TOUR OF SOUTHERN DELAWARE

In June, 2007, our website editor took a quick three-day tour of the 13 southern-most churches of the Diocese of Delaware. He was surprised to see such rapid population growth, then near its peak before the mortgage crisis hit in 2008. Here are his comments.

Those of us who live in northern Delaware may not be familiar with the challenges facing the southern part of the state. Here in the north we are seeing rapid population growth in Bear, Middletown and Townsend. Housing and apartment developments grow like weeds and, I confess, most of us welcome the newcomers just like we welcome weeds. Having arrived in Delaware, those of us here more than six minutes soon have a bad attitude towards newcomers. The new neighbors bring increased traffic on roads and in parking lots, as well as increased demands on institutions such as schools, police, fire departments, hospitals and libraries. It will take years for those institutions to catch up, as it will the Diocese of Delaware, though we've made a start in Glasgow with Good Shepherd. Nor do we welcome the replacement of open fields with acres of quickly-erected structures with no apparent personality. Yes, we have a negative attitude towards change but, recognizing it, we pray and we go to church, that we might learn to be more loving.

To my surprise, southern Delaware faces similar rapid population growth. If people move to Wilmington to take jobs in banking, chemistry and pharmaceuticals, on the Delmarva Peninsula most are not looking for jobs. They've retired. They seek inexpensive land, moderate weather, convenient access to the ocean and Chesapeake Bay, and a slower pace. The locals, of course, see land prices rise, crowding, and a more hectic pace. While some welcome the faster pace and many appreciate the boost to the economy, most, to hear them talk, find the change difficult.

In every town I visited, the population increase was obvious, not just in the new developments next to corn fields but also in the centers of the towns. In the small town of Bridgeville, home of St. Mary's Episcopal Church, large Victorian houses in the last stages of decay are being renovated. Fresh paint gleams everywhere as the new folks snap up neglected properties. Seaford, its economy set back a decade ago when DuPont closed its plant, now is again vibrant, the shops along High Street open for business with a new civic center in place.

You can see this bright renovation in the churches, too, all of them handsome and inviting. All show attention to their structure and landscaping. The landscaping at St. Mary's in Bridgeville is especially inviting. People are busy. On a Wednesday afternoon in Laurel, I found a volunteer repointing mortar on the brick steps of St. Philip's, where we will have our annual Diocesan Convention on April 11, 2008. That same afternoon, in Selbyville, I found Daniel King and his father building a much-needed storage shed behind St. Martin's in the Field. This was Daniel's final Eagle Scout project before going to college. Also on that same afternoon, St. Martha's in Bethany Beach was hosting a picnic for the international students who work the beaches every summer. The next day at St. Peter's in Lewes, a church celebrating its 300th birthday this year, I talked with Jen Mason about their annual Art Festival, a celebration in which all four streets surrounding the church are closed the first Saturday in July and filled with artists and their work.

For all the activity and bright paint, many of these churches are old. St. Peter's in Lewes, St. Paul's in Georgetown, Christ Church in Milford, St. John the Baptist in Milton, and St. Luke's in Seaford are surrounded by grave stones, some going back centuries. They offer their communities an image of stability in the face of so much change. One interesting note on the history of St. John the Baptist in Milton: in the mid-1800s it was moved inland to follow population growth. Now the population is booming east of it, along the shore.

The boom is nothing new to Rehoboth Beach. Miles of big-box businesses, strip malls and name-brand restaurants form a gauntlet of stop lights and shopping opportunities one must pass before entering the serenity of the beach area.

I found my serenity at the A. Felix duPont Memorial House. This retreat center was donated to the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware in 1951 and now welcomes groups year-round for retreats, team building and quiet days. The rustic rambling structure is comfortably air conditioned and heated, has rooms and dining facilities for 30, a TV room, several reading rooms, a chapel, and a deck overlooking Lake Gerar. The beach is only two blocks away. Good food and good company. No, the Episcopal Church is not an ascetic order!

My quick visit to all these churches was necessarily superficial. Many were not open when I dropped by, so all I saw were their exteriors. But when I did find churches open, I heard a bit about problems below the surface, especially of people living below the poverty line and, because this area grows crops and raises chickens, there are many immigrant workers (and endearing yard signs that proclaim: "Eat Chicken Tonight"). One ministry is at St. Mary's in Bridgeville which, besides having a new Sunday School program with 30 children, has a public school clothing ministry to make sure local children have good clothes to wear to school, clothes that conform to the School District's dress code.

One reason for making this tour was to meet people actively working on websites for their churches. Herb and Jocelyn Quick run a graphic arts business in Seaford, Hamilton Graphics. They created a website for their own church, St. Paul's, and are now creating one for St. Mary's in Bridgeville. (A vestry member of St. Mary's, Debbie Stogner, has the business next door to them!) At St. Mark's in Millsboro I caught up with Michael Potter. He is in his third year of an apprenticeship to become a riverboat pilot like his father. After taking my class on Internet Evangelism at Parish Life Day last November, he decided to master Dreamweaver software and did. Now he's teaching me! Finally, I met with Georgia Dalzell, Administrative Assistant at All Saints' Parish in Rehoboth Beach. She, like many, is learning to use Adobe Contribute software to keep their websites up to date inexpensively.

Mine was a short visit, but it gave me a sense of place, a place I wanted to know better, not just because of my new responsibilities with the Diocese of Delaware but also because I was born on the Delmarva Peninsula, in Salisbury, Maryland. My family didn't live there long enough for me to form memories. My dad's service in the U.S. Navy took my family to Louisiana and to other states. So it was good to come back to the landscape of my birth, now the place and people God has given me to serve.

--Danny Schweers, June, 2007