St. Benedict’s Anglican Church undertook their Annual Meeting for the 2026 year following Mass on February 8th. Due to repeated instances of winter weather, the meeting was pushed back from its original date of January 25th. The meeting was undoubtedly the best attended Annual Meeting in living memory! Many important topics were discussed and decisions were made by the entire congregation during the meeting, to include the new church name, voting to present Fr. Nicholas Harrelson to Archbishop Mark Haverland as a candidate for Rector, discussion of the new church building design, and finally, the election of delegates to the 2026 Diocese of the South Synod being held in South Carolina.
The parish voted between the top two options remaining for a new church name, Our Lady of Walsingham and St. Michael the Archangel. The winning selection was St. Michael the Archangel with a dedicated shrine to Our Lady of Walsingham. The ultimate goal will be to gain recognition to the Society of Mary as an official shrine parish of the society. The new church name will take effect upon occupation of the new church building on the property off of University Station in Durham, North Carolina, meaning there is still a bit of time remaining that we will be known as St. Benedict’s Anglican Church.
Regarding the vote on Rector, the parish chose to unanimously offer Archbishop Mark Haverland the candidacy of Fr. Nicholas Harrelson as Rector. Following the Annual Meeting, the vestry convened a meeting wherein they affirmed the vote and officially presented Fr. Nicholas to the Archbishop, meaning Fr. Nicholas is now the Rector-Elect of St. Benedict’s Anglican Church.
Lastly, the work being done by architect Dr. Steve Baker of Baker Architects was presented to the parish. The bones of the structure have taken form but there is much work remaining with the various liturgical and theological details of the church space. 