A half-century of servant leadership at St. Augustine’s - Morrow
Last December George and Peggy Beal were honored by St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Morrow for 51 years of outstanding ministry as lay leaders, and by vestry action the church parlor was renamed The Beal Room. On March 1, at the age of 92, George Beal died peacefully.
Following is a recent interview with Peggy Beal conducted by Robert Harrell, a member of the parish.
Q: How did you and George become involved early on with St. Augustine’s ?
A: When we moved here in 1954, we lived on Georgia Avenue in Forest Park for about three years and there was no Episcopal church. The Lutheran pastor came to visit my brother and said that Ida Baumgardner was trying to start an Episcopal church. As a result of these efforts a spaghetti supper meeting was held at Jones Memorial United Methodist Church to get St. Augustine’s started.
George was a prenatal Anglican, his father being from England. He had been used to going to church, but we hadn’t been going much here as we couldn’t find one. As the local Episcopal interest group began to form, I found myself in the choir. The only requirement was you had to hold the hymnal right side up!
At Christmas, I gave George a little electronic keyboard. He loved it so much that he sat down and picked at it for five hours straight. When George took a job at the Northside Atlanta Post Office, he made contact with a music store, and a representative came and demonstrated an organ to the newly formed choir. The choir decided to buy the organ and each member agreed to pay $2 a week until it was paid off. The salesman was so thrilled by our decision that he came and played the organ for our Easter service. The two church members who had station wagons would transport the organ from their homes to our temporary worship space in Conley. Eventually the Rev. Jimmy Johnson came to us as our first vicar. He was young, unmarried, and had a lot of enthusiasm. He said: “We need to get a church building and quit hauling that organ around.”
We offered space in our home for weekly Bible study. Father Jimmy decided that [our daughter and son] Elaine and Joe were old enough to be confirmed. George went through confirmation classes with them. Early on, when we needed lay readers, we got support from All Saints’ in Atlanta. One day I asked Father Jimmy: “Why can’t we have our own lay readers?” George and another parishioner were the only two that showed up for the lay readers’ interest meeting, but that got them started. George dearly loved it. He did a lot of training for lay readers over the years. That’s how we got into St. Augustine’s. I was in the choir because I could hold the hymnal right side up, and George was into lay reading.
Q: How did the present church site get developed?
A: Well, the church had a building committee that found the land, which was not expensive at all. Bishop Claiborne came to us and said: “If you really want to have a church, I will give you $3 for every $1 you raise.” Our first building was a “Jim Walter” home, with Father Jimmy and parishioners contributing a lot of the labor. [Jim Walter homes were "shell" homes, meaning the company would complete the outside so that the house was water tight, and then allow the customer to finish the inside with their own labor.]
Then, as time went on, we decided to build the church that we’re in now -- which is essentially a parish hall. It was never meant to be “The Church.” It was to be just one step in the total building program. George was in charge of the building committee. He went out every day after work to check on progress and make payroll, etc. It was very exciting when we were able to move into that new building.
In the meantime, a man from South Georgia called George said that he would give enough bricks to enclose the whole building if we would unload them when he sent them up to us. They were free of charge, and we just couldn’t argue with that. So, George got all the men and all the boys to go out to the church building site to unload the bricks.
Q: What were the church and community like back then?
A: We lived on Georgia Avenue in Forest Park, right down from Jones Memorial United Methodist Church. Highway 54 was a two-lane road back then. As the children grew and got larger, we had to move. So, I made that home into my first beauty shop. I had it there for eight years, and (Chick-Fil-A founder)Truett Cathy bought it.
Ash Street was not finished, so to reach the church property, we came on Highway 54 from Forest Park to Morrow Road. This area was all in the country back then. But, we were thrilled because we got nine acres for just practically nothing.
When we first arrived here in 1954, Interstate 75 was completed as far south as University Avenue. We came down here to visit my sister, whose husband was in charge of a clinic, and we just fell in love with Georgia. I can remember us coming down through Greenville, S.C., on I-85 and thinking that red clay was beautiful. I just knew that the Lord meant for me to be in Georgia.
We have both been very, very happy in Georgia all of our lives. We never had a day that we didn’t like our change. We liked being in the “Bible Belt,” and we liked talking about our church. You see, up North you didn’t discuss that sort of thing at that time. Maybe they’ve changed now. I don’t know.
I was working in a beauty salon my first year out of school, and Robin Curtis came in. Her operator was the owner of the shop. I had brought down a placard of pins that the women of the church had made to sell as a fund-raiser. Of course we had printed “St. Augustine’s” right across the top, and Robin came over and said: “Where is that church?” So, I told her about it and she was very interested. After a while, she started coming to church, and of course, became a very important parishioner all those years – and she always loved it.
Q: Tell me about your experience with EfM (Education for Ministry).
A: When George retired, he was 58. The Rev. Jerry Zeller was leading a class at the Cathedral, and we went to his class. He was a colorful individual, and we enjoyed it so much. Out of six or seven to start the class, four of us went for the whole four years with the same mentor – which is most unusual.
Q: How did you get involved in the airport chaplaincy?
A: Tom Stubbs was our priest and the Christian Council had sent out 300 letters to churches on the south side of Atlanta encouraging people to get interested in the airport chaplaincy. Well, [our son] Jeff was already working at the airport, so that made us interested. It was in 1981 when we got involved. The new Atlanta airport had just been completed and they had created a chapel on the International Concourse in the North Terminal out of the space of three closets. There was an office, a room to greet travelers, and a room in which we could pray. It was a very rewarding experience being able to help do the Lord’s work assisting grief-stricken travelers and travelers in need. We traveled to the international airport chaplains’ conference in England in 1986. It was wonderful getting together with the international participants and hearing everyone pray The Lord’s Prayer together in their own language. It was so moving. We really enjoyed those years very much.
Q: Which of his ministries did George enjoy most?
A: He enjoyed the church and being warden several times, and being a lay reader. He thought that was very important. George also served as church treasurer for 27 years until he finally taught Chuck Dale how to do the job!
In conclusion: St Augustine’s has always been very important to us, and we didn’t let much interfere with what we had to do there. The kids knew that they had to go to church on Sunday. They went to Sunday school. The girls sang in the little girls’ choir and the boys were acolytes. When our son Joe got married, he said: “I’m too old to be an acolyte now,” and I said: “Well, you can usher!”
St. Andrew's-Hartwell hosts community's first Earth Day
View a photo collage from the event here.
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