A History of the Church of the Good Shepherd

CHAPTER SIX: Lewis Nathaniel Taylor

" ... a faithful pastor, a patient teacher and a wise counselor" --Book of Common Prayer

When Lewis Nathaniel Taylor began his rectorship on March 1, 1925, Good Shepherd's cup indeed runneth over for the second time in its forty-three year old history. Lewis Taylor was an exceptional man, a man beloved by his people and a friend to everyone. He was known throughout the city as "the pastor to all Columbia," exerting a tremendous influence over the lives of many, particularly his own parishioners. Included among them were the Rt. Rev. Albert Rhett Stuart, late Bishop of Georgia who was reared in Zion Church, Eastover and the Rev. Dr. Massey H. Shepherd, Jr. professor of liturgics at the Church Divinity Church of the Pacific, a convert to the Church while a student at the University of South Carolina, and a parishioner of Good Shepherd during his last year in Columbia. Striving constantly to teach the totality of the faith, Mr. Taylor labored diligently among the under-priviledged of the community. It was his belief that the Episcopal Church, and especially the Church of the Good Shepherd, should minister to people from every walk of life.

Lewis N. Taylor, born in Oxford, North Carolina a son of Mildred Kennon Taylor and Thomas G. Taylor, was a graduate of General Theological Seminary in New York, being ordained to the Diaconate in the Church of St. Stevens, Oxford, North Carolina March 30, 1913 and to the priesthood July 5, 1914 in the Church of the Good Shepherd, Raleigh. His first works in the service of the King were in the mountain churches of North Carolina.

A gentle man, soft spoken, deeply spiritual, Mr. Taylor came to the Church of the Good Shepherd from Roanoke Rapids, North Carolna where he had built a large congregation and had fostered an important work in the life of the Diocese of North Carolina. The congregation of All Saints, Roanoke Rapids has installed in his memory a stained glass window depicting the "Road to Emmaus," one of Mr. Taylor's favorite stories. When he came to Good Shepherd he was in his mid-thirties, married, with two small daughters (a third born while he was rector). His first son died in infancy while he was priest-in-charge of St. Peter's, Stovall, N.C. and another son died in infancy while he was rector of All Saints, Roanoke Rapids, N.C. During the time he was rector of Good Shepherd, Mr. Taylor was also priest-in-charge of Zion Church, Eastover, a small rural community parish east of Columbia.

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With the beginning of Lent and the start of his ministry at Good Shepherd, Mr. Taylor inaugurated a series of Lenten services for everyone in the parish. He provided a Tuesday morning service for women (men were welcome if their work permitted), a Thursday afternoon Lenten study for children, Wednesday evening prayer and sermon, and a Friday afternoon Litany. These services were well attended.

When the Rev. Mr. Taylor accepted the call to become the seventh rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd, the congregation was divided into quite a number of organizations. The vestry was composed of wardens Mr. H. E. Wells and Dr. LeGrand Guerry, Secretary Mr. Walter Thomas and vestrymen: Dr. F. Porter Caughman, Mr. C. Oliver Brown, Jr., Mr. William M. Perry, Mr. J. R. Roseberry, Mr. James S. Middleton and Mr. Arthur St. Julian Simons. The Church School meeting at 10:00 a.m. between the early celebration of Holy Communion and the 11:30 Morning Prayer and sermon had Mr. J. N. Spann as acting superintendent with a Men's Bible Class, children's classes, all named for saints, and a primary department. The Women's Auxiliary was comprised of the Guild of the Good Shepherd (founded in 1886) whose project was a new altar and the Parish House Guild aiming toward the addition of a parish house. Later he established a Business and Professional Women's guild which became an active entity of the women. There were also the Daughters of the King, Boy Scouts, Lay Readers and Choir.

