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God’s garden:
Many visitors find solace in the beautiful gardens of Mepkin Abbey, home of
Cistercian monks in Berkeley County, South Carolina. A Native American word for
“serene and lovely,” Mepkin is open for guests to spend an hour, day, or overnight/
weekly retreats. The brothers keep a strict schedule of silence and labor, producing eggs
and organic fertilizer for sale and for the poor.
Photo by Ron Rocz |
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Heavenly Hosts:
The brothers at Mepkin Abbey greet thousands of visitors annually at
their Cistercian monastery located near Moncks Corner.
Photo courtesy of Mepkin Abbey.
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| Spiritual Awakenings in the Carolinas |
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n Sue Monk Kidd’s novel, The Secret Life of Bees, the young heroine, Lily, finds
nurturing and support in an unusual group of women who call themselves the Sisters of
Mary and who include elements of folklore and Christianity in their spiritual practices.
In the older novels of Flannery O’Connor, the religious figures are often thieves and monsters –
not exactly the role models most Southern folks think of in their religious leaders.
And in most novels by Southern writers, religion figures prominently in the lives of those who
call the South home.
In 1925, when H.L.
Mencken coined the
phrase “the Bible Belt”
to describe southern
fundamentalist leanings,
he was commenting on a
region in which
religious leaders
enjoyed remarkable
influence. |
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ut long before he made his observations, native Americans were showing their deep appreciation
for the interconnectedness of all aspects of life. Today, people in the Carolinas have an abundance of ways
to develop and explore their own spirituality.
Whether it’s traditional church services in the faith of your youth, or an individual search
for meaning, you’ll find kindred souls making the same journey. There are Protestants, Catholics, Jews,
Pentecostals, Evangelicals, Charismatics. There are atheists, agnostics, Unitarians, Buddhists, Hindus,
and many who practice the Baha’i faith. Whatever you want to say about the Bible Belt - it’s not
homogenous.
By some accounts there are more than 16,000 churches of every size and denomination in the
Carolinas, from huge cathedrals to small wooden country structures with a faithful few. There
are 60-plus Jewish synagogues, almost 300 Catholic churches and more than 5,600 churches
in the Southern Baptist Convention. In every community, choices abound. And in every part
of the Carolinas, there are places, people and opportunities to help seekers recover and
reclaim their spirits, through churches, groups, classes and special events.
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There is a spiritual awakening in the Carolinas that promotes the sharing of ideas
and experiences, and that invites dialogue, tolerance and understanding.
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World-renowned for its skills in teaching both medicine and religion, Duke University works
to fuse science and the soul. Dr. William Willimon is Dean of the Chapel and Professor of
Christian Ministry at Duke and he has studied spirituality in the Carolinas. “The Carolinas
have a fascinating religious history,” he says. “Native Americans, Anglican Christians on
the coast in the first Enlgish settlements, the oldest Synagogue in America at Charleston,
the arrival of the Methodists, the Moravians in Winston-Salem – have made us a place of
religious vitality and diversity from the beginning.”
Dr. Willimon notes how much the religious landscape is changing, to include Sikh Temples
and Islamic Mosques. The Roman Catholic Diocese of North Carolina, once the nation’s smallest,
is now one of the nation’s fastest-growing dioceses.
Before retiring from the University of South Carolina, Dr. Hal French spent more than 25 years
helping his students understand the world’s religions. Formerly chairman of USC’s religion
department, Dr. French wrote
Zen and the Art of Anything,
(see link on how to purchase on left-hand side of this page) in which he draws from a vast spiritual legacy including work in ministry and studies in eastern spirituality. “If you study and learn from other religious traditions, it ought to be natural to promote understanding between them,” Dr. French maintains. “Zen can help us to play and work joyfully, mindfully. It can also help us to live heartfully, in caring and loving.
“I discovered an interesting trend,” he reports. “I asked my students to rate themselves religious
or not and the percentage who said they were, remained constant. However, I also asked them how
many consider themselves spiritual and that percentage steadily rose.”
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All faiths welcome, from traditional to New Age to Native American.
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Brenda Kneece is Executive Director of the Christian Action Council, which
represents more than half of the congregations and half of the church-going people in
South Carolina. “My take on the spiritual health of the Carolinas is this,” she says. “Don’t
be afraid of what we have to offer here.” Ms. Kneece says, “We are growing in diversity —
we are strengthened by our communities – we are on a growing edge of understanding.”
