The History of St. Agnes’ Church in Cowan, Tennessee

By L. Jarod Pearson

The Vision of St. Mark’s Guild - 1877

St. Mark’s Guild, a student-led organization at The University of the South, put forth a plan and vision to bring the Word and Sacraments to rural populations on and near Sewanee Mountain.

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.”

Beyond this article there is no further mention of St. Mark’s involvement in these extensions, but their vision planted a seed for these and other efforts.

Otey Parish and the “Blessed Ministrations” of St. Mary’s Convent - 1894

Cowan was scarcely mentioned again as a mission plant until 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.

This 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.  With the help of church members and other Cowan residents, the chapel was disassembled, loaded onto a train, and delivered to Cowan.  It was reconstructed on a lot donated by the Finchum family.

The Sisters of St. Agnes’ Chapel in New York City paid the waybill to the railroad.

St. Agnes’ Mission - 1899

On May 3, 1899, at 3:30 p.m., Bishop Gailor laid the cornerstone for St. Agnes’ Church, the name being changed to show gratitude for the St. Agnes’ Sisterhood.

Stirling Claiborne was ordained into the priesthood and assumed leadership as Priest-in-Charge.

In 1901, Claiborne acquired two storage barns from a neighbor down the street, brought them over to St. Agnes’, and combined them into a school building.

A parochial school operated there from 1901 until 1918.  That same building became the church parish hall after the school closed.

The First Hundred Years

Very little changed at St. Agnes’ for the first five decades, but the congregation was relatively stable with about 35 active parishioners.

In 1955 a dynamic team of seminarians – Mr. Jim George and Mr. Harry Allen – helped build the congregation to its highest level of participation with more than 100 members, about 75 Sunday school scholars, and two Sunday services just to accommodate the crowd.  In this general timeframe, 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.  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 church’s physical plant had been untouched and unchanged for over seven decades when Fr. Werlein put together the first capital improvement project in the church’s entire history.  With funds raised from an annual fish fry, the church received electrical upgrades, improved lighting, central heat and air, new sidewalks, and a modern kitchen for the parish hall.

The Cowan community entered a long, epic period of economic decline in the early 1980’s that took a toll on businesses and churches alike.  The losses at St. Agnes’ only increased with the introduction of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer.  By the end of the 80’s decade, the worship attendance at St. Agnes’ was down to single-digit numbers.

Ministry in the 21st Century

Cowan began an economic revitalization in the Year 2002 that resulted in new businesses, renewed neighborhoods, and a downtown facelift.  This important turnaround has helped St. Agnes’ reposition for a new era of growth and renewed ministry.

The church Sunday school program was restarted after a 30-year hiatus with classes for adults and children.  The Sunday services returned to the 1928 Prayer Book tradition and helped encourage some of the former parishioners to return.  A much greater emphasis is placed on Bible study, evangelism and outreach, and additional improvements were made to the church facility thanks as well.

*Most of the information contained in this article was taken from the writings of The Rev'd Phillip Werlein during his years as Priest-in-Charge at St. Agnes' (1966-1978).  Other pieces of information were obtained by Mrs. Martha Rogers during her years as a seminarian at Sewanee's School of Theology.

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