In September 1925 a few months after Mr. Taylor's arrival he organized the young people into a chapter of the Young People's Service League (now Episcopal Young Churchman), a national organization of the Church. This group of young people met every Sunday evening at 7:30 for study, service and social enjoyment. On November first six weeks after they had been established, the Y.P.S.L. from Good Shepherd hosted an all day Saturday District Meeting which was attended by young people from local churches as well as representatives from the entire Fourth District. Quite an undertaking for a new minister and a new organization of young churchmen!

Once when Mr. Taylor was meeting with the young people, he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket tying a knot in one corner. Seated in a circle the group listened as the rector explained a game. "One person names the first letter of a Biblical character and circles the room. If the player fails to guess the character, he's hit with the knotted handkerchief; if he identifies the character correctly, he's the new leader." The game progressed with giggles and guffaws, with handkerchief swats and new leaders until Porter Caughman became the leader. "My character starts with an F," he announced. Around the room he went hitting each head as wrong names were called, until he came to Agnes Pringle Lee who immediately said, "Pharoah." "Right!" answered young Porter. A howl went through the uproarious group. Mr. Taylor stilled the noisy ones with, "If that was his character and she guessed it, she's the new leader."

The Y.P.S.L.developed into a strong organization under the leadership of the Rev. Mr. Taylor. When in the fall of 1947 Camp Gravatt, the diocesan camp, was opened twenty young people from Good Shepherd (among them the Rev. Clyde Ireland now vicar of Camp Gravatt) assembled there for a picnic. This was the first use made of the campsite.

The year 1929 saw the stock market collapse marking the beginning of the Great Depression, the Saluda Dam and Lake Murray almost completed and the new marble altar used for the first time at the Church of the Good Shepherd. On February 17, 1929, the first Sunday in Lent, Mr. Taylor usedthe beautiful altar, the gift of the Guild of the Good Shepherd, at the 8:00 a.m. celebration of Holy Communion. This altar, made of white Italian Cararra marble and mounted upon marble steps of the same material, makes a beautiful center of the rich interior of the Church. It was installed under the direction of the rector and consecrated by Bishop Finlay.

The Guild of the Good Shepherd remained active and along with the help of the Parish House Guild became famed for delicious suppers served the congregation and their guests. Mrs. James L. Reid, using recipes derived from those of past generations, blending the tastes of the old world and the new, tended the kitchen organizing, supervising, building a tradition.

A member of an old family familiar with Good Shepherd suppers and Mrs. Reid related that one morning the women arrived for work with aprons tied and electric mixers in hand. Mrs. Reid, watching as woman after woman entered, finally asked, "What are you planning to do with the mixers?" "Beat the meringue for the lemon tarts," a lady volunteered. "Not in my kitchen!" Mrs. Reid snapped. "You'll beat the egg whites with a fork." The storyteller says that to this day she beats her meringue with a fork.

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In 1933, the Church of the Good Shepherd celebrated fifty years of spiritual and temporal growth. At that time, the congregation numbered four hundred and fifty communicants with one hundred and seventy-five enrolled in the Church School. The growth of the congregation was one of those charming romances of Christian life where individual members as well as whole congregations struggle through hard work and imagination to become the rank and file of Christ's army marching forward with banners unfurled.

Parishioners planted about the building ivy vines which completely covered the structure making it a picture of charm and ecclesiastical beauty. In 1933, the 11:30 service of Morning Prayer and sermon was broadcast over radio station WIS, Columbia on the fourth Sunday of each month. These radio services were heard for many years throughout South Carolina and by worshippers in several adjoining states.

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The Parish House Guild saw the fruits of their labors on September 16, 1934 when the newly erected parish house was used for the first time. This new building attached to the church would become the center of parish activities. It was complete with a kitchen for the industrious woman, bathrooms, Sunday School rooms, even a stage to present pageants. A huge and altogether perfect room provided space for assemblies, for suppers, for young people, for the hustle and bustle that makes up the life of a parish.