The pace and demands of modern life affect everyone. “We can no longer depend on our
culture to tell us what is changing and what is permanent,” upholds Father Francis Kline,
Abbot of Mepkin Abbey, a Trappist community near Charleston, South Carolina. “Religious
faith alone can tell us that.” At Mepkin Abbey, where the brothers farm and sell eggs and
fertilizer, outsiders are welcome for retreats and conferences. “People in a society of rapid change
come to us with questions,” Father Kline observes. “People come to us weary of change, and
weary of a society that can no longer force permanence on marriage or any other institution.”
The abbey is the only working plantation in the area open to the public at no charge.
Approximately 10,000 visitors walk through its grounds each year, and about 700 men
and women travel to Mepkin for retreats. According to Father Aelred, a monk at Mepkin,
these people are on very individual spiritual journeys. Many have no church interest or affiliation,
but they come to escape daily pressures.
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Today, people in the Carolinas have an abundance
of ways to develop and explore their own spirituality.
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A newer place that draws seekers is HopeSpring, a non-profit educational charity that
provides a unique place for learning, healing, renewal and community. Situated in the beautiful
coastal South Carolina low country near Beaufort, the HopeSpring program, while totally respecting
the integration of body, mind and spirit, manages to be down-to-earth and practical.
Springbank is a retreat center near Kingstree, S.C. Started as a plantation in 1770, since 1955, it has
been a center for retreat, hospitality, healing and the arts.
Best-selling author Gail Godwin, a North Carolina native, used spirituality as the focus for two of her
popular novels, Father Melancholy’s Daughter and Evensong. When asked how readers responded
to her ideas, Ms. Godwin said, “Many letters from readers admitted that my whole idea of faithful
skepticism helped and gave them courage to pursue their own spiritual search.”
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The newest world religion, Baha'i, has active
institutions in dozens of locations
throughout both Carolinas.
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The newest world religion, Baha’i, has active institutions in dozens of locations throughout
both Carolinas. Nancy Songer, public information representative for the Columbia Baha’i community,
says “I was raised a Protestant, and I know a lot of people who are attracted to this because they
are distressed by the alienation they see among peoples of different colors, nationalities and religions.”
In 1984, the first Baha’i radio station in North America was opened on the grounds of the Louis G.
Gregory Baha’i Institute in Hemingway, South Carolina. It continues to broadcast to the Florence
area at 90.9 FM.
In Columbia, an active chapter of Friends of Jung explores inner wisdom in all its many facets.
Members include people who are traditional and nontraditional in their religious beliefs, but who
share a common interest in Carl Jung’s ideas on individualism, dreams and creativity.
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As
few as 15 or as many as 215 churches have created
interfaith outreach associations
that work together to feed, clothe and house people in need.
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For the large Native American population that has called the Carolinas home for centuries,
theirs is a spirituality that reflects each individual tribe but embraces some similarities. “Every
nation has its own form of spirituality,” explains Terrence Lilly Little Water of the American Indian
Center of South Carolina. “Contrary to what many people think, Indians are not all alike. What is
specific to most Native Americans is the belief that we are not the most important thing on earth.”
She adds: “We believe we could not survive without the water, trees, rocks and animals.”
A recent development in the spiritual life of many communities in the Carolinas is a banding
together of different churches to provide community services. As few as 15 or as many as
215 churches have created interfaith outreach associations that work together to feed,
clothe and house people in need, as well as help them make permanent changes through
counseling and education.
In his first Zen book, Dr. French says this: “The great religions recognize our need to be
grounded, rooted, in place, in family, in a tradition which nourishes our spirits. But they
also inspire movements which break up the calcified, atrophied conventions which challenge
social injustice and resonate with our restless need for adventure.”
There is a spiritual awakening in the Carolinas that promotes the sharing of ideas and
experiences, and that invites dialogue, tolerance and understanding.
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Katherine O. Pettit has worked
as a writer, magazine editor, printer and public
relations consultant. The Columbia resident has published more than 250 articles
in magazines and newspapers. Her writing explores a variety of subjects including
travel, lifestyles, business and management.
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