FACES & PLACES

42 FALL 2017

B-13.75 -- CMYK42

By Connie LyonsThey were 16, and as teenage boys

will, Randolph Charles and a friend were bantering about what they’d do when they grew up.

“My friend said, ‘You know, Randy, somehow I’ve always seen you in the priesthood’,” Charles was surprised at the outlandish statement. They contin-ued their stroll. He forgot all about it.

Some four decades later, Charles sees that’s exactly what happened.

Associate priest at St. James in Warrenton, Charles is tall and lean, with a shock of white hair which flops around as he belts out hymns with en-gaging enthusiasm. He laces church announcements with personal anec-dotes, most recently the birth of six Lab pups to one of his beloved dogs.

After 38 years of ministry, Charles’ preaching style has become electric, engaging, animated - a far cry from the classic, staid preacher model of lore. In the year he’s been at St. James, he’s become a beloved part of the historic Episcopal parish.

The path that brought him to Warrenton was filled with twists and turns, challenges and roadblocks, but Charles says his ministry reflects his life experience.Rural roots

Charles grew up in a small town in South Carolina. He studied Eng-lish at University of the South in Se-wanee, Tennessee. The seed planted

by his friend’s chance remark finally took root his senior year. He visited the Episcopal seminary in Alexan-dria, got inspired talking to the di-ocesan bishop, and at age 24, he en-rolled in seminary in New York City.

“I was starstruck,” he says. “It was such an eye-opener, in so many ways.” He loved the city culture: theater, op-era, symphony, art museums.

He became involved in urban justice ministry, and it became his mission, his passion. He conducted group therapy at a mental hospital.

Charles met his future wife in the seminary library. A divorcee with a 6-year-old son, she was personal sec-retary to author Madeline L’Engle.

“1976 was a critical year for me,” Charles reflects. “I got married, I got ordained, and I got transported from the urban ethos of New York back to (my) native South Carolina.”

Charles first served a pair of par-ishes on Pawleys Island: priest at Faith Memorial Mission Church, and assis-tant at All Saints Waccamaw. Juggling both was a challenge, he says. One church was exclusively African Amer-ican; the other was entirely white: Charles set about to link the two.

Miss Ruby, head teacher at a one-room school and wife of Faith Memorial’s outgoing priest, played a huge role. “I’ll never forget how I felt,” says Charles. “I was newly or-dained. I was excited, full of hopes and dreams, and really nervous as

well. Miss Ruby could tell.“She grabbed my hand. 'We’re go-

ing to pray you into being a priest’.”The day Charles was ordained, the

two congregations put on a grand event, with a big, joint gospel choir.

After two years, Charles trans-ferred to Grace Church in Charleston. “We had an active young adult group focused on social justice, working with the poor,” Charles recalls. His two sons, Ryan and Aidan, were born, but his marriage ended shortly after. He raised the boys on his own.

In 1994 Charles became rector at Church of the Epiphany in Washing-ton, D.C. Founded in 1842, Epiph-any is located three blocks from the White House. Charles expanded the music ministry, and with a large home-less population around the church, Charles’ ministry stressed inclusiveness.

“We instituted a big breakfast,” he says, and even though you didn’t have to attend church to get it, many did attend services, filling the pews alongside more affluent parishioners.

“The big question was how to re-late across the socio-economic divide. And that’s not an easy thing,” Charles maintains. Charles established a “street church” in Franklin Square. Every Tuesday they’d put on a classi-cal music concert and provide lunch, another way to minister to the poor.

In 2005, Charles met Joanne. “We were at Shrine Mont [an Episco-pal retreat center] and some friends

thought we’d be a good fit." They were, marrying in '08.

In 2013, after 19 years at Epiph-any, Charles thought about retire-ment, and the couple found an 1880 farmhouse in Orlean. Joanne, who wanted to raise Labrador Retriev-ers, was intrigued because the prior owner boarded dogs. Ten feet from the house stood a shed which could be converted into what Joanne called a "man cave," Charles recalls. “I call it my soul shack. There were horses next door, corn fields, wonderful views. We were totally hooked.”

They moved in and acquired three alpacas, a couple of Labs, and two black cats named Mary and Martha.

Charles took a year off, playing guitar and hiking part of the Appa-lachian Trail. But last year, diocesan bishop Ted Gulick said St. James was looking for help. Charles met rector Benjamin Maas and returned to ministry, at least for a while. “It felt right,” he says.

St. James parishioner Carole Hertz calls Charles an invigorating pres-ence. “I find Randolph a breath of fresh air,” she says. “He combines re-ligion, current events and humor."

Eileen Burgwyn, whose husband is senior warden, agrees. “His self-deprecating sense of humor makes him very approachable. Sermons are delivered in an informal, almost folksy manner, encouraging deep re-flection (and putting) faith in action.”

Meet Randolph Charles

SIDE BY SIDE: HIGHER CALLING

PHOTO BY RANDY LITZINGER