St. John’s vestry hoped that The Rev. Louis Aldworth Haskell (1909-1989) would invigorate the youth of the parish, and he did. He also made an indelible mark on the state of Christian Education on parish, diocesan, and national levels.
A native of Laurens, SC, Haskell was a dairy farmer before choosing a life as a priest. He graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1929 and from Virginia Theological School in 1938. He earned a Doctor of Divinity from Virginia Theological in 1961. Prior to his call to St. John’s, Haskell was assistant rector at Christ Church, Raleigh and rector of St. Paul’s, Suffolk, Virginia.
In Refugees and Remnants (pp. 215-216), author Nick Zeigler explains that in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, Sunday school existed primarily to teach the catechism, which children memorized in order to be confirmed. After confirmation, very little - if any - Christian education opportunities were provided. What did exist varied in content from teacher to teacher. Louis Haskell sought to change this by bringing organization and specific content requirements to Christian Education programming.
In 1951, he was named chair of the diocesan Department of Christian Education and, at the 1952 diocesan convention, presented a resolution authorizing the employment of a diocesan director of Christian Education. The resolution passed. The following year, St. John’s was named as a test parish for the new curriculum which Haskell organized and directed. His work contributed toward the new curriculum of the National Department of Christian Education. At the 1955 diocesan convention (held at St. John’s), a resolution directed to the Episcopal Church’s convention was passed stating that this program which St. John’s helped to develop is having a “tremendous impact—upon the Christian fellowship within the individual parishes throughout its jurisdiction and feels that any Diocese cooperating in said program will be rewarded by benefits of inestimable value in its efforts to fulfill the Divine Commission of the Church. …” (Zeigler, p. 216). [Perhaps this offers some insight as to why one of our adult Sunday school classes is named the Louis Haskell Sunday School Class.]
An especially significant component of Mr. Haskell’s tenure was the struggle to gain the admission of black churches into the diocesan convention. In 1945, a diocesan committee was formed to study this matter and, in 1946, recommended that Article III of the diocesan constitution be amended to allow “the representation of any groups of churchmen not otherwise represented.” (Zeigler, p. 218) The motion passed, but the rules for adoption of a constitutional change stated that it must be approved at two consecutive conventions. The motion was defeated at both subsequent conventions.
In 1950 - at the urging of Mr. Haskell - St. John’s vestry passed a resolution expressing its opinion that black Episcopalians should be represented in the diocesan conventions. (Zeigler, p. 218). At the 1953 convention, Mr. Haskell proposed a substitute motion to that described above. Essentially, it required African-American churches simply to apply for admission to the convention. Haskell’s motion was adopted by a vote of 85-31. (Zeigler, p. 219)
Zeigler describes another indication of work toward racial tolerance in Florence “when the Pee Dee Area Big Brothers was organized in St. John’s Church on July 17, 1953, at a meeting in the church, and officers and an interracial board of directors was elected. Its organizer and first president was a member of the vestry of St. John’s. The board of directors not only included a black, but a member of the Jewish faith.” (pp. 219-220)
Mr. Haskell accepted a call to St. John’s, Charleston, West Virginia, in October 1954 and left Florence in December. In spite of invitations to several priests, St. John’s was without a rector until March 1955. The Rev. Joseph Robert Horn, III accepted the invitation in February 1955, but did not begin his tenure until March 6, 1955.
Additional Highlights of Mr. Haskell's Tenure
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1947
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- Publication of weekly newsletter began
- Property purchase extended St. John’s property line to Railroad Avenue
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1951
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- 750 church members; 603 communicants
- $25,471.40 in pledges
- movement to form a second Episcopal Church began to grow
- land purchased on Cherokee Road for new church, beginning with a one-acre donation by Susannah and Mattie Brunson (see The Beginnings of All Saints’ Church, below left)
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1953
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- authorization given to build new rectory at a cost of no more than $31,700 [Mr. Haskell had suggested that having the rectory next door to the church “created problems” for the rector and his family (Zeigler, p. 218)]
- an anonymous donation made possible the installation of air conditioning in the church
- Pee Dee Area Big Brothers organized at St. John’s
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1954
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- new rectory completed; old rectory converted into offices and renamed “Church House”
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Other Activities and Developments
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Six committees direct parish operations: Young People’s Service League, Jr. Young People’s Service League, St. John’s Development Program, Women’s Auxiliary, Church School, Men’s Club
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Old house acquired with 1947 property purchase adopted as a second parish house for the youth; became known as Shantytown
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Annual church bazaar instituted and soon became known as “the place” to buy camellia and azalea plants. Many stories are told about Margaret H. McEachin’s (1902-2001) trips to Summerville to buy the plants.
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Lake City mission created
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Wilmer Poynor Cottage presented to Camp St. Christopher
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Men’s Club donated new communion silver to Gadsden Cottage at York Place
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Elements of “high church” were incorporated into St. John’s worship: the crucifer (vested in white) was joined by torch bearers (wearing red); priest regularly wore a chasuble when celebrating Holy Communion; U.S. and Episcopal Church flags carried in processions
The Beginnings of All Saints' Church
By 1951, parishioners began to see a need for a second Episcopal Church in Florence. (Membership had grown to 750; today’s membership is 543.) Susannah and Mattie Brunson donated one acre of land on Cherokee Road for a church building. Not being large enough for a new church, St. John’s purchased additional acreage from the Brunson sisters in the amount of $12,500, paid over four years. Vestryman Jack Wright (1904-1991) moved “that it be suggested to the new congregation which would be formed when a new church was built on the property mentioned above, that the name ‘All Saints’ Church’ or some other suitable name designating a memorial to those who contributed or made the new church building possible be used when the new church was named.” Thus, the new church that held its first service on July 7, 1957 and was organized as a mission in 1958, was called All Saints’.
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Transforming Florence
In Refugees and Remnants (p. 217), Nick Zeigler describes the origins of the flower sales that quickly became the stuff of legend.
One of the activities which had a lasting impact on the community was the annual church bazaar. It was started by the Women’s Auxiliary as a pre-Christmas sale of foods and homemade gifts called “Christmas Windows.” It soon became one of the few places in Florence where camellia and azalea plants could be bought. This was an activity of the bazaar which Margaret H. McEachin (1902-2001) carried out with great vigor and success. On two occasions she drove alone, in a borrowed truck, to Summerville, SC, to buy the plants to be sold. So successful were the sales that she convinced Charles Womack (1908-1988), who was in the business of selling tires and appliances, to assist the church in this enterprise by using his truck to drive to Alabama to buy the camellia and azalea plants which were sold at the bazaar. Eventually Womack became a nurseryman and through his sale of camellias, azaleas, and shrubbery the appearance of Florence was virtually transformed.
