About Us

Our Lady Chapel

Our Lady Chapel is located in the lower courtyard. When one is facing the church doors, descend the stairs to the left and you will see the entrance on your left. The Lady Chapel is used for weekday celebrations of Mass and Healing Services. It is also the location for our Columbarium and provides a place for private devotion. A shrine of Our Lady is part of the chapel.

History

The Church of Our Saviour was founded on July 30, 1924, with the encouragement of the diocesan Bishop, the Rt. Rev’d Judah Mikell, specifically to provide a place of worship within a diocese that was uniformly “low church,” for those who embraced the teaching and practices of the Anglo-Catholic movement.

After worshipping for a year in rented premises, in 1925 the congregation moved to its present location at the corner of Los Angeles and Highland Avenues in the heart of the Virginia-Highland neighborhood.

The church was consecrated on the 1st Sunday of Advent in 1944 by the Rt. Rev’d John Moore Walker.

The buildings were expanded in the 1950s and the original building was incorporated into the larger present structure when its wooden walls were covered by brick facing.

The interior of the church was renovated in the 1980s. The choir space was moved behind the altar to make the altar free-standing and allow celebration facing the people.

The parish hall, Pettway Hall, named to honor Our Saviour’s rector of 38 years, Fr. Roy Pettway, is located under the church. The church offices are in Griffith Hall, a building behind the church at 985 Los Angeles Avenue, which originally served as its rectory. Opposite the church stands Garrison Hall, a facility used by a variety of community groups. All these facilities are named in honor of clergy now deceased.

Clergy

The Reverend Melanie Rowell, Rector

Mother Melanie Rowell fell in love with the Anglo-Catholic tradition when she began attending an Anglo-Catholic parish near her work as a university music professor. With its incense, bells, beautiful vestments, and shrine to Mary, this small church drew her into the beauty, mystery, and immensity of the Word made flesh. Through her regular participation in weekday Masses, God became present to her in a way she had never experienced: in the Word being preached, in the prayers and readings, and most importantly, in the Sacrament. It was her intense experience of Jesus in this place that led her to discernment and then ordination to the priesthood in 2018.

Prior to her graduation from the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, and her subsequent ordination, Melanie taught music and voice in various forms for over twenty-five years, eventually becoming Associate Professor of Music at Southern Wesleyan University in Central, SC. There she taught applied vocal lessons, diction, music history, and directed the yearly student musical. In addition, she maintained an active performing schedule as a professional soprano, singing recitals and oratorio as well as roles in musicals and operas.

Mother Melanie served for over four years as Assisting Priest at St. Columba’s Church in John’s Creek, Georgia, an Anglo-Catholic church plant here in the Diocese of Atlanta that is now 18 years old. Here she participated in every aspect of parish life, celebrating the Mass and preaching frequently, and leading Evening Prayer, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, Stations of the Cross, and Compline. In addition, she initiated deeper relationships throughout all age groups through pastoral care, Sunday Christian formation, and parish social events.

Along with her work at St. Columba’s, Mother Melanie served for over four years as Lower School Chaplain at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School, the largest Episcopal day school in the US. In this role she equipped and empowered a group of fourth and fifth graders to serve as leaders at school Morning Prayer services and as servers at the altar for Holy Communion. In addition to teaching religion classes for all students (1st through 5th grades), she cultivated deeper relationships by providing pastoral care to students, parents, faculty, and staff.

Mother Melanie was thrilled to be called in January 2023 to be the 12th Rector here at the Church of Our Saviour, which, along with St. Columba’s, is one of two self-identifying Anglo-Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Atlanta.

She has been a member of the Society of Catholic Priests since 2017, serving as Secretary to the Council from 2018 to October 2022. In October 2022, she was elected Provincial Convener, a post she will hold for three years. She also holds a life membership in the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament.

Mother Melanie enjoys reading, hiking, walking, and traveling.

Email Mother Melanie