All Saints Episcopal Church sits along New Hope Road on the east side of Gastonia, North Carolina, where a small group of twelve families gathered in December 1961 to plan a parish that would put mission at its center. Their vision led to a first service in an old house on the property in February 1962, and on March 4, 1962 the new congregation was officially recognized by the diocese. More than six decades later, the parish still describes itself as a missionary-driven church and continues to fold that identity into everything from Sunday liturgy to Saturday meals at the local shelter.

A Parish Shaped by Six Priests

The Rev. Robin E. Johnson served as the founding priest for twenty-four years and set the outward-facing tone that still defines the parish. During his tenure he helped establish Alcoholics Anonymous and the early Hospice program in Gaston County, and he became known for pastoral care across the wider community. The Gaston Hospice House is named in his honor.

The Rev. Stephen Stanley answered the call in June 1987 and shepherded the church through a transitional period until June 1990. In March 1991, The Rev. J. Houston Matthews III became the third rector and served until his retirement in January 2005. His tenure brought a major renovation of the sanctuary, construction of a new parish hall, and the creation of a fifty-five-niche columbarium tucked under the oak trees in the parish yard. He also led All Saints into Family Promise, a program in which area churches host the homeless for a week at a time, and introduced the Towel Ministry and the Order of St. Luke to the parish.

The Rev. Ben G. Robertson IV, who arrived in 2005, encouraged Christian youth education. He brought the Godly Play Curriculum to the parish and supported an active senior high youth group that traveled to regional conferences. Under his sponsorship, Anita Ware was ordained as a deacon, and together they created the Ecclesiastical Garden, which continues to supply vegetables to the Salvation Army Kitchen. The Foyers Dinner Groups also began under his leadership. He departed in September 2010.

The Rev. Dr. Gary Butterworth became the fifth priest in the summer of 2012. He backed the Backpack Weekend Food Program of Gaston County and helped establish a local food pantry at the church. He introduced the Children's Word during Sunday morning worship and reached out to share the church's space with the local Spanish-speaking community. In 2018 he moved to an interim role and then to retirement in the mountains of North Carolina.

The Rev. Dr. Lynn Orville arrived in September 2021 as the parish's first woman priest. She brought a focus on teaching, Christian education, and pastoral care, and launched a new outreach that provides meals and supplies to the Kathy Mary Cloninger Center. The Grace Pavilion, an outdoor worship and fellowship space beside the Family Life Center, was built during her tenure. She retired in February 2025.

All Saints has also sponsored several members for ordination over the years. The parish now identifies itself as working with the diocese to identify its next rector and currently operates under a Priest-in-Charge.

Worship on Sunday Mornings

Sunday is the center of the week at All Saints. Two services of Holy Eucharist Rite II are offered in the sanctuary: a quiet 8:00 a.m. service with no music, and a 10:30 a.m. service with music that is also livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel. On the first Sunday of each month, the early service uses Holy Eucharist Rite I in place of Rite II. Visitors who did not bring a prayer book will find red Book of Common Prayer, blue hymnal, and the Family Song Book waiting in the pew racks, along with a printed bulletin that contains the day's liturgy and music.

The liturgy follows the familiar Episcopal shape: the Liturgy of the Word with readings from the Old Testament, a Psalm, the Epistles, and always a Gospel, followed by a sermon, the Nicene Creed, prayers of the people, a confession of sin in certain seasons, and the exchange of the peace. The Liturgy of the Table gathers around a Eucharistic Prayer that recounts the story of Creation, Israel, and the Last Supper, after which the congregation shares the consecrated bread and wine. All baptized Christians are invited to receive communion. Those who are not baptized are welcome to come forward for a blessing.

The church describes itself as open and affirming and welcomes everyone, at any point on the journey of faith. Children are welcome in the service, and the sounds little ones make are considered part of the congregation's life. During the 10:30 service, infant childcare is provided in the education building immediately behind the worship space. Coffee hour follows in the Family Life Center, the building next to the sanctuary in the parking lot.

Formation for Every Age

Christian formation is treated as a whole-parish effort. Sunday School meets from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. in the lower level of the Sanctuary building, next to the nursery. The program uses a Bible-based curriculum for all ages, opens with music, and often ends with a craft or game; older youth are encouraged to serve as teachers and helpers with the younger children.

The Episcopal Youth Community (EYC) gathers middle and high schoolers for monthly meetings around a Biblical topic and adds quarterly activities for the whole family. Adult Christian Formation meets on Sunday mornings for videos and discussion on scripture, history, the Bible, the Desert Fathers, the Gnostics, and other topics, followed by conversation about how the material intersects daily life. A Wednesday-morning book study and EfM (Education for Ministry) round out the formation offerings.

