Clergy & Staff
Rector: The Reverend Dr. James Fraser Lyon IV
The Reverend Doctor James Fraser Lyon IV was born in Cheraw, South Carolina, on July 14, 1956. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from Winthrop University, a master of divinity degree from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and a doctorate in education from the University of South Carolina.
Father Lyon was ordained to both the diaconate and priesthood by the Right Reverend William A. Beckham, bishop of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina. He served as priest assistant at Saint Martin's in the Fields Episcopal Church, Columbia, as rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd, York, and since 1991, as rector of Church of the Good Shepherd, Columbia.
Father Lyon has exercised ministry in the diocese and community in the following capacities: chair of the National Mission Committee ,1984-1999; Appalachian Mission work trip site director, 1984-present; Diocesan Standing Committee, 1990-1993; Episcopal Nominating & Election Committee, 1993-1994; Diocesan Committee on Aging, 2002-2006; Board of Directors of Home Works of America, 1999-2007; Board of Visitors of Home Works of America, 2007-2010; Diocesan Executive Council, 2004-2007; Commission on Congregations, 2004-2007; Episcopal Search Committee, 2009-2010; and bishop's representative to the Board of Trustees of Still Hopes Episcopal Retirement Community, 2011-present.
Devotional and religious formation societies have a valued place in Father Lyon's spiritual life. He is a member of the Society of Mary, the Society of the Holy Cross, the Anglican Priests Eucharistic League and the Brotherhood of Saint Andrew.
He has been married since 1980 to the former Sallie Powers Leslie of Bennettsville, S.C., and they have two adult children.
In Celebration of Father Lyon's ministry
During the course of our 130-year history, The Church of the Good Shepherd has been blessed with a number of long-serving rectors, notably the Reverend Mr. Lewis Nathaniel Taylor, of blessed memory, who served the parish faithfully for more than 22 years, from March 1, 1925, until his death on December 2, 1947. He was a blessing to Good Shepherd and to the greater Columbia community, and his status as our longest-serving rector endured for more than six decades.
But a change was set in motion on July 1, 1991, when our parish called the Reverend Doctor James Fraser Lyon IV to become our 13th rector, and on April 4 of this year, Father Lyon became our longest-serving rector. During these nearly 23 years, Father Lyon, like the Rev. Mr. Taylor, has faithfully served God and our parish, and has become beloved not only by our parish, but by the broader Columbia community.
It is a resounding testament to Father Lyon that for more than two decades he has been able to faithfully serve as the parish's own good shepherd, the icon of Christ to all parishioners, rich or poor, liberal or conservative, young or old, in such turbulent and polarizing times for the church and for society at large.
In honor and celebration of the service that Father Lyon and Sallie have given and continue to give to our parish, The Church of the Good Shepherd held a Thanksgiving Eucharist on the evening of Friday, May 14, with the Right Reverend Charles Duvall as celebrant and homilist.
During a reception following the Mass, Senior Warden Robert Clawson presented Father Lyon with framed copies of S.1134, a Concurrent Resolution introduced by S.C. Senate President Pro Tempore John Courson and adopted this spring by the South Carolina General Assembly, honoring Father Lyon's service. You can read the resolution here.
The celebration coincided with the thirtieth anniversary of Father Lyon's ordination to the priesthood, and we all join Bishop Duvall in looking forward to coming together again to celebrate Father Lyon's thirty-fifth anniversary.
Parish Musician: Henry Fulmer
Henry G. Fulmer, a native of Fountain Inn, began his musical studies at age seven, first as a student of Enid W. Walkup and later under Edwin D. Clark, with both of whom he studied piano and organ. During that same time, he studied cello for nine years and also performed as a member of South Carolina All State Orchestra and the two youth symphonies headquartered in Greenville. At Newberry College and subsequently at the University of South Carolina, he was an organ student of Thomas R. Spacht and John B. Haney, and he has pursued additional organ studies with Edmund Shay and Susan Dickerson Moeser.
Before coming to The Church of the Good Shepherd in 2025, Mr. Fulmer held organist and organist-choirmaster positions with Messiah Lutheran Church, Mauldin (1973); Fountain Inn Presbyterian Church (1973-1974); Faith Lutheran Church, Newberry and First Presbyterian Church, Laurens (1974-1977); Centennial Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Columbia (1977-1979); St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, Columbia (1979-1983); Reformation Lutheran Church, Columbia (1985-2015); and St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Columbia (2015-2025). In 2023, he marked his 50th continuous year of church music ministry.
He is a member of the Greater Columbia Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians and the Association of Anglican Musicians.
Mr. Fulmer holds graduate degrees in English and Library and Information Science and is an emeritus tenured faculty librarian at the University of South Carolina and former director of the South Caroliniana Library, from which he retired at the close of 2021 after more than 42 years of service.
Christian Education: Melanie McGehee
Church Secretary: Debbie Cooper