Two Centuries of Witness Near Washington, North Carolina
Zion Episcopal Church sits along U.S. Highway 264 east of Washington, North Carolina, on a quiet, oak-shaded one-acre tract that Henry C. Harvey gave in the 1850s. The parish traces its story to 1738, when Robert and Lucy Cutler helped gather a small congregation near their Goose Creek plantation, and the present sanctuary was finished and consecrated by Bishop Thomas Atkinson on November 14, 1856. In 1885, when North Carolina was divided into three dioceses, Zion joined the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina, the regional body it still belongs to today. The congregation is known across Beaufort County for its long-running ministries, the warmth of its welcome, and the Easter Monday Fish Fry that has drawn neighbors to the church yard for more than a century.
From Old Zion Chapel to the 1856 Sanctuary
The parish's earliest services were held at a local school, in private homes, and at Old Zion Chapel, a "free church" open to all denominations that is now known as Beaver Dam Church. Bishop John Stark Ravenscroft, traveling to Zion Chapel in January 1824, baptized six adults and twelve infants and confirmed twenty-four people, noting that the lively state of the two congregations in the area, Zion and St. Thomas in Bath, was "under God" due to two lay readers, Jarvis B. Buxton and Mr. Marsh. Zion received its Certificate of Organization from the Diocese of North Carolina in April 1823 and was admitted alongside St. Thomas in Bath, Trinity in Chocowinity, and eight other parishes. The substantial church building that stands today was begun in 1856 under the supervision of Mr. Harvey on his donated lot and consecrated that November. The Civil War left a deep mark on the parish. Union forces occupied the area in 1862, and the church's pre-1864 records were lost. The Reverend Israel Harding, who had been forced from his cure, was called again as rector in 1866, and a neat and commodious rectory was added in 1884. Bishop Ravenscroft, in his 1824 Convention address, singled out Zion as one of the two most engaged congregations under his care.
The Easter Monday Fish Fry
The tradition that most identifies Zion for the wider community is the annual Easter Monday Fish Fry, a free community meal that has been held almost every year since shortly after the church was built. The only breaks came during the First and Second World Wars and during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the event was paused for three years. In the early days, the fish were caught as far away as Broad Creek, then known as "the Pines." In the early 1900s, the gathering moved to Goose Creek and Dinah's Landing, where men dug pits in the sand and cooked trout, croakers, and mullet in huge iron frying pans over open fires. The meal grew into an all-day affair, with the women bringing side dishes of stewed potatoes, slaw, hush puppies, and desserts, and the day spilling over with softball, square dancing in the Virginia Dare Hall, swimming off the pier, and an Easter egg hunt for the children. After Camp Leach was sold and replaced by the Episcopal Trinity Center in Emerald Isle, the fish fry moved briefly to Hawkins Beach and then to Douglas Hall, the parish hall next to the sanctuary, where it has been held for roughly three decades. Zion's members still cook the meal themselves and still find, in the words of the older fishermen, that "the church always had plenty of fish." The whole community, in the words of one long-serving member, is invited, regardless of denomination.
Sunday Worship, Rite II
Each Sunday at 10:00 a.m., the congregation gathers in the 1856 sanctuary for a celebration of the Holy Eucharist, Rite II, using the Book of Common Prayer. Communion, including wine, is offered most Sundays, with safety procedures in place for those who wish to receive. For members and friends who cannot be present in person, the parish also streams the service live through Zoom, with a virtual sanctuary opening at 9:55 a.m. The service follows the familiar Anglican pattern. Acolytes process in carrying the cross, light and extinguish the candles, ring the church bell, and assist the priest at the altar. Lectors proclaim the Old Testament and New Testament lessons and sometimes lead the Psalm. Eucharistic Ministers, licensed by the bishop, assist with the consecrated bread and wine and often serve as acolyte and altar server. Ushers gather the offerings, carry them to the table, and open and close the altar rail. Sunday Greeters, stationed at the front door before the service, hand out bulletins, welcome newcomers, and pair those unfamiliar with Anglican worship with experienced parishioners. Visitors are welcomed with "Come and See," echoing John 1:39.
