Church youth group helps Eastern Shore families with home repairs

Retired Episcopal priest Churchill Pinder, standing in rear center, led a group of youth and adult supervisors from near Richmond in a home repair workweek coordinated by the ESVA Housing Mission. The group included (from left): Tara Keeven, Steve Schmidt; seated: Ben Layton, Charlie Schmidt, Carter Keeven, and Palmer Frazier; back: Mick Broadbent and Matthew Broman; standing: Teegan Pond, Isabelle Hanback, Jeff Pond, and Faith Baker.

By Bill Sterling

A group of teenagers from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Midlothian recently spent four days on the Eastern Shore making repairs to homes owned by low-income families.

The group was led by Churchill Pinder, 72, an Episcopal priest who moved to the Eastern Shore two years ago but has a connection to the area that dates back 50 years.

Although he has led youth groups on similar missions for more than 25 years, Pinder coordinated this trip with the newly formed ESVA Housing Mission, a group formed in late 2024 to provide critical home repairs for those in need.

“Wherever I have been, I have enjoyed working with youth on home repair projects to show them the value of service to others and that ministry can take place outside the church walls,” Pinder said. “I was looking for a group to coordinate projects, and I was put in touch with the ESVA Housing Mission. It’s a great fit.”

Don Taylor, the ESVA Housing Mission board advisor who helped form the organization after heading a similar group in Maryland for 12 years, praised the youth group’s efforts.

“It warms your heart to see youth leaving home to travel to help others they don’t even know,” Taylor said. “The team from near Richmond is the hands and feet of Christ, acting on their faith. We can all learn from these examples.”

Most of the repairs to four homes, ranging from Parksley to Cape Charles, involved floor repairs, roof repairs, railings, and steps — all measures intended to improve the safety of the homes. One of the goals of ESVA Housing Mission is to prevent falls, which can be especially dangerous and costly for elderly residents.

Isabelle Hanback, while measuring for a floorboard to replace rotten lumber that had been torn out at the home of Joyce Fedderson outside of Cheriton, said the work gave her perspective.

“Sometimes we all take what we have for granted,” Hanback said. “Being able to help someone in need makes me appreciate the blessings I have. It also allows me to bond and make a stronger connection with my friends at church and get to know them so much better.”

Teegan Pond said, “I like the feeling of helping somebody and working as a team to make someone’s life better.”

Fedderson, 67, said the repairs were badly needed.

“I had a roof that leaked, and then the floor was so rotten my grandson stepped through right at the front door,” Fedderson said. “I didn’t know what to do but just leave it in God’s hands. And these kids are answering my prayers by fixing everything.”

Steve Schmidt, an engineer and one of three adult supervisors with the youth group, noted that their church on Salisbury Road in Midlothian was founded by Pinder’s father, the Rev. Joe Pinder, in 1960.

“These youth missions to help people in need are intended to teach service to others,” Schmidt said. “The kids also raise money for pilgrimages. Last year it was Ireland; next year will be Italy.”

Jeff Pond, another supervisor and a risk management consultant, said fundraising is almost a year-round activity to pay for service trips and missionary journeys.

“We have this huge rummage sale at our church which features antiques, furniture, and many other items,” Pond said. “It’s a big fundraiser, and the planning for the next one starts almost the day after it is held.”

Pond estimated the church enrollment at about 350.

The church youth group included six boys and three girls between the ages of 14 and 17. Schmidt and Pond served as supervisors, along with Tara Keegen, who proved handy with tools for the repair jobs.

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Onancock hosted the youth group. The teens brought sleeping bags and portable beds, which were set up in two rooms. They also cooked their own meals at the church.

Long Line of Episcopal Priests

The Rev. Pinder is a fifth-generation Episcopal priest who grew up in Richmond and has served churches on Long Island, N.Y., Maryland, and Pennsylvania. His first parish was in Baker City, Ore., where he gave sermons in sign language to deaf parishioners. He had studied sign language at seminary because his sister had lost her hearing.

In 1977, his parents retired to the Eastern Shore, where they lived in a van while Churchill and his brother built a house on the banks of Pungoteague Creek under the guidance of their father.

“I was able to study in England for a year after graduating from high school and then went to the University of Virginia,” Churchill recalled. “I explored several careers, and as I began to focus on going to seminary, my brother and I took off a year and built a house for our parents as my father was retiring and had little pension support. It was a wonderful experience, and it has allowed me to add ‘builder’ to my resume when needed.”

Churchill, who served as a parish priest for 32 years and as dean at St. Stephen’s Cathedral and School in Harrisburg, Pa., for 10 years, has put that building experience to use for the past quarter century by leading youth groups on home repair mission trips. He said he is grateful to have found a new partner in the ESVA Housing Mission.

“I never tire of witnessing young participants surprise themselves at how much they can accomplish when given the opportunity,” Pinder said.

Churchill’s mother, Gay Pinder, who died in 2012, 20 years after her husband, was active in the community. She served on the first board of Hospice of the Eastern Shore and was a member of the Accomack Interfaith Crisis Council.

His parents sold the first house Pinder and his brother helped build, but he now lives in the “round house” built by his father five years before he died. When his father formed churches in Richmond and Virginia Beach, he also led the efforts to build them.

That home is also on Pungoteague Creek. The Rev. Pinder was an avid skier in his youth, but today he enjoys riding the creek on an E-Foil, a motorized surfboard that allows riders to glide silently above the water. Recently single, Pinder travels extensively and has taken his E-Foil to the West Coast.

“I can’t say I am retired because I have served as interim priest or filled in at all seven Episcopal churches on the Eastern Shore,” Pinder said. “But I leave time for traveling and am always open to new experiences and missions that restore all people to unity with God and themselves.”

For more information on donating, volunteering, or applying for assistance from the ESVA Housing Mission, visit www.ESVAHM.org.