Last Updated on July 10, 2025 11:01 am
VALLE CRUCIS, NC — One hundred years ago, in 1925, the Episcopal faith community in and around Valle Crucis laid the foundation for the stone church and built a new spiritual home for the original mission that had been established in 1842.
This is the centennial year of the current location of Holy Cross Episcopal Church and its signature red front door, and the parish will commemorate this blessed anniversary with a series of public events that celebrate its worship and ministry, plus four of its most cherished venues: the historic 1862 St. John’s Chapel on the lower Watauga River, the venerable 19th century Bishop Ives Cabin, the former 1910 mission school now known as the Valle Crucis Conference Center (VCCC), and the gothic revival architecture and adornments of Holy Cross Church itself, consecrated in 1925. Although located in Valle Crucis, the formal address of the property is 122 Skiles Way, Banner Elk, NC 28604.
VCCC Executive Director Margaret Love said, “The Valle Crucis Conference Center, Holy Cross, and St. John’s are as intricately connected as Dutch and Crab Orchard Creeks flowing into the Watauga, each ministry nourishing the other, deeply rooted in the Valle and shaded by the mountains. Mission School staff, students, and guests have contributed to the life of the parish since its inception, and Holy Cross parishioners have worked and played on Mission School grounds for over a century. Separate missions hold one heart for service and ministry.”
Perhaps best known in the High Country for the annual Valle Country Fair, which has contributed over $1.25 million in proceeds to local charities and families in need, the Holy Cross family will mark their Centennial Celebration (HC100) with the goal of “connecting the community with a 183 year history of love and service to the folks in the Valle and beyond.” Featured events include free history tours led by parishioners in period costumes portraying historical figures who played a prominent role — pun intended — in the formation, development, and ministry of the mission school, conference center, and church.
These tours will take place simultaneously in all four of the above locations beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 19, repeating as necessary up until 4 p.m., or even later if attendance is more than anticipated; no advance registration is required. The prominent individuals being portrayed on the history tours, along with the names of their modern-day reenactors, are as follows:
~ Bishop Levi Silliman Ives (1797-1867), portrayed by Walter Browning, was the second bishop of NC and in 1842 arrived in Watauga Co. to establish a school for boys expanding it to a training school for aspiring ministers patterned on the monastic style.
~ Brother William West Skiles (1807-62), portrayed by James B. F. Tester, arrived in Valle Crucis in 1844; Bishop Ives hired him to take charge of the agricultural portion of the school. Skiles was ordained a deacon in 1847 and entered the ministry.~ Ellen Schermerhorn Auchmuty (1837-1927), portrayed by Dawn Harris, was a wealthy NYC philanthropist who contributed the funds to build the main three-story building at the Valle Crucis Mission School – with its wide wrap- around porch – in 1908.
~ Bishop Junius Moore Horner (1859-1933), portrayed by John Goodrich, became bishop of the Missionary District of Asheville in 1898 (now the Diocese of Western NC); his chief interests were education and the re-establishment of a mission school with boarding and day students, a dairy with cheese and ice cream cottage industries, apple orchards, and a wagon factory.
~ Miss Mary Ellen Horner (1857-1922), portrayed by Andrea McDonough, was the sister of Bishop Horner and the principal of the Mission School from 1910 until her death from pneumonia. It was an outstanding period in the history of the school due to Miss Horner’s character and personality, with her devotion to duty an example to all.
~ Father Lee Frontis Anthony (1889-1919), portrayed by Mike Alford, was the priest at Valle Crucis, a beloved pastor and friend to the community who died January 1919 during the flu epidemic having contracted the disease while visiting sick church members.
~ Deacon Milton Crisler “Cris” Greer (1933-2002), portrayed by Noyes Capehart, began a vital outreach program known as the Towel Ministry in the 1980s and at Holy Cross in the 1990s focusing on servant ministry and help to all those in need.
~ Deacon Muriel Elizabeth Tedstone Moore (1934-2015), portrayed by Nina-Jo Moore, was the first female deacon at Holy Cross, ordained in 1999, whose major areas of focus were with the aging population and as an advocate for the less fortunate.
According to Holy Cross Interim Rev. Robert Hartmans, “Those of us who make up the church and conference center, historically one mission in the Valle, are indebted to the legacy of those who forged a way of service and love to their community and to God. This history of hard work, grit, and commitment to neighboring communities serves as the inspiration for the mission of loving service in our own time.”
These family-friendly tours will include docents from the parish to guide folks from place to place, with plans underway for refreshments, a printed handout with historical bios, a map of the entire property for self-guided walking tours, children's activities, and much more. Note that donations are being accepted to renovate the Bishop Ives Cabin for the preservation and display of the parish and conference center history and their artifacts.
“Throughout its history the Church in this Valle has stood as a beacon, a light in the wilderness, a missionary outpost. Today we continue to build on the foundation put down by many devoted servants of God who labored untiringly and who touched so many lives with hope, love, and compassion. The ‘Beacon of Light' continues to shine brightly in this most holy place.” concluded Church Historian Dedy Traver.