Morning Prayer on Mondays
On Monday mornings at 9:00 a.m., the parish gathers for a thirty-minute service of Morning Prayer on Zoom. The service draws members who want a quieter, midweek touchstone and who appreciate the simpler shape of the Daily Office. A Wednesday Morning Prayer service also belongs to the parish's regular rhythm, though it is paused during the summer months so that lay leaders and members can travel. Both weekday services use the same Zoom room as the Sunday livestream, and the parish emails a service invitation with the bulletin attached to anyone who asks to be added to the distribution list.
The Preaching Voice: Lay and Ordained
Because Zion is a smaller parish that shares ordained clergy with neighboring congregations, much of the preaching is carried by Licensed Lay Preachers trained and authorized by the diocese. The parish's primary preaching voice is James A. Hackney, LLP, who delivers most of the sermons recorded in the online archive and who also leads the parish's Education for Ministry program and its evangelism efforts. Other lay and ordained preachers who regularly fill the pulpit include the Rev'd. Margaret Pollock, Kelly Mitchell, M.Div., and two additional preachers identified in the video archive by the surnames Brady and Dugan. Father Alan Neale, the priest whose preaching shaped the parish in recent years, preached his final sermon at Zion on the Second Sunday in Lent, March 1, 2026, and a homily at his memorial was preached by James Hackney on May 15, 2026. The parish records a full video of each Sunday sermon and keeps an archive of written transcripts that goes back several years, all under the Worship and Wisdom tabs of the parish's online home.
The 1966 Zimmer Pipe Organ
Music at Zion centers on an 18-rank tracker pipe organ built in 1966 by W. Zimmer and Sons of Charlotte, North Carolina, as Opus 5. The organ was originally installed in Fletcher Recital Hall at East Carolina University, where it served organ students for thirty years. When ECU decided to replace it with a portative organ in 1996, Doug Cutler, then Zion's organist, proposed that the parish acquire the instrument. The vestry approved $70,000 for purchase and installation, $55,000 to ECU, with the rest covering transport and reinstallation, and the organ was moved to Zion and dedicated in August 1996. Volunteers including John Register, Jim Hackney, and Doug Cutler helped place the console and pipes in the church. Subsequent curators have included Norman Ryan, who tunes the C.B. Fisk organ at St. Paul's in Greenville, and Mark Thompson, who cares for the Dobson organ at Bruton Parish in Williamsburg. Dr. Jane Taylor, a long-serving organist, wrote the official history of the instrument, and Jane Kemsley currently serves as parish organist. A vocal ensemble called the Schola Cantorum supports the liturgy with psalms, hymns, and anthems.
The Sanctuary, the Aumbry, and the Memorial Garden
The 1856 sanctuary remains the visual heart of the parish. Its simple wooden altar, lectern, and pulpit frame the liturgical action, while the processional cross carried by the crucifer marks each entrance. In November 2020, the parish dedicated its aumbry, the locked cabinet that holds the reserved sacrament, along with the sanctuary light, in loving memory of Dr. J. Pack Hindsley, Jr. The Flower Guild dresses the altar throughout the year, drawing on summer blooms from parishioner gardens and, on the last Sunday of Advent, leading the whole congregation in "greening the church" with wreaths and boughs. A Memorial Garden, begun in 1969 and now part of the parish cemetery, is supported today by an endowment from John Harvey, a devoted member whose bequest also funds the perpetual upkeep of the grounds and the remodeling of Douglas Hall, the parish hall next to the sanctuary. The 2015 Washington Area Historic Foundation Christmas ornament, designed with its own little base for year-round display, features the church and remains a keepsake of the parish's place in local history.