Family events are a recurring feature throughout the year: game nights with covered dishes, a Halloween gathering, an Advent celebration with gingerbread houses and Yule Logs, and a New Year's Eve party. Teachers and volunteers who work with youth complete Safeguarding God's Children training and follow the parish's Safe Church Policy.

A Campus Built for Worship and Walk

The All Saints campus holds a number of distinctive spaces beyond the sanctuary. The Columbarium and Memorial Garden were built in 2002 under the direction of Jack Iverson and occupy a garden-like setting on the left side of the church. The columbarium offers fifty-five niches for purchase by members and their immediate family, with engraved plaques for each individual. The Memorial Garden is open to all members and, with vestry approval, to others, and holds engraved names on two large granite stones. In 2015, John Still and family dedicated landscaping in memory of Pat Still, the creator of the church's unique hangings, who is interred in the columbarium. A lighted cross on the New Hope Road side of the columbarium is visible at night.

A six-circuit medieval labyrinth built in 2012 by parishioners sits near the Ecclesiastical Garden up the hill to the west of the church building. The brick-and-paver labyrinth is open to anyone who wants to walk its single, winding path as a contemplative practice. The Grace Pavilion, constructed in 2023 beside the Family Life Center with the support of parishioners, has quickly become the parish's outdoor worship space and a gathering place for fellowship events such as the Spring Fling.

Music, Liturgy, and the Quiet Arts

Rebecca Beatty leads the Music Ministries program and brings degrees in church music and organ from Greensboro College and East Carolina University to the role. The church's music ministry includes a choir, handbell choirs, acolytes, lectors, servers, ushers, and an Altar Guild. The Little All Saints is a youth music contingent. New pulpit frontals, handwoven by Treasurer Carol Wertz from her home weaving studio and blessed by Rev. Tara Bartal in May 2026, hang in front of the pulpit each Sunday.

Mission Beyond the Walls

Outreach has been part of All Saints' identity since the founding priest's tenure and continues across a wide range of programs. The Backpack Ministry provides weekend food for children at Pleasant Ridge Elementary School. Toys for Tots at Christmas collects and distributes holiday gifts through local partners. The parish supports the Crisis Assistance Ministry, a network of member churches that provide food and financial help to those in need. All Saints also provides meals and supplies to women and families served by the Kathy Mary Cloninger Center and sends volunteers into Foothills CI through Kairos of North Carolina, a lay-led ecumenical prison ministry.

The parish fixes Saturday supper at the Shelter on a rotating schedule and runs monthly collections of items the shelter needs; sign-ups are posted on the bulletin board in the Parish Life Center. Earlier outreach efforts, including Alcoholics Anonymous, the Towel Ministry, and Family Promise hosting weeks, remain part of the parish's wider story.

Stewardship, Communications, and Community Life

Stewardship at All Saints can take several forms: cash or checks given at services or mailed in, online gifts through PayPal, recurring bill payments set up through online banking, gifts of securities transferred from investment accounts, and estate-planning gifts. The Messenger, the parish's weekly e-newsletter, carries worship schedules, event updates, and ministry news, and a Sunday bulletin is posted online each week.

Hospitality ministries include the Fellowship Hour, the Pacesetters senior group, and special events throughout the year. Member Care covers birthday cards, Eucharistic visitors, a healing ministry, and prayer lists that anyone can add names to. The Building and Grounds team tends the columbarium, memorial garden, labyrinth, and Grace Pavilion alongside more routine upkeep.

The Parish Today

All Saints is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina, whose office sits in Asheville. The diocesan bishop is The Right Reverend José Antonio McLoughlin. The current Priest-in-Charge is The Rev. Tara Bartal, who joined All Saints after serving as Associate Rector at St. Peter by-the-Lake in Denver, North Carolina, and who earned her Master of Divinity from the School of Theology in Sewanee, Tennessee, in May 2023. She is supported by Treasurer Carol Wertz, Parish Administrator Phuong Dong, and Director of Music Ministries Rebecca Beatty, along with a vestry led by Senior Warden Brad Frazier.

The parish's stated mission is to be a community where all persons encounter the power and love of the Living God through Jesus Christ, expressed in five commitments: to worship Jesus Christ, to learn and teach his word, to minister in his name, to proclaim and share the blessings of his love, and to seek and serve Christ in all persons while striving for justice and peace among all persons. With God's blessing, the founders wrote at the close of the parish history, All Saints will continue to be a strong light of hope for the world.