Our History
The inspiration for an Episcopal church in Harris County came through a group that attended Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbus.
August 1998
After numerous conversations with the Reverend Tom Jones of Trinity and under his leadership, we held a “Fellowship Picnic” at Callaway Gardens with 50 people in attendance. We followed this meeting with a Sunday afternoon worship service and fellowship at the Harris County Library in Hamilton.
December 1998
Father Tom recommended to the Right Reverend Frank K. Allen, Bishop of the Atlanta Diocese, that a priest on the Trinity staff be appointed Priest-in-Charge. The Reverend Beverley McEachern was given the responsibility of leading this group to become a thriving congregation.
1999
On June 8, the Reverend Rick Callaway, a member of Bishop Allen’s staff, met with the Rev. Beverley and members of the Harris County group to begin the process of organizing a church. Soon the meeting place moved from the Library to Sunday afternoons in the Hamilton Baptist Church. As attendance increased, two needs became apparent: a place to worship and a name that reflected our denomination. We reached a rental agreement with the Pine Mountain Valley Seventh Day Adventist Church. The membership selected, and the Diocese approved, St. Nicholas Episcopal Church as the name of our dedicated congregation.
We needed a building for the next phase of planting a church. On September 10, the Callaway Pine Mountain Benevolent Foundation conveyed five acres of land to us, and we purchased three adjoining acres from the Cason J. Callaway Foundation. This provided a beautiful eight-acre site for a new church.
St. Nicholas was ready for the new millennium.
On February 20, 2000, Bishop Frank K. Allen proclaimed St. Nicholas a “Worshipping Community” and appointed Reverend Beverley as Vicar. St. Nicholas continued to thrive, constructing the current building in 2003, which is a multi-purpose space for worship, Christian education, and fellowship events.
Sadly, tragedy struck as our beloved rector Beverley was diagnosed with cancer and after a hard-fought battle, died May 30, 2007. God provided and sent Father Tom back as our interim rector as well as a strong group of lay leaders. After processing Beverley’s death through the ministry of the Pastoral Institute in Columbus, we developed a new vision for our future and developed a parish profile to begin the search for our next rector.
Second Rector
In November 2008, we called the Reverend Jeff Jackson. Together with the Holy Spirit to guide us, we moved forward with new hope, new vision, and new leadership. Father Jeff served as Rector until December 2017, and we were blessed with his leadership and many accomplishments. Reverend Jackson was called to serve another Episcopal church, St. Margaret’s in Carrolton, GA.
We have walked through good times and difficult times, and God has been with us every step of the way!
Interim Rector
In March 2018 the Reverend Christine Belt became our interim rector. She was born and raised in Niagara Falls, Ontario. She obtained a Master of Divinity with a concentration in Restorative Justice. She was ordained in 2010 as a Priest of the Diocese of Ontario, in the Anglican Church of Canada. In May 2019, Reverend Belt was called to be the Rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Utica, NY.
Third Rector
The Reverend Roxane Gwen was called to be St. Nicholas’ next Rector in March 2019. She received her Masters of Divinity from Duke Divinity School in 2010. Before making the move to Georgia, she served as Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Fuguay-Varina, NC. She left St. Nicholas at the end of December 2021 and now serves as an Associate Rector at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Columbus.