From Staff Reports 

HENDERSONVILLE — St. James Episcopal Church will welcome its new lead pastor just in time for Hendersonville’s biggest weekend of the year, the church announced in a press release.

“The church’s vestry, akin to a governing board, recently elected the Rev. David Henson as its next rector and the 40-year-old priest will lead and preach at his first services over Labor Day weekend (Sept. 3-6),” the release noted.

Mo Rainey, senior warden of the vestry, was quoted in the release as saying, “The timing couldn’t be more appropriate. That weekend our city will be celebrating the Apple Festival in Hendersonville and our parish will also be celebrating the next exciting chapter of life at St. James.” 

A former journalist, Henson transitioned to the priesthood seven years ago and has served at churches in North Augusta, S.C., and most recently at Trinity Episcopal in Asheville. 

However, he has called Hendersonville home for the past six years with his wife, Amber, and two children. His wife is a family medicine physician with Blue Ridge Community Health. 

“St. James is a really special place and its people are profoundly dedicated to making Hendersonville a better place for all of God’s children. It is a joy and an honor to be joining with them in the work God is already doing here through this parish,” Henson said. “And I’m so excited about the bold and bright future God is calling us to here in Hendersonville, proclaiming the message of God’s unconditional love so desperately needed in our world.” 

The search for a new rector by the St. James Discernment Committee took over a year, well-beyond the expected timef rame, due to the pandemic, Rainey said. “Any church that’s been this long without a leader as long as we have within a pandemic, finding a new rector felt almost like a pall had been lifted. These are exciting times for St. James.” 

Henson is a graduate of Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., and has been serving in Episcopal parishes since 2011.  Henson currently serves on the Commission on Ministry for the Diocese of Western North Carolina and is the Homiletics (Preaching) instructor for Iona WNC, the diocesan education program for bi-vocational priests. 

St. James holds services every Saturday at 5 p.m. and every Sunday at 7:30 a.m. and at 10 a.m. They are live-streamed on the parish’s Facebook page as well.  

For more information about St. James Episcopal Church, visit stjamesepiscopal.com, or call 828-693-7458.