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The History of St. Agnes’ Church in Cowan, TennesseeBy L. Jarod Pearson
The Missionary Work of St. Mark’s Guild - 1877 The first effort to organize an Episcopal congregation in Cowan, Tennessee originated with St. Mark's Guild, a missionary organization on Sewanee Mountain. St. Mark's Guild was founded in the Year 1869 by a Dr. Knight and had three main purposes: missionary work in the surrounding area, religious advancement, and improvement of the moral tone. An article written in 1877 mentions that “three missions are in the charge of St. Mark’s Guild, who intend as soon as possible to extend operations to Cowan, Moffat, and Lost Cove.” To our knowledge, a congregation was organized and a church was built in Lost Cove under the direction of St. Mark's, and services were held in Moffat (later renamed Monteagle) some years later at Fairmont School. There is no indication that St. Mark's was directly involved in missionary activity in Cowan, but their vision certainly planted a seed for later efforts.
Otey Memorial Parish and the “Blessed Ministrations” of St. Mary’s Convent - 1894
Cowan was scarcely mentioned again as a mission plant until the Year 1894 when the Rev’d A.A. Benton wrote the following entry for the church parochial report:
"The efforts to open a mission at Cowan have so far not proved successful. The three communicants there are included in the report of the Otey Memorial Parish. But two sisters of the St. Mary's Sisterhood have given blessed ministrations and have laid the foundation for a future successful mission there." (Parochial Reports, Journal of the Diocese of Tennessee, 1894, p. 89)
The very next year, 1895, Cowan was listed for the first time as a mission station. The church parochial report lists a congregation of six communicants under the leadership of the Rev’d C.S. Bassett. The congregation met in a house on the north bank of Boiling Fork Creek about two blocks east of the present church building. Fr. Bassett returned to his native England soon after the church was organized.
The next year, 1896, the parochial report lists the congregation as “St. Mary’s”. It is unclear whether that was the name of the church or if it simply meant that the church was still under the care of St. Mary’s Convent.
St. Saviour’s Mission - 1897 The Journal of the Diocese of Tennessee, 1897, lists a congregation of 11 communicants in Cowan given the name St. Saviour’s Mission. St. Saviour’s also listed a church school with 2 teachers and 25 scholars. The Rev’d R.H. Starr was serving as Priest-in-Charge.
On September 22, 1898, Bishop Gailor made his first ever episcopal visit to Cowan. His journal entry says that he spent the morning at Trinity Church, Winchester, and arrived in Cowan at 12 noon. That afternoon, he baptized a child in the house used for church services and then baptized a man at Boiling Fork Creek. That night, at 8:00 p.m., he held a service using the building of the Christian Church and confirmed 16 people.
Bishop Gailor stated that “the work at this mission is growing rapidly and we hope to soon have our own church building.”
The Search for a Building - 1899 Stirling Claiborne, the appointed Lay Reader, wrote about St. Saviour’s being “a very small congregation worshipping in an old, dilapidated, two-room house on the side of a hill, which threatened to fall down without a moment’s notice.” He also wrote, “I shall never forget the uneasiness we all felt when the building was filled with people.”
In his determination, he found an abandoned chapel near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The chapel was disassembled, loaded onto a train, and delivered to Cowan where it was reconstructed on a lot donated by the Finchum family. A team of church members and local volunteers helped with the reconstuction. The cost for moving the building by railroad was paid by the St. Agnes' Sisterhood, based out of Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City.
St. Agnes’ Mission - 1899 On May 3, 1899, at 3:30 p.m., Bishop Thomas Frank Gailor laid the cornerstone for St. Agnes’ Church in the newly reconstructed chapel. The congregation was renamed to honor the St. Agnes’ Sisterhood for their help in transporting the building from Murfreesboro.
Shortly after the church was relocated and renamed, Stirling Claiborne was ordained into the priesthood and appointed as Priest-in-Charge. Two years later he acquired two storage barns from a neighbor down the street, brought them over to the St. Agnes’ campus, and combined them into a school building. A parochial school operated there from 1901 until 1918. When the parochial school closed the building was used for Sunday school classes and, for a brief period, as a vicary (priest residence). Also, for a brief period, the building was rented out as a private residence.
The First Hundred Years Very little changed at St. Agnes’ for the first five decades of the Twentieth Century, but the congregation was relatively stable with about 35 active parishioners.
In 1955, a dynamic team of Sewanee seminarians – Mr. Jim George and Mr. Harry Allen – came to St. Agnes' for field education work and built the congregation to its highest level of participation. There were in this timeframe more than 100 parishioners, about 75 Sunday school scholars, and two Sunday services just to accommodate the crowd. In response to the dramatic growth, the Diocese of Tennessee upgraded St. Agnes’ from a mission station to an organized “three-point” mission.
When Mr. George and Mr. Allen completed their respective programs at Sewanee, the congregation returned to previous membership levels and then declined as the cultural uproar of the 1960’s took its toll on the community. The church Sunday school closed and participation dwindled. Fr. Phillip Werlein, a retired priest from the Diocese of Louisiana, took the helm at St. Agnes’ in 1966 and helped the church grow again. The Sunday school program was reactivated, a youth program was organized, and a church bus was acquired.
Fr. Werlein also led the first remodel and upgrade in the church ’s history. Both buildings received electrical updates, lighting improvements, and central heating and air conditioning. A modern kitchen was installed in the parish hall with funds raised from the annual fish fry, which turned into the largest block party in Cowan history.
Cowan entered a long, epic period of economic decline in the early 1980’s that took a huge toll on businesses and churches alike. The losses at St. Agnes’ were immense as attendance dropped to single digit numbers in a very short period of time. At one point in the '80's decade services ceased altogether. Some Cowan residents were wrongfully informed that St. Agnes' had permanently closed, which was never the case. The church reopened under the leadership of The Rev'd Frank Sanders, a Cowan resident and an Episcopal deacon. Under Fr. Sanders the church held weekly services, initiated new outreach projects, and added directional signage. St. Agnes' continued into the decade of the 1990's with a small and dedicated membership base.
St. Agnes' in the 21st Century The entire church facility was remodeled and upgraded in the Year 2004, which coincided with Cowan's economic revitalization that began in the Year 2002. In spite of all the cosmetic enhancements, electrical upgrades, and other changes, the overall look of the church is no different than it was 100 years ago. Cowan's economic revitalization that began in 2002 inspired the parisioners at St. Agnes' to upgrade the church facility in 2004. Memberhship and participation at St. Agnes' has grown significantly with a new Sunday school program, youth fellowship, and a highly involved lay leadership. In 2010 the church acquired an empty, abandoned lot next door to serve as a parking lot and space for future expansion. St. Agnes' looks to an encouraging future as the congregation builds on a beautiful history.
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