St. James Episcopal Church is a historic Episcopal church in the historic district of

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is t ...

. The church is part of the

Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina The Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States that covers most of eastern North Carolina. The diocese was formed from the existing Diocese of North Carolina on October 9, 1883, by action of the ...

and is the oldest church in the city of Wilmington. It is a contributing building in the Wilmington Historic District.

History

New York architect Henry C. Dudley (1813-1894) designed the truss roof in 1871 and the chancel and transept in 1885. Over his lifetime Dudley designed over 180 churches throughout the southern and eastern states.

Church interior

St. James Episcopal Church's oak altar and reredos were carved by Silas McBee, depicting the Nativity,

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...

, and

Resurrection of Jesus The resurrection of Jesus ( grc-x-biblical, ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ) is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion, starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lo ...

. McBee also designed the

Bishop's chair A ''cathedra'' is the raised throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principal ...

and two of the stained glass windows, including ''The Resurrection of Christ''.

Ecce Homo

A painting of Christ was found in the captain's cabin of the ''

Fortuna Fortuna ( la, Fortūna, equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular through the Middle Ages until at ...

'' by scavengers when being salvaged. The painting turned out to have been done by Spanish artist Francisco Pacheco, and was named ''Ecce Homo'', Latin for ''Behold the Man''. The painting was given to St. James Episcopal Church in 1751, and still resides in the church.http://www.ecva.org/congregations/features/st_james_wilmington/st_james_wilmington.pdf

Notable burials

The historic graveyard at St. James has many notable burials. These burials include: * Cornelius Harnett, American Revolutionary * George Washington Glover, first husband of

Mary Baker Eddy Mary Baker Eddy (July 16, 1821 – December 3, 1910) was an American religious leader and author who founded The Church of Christ, Scientist, in New England in 1879. She also founded ''The Christian Science Monitor'', a Pulitzer Prize-winning se ...

* Grainger & Joshua Wright, Wrightsville Beach was named after their father Joshua Grainger Wright * Robert Strange, Episcopal bishop * Thomas Atkinson, Episcopal bishop * Thomas H. Wright, Episcopal bishop and descendant of the family which owned what is now known as Airlie Gardens which includes the Mount Lebanon Chapel, the oldest church structure in New Hanover County which was commissioned built by his ancestral namesake. * Elizabeth Brice, only daughter of Marmaduke Jones, Esq. who was a member of Royal Governor Arthur Dobbs's Council, and later Attorney General of NC. * Samuel Townsend, Jr., older brother of Robert Townsend, member of the

Culper Ring The Culper Ring was a network of spies active during the American Revolutionary War, organized by Major Benjamin Tallmadge and General George Washington in 1778 during the British occupation of New York City. The name "Culper" was suggested by ...

during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint James Episcopal Church, Wilmington, North Carolina Churches completed in 1839 Cemeteries in North Carolina Churches in Wilmington, North Carolina Episcopal church buildings in North Carolina 19th-century Episcopal church buildings