The diocesan report for the year 1943 indicated that the Church of the Good Shepherd, Columbia had pledges to meet the last payment on the parish house in July and would be free of debt at that time.

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The Japanese attacked the United States fleet at Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 and America was at war. Overnight the Church of the Good Shepherd rallied with much patriotic fervor. Mr. Taylor established immediately a weekday prayer service of intercessions for peace. As the burdens of war increased, the congregation responded with an ardent desire to do its part. Young men of the parish enlisted before the draft caught them; young ladies volunteered as nurses' aides. Churchwomen joined the Red Cross organization of Gray Ladies, visiting the sick -- reading or writing, quelling anxieties or lending a helping hand. The women of the parish formed groups rolling bandages and knitting sweaters for the British Relief. Avidly patriotic, loyal families invited uniformed men from nearby Fort Jackson for Sunday dinners.

During the war years a young man of the parish, Dick Caughman, whose plane was downed in France, was protected for several years by the underground of that country. He was listed as missing but the fervent prayers of the parish persisted until Dick was safely returned to his family after the cessation of hostilities.

The Church of the Good Shepherd gave of its unswerving energies to war endeavors, religious and mundane, to the military men encamped at Fort Jackson and to the parish sons serving on foreign fields.

In his journal for Tuesday, May 8, 1945, Mr. Taylor inscribed in large letters, "V-E Day". Below it notations of a 10:30 a.m. Thanksgiving Communion and again at 8:00 p.m. a Thanksgiving service and sermon. Sunday, May 13, 1945, the Sunday after Ascension Day, notations for all services read "Thanksgiving for victory in Europe and sermon!" Wednesday, August 15, 1945, inscriptions marked V-J Day Thanksgiving services. The next Sunday, the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity records indicated, "Thanksgiving for Victory and Peace and Guidance!" The Church of the Good Shepherd rejoiced.

Lewis N. Taylor was not a big man if one measures men by their stature, but he was a great man -- a man worth knowing. He came when Good Shepherd was a small but devoted parish; through his strenuous labors and steadfast devotion the parish developed into a keeper of the faith and a witness to the unity of Christendom.

Lewis N. Taylor worked in a diversity of ways. He held Corporate Communions for parish organizations; he celebrated a yearly Children's Christmas Eucharist and a Young People's Easter Festival where "Golden Harps are Sounding" is tenderly remembered as one of the chosen hymns. Mr. Taylor was an ardent sports enthusiast attending events and giving invocations. The Good Shepherd rector gave sermons at ordinations, addresses at graduations and conferences; he held monthly services at the Door of Hope, a home for unwed mothers. He was a Mason of the York and Scottish Rite, a president of the Rotary Club and president of the Standing Committee for nine years. At one time he engaged the services of Duke Hyatt, alias Jimmy Valentine, for the job of sexton and when Franklin Delano Roosevelt, president of the United States, died he held a memorial service and address at Good Shepherd, at Trinity Mission and at the State Guard Armory.

As a token of love, the Daughters of the King gave Mr. Taylor an annual gift of a beautiful, lavishly hand-embroidered organdy surplice which he proudly wore for the first time at the early service on Easter morning.

An inscription carried on the front page of The Messenger, the church's weekly newsletter, read, "Not a Museum of Saints but a Hospital for Sick Souls" -- the heart and soul of Mr. Taylor's philosophy. The Rt. Rev. William A. Beckham, Bishop of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, (then Archdeacon), spoke of the Rev. Mr. Taylor saying, "He was the godliest man I've ever known."

Lewis Nathaniel Taylor departed the Church Militant and entered into the Church Expectant December 3, 1947, the only rector to die while serving Good Shepherd. The tablet over the credence table in the sanctuary and the stained glass window over the narthex doors stand as memorials to Mr. Taylor's love and faithful service to the Church of the Good. Shepherd.

Lewis Nathaniel Taylor -- a rector beloved. The Church of the Good Shepherd is blessed to have had him a shepherd.