THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 7, 1996 TAG: 9601050210
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY
LENGTH: Long : 153 lines
WHEN Sir Walter Raleigh's colonists set sail for the New World more than 400 years ago, the vicar of St. Andrew's Church at Plymouth, England, blessed their boat before the voyage.
This month, the congregation of St. Andrew's-by-the-Sea in Nags Head will celebrate the 80th anniversary of their Episcopal church with an Elizabethan feast - just like the ones Sir Walter Raleigh attended.
Jugglers, magicians, madrigal singers and ``The Lost Colony's'' Queen Elizabeth will perform between each of six courses during the three-hour royal repast. Professional and amateur actors will put on scenes from Shakespeare, Chaucer and Boccaccio throughout the meal. And menu items such as stuffed fish, boar's head and mulled wine will be recreated from original 16th-century recipes.
``At least 40 people will put on the show. A long line of waiters will carry platters heaped with food above their heads. Everything will be served with the accompaniment of trumpet fanfare. And the queen will have an official taster to sample each dish,'' said Lebame Houston, who is coordinating the Elizabethan extravaganza. ``It's all a very flamboyant affair.''
Touted as a fund-raiser to refurbish the St. Andrew's beach road facilities and purchase a set of hand bells for the choir, the feast is open to the public for $25 per person. This is the second time Houston has helped coordinate such an event for the church. But the Jan. 26 and 27 dinners will be much more elaborate than the one she staged about a decade ago.
``Before, there was no visiting royalty at the feast,'' Houston said, nodding to her friend, Barbara Hird, who portrays the virgin queen at Waterside Theatre each summer. ``This time, the queen herself will oversee the evening. We're re-creating a slice of life from the 16th century. It will be fun, educational and very interactive.''
St. Andrew's Church in England was of the Anglican denomination - from which grew the Episcopal Church.
According to records of St. Andrew's-by-the-Sea Church in Nags Head, the Outer Banks' first Episcopal church was built in Nags Head in 1849 with wood which washed ashore from shipwrecks. That church, All Saints, survived until 1865 when federal troops overtook the area and dismantled the chapel during the Civil War. Wood from that structure was used to build homes for freed slaves on Roanoke Island.
After the war, Outer Banks residents continued to hold Episcopal services in private cottages and the old Nags Head Hotel. In 1915, some people petitioned the U.S. Congress to repay former parishioners for the All Saints Church. Congress granted $700. And St. Andrew's-by-the-Sea was constructed near the foundation of the Outer Banks' first Episcopal church later that year.
It remains the only Episcopal church on the Outer Banks - with the closest one being in Elizabeth City.
An altar cross and candlesticks at the church were carved from live oaks near Fort Raleigh, where the ``Lost Colonists'' first settled. The church bell is the one which hung in the original All Saints sanctuary in 1853 and was saved before federal troops demolished the structure. Legend says that after St. Andrew's was built, the congregation ran out of funds for front doors. The pastor prayed about the problem. And, according to legend, a few days later two doors that exactly fit the opening miraculously washed ashore after a storm.
``Originally, the building was half way between the ocean and the sound, on the sand dunes. But they moved it to the beach road when that route was paved,'' said the Rev. Kenneth Whitney, a 90-year-old Manteo resident who served as St. Andrew's rector from 1963 through 1972. ``There were about 73 year-round members when my wife, Elizabeth, and I moved here from West Orange, N.J. In summers, the attendance would double. By the time I retired, we had 140 or more permanent members.
``The church itself has changed very little over the years. But the buildings - and congregation - have grown a lot.''
A few months before Whitney moved to Dare County, waves from the Ash Wednesday storm flooded St. Andrew's chapel and washed across the oil furnace set in the wooden floor. As part of his pastoral duties, Whitney had to get to the church by 7 a.m. each Sunday, crawl beneath the floor boards and push the reset button on the furnace. ``It didn't heat up otherwise,'' he said, smiling. ``Had to get that church warm before services.''
Year-round and summer church members paid off St. Andrew's mortgage in 1968. About one-third of that money was raised through selling crafts that the congregation's women made, Whitney said. The church owned a little cottage on an adjacent lot which served as a craft shop until the early 1970s.
In 1986, St. Andrew's added a Sunday school building behind the sanctuary. The next year, a pre-school opened to serve the community. More than 50 children now attend that school each week.
The St. Andrew's congregation started the Outer Banks Food Pantry in 1989 - a service which has since outgrown the church facilities. Community groups also meet weekly in the expansive Parish Hall, including Alcoholics Anonymous, Dare County's Hospice, Narcotics Anonymous, a youth theater group and the HIV task force.
``We try to open our facilities as much as possible to the community,'' said Rev. Charles Gill, who became St. Andrew's rector in September 1994. ``That's one reason we wanted to include the community in this feast. We hope to be able to use our buildings even better - and open up our services as much as we can - in the near future.''
About 500 people are members of St. Andrew's. On summer Sundays, the congregation often swells. In May, some parishioners helped found a new Episcopal mission to serve residents of the northern beach communities. Gill and other ministers rotate Sunday services in the Kitty Hawk Elementary School cafeteria. Congregation members of the new mission hope to find land to build a church by this summer.
``We're really finding many new faces that are coming to those services,'' Gill said. ``Both people who have attended church before, and those who are seeking a spiritual connection.''
In the sandy front yard of St. Andrew's sits a two-plank wooden sign. ``Fishermen Welcome - Come as You Are,'' it says. According to Whitney, many do.
``We've always had a very informal congregation. They come in shorts and sport shirts in the summer,'' said Whitney. ``The church always has been open.
``People who aren't even affilitated with St. Andrew's also come into the building often. They just sit a while, enjoying the quiet - and the history - that this place offers.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
The Rev. Kenneth Whitney,
a 90-year-old Manteo
resident, served
as St. Andrew's
rector from 1963
through 1972. ``There were about
73 year-round
members when my wife,
Elizabeth, and I moved
here from West Orange,
N.J.
In summers, the
attendance would double.
By the time I retired,
we had 140 or more permanent members.
``The church itself
has changed very little
over the years.
But the buildings
- and congregation
- have grown a lot.''
by CNB