Parish History

St. David’s in the Valley has been a way station for pilgrims, a place of refuge and welcome to the stranger. We remain a loving family community who work together to build our dreams, believing all things are possible where two or three are gathered together in His name. We find special meaning and strength in the sharing of our spiritual journey. While our aspirations for the future are limitless, our way is in following the call of St. David of Wales, to “do the little things.”

The history of our beautiful little country-Gothic parish church goes back to the mid-19th century when Daniel David Davies emigrated from Wales to the United States. His work as a mining engineer brought him in 1856 to Cullowhee, NC, the lovely “Valley of the Lilies,” which reminded him of the rolling green hills of his native land. Here he fell in love, married and settled, becoming a widely respected civic leader, educator, patriarch and founder of St. David’s. When the early Episcopal bishops of North Carolina traveled the then remote regions of the mountains, preaching and looking for promising communities where their faith could prosper, the Davies family welcomed them into their home and helped them achieve their goal by donating, along with a neighbor, the land on which the church stands. Construction began in 1883, and the building was consecrated in 1892, the year from which the parish marked its centennial. Judge Davies, having been so instrumental in the process, was given the honor of naming the parish; he chose to call it St. David’s in the Valley after St. David’s Cathedral in Pembrokeshire, Wales, commemorating the Church of Wales where he had been baptized.
 

Dewi Sant or David of Wales

Being named for a Celtic saint, Dewi Sant or David of Wales, has laid a thread for those of us in this church community to follow. Educated to the priesthood in a Celtic monastery, St. David was widely known for his great wisdom and his capacity to perceive the spiritual in all things. The present cathedral, begun in the 12th century, stands on the site of the monastery St. David founded and served as abbot. Following his death, traditionally March 1st, 589, his grave became a shrine that was so revered that it was said two pilgrimages to St. David’s equaled one to Rome. Quite a few from St. David’s, Cullowhee, have made this pilgrimage and think of the final words of St. David to ‘do the little things’ as a valuable guide for many of our daily practices.
 
Judge Davies and his son-in-law, Thomas Augustus Cox, remained the backbone of the parish and of the community well into the 20th century, serving on the original Board of Trustees of Cullowhee Normal and Industrial School, now Western Carolina University, working for other community organizations, and remaining valuable underwriters of the St. David’s parish. However, economic depression and the entry of the United States into World War II led to declining enrollment at the college and poor prospects for new members at St. David’s. The building sat empty for several years and was formally deconsecrated on September 27th, 1951.

Fortunately, Dr. Albert Rufus Morgan, a priest working in nearby Franklin, NC, was keeping his eye on St. David’s. He had loved this little parish since his school days and maintained an active hope for its restoration. He made a list of all the furnishings of the building, which local families agreed to store in their barns and attics. Following WWII the resurgent economy brought rapid growth to the local college, by then named Western Carolina College. By 1955 Dr. Morgan realized there were enough Episcopal students to form a Canterbury Club, and the old church would be a perfect meeting place. He obtained a grant for $10,000 to restore the building and add a small Parish Hall to the side of the church. On May 9th, 1959, the church reopened with its original pews, altar, pump organ and other furnishings restored from their various storage places. Once again Episcopalians in Cullowhee valley, students and non-students, had a beautiful, peaceful, spiritual place in which to worship.

The building was re-consecrated

On December 9th, 1959, the building was re-consecrated. In the following few years, the church and the campus were served, in succession, by deacon in charge, Robert Elliott Johnson; by part-time priests in charge, the Revs. James Y. Perry, and Victor V. McGuire; and by John Rivers, St. David’s first full-time priest-in-charge. During that time growth was sufficient for the parish to build a rectory, to purchase and install the first pipe organ in Cullowhee and to acquire an adjacent property for use as a home for Canterbury Club, church school and administrative offices.
 
The Rivers family with their five children enlivened and enriched parish life at St. David’s for fourteen years, a time marked by growth in numbers and spirit. However, when John began to lose his hearing and felt he was called to minister to the deaf, the parish supported him while he trained for that calling, then wished him God speed in his new endeavor. After a lengthy search, the parish called the diocese’s first female priest, the Rev. Sherry Mattson. Sadly, although the congregation had been solidly in favor her call, problems were inherent in her contract, the terms of which called for her to devote half time to the college chaplaincy, reporting to the bishop, and half time to the parish, responsible to the vestry. The arrangement demonstrated the wisdom of the Biblical expression that one cannot serve two masters. A lengthy interim followed this painful period during which St. David’s had the extraordinary guidance of the Rev. Heber Peacock, who was both a spiritual leader and healer of emotional pain. Going through this difficult period had taught our members valuable lessons about the importance of pastoral care and the need to confront problems. When Heber left us to begin discerning the call for our next rector, the parish was ready to move forward again. 

Rev. Michael V. Hudson

 Calling the Rev. Michael V. Hudson was the happy result of that 1992 discernment process. Michael’s installation as rector and the parish’s Centennial celebration coincided on a lovely August weekend. His retirement came the year we celebrated St. David’s 125th anniversary. The intervening twenty-five years were filled with working together to walk in the way of Christ, with growth in spirit and numbers, and meeting frequently to envision together possible paths for future action. Among the many significant choices we reached in these visioning sessions was to develop a balanced language for liturgy, as evidenced in our worship booklet. We chose to become the first parish in the diocese to have a church blessing for a committed gay couple. We incorporated a Creation Cycle season for the last seven Sundays of Ordinary time.

We began fine tuning our awareness of our Celtic heritage through annual St. David’s Festivals , and later making pilgrimages to Wales and other sacred sites. We became the first church in Cullowhee and in the Diocese of WNC to implement a Safe Zone project and led workshops for other churches in the diocese about this LGBTQ program. Our Parish began working with the local Rotary Club to make mission trips to Panama. We broadened our ministries and outreach throughout our community with programs, such as Clean Slate (for women recently released from incarceration) and Vecinos (a farm labor advocacy program). We encouraged mindfulness practices through study groups and regular practice. Most recently, in recognition of our need to improve our facilities, visioning led to building our new parish hall.

St. David’s Firsts

  • First Episcopal church in Jackson County, NC

  • First brick building in Cullowhee Valley

  • First pipe organ in Cullowhee

  • First church in Diocese of WNC to call a woman priest, The Rev. Sherry Matson

  • First woman deacon ordained in Diocese of WNC, Deacon Alice Mason

  • First wheel-chair accessible apartment adjacent to the WCU campus

  • First parish to bless a committed same sex union

  • First church in Cullowhee and in the Diocese of Western North Carolina to become a Safe Zone for LGBT students

This summary was prepared from information found in A History of St. David’s-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church, Cullowhee, North Carolina, by June Todd Smith ©2019 ISBN 978-0-9976614-1-5

Publications

The St. David Stone
​M. Hudson (c. 2002). "Our St. David Stone."
Poem:  Touchstone
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​​History of the Diocese of St. David's, Wales