The Reverend H. James Rains Jr., Rector

Father Jim Rains likes to say that he grew up in the rectory next door to Trinity Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  Born in Larned, Kansas to a clergy family from Western Missouri, he traveled with them around the Midwest, until they finally settled in Fredericksburg in 1950. From an early age he accepted Jesus into his heart and was nurtured by a loving and supportive Christian family and community. He attended James Monroe High School where he recently enjoyed his 50th reunion.

He graduated from Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky in 1965 and the Philadelphia Divinity School in 1968.  Ordained to the priesthood at Trinity Cathedral, Trenton, NJ,  he became the curate at Grace Church, Haddonfield, NJ and, two years later, vicar of Christ Church, Magnolia, N.J. Fr. Jim became active in the healing ministry through the mentoring of Dr. Alfred Price, Warden of the Order of St. Luke and rector of St. Stephen’s EpiscopalChurch, Philadelphia.

An avid hiker of the Appalachian Trail, Father Jim was drawn to the mountains. He served the Church of the Good Shepherd, Rangeley, Maine, where he developed a hospitality ministry to hikers on the Appalachian Trail. After seven years he was called to be rector of Trinity Church, Lewiston, Maine and chaplain to the Episcopal students at Bates College. He met his wife, Sharon, an artist from Kennebunkport, Maine, and they were married in 1980.

For thirteen years he served churches in Stowe, Vermont, then Manchester Center, Vermont, where he had an active healing ministry and was a regional leader of FishNet, sponsoring conferences by Francis and Judith MacNutt, Matthew, Dennis and Shelia Lynn and others. He hosted a hostel for hikers on the Appalachian Trail and the Long Trail in the Parish House, next door to the rectory.

Fr. Jim was called in 1994 to St. James Episcopal Church, Potomac, MD, a suburb of Washington, DC, where he led the introduction of the Alpha Course in the diocese of Washington, and nurtured a thriving healing ministry and a large preschool.

Eventually he was called to ministry at St. Michael the Archangel, Colorado Springs, and finally to St. Andrew’s, La Mesa, California, Diocese of San Diego. He retired in Feb. 2005 after 37 years of ministry and moved with his wife Sharon and his two daughters, Carrie, a recent graduate of UNC-Asheville, and Valerie, a graduate of Grossmont College in California, to Weaverville in August 2005.  He became active at Grace Episcopal Church, Asheville. He, a longtime chaplain of the International Order of St. Luke the Physician, joined the leadership team of the Mountain Chapter, based at Grace Church.  He also became the chaplain of the Living Faith Chapter, based at St. Thomas in Burnsville in 2006.  In 2007, he became the interim rector of St. John’s, Wytheville, VA.

On the Feast of Pentecost, 2009, Fr. Jim celebrated his first Eucharist at St. Paul’s, Lake James, as their newly elected rector.