada. 

Organizational structure and decision making processes

The organizational structure of the Episcopal church parish is that of a Vestry that is elected by the parish in 3 year cycles.The Vestry consists of 9 members, each serving 3 year terms. Three members are elected each year.

The Vestry has various positions, such as Senior and Junior Warden, Treasurer, among others. They are responsible for making decisions regarding the daily operations of the church including liturgical changes, building maintenance and upkeep, funding for various programs and ministries, and outreach projects. Items are prepared and voted on by the vestry at monthly vestry meetings. Special meetings can be called if necessary. 

Church Resources

Like many churches, St. Augustines has suffered financially during the pandemic and are having to make some hard decisions regarding where to spend money. They did make a significant investment in upgrading the technology for the church in order to live-stream services which has proven to be a good decision so far. It has aided the retention of members, and also attracted some new members. One of my tasks will be working to improve their social media presence and reach with the services that are offered. 

They have a beautiful campus in a good location in Augusta and some local/neighborhood outreach might prove fruitful. One of the issues I am going to bring up with them is having some outdoor events over the holidays that might attract the local neighbors, such as Halloween trick or treat event, and Carol Singing in the garden during the Advent season. 

The building is in relatively good condition, however like most older churches they have had issues with water leaks, the roof, plumbing issues, etc. 

The church (like many) has a large number of aging parishioners, and a number of widows/widowers in need of pastoral care.

They do have a number of young families with children, and a youth group that is active and engaged with both the church and community. 

I think the biggest resource that they have that remains untapped is the surrounding neighborhood and the nearby Augusta Medical College Campus, and these are both projects that we are discussing means of outreach for.