A new space for healing and reconciliation takes shape

Sunrise over the newly repurposed stones at the Calvary Labyrinth

In August of 2022, the stones which had previously held memorials to specific individuals were arranged around the perimeter of the existing labyrinth at Calvary. The plaques which had been mounted on them were removed prior to repurposing the stones. Those plaques which were donated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (including the “Dixie Highway” plaque from the monument near Hendersonville Road) have been returned to the Moses Wood camp of the UDC. A successor organization to the B’nai B’rith Lodge of Asheville has agreed to receive the Zebulon Vance plaque, and efforts are being made to return other plaques to the parties which contributed them.

For Calvary, our next steps include creating pieces of art to fill the spaces which once held the memorials and creating signage that helps explain the purpose and suggested uses for the space. The art that we install will be intended to help visitors to the labyrinth enter into a contemplative reflection on Christ’s mission of healing and reconciliation. Of course nothing will speak more powerfully that the natural features — the trees, the wildlife, and the distant mountains — to the loving intention with which God created all that is. We hope, with the help of explanatory signage, to give special emphasis to the healing of traumatic experiences, especially the trauma of war.

The Rev. Stuart McClellan, Rector of Calvary at the initiation of the “Outdoor Abbey of the South”, expressed his hope that the monuments would serve as a means for reconciling the combatants of the Civil War. It is our hope, in this time, to expand the invitation of reconciliation to all people. While this process unavoidably includes removing memorials to specific individuals, we have faith that God is leading us into a place of hope that all things will be held together in Christ.