Churches

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church (Raleigh) Encyclopedia

In 1924 the Greek-American community of Raleigh decided to establish a Greek Orthodox parish, and in 1935 they were served by the first resident priest.  Parishioners overcame the economic difficulties of the 1930s and collected enough money to lay the cornerstone of the first Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church on November 30, 1937.  Five months later, construction was complete.  

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James O'Kelly (1736?-1826) Encyclopedia

James O’Kelly, a fiery, revivalist preacher in Virginia and North Carolina from 1775-1826, preached religious liberty.  He decried slavery, using republican rhetoric in An Essay on Negro Slavery, and criticized Methodist polity in The Author’s Apology for Protesting Against the Methodist Episcopal Church.  In 1794, he created the Republican Methodist denomination, which became the Christian Church in the South in 1802.  O’Kelly moved to North Carolina in 1787 and died in Chatham County in 1826. 

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Bishop Vincent S. Waters (1904-1974) Encyclopedia

Bishop of the Raleigh Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church from 1945 to 1974, Vincent S. Waters is known mostly for denouncing segregation and ordering the desegregation of North Carolina Catholic churches and schools in 1953—a year before the Brown v. Board of Education case.

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Welsh Encyclopedia

North Carolina's diverse ethnic history includes the Welsh, who migrated from the middle colonies during the early eighteenth century to work in the naval stores industry.  By the end of the century, the Welsh owned numerous properties and played a vital role in North Carolina society.  More than a few modern-day North Carolinians are of Welsh descent.

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