Correspondent Tom Wilmer visits two distinctly different Episcopal parishes and finds both rectors sharing consistent philosophies predicated on compassion and engagement.
Christopher Bowhay is the Rector St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Columbia Tennessee. Bowhay’s church dates from 1860, but his parish also stewards the antebellum St. John’s Episcopal Church in nearby Ashwood, Maury County, Tennessee.
Wilmer met with Bowhay at the circa-1830s Antibellum St. John's church. During the Civil War, St. John’s served as a Confederate hospital and remains today as a historical site. Even though it ceased to function as an active parish in 1900, St. John’s still offers special services and events throughout the year.
Afterwards Wilmer visits with Sid Symington, the Rector at St. Peter’s by-the-sea Episcopal Church in Morro Bay, California, Wilmer’s hometown, to learn how Symington is stewarding and engaging his flock.
