Copyright © 2003 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee

Bishop Charles vonRosenberg, the Rev. Canon Dr. J. Howard Rhys and the Rev. Susanna Metz greet people outside Rhys Hall following a service Oct. 19 at St. John the Baptist in Battle Creek, one of several weekend events marking Rhys’ 50 years of service there.

photo by the Rev. Dr. Christopher Bryan

By Emily McDonald
South East Area Correspondent

When the Rev. Canon Dr. J. Howard Rhys first went to St. John the Baptist Church, Battle Creek, in 1953 to celebrate the Eucharist, he discovered the small congregation hadn’t had a priest in 11 months.

The only service held there was Morning Prayer, which was read by seminarians from the School of Theology at the University of the South in nearby Sewanee.

“The diocese sort of pawned it off on the seminary,” the 85-year-old priest said of the church. He had come to the seminary as a professor of New Testament and was soon priest-in-charge at St. John the Baptist, too.

On Oct. 18, on the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, he was honored for 50 years of service to a church that has regular Sunday services, an active congregation, a new parish hall and plans for more activities in the future.

The celebration of the 50th anniversary of Rhys’ ministry was held on a bright fall day and was followed by the dedication of Rhys Hall, a new 30-by-40-foot structure built behind the church.

The day marked a pivotal point in the history of St. John the Baptist, the Rev. Susanna Metz, associate at the parish, said in the sermon. “It’s pivotal because we are looking back over 50 years of a ministry that’s played a big part in making us who we are, and we’re looking ahead to see what part our new building will play in continuing that story.”

Rhys “didn’t leave his teacher’s hat on the mountain when he came down each Sunday to Battle Creek,” she said. “For 50 years he’s been teaching with authority as Luke tells us Jesus did in today’s gospel,” referring to Luke 4:14-21.

Through Rhys’ leadership, “this little congregation has given from its resources to countless ministry and mission needs all over the world – to Christians and non-Christians alike,” Metz said. “They’ve welcomed and nurtured an interesting bunch of seminarians – many of them women – in an area where attending a church that allows women in the pulpit is sometimes questioned or frowned on.

“But they keep coming, congregation and seminarians alike, because there’s something special here even when the proclamation isn’t easy,” she said.

Prior to the Eucharist, Bishop Charles vonRosenberg, the celebrant, addressed Rhys, who was seated at the front of the church. “Thank you, sir, for your 50 years of ministry in this place. You have been a faithful servant for 50 years to this congregation.”

At the conclusion of the service, the congregation processed outside for the blessing of Rhys Hall. A plaque mounted to one wall reads, “Rhys Hall: With loving gratitude and appreciation, we the members of St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church do dedicate this fellowship hall to the Rev. Canon J. Howard Rhys for 50 years of spiritual leadership, inspiration and commitment as priest in charge – October 18th, 2003.”

Richard Goff and Willis Argo spearheaded the construction of the hall. “We tried to match the exterior to the old church,” Goff said. The church building was constructed of stone in 1934.

The original idea for the parish hall was to have a building with cedar walls and a metal roof, Rhys said. But a highly successful pledge campaign surpassed the goal of $16,000 by half for a total of $24,000, so “we are doing more than we expected.”

Rhys arrived at Sewanee 12 years after his ordination to the priesthood. He had no idea when he first went to Battle Creek “how large a part of my life’s work it would become,” he said. It became his primary ministry after his retirement from teaching in 1983.

For a number of years “I just saw that the place kept going” and planned everything himself, he said.

The church now has an active council with wardens and other officers and sends delegates to the diocesan convention.

Over the years, many seminarians and area priests have aided Rhys in ministry at St. John the Baptist.

“It was a real privilege to be asked” to help, said the Rev. Hunter Huckabay, rector of St. Paul’s in Chattanooga, who assisted Rhys with Eucharist at St. Mary’s Convent. “He is a role model to me of a faithful priest,” Huckabay said, and “one of my heroes in the church.”

The congregation presented Rhys with a keepsake album filled with photographs and newspaper clippings about St. John the Baptist, its priest and members, and conversation revolved around stories of family members Rhys baptized, presented for confirmation, married and buried.

Although Rhys is physically no longer able to kneel, he intends to continue serving his congregation at Battle Creek. “As far as I can see, after 50 years there, they are not tired of me,” he said.