Memories: St. John’s Herald

When I arrived in 1973, we had a weekly newsletter, “St. John’s Herald,” edited by Virginia Adams, who also administered the church office and served as mentor and confidant to clergy.

In 1974, Jim Lewis arrived as rector and took over the newsletter, renaming it “St. John’s Interchange,” and including a column called “The Cauldron.” Parishioners were invited to write, but, if nobody did, Jim kept the cauldron boiling.

In the ’80s, as a member of the search committee, I was one of those who drove to Alabama to meet Mac and Mary Adelia McLeod. We fell in love, and, with my being more of a writer than a speaker, I wrote a thesis explaining why the Mcleods were my choice from the pool of three finalists. 

The reason I mention that is that the Mcleods had read what I had written, and, as soon as they arrived, they asked me to take over the “Interchange.” We kept the name of the newsletter, but we did change “The Cauldron” to “Cross-Examination.”

Every Tuesday night, I worked in the parish office, using Brenda Dearien’s IBM typewriter to create the newsletter. 

After about 10 years, I wanted my Tuesday nights back, and I resigned. During the interim prior to Karl Ruttan’s arrival, Brenda Vanderford recruited me to return to the helm, and I lasted another 10 years. I later became co-editor of the monthly, version of “Interchange” used today. The “Herald” is now a distant memory.