Hayes Barton Baptist Church holds a treasure that is worth tracking down if you get the chance. As part of the church’s 75th anniversary, a video was produced that is entitled “A Pilgrimage of Faith, Hope, and Love.” The video offers a history of the church through photos and interviews. Many of the people on the video are still members of the church, but some have passed on since the video was produced by Jeff Brooks ten years ago. One of these people, described to me as one of the church’s “matriarchs,” offers our story for today, one that is part of our heritage and one that helps explain why Hayes Barton Baptist Church is a place of hope that feels like home. That person is Virginia Eagle.
Virginia first appears on the video discussing her memories of Dr. Carl Townsend. “I remember he always wore a white suit,” she says in her sophisticated southern accent. She recalls his visiting her at home one day on wash day right after she had just purchased a brand new washing machine, a rarity in those days. The year was 1946, the year she joined the church.
As the video plays out, Virginia’s recollections are interspersed with others in various video segments entitled with names such as “Beginnings,” “The Path to Freedom,” and “The Journey Here.” Among many events, along with others, Virginia recalls the 1962 fire. “Right away, we started plans to rebuild,” she says, “There was no waiting around.”
Coming away from the video, my impression of Virginia was that she was a woman of style and status, refinement and resolution. To check my impressions, I asked some current members about what they recall and, perhaps no one stated it better than John McClendon when he said that with Virginia, there was what can be called “The Virginia Eagle Way.”
“Virginia had a way of doing things that was her way,” John says with a smile. “She knew how things needed to be, and she was determined about that. Whether wearing red robes at the Hanging of the Greens or arranging flowers a certain way, there was Virginia’s way of doing things.”
For Kathy Teague, the memories are many. “She took me under her wing,” says Kathy. “She did it all. It takes three of us (Audrey Lassiter, Debra Barrier, and Kathy) on the decorating committee to do what she did herself.”
“Virginia always had fresh ideas. She loved beauty and wanted our church to be beautiful. She set a standard we are still working to adhere to. Her presence is everywhere. The paraments we use on the communion table, the blown-glass globe candle holders in the windows, the conference room table,” says Kathy, “Virginia would know what was needed and would figure out a way to get it.”
“Virginia’s philosophy was that the church should have the best,” recalls Kathy. “She showed her love for the church through her desire to have the best and through sharing her many gifts and talents. For many years, she even wrote, costumed, and directed a youth play. She would bake the staff their favorite birthday cakes. And she would shower everyone with love.”
G. Wesley Williams remembers that Virginia was “The Dale Carnegie of Hayes Barton Baptist Church.” “She knew how to win friends and influence people,” Wesley says with a laugh.
In a segment near the end of the video, when the “Voices of Faith, Hope, and Love” are heard, Virginia talks about the church and “the road ahead.” She says that the church does not need to stand still. “You either go forward or back,” she says, “There has been a lot of change…and we need to keep up.”
Whether we are trying to keep up with the times or keep up with the standards Virginia set for use, one thing is certain. We have the presence of Virginia Eagle all around us to remind us to be the best for our church and for God. Her presence is in the people like John McClendon, Kathy Teague, and G. Wesley Williams. Her presence is in the place that is our church home, one made beautiful by her loving hands. And her presence is in the kind of philosophy she applied to “the road ahead”…a philosophy to “keep up,” no doubt with the kind of resolve with which she lived her life.
One final story in the video that Virginia tells is about ginger lilies and Dr. George Balentine. Virginia says that he asked her one day if there would be ginger lilies in heaven. She says she replied: “If not, I’ll come back down to get some.” I don’t know if she has needed to come back down to get some, but I do know that her presence is among us…in our heritage, hope, and church home.
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