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The
Pictures
St. Clement’s Episcopal Church
Episcopal Church Viewed from the East
Clement
of Rome
Born
c. 35 A.D. – Died c. 99 A.D.
Aged
63 - 64
c.
1000 portrayal at Saint Sophia's Cathedral, Kyiv
Pope Clement I (Latin: Clemens Romanus; Greek: Ancient Greek:
Κλήμης Ῥώμης,
romanized: Klēmēs Rōmēs) (c. 35 AD – 99 AD) was
bishop of Rome in the late first century AD. He is listed by Irenaeus and
Tertullian as the bishop of Rome, holding office from 88 AD to his death in
99 AD. He is considered to be the
first Apostolic Father of the Church, one of the three chief ones together
with Polycarp and Ignatius of Antioch.
Few details are known about Clement's life. Clement was said to have
been consecrated by Peter the Apostle, and he is known to have been a leading
member of the church in Rome in the late 1st century. Early church lists
place him as the second or third bishop of Rome after Peter. The Liber
Pontificalis states that Clement died in Greece in the third year of Emperor
Trajan's reign, or 101 AD.
Clement's only genuine extant writing is his letter to the church at
Corinth (1 Clement) in response to a dispute in which certain presbyters of
the Corinthian church had been deposed. He asserted the authority of the
presbyters as rulers of the church on the ground that the Apostles had
appointed such. His letter, which is one of the oldest extant Christian
documents outside the New Testament, was read in church, along with other
epistles, some of which later became part of the Christian canon. These works
were the first to affirm the apostolic authority of the clergy. A second
epistle, 2 Clement, was once controversially attributed to Clement, although
recent scholarship suggests it to be a homily by another author. In the
legendary Clementine literature, Clement is the intermediary through whom the
apostles teach the church.
According to tradition, Clement was imprisoned under the Emperor
Trajan; during this time he is recorded to have led a ministry among fellow
prisoners. Thereafter he was executed by being tied to an anchor and thrown
into the sea. Clement is recognized as a saint in many Christian churches and
is considered a patron saint of mariners. He is commemorated on 23 November
in the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, and the Lutheran Church. In
Eastern Orthodox Christianity his feast is kept on 24 or 25 November.
. . . .
According to apocryphal acta dating to the 4th century at earliest,
Clement was banished from Rome to the Chersonesus during the reign of the
Emperor Trajan and was set to work in a stone quarry. Finding on his arrival
that the prisoners were suffering from lack of water, he knelt down in
prayer. Looking up, he saw a lamb on a hill, went to where the lamb had stood
and struck the ground with his pickaxe, releasing a gushing stream of clear
water. This miracle resulted in the conversion of large numbers of the local
pagans and his fellow prisoners to Christianity. As punishment, Clement was
martyred by being tied to an anchor and thrown from a boat into the Black
Sea. The legend recounts that every year a miraculous ebbing of the sea
revealed a divinely built shrine containing his bones. However, the oldest
sources on Clement's life, Eusebius and Jerome, note nothing of his
martyrdom.
The Inkerman Cave Monastery marks the supposed place of Clement's
burial in the Crimea. A year or two before his own death in 869, Saint Cyril
(born Constantine, 826–869) brought to Rome what he believed to be the relics
of Saint Clement, bones he found in Crimea buried with an anchor on dry land.
They are now enshrined in the Basilica di San Clemente. But there are also
other traditions about an ancient veneration of the relics in Chersonesus and
the translation of the head to Kyiv. Other relics of Saint Clement, including
his head, are claimed by the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves in Ukraine.
St.
Clements’ Episcopal Church in Vaiden, MS - 150th Anniversary –
03/29/2009
150th
Anniversary Church Bulletin
150th
Anniversary Guestbook
Photos
– August 2006
Courtesy of Mark Shands
Church Service – 10/29/2006
Photos Courtesy of
Janet Adkerson
Bulletin
Courtesy of Dennis Welch
Outside
(Courtesy: Susie James)
(Courtesy: Susie James)
Inside
St. Clement's
Episcopal Mission
was organized in 1859. Plans were made to build in 1860, but with the war,
depression and Yellow Fever, it was not until 1876 that the church was built.
On November 8, 1876, Bishop William M. Green made his first trip to the new
church and six persons were confirmed.
The membership of St.
Clement's has never been over 50 and at the present time only 12 members are
on the church roll. Not only is it the smallest church in Vaiden, it is the
smallest active Episcopal Mission in Mississippi.
The Baptists,
Methodists, and Presbyterians have always been helpful, especially as choir
volunteers. “If all the tales are
told, retell them, brother, and if few attend, let those who listen feel.”
The building is brick of
gothic architecture, the wall panelled with curly pine. Memorial windows in
the front east windows depict the Madonna and Child episodes in the life of
Christ. In 1911, the church was remodeled and a brick tower added. One can say it is not large but
sufficiently elegant.
Regardless of its size,
St. Clement's has hosted many Rites of Baptism,
and has welcomed children, as well as adults, into its
fold.
Two of the best known
ministers to serve at St. Clement’s have been the Rt. Reverend Girault M.
Jones, retired Bishop of Louisiana, and Rev. Sterling Gunn, father of Bishop
George P. Gunn of Southern Virginia.
Rev. Van W. Shields was rector when the church opened its doors in
1876. Rev. Gunn’s contributions are
still remembered by older townspeople today and his name is held in
benediction by all residents who knew him, regardless of creed.
During the centennial
year 1976, St. Clement’s will be calling on former ministers, W.P. Jones,
M.L. Agnew and Jones Hamilton to assist with the services. The presiding Bishop of the Episcopal
Church in America,
former Mississippi Bishop John M. Allin, preached at St. Clement’s on three
occasions.
Ministers: Alexander F.
Samuel, 1868; Benjamin Halstead, 1869-1872; Stephen H. Green, 1873-1876; Van
Winder Shields, 1876; James A. Matthews, 1877-1878; William W. DeHart,
1879-1880; Oliver Wilson, 1880-1881; William P. Brown, 1882-1885; Henry A.
Skinner, 1886-1887; James M. Magruder, 1888-1889; William H. Phillips,
1889-1890; James B. Fitzpatrick, 1889-1901; E.S. Gunn 1902-1908; David T.
Johnson, 1908-1911; Malcolm W. Lockhart, 1912-191?; Edward McCrady,
1914-1915; E.A. DeMiller, 1915-1916; E.S. Gunn, 1916-191?; George V. Harris,
1920-1922; John B. Caughey, 1923-1928; Girault Jones, 1928-1929; Jones S.
Hamilton, 1929-1934; J. Ord Cresap, 1934-1935; Winfred P. Jones, 1935-1940;
Charles Liles, 1940-1951; Michael T. Engle, 1954-1955; Roy C. Bascom,
1955-1958; Reynolds S. Cheney, 1961-1963; M.L. Agnew, 1967-1968; Michael
Bell, 1967-1968; Sam Monk, 1972-1975.
A complete
history of St. Clement's Church has been written by Mrs. Emily Barksdale
Humphrey. The following link is a
complete transcription of Mrs. Humphrey’s book. Used and posted on http://www.vaiden.net with permission on 05/07/2007 from Mr. Clarence
Pierce of St. Clement’s Episcopal Church.
CLICK HERE for the complete transcript.
May its Peace and Beauty Ever
Dwell
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