Our parish story
Our history is a story of people gathering for worship, fellowship, and service. **Our beginnings** Epiphany’s beginnings date to 1842, when the Rev. George W. Dame of Danville began exploring an Episcopal congregation in Rockingham County. In 1844, the church was erected on land donated by Dr. Edward Travis Brodnax, and the Rev. John Rankin Lee became its first rector. The parish entered union with the Diocese of North Carolina in 1845. **An honest account of our past** The parish’s early history was connected to slavery. Brodnax, an organizer and early vestryman, enslaved 174 people by 1860 and was Rockingham County’s largest slaveholder. His contribution to Epiphany must be remembered alongside that history. An 1859 diocesan report by the Rev. J. L. Gay records services for “servants” at the church and on two parishioners’ estates. In this antebellum setting, the wording suggests ministry among enslaved people, although the report does not identify their individual circumstances. These records call us to acknowledge the people whose lives were constrained by slavery and whose stories remain incompletely recorded. **The Civil War years** Wartime shortages affected parish life. In September 1864, thirteen parishioners contributed food, firewood, other goods, and cash to support the minister in place of his usual salary. One parishioner with a significant wartime story was Anne “Annie” Eliza Johns, a nurse, teacher, poet, and novelist. She cared for Confederate soldiers in Danville, Virginia, and subsequently volunteered to care for Union prisoners. She returned to Leaksville, remained associated with Epiphany, and died in 1889. She is buried in the church cemetery, where a Civil War Trails marker tells her story. **A building that has changed with the parish** The original church was a small Greek Revival building. After the Civil War, a Gothic Revival chancel and front tower were added. Following a fire in 1942, the sanctuary was lengthened, a larger chancel replaced the earlier one, and arched fanlights were added above the windows and entrance. A parish hall followed in 1956 and the third wing of the church added in the 1980's. The historic-preservation report identifies Epiphany as Eden’s oldest church building continuously used by one congregation. **People who helped shape Epiphany** Early members included Patrick M. Henry, grandson of the Revolutionary statesman Patrick Henry, who served as an early vestry secretary. Among later clergy was the Rev. William Moultrie Moore Jr., who became rector in 1942. He subsequently served as suffragan bishop of North Carolina and bishop of Easton, Maryland. The Rev. Roland J. Moncure, a rector in the 1960's, has the side street named after him. * Note this history has not been completely verified and was generated by AI.