History of St. George's Parish

History

St. George’s Episcopal, Nashville
In 1929, Bishop James M. Maxim, former rector of Christ Church Episcopal in Nashville and coadjutor of the Diocese of Tennessee, and Reverend Edmund P. Dandridge, rector of Christ Church, named a committee to study the feasibility of establishing an Episcopal church in the Belle Meade area.

The Great Depression of the thirties and World War II in the forties interrupted the activities of many building projects. The new church was postponed until December 1944, when William H. Lambert was made chairman of the committee and given responsibility for developing a serious program for church expansion.

On May 27, 1947, Reverend Peyton R. Williams announced an anonymous gift of land on which a church was later erected. The donors were Mr. and Mrs. Brownlee O. Currey, who lived in the large French style house on the hill above the property donated. When the Belle Meade Committee of the Davidson County Planning Committee was formed in May 1947, Donald W. Southgate, the architect, began sketches for what was to be a Sunday School building for 250 children, plus a small chapel to seat 50 people. But by October 1947, these plans had been recognized as grossly inadequate and the size of the chapel was doubled. By the spring of 1948, the plans were revised upward again to allow the church proper to seat 300. The parish hall was also redrawn and enlarged The Greek Revival chapel was then built without delay, with Donald Southgate as the architect and W.F. Holt and Sons as contractors.

The cornerstone was laid on Sunday, October 20, 1949, with officiants Reverend Peyton R. Williams, Bishop Dandridge, Bishop Coadjutor Barth, and Reverend Mr. Mitchell, who became vicar at the end of the service. Into the cornerstone were placed a Bible, a Prayerbook, and other documents. St. George’s became a parish in January 1952.

Small Plans Grow Big
St. George’s continued to grow with the addition of a Sunday School building in 1954; the Jane Tompkins Weeks Memorial Chapel in 1967; a new nave, sanctuary, and sacristy in 1986; and a new administration building in 2000. St. George’s physical footprint now encompasses more than 85,000 square feet, and our membership is approximately 3400.

Rectors of St. George's

The Reverend Jonathan Mitchell
Vicar 1947 - 1951

The Reverend Robert Morgan Shaw
Rector 1951 - 1958

The Reverend Arthur William Fippinger, Jr.
Rector 1958 - 1966

The Reverend Thomas Adams Roberts
Rector 1967 - 1971

The Reverend James Lawrence Johnson
Rector 1972 - 1989

The Reverend Edwin Cabaniss Coleman
Interim Rector 1990 - 1991 and 1993 - 1994

The Reverend Joel T. Keys
Rector, 1991 - 1993

The Reverend Doctor William Robert Abstein
Rector 1994 - 2004

The Reverend Robert Leigh Spruill
Rector 2005 - Present