A History of the Church of the Good Shepherd

CHAPTER SEVEN: The Intervening Years

"Serve the Lord with gladness..." --Psalm 100

Mr. Taylor's passing was lamented. Throughout the Church of the Good Shepherd, the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, as well as through the whole city of Columbia. The loss of the beloved rector brought sorrow to the hearts of the members of the parish to whom his loyal devotion and great love had made him an object of admiration and respect. He had loved his people and was loyally devoted to the church of which he was rector. During his years the Church of the Good Shepherd gained a place in the sun, but in the next few years many parishioners would leave and what was once a congregation of quality and strength would dwindle to a small downtown parish.

For the next nine years there would be three rectors, each of whose brief span would contribute a lasting effect on the parish. Coming to Good Shepherd to supply during Mr. Taylor's illness the Rev. Eugene L. Nixon, then assistant rector at Trinity, was called to be rector in early 1948. By September of that year, Good Shepherd had established its second parochial school located in the old rectory next to the church. (Several years before Mr. Taylor's death, the church had provided a housing allowance enabling him to purchase a house of his own. At the time of his death Mr. Taylor's family was living on Duncan Street in the Shandon section of Columbia.)

The parochial school was under the direction of the Rev. Mr. Nixon with Dr. F. Porter Caughman, Jr. , Mr. William A. Riley and Mr. Augustus Fitch on the board. Concerned parents realized the need for a strong discipline of religious training and the Church of the Good Shepherd provided a school for those parents who wanted their children taught in a Christian atmosphere. The school started with grades one through three, adding a grade a year, reaching fifth grade before Good Shepherd School was incorporated into the beginning of Heathwood Hall Episcopal School which opened in September 1951 to be owned and operated as a day school in the city of Columbia by the Diocese of Upper South Carolina.

During Mr. Nixon's rectorship the annual Christmas bazaar and turkey dinner continued with Mrs. James L. Reid in the kitchen and Mrs. Boyd Hughes as bazaar chairman. This event was always a tremendous occasion for the women, bringing much work, fellowship and reward. Fond memories linger as Harriet Riley (Mrs. J. Holbrook, Jr.) Williams, who often presides over the kitchen today, recalls a time when she was helping and Mrs. Reid became upset because she didn't wash the lemons!

It was during Mr. Nixon's rectors hip that the new cathedral lights were installed in the church and the word Episcopal was deleted from the name of the church. The parish was disturbed and wanted to retain the name The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd but Mr. Nixon's response was, "Everyone will know it's an Episcopal Church by the shape."

Mr. Nixon left the parish in 1953. and was succeeded by the Rev. Gale Dudley Webbe, a native of Summit, New Jersey. The Rev. Mr. Webbe received his education from Amherst College in Massachusetts and General Theological Seminary in New York being ordained deacon and priest in 1935. He came to Good Shepherd from the rectorship of St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Asheville, North Carolina, previously having been chaplain at Christ School, Arden, North Carolina.

Notable in the work of his rectorship at Good Shepherd was the "high church" predilection which he brought from the Diocese of Western North Carolina. It was at this time that the term "Father" for a priest was first used at Good Shepherd. He instituted the 9:15 a.m. Family Eucharist which is today the leading Sunday service, established the practice of regularly wearing Eucharistic vestments and introduced the sanctus bell which is a reverent adjunct of worship.

A very punctilious man, he retrained acolytes, anticipating near perfect service from them; he reorganized the Sunday School, expecting children with their parents at the 9:15 family service each Sunday morning. During Lent 1954 he instituted the Stations of the Cross, a new service for Good Shepherd and for most Episcopalians. This service is today an integral part of the Lenten devotions.

Because of irreconcilable theological differences (involving extra-liturgical devotions) between himself and the Rt. Rev. C. Alfred Cole, then Bishop of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, the Rev. Mr. Webbe resigned as rector of Good Shepherd June 1, 1954 to become rector of St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Daytona Beach, Florida.

On November 1, 1954 the Rev. Ralph Herbert Kimball came to be the tenth rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd. The Rev. Mr. Kimball, active of New Hampshire, served as rector of Trinity Church, Statesville, North Carolina before coming to Good Shepherd. Earlier, he had served as chaplain in the Air Force in Africa, Italy, India and China.

It was during the rectorship of the Rev. Mr. Kimball that the old rectory east of the Church was torn down and a modern one story building with five classrooms and a room for a chapel was erected. At the same time the Rev. Mr. Kimball changed the names of the guilds to bear the titles of saints. The Good Shepherd Guild composed of the older women became St. Anne's Guild; the younger group designated as the Nell Hook chapter became St. Margaret's Guild. The business and professional women took the name St. Hilda's Guild.

An accomplished organist himself, Father Kimball developed the junior and senior choirs into a large factor of the church. The junior choir sang at the 9:15 family service, the senior choir at the 11:30 service. A new men and boy's choir was formed which sang each Sunday at Evensong. Many times in the absence of an organist the rector himself played for the Sunday services. Father Kimball had a tremendous interest in the youth of the parish and was an avid spectator at church basketball games.

After a short rectorship of only two years, Father Kimball left the Church of the Good Shepherd to become rector of St. Andrews parish in New Orleans, Louisiana.