Graves of the Freed Formerly Enslaved Persons
On April 15, 2023, the parish consecrated a permanent monument in the Zion graveyard in memory of eight African-American members who were buried there between 1864 and 1870. The Reverend Sarah Saxe, who became rector in 2015, traced these burials through the parish's oldest surviving records. Most of the deceased were recorded by first name only, and their baptismal records showed that they were sponsored by members of the Zion congregation. Ground-penetrating radar later confirmed the location of the unmarked graves, and the vestry installed a stone in their memory. Bishop Atkinson's 1856 Convention address had noted one African-American member at the time of the sanctuary's consecration and five by the start of the Civil War, a quiet record of a diverse congregation even before Emancipation. In 1977, the parish celebrated a milestone in the wider church when Mrs. Wendy Raynor, a member of Zion, was ordained by the Right Reverend Hunley A. Elebash, Bishop of East Carolina, becoming the first woman ordained in the Episcopal Church in North Carolina. The parish keeps a written account of this work as part of its ongoing acknowledgment of the lives of the formerly enslaved who found a home at Zion.
Work: Outreach in Beaufort County and Beyond
Under the banner of "Work," the parish supports a wide network of local ministries. Eagle's Wings, the Saturday Night Jamboree, the Beaufort County Schools' Stuff the Bus Campaign, the Beaufort-Hyde Partnership for Children, the Boys and Girls Club of Beaufort County, Broad Creek Emergency Medical Services, the Dementia Alliance of NC, the ALS Association of NC, the Humane Society of Beaufort County, the Open Door Community Center, the Purpose of God Annex, Ruth's House, the Salvation Army of Beaufort County, the Blind Center, the Trinity Center, and the Zion Kitchen and Shelter all count Zion as a partner. The parish also supports the Episcopal Farmworker Ministry, which serves migrant farmworkers in the region, and contributes to Episcopal Relief and Development, the churchwide aid agency. The Brown Library is a parish-supported lending collection housed at the church. The parish's mission statement, written long ago and still in force, calls Zion to be "a witness to the power and grace of God" and to "reach out to all people and welcome them to full participation in our community of faith," both inside the church walls and through the wider community of God's creation.
Lay Ministries and Parish Family
The parish's lay ministries knit the community together. The Altar Guild cares for linens, silver, brass, and vessels behind the scenes and prepares the sanctuary for weddings, funerals, and weekday services. The Flower Guild welcomes newcomers and pairs them with experienced arrangers, so that no previous flower arranging experience is required. The Daughters of the King, an Episcopal women's prayer and service order, gather for prayer and outreach. Leslie Robinson coordinates the Newcomers ministry, the Eucharistic Visitors who bring communion to those at home, and the Daughters of the King chapter. Education for Ministry, a four-year theological study program, is led by Jim Hackney. Each year the parish also hosts a Pancake Supper, organized by Bob Watson and Jim Sadler, which serves as a parish-wide fundraiser and gathering in Douglas Hall. Miss Maud Cutler, a member of Zion, was once recognized by the National Episcopal Church as one of its outstanding religious education directors, a legacy that the parish still points to. Today, with the influx of retirees from Pamlico Plantation that began in the 1990s and the energy they brought, the parish describes itself as a close-knit family that equally shares in the compassion, love, and Christian fellowship of the parish.
How to Visit
Zion is located at 7322 U.S. Highway 264 East at Bright Acres Road, Washington, North Carolina 27889. The mailing address is Post Office Box 1329, Washington, NC 27889-1329. The church office can be reached at (252) 495-8210 or office@zionepiscopal.com. Sunday worship begins at 10:00 a.m. and is offered both in person and online. Greeters welcome visitors at the front door before the service and hand out bulletins. For those who want to follow along at home, the parish emails a service invitation with the bulletin attached on request; Zoom login instructions are also included. A yearly stewardship package and an extensive written and video archive of sermons are available, along with a copy of the parish's 2025 stewardship materials. The parish's motto, "Whoever you are…wherever you are on your spiritual journey…you are welcome here," is lived out by the greeters and the preachers at every service. Under the guidance of God, the present congregation continues to grow and welcome new members to a parish whose history stretches back nearly three hundred years.