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Sexton: A sexton is an officer of a church, congregation, or synagogue charged with the maintenance of its buildings and/or the surrounding graveyard (Wikipedia definition).

There is a whole chapter in Wyndham B. Blanton, The Making of Downtown Church (1945) [not currently available at LCP], concerning the Second Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Virginia, about the role of the Sexton. And it is primarily about one special Sexton in particular: Joshua Kinney (1870-1953).

This writer once served as a sexton in his youth and has an appreciation for the labors and services of such an individual. They are often unrecognized, but happily, Joshua Kinney was very much appreciated and recognized by his church. There were congregational observances of the 25th, 35th, 40th, 45th and 50th anniversaries of his tenure, which began in 1886.

His autobiographical reflections were published in 1931 under the title My Years of Service. We have recently added this work to Log College Press at the suggestion of Wayne Sparkman.

Kinney wrote much about his first pastor, Moses D. Hoge, his second, Russel Cecil, and also his third, William E. Hill, who wrote the introduction. He recounts how there was a period of time when the pastor was named Moses, the pastor had a butler named Daniel, and the sexton was, of course, Joshua. He wrote of his deep appreciation and affection for Miss Katherine H. Hawes and her company of Covenanters. He shared about an experience when an intruder held a gun to face and threatened him. And he spoke of his occupation as a life of service to others.

Kinney’s concluding thoughts are worth highlighting:

First, let me say how happy I have been to have my home here at this church; and how many real true friends I have here. And again, how many I have seen carried out to the last resting place. Of the friends of today, what a joy they are to me, to meet and greet them on a Sunday morning, and to have a hand-shake and a little joke. Why, it is more than anything in this world to me.
So I am closing this little book of mine of this dear old church with the texts of two of its pastors and the closing words of the text of the first.
I. “Show me thy ways, O Lord, teach me thy paths.”
II. “Certainly I will be with thee.”
III. “I am going to lay my burden down when I have fought and won.”
I think that is all.

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When Moses Drury Hoge was seeking the right person to lead a Sunday school program at his pastorate, the Second Presbyterian Church of Richmond, Virginia, he called upon Miss Katherine Heath Hawes (1875-1956), then about 20 years old.

Miss Katherine Heath Hawes of Richmond, Virginia, is credited with beginning Presbyterian youth ministry in the Southern Presbyterian Church. After Hawes returned from boarding school in 1895, the pastor of Second Presbyterian Church, Dr. Moses Drury Hoge, asked Miss Hawes to teach either a boys or girls Sunday school class. She chose the boys class (they were ages eight to ten!). Seeing how few boys attended Sunday school, Miss Hawes opened her home to them on Friday evenings for games and music, to provide them a place for fellowship with their peers. The following March, Company No. 1 of the Covenanters was born. Officers were elected, and a badge, watchward, and flag provided symbols of the Covenanters. Reports from and offerings for missionaries proved to be the focal point of the group. They eventually developed a choir and orchestra, then a fife and drum corps, followed by an emphasis on service projects.

As the boys grew older, their enthusiasm for the Covenanters brought about a desire in other Presbyterian churches to have such a ministry. By 1900, Presbyterian churches in nine other states and the District of Columbia registered as Companies of Covenanters. Soon Miriams, a companion group for girls, was added. (Mark H. Senter, When God Shows Up: A History of Protestant Youth Ministry in America, pp. 180-181)

The daughter of Samuel Horace Hawes, a member of the Confederate “Immortal 600,” Miss Hawes was also known, among other things, for her concern for the plight of blacks (particularly, black women) in her day. A student from her Social Service class in the 1920s wrote in 1986: “Miss Katherine was the first to awaken my conscious [sic] regarding the sorry plight of the negroes - especially the black woman sending off her children to school not knowing what insult, injury, or slight they might meet with during the day . . . .Their courage!" Compassion for the needs of the young and disadvantaged was a hallmark of Miss Hawes’ labors of love. She never married but she gave a life of service to the youth of the Presbyterian church, and the community around her. After her passing, her body was laid to rest at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

Robert Pollok Kerr wrote a book-length history and tribute to the Scottish Covenanters. Published in 1905, The Blue Flag, or, The Covenanters Who Contended for 'Christ's Crown and Covenant', this volume was

DEDICATED TO
Miss Katherine Heath Hawes,

Who conceived and carried out the idea of
organizing the Presbyterian boys of the
United States in companies of “Covenanters”
to work for Christ and his Church, infusing
into them the spirit of those splendid heroes,
of whose toils and sufferings for liberty and
truth this book is a history:

And to the

Covenanter Companies:

May they keep the Old Flag flying, and be
faithful soldiers of Christ and his Church.

The Author

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