Life’s Funny
Life’s Funny
Begin the Begats
A longstanding Greensboro church makes room for an up-and-coming flock
By Maria Johnson
Photograph by Lynn Donovan
You might remember my January 2023 column about a venerable, old Greensboro church’s plan to sell their property and downsize, a sort of spiritual and physical transformation.
Well, the 120-year-old Presbyterian Church of the Covenant — worshippers affectionately call the place “peacock,” the phonetic version of PCOC — finally has a reason to flash its feathers.
The small congregation has sold their massive complex and found a more suitable space that’s literally across the street.
At the same time, the old church property has been assumed by a younger, up-and-coming congregation, the Citadel of Praise Church & Campus Ministries, which has occupied different rental spaces around Greensboro since its founding 23 years ago. Finally, the nondenominational, charismatic congregation has a home of its own.
In many ways, it’s a story of generational and societal change written on the back of a church program.
“It feels like a torch is being passed,” says Joyce Powers, an 83-year-old PCOC member and self-described “catalyst” of the hand-off.
First, a little history.
PCOC, then called the Walker Avenue Presbyterian Church, started in 1906 as an offshoot of First Presbyterian Church and Westminster Presbyterian, both on the edges of downtown Greensboro.
The upstart church, which changed its name a few years later, focused on serving young people around Greensboro College and the state-run school that would later become UNCG.
For years, the congregation worshipped in a small, wooden church. Then, backed by several prominent families, they hired notable architect Harry Barton — who also drew plans for the Guilford County courthouse, as well as UNCG’s auditorium and chancellor’s house — to design a stately house of worship.
Done in the Neoclassical Revival style, the 1919 building hunkers at the corner of Mendenhall Street and Walker Avenue. Additions eventually covered much of that block.
From the beginning, PCOC was an activist church.
Members nursed the sick during the recurring flu pandemic of the late 1910s.
They fed soldiers who paused at Greensboro’s Overseas Replacement Depot in World War II.
They housed programs that provided child care, counseling, a preschool for blind children, and enrichment for disabled adults.
More recently, as their numbers dwindled, they leased out worship space to different denominations and nondenominational groups, as well as to artists and musicians.
In 2019, Greensboro native and Grammy-winning musician Rhiannon Giddens, who once attended PCOC, joined other local musicians at the church for a concert benefitting the Experiential School of Greensboro.
By the time the COVID pandemic hit — nearly 100 years after the flu pandemic — the congregation, which numbered 30 on a good Sunday, knew they had to make a change. As with many mainline U.S. churches, shrinking membership made it difficult to keep the physical plant going.
They had a grand vision.
They would sell their sprawling complex to a developer who would keep the property largely intact, rehab it into an affordable live-work-play space and, hopefully, rent back a space to PCOC so the congregation could continue to worship there.
The church entertained potential buyers starting in 2023.
Several developers looked at the fixer-upper.
And passed.
“There was hope. Then there was not. Then there was hope. Then there was not. We went through a roller coaster,” Powers says.
Finally, the church hired an agency that specializes in selling churches nationwide, and the property was listed for sale “as is.”
That’s how the Rev. Greg Drumwright, who started his church in 2003, just before graduating from N.C. A&T, found out about the property. Someone else had filled out an online contact form using his name, and an agent followed up.
Drumwright — who had indeed been searching for a permanent home for his flock but had no idea PCOC was up for grabs — went with the flow.
A showing was arranged.
Drumwright met PCOC’s minister, Rev. Mark Sandlin, and common threads quickly emerged. Both had attended divinity school at Wake Forest University.
Drumwright also learned that PCOC was once pastored by the Rev. Z. Holler, a well-known civil and labor rights activist. A social justice advocate in the same vein, Drumwright — who received national attention for ministering to George Floyd’s family during the 2021 trial of Floyd’s killer, a former Minneapolis police officer — felt a kinship between the churches.
“It felt like we were meeting our aunts and uncles and grandparents,” he says. “I would call that providential.”
Like the PCOC of yore, the Citadel is known for its outreach to college students and for its hands-on involvement in social and political issues. Drumwright walks his talk; he’s the Democratic candidate for an at-large seat on the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, and Powers says PCOC members back him.
“This is a guy who makes things happen,” she says.
In December, PCOC members, most of whom are white, worshipped in their old home for the last time, alongside the Citadel’s mostly Black congregation.
PCOC mustered most of its 40 members, many of them silver-haired.
The Citadel, which boasts a congregation of more than 250 people, most in their 20s, 30s and 40s, filled the rest of the pews. The Citadel choir belted out hymns of praise.
“They shook the dust off the chandeliers,” says Powers. “It was wonderful.”
“It felt transitional and transformational,” says Drumwright.
The churches closed the sale on the last day of 2025.
Knowing that the property went to a growing church, PCOC members leased another space right across Walker Avenue, inside the Victorian home known as the Holderness House, which was built for the current owner, the Presbyterian Campus Ministry.
The resettled congregation will hold an open house with music, lemonade and watermelon from 5–7:30 p.m., Saturday, July 18, with a rain date of Sunday, July 19.
Drumwright says the Citadel, too, plans an open house, probably in the late summer or early fall, once they’ve spruced up the sanctuary and fellowship hall.
Like elderly homeowners who sell their property to younger families, Powers says PCOC members delight in watching from across the street as the Citadel’s energetic members plant flowers and work to restore the aging church home.
And who knows? Maybe someday PCOC members will move back in with their spiritual children.
“We’ve told them: ‘You can always come home,’” says Drumwright. OH
Maria Johnson is a contributing editor of O.Henry. Email her at ohenrymaria@gmail.com.
If you have never owned a pooch, then visiting a dog owner’s home may seem a little strange to you. They don’t operate like houses without wagging-tail greetings. You’ll hear phrases or words yelled over and over again. And, if you neglect to use them while visiting, you might be met with fluffy ears cocked in confusion. Take it from us, you don’t want to be caught without the proper puppy parlance. Don’t fret, we’ve compiled a list of useful common phrases to know before you hit the homes of these happy hounds.
UNCG biology student Kayden Friddle knows that there’s an art to blazing a path forward. Born and raised in Summerfield, Friddle is an artist whose pyrographic work consists of burning wood and leather with sketches of bears, dogs, birds, cats and just about anything you can find in the wild — or at home with a wagging tail. “I use a really hot tool that burns the wood to make patterns,” says Friddle, “the same way you would draw with a pen.” While it may sound simple enough, woodburning requires precision and patience — oh, and, at the very least, an artistic hand. As a child, Friddle says all the content she consumed — documentaries and TV shows — and the toys she played with were, you guessed it, animal related. Inspired by traditional pyrography artists, she began experimenting beyond wood. With a steaming-hot pencil in hand, Friddle crafted her own method, discovering new techniques. “I had seen where people have done pyrography and wood burning but, at the time, I hadn’t seen anyone do it on leather.” So, she adds, “I crafted a method to do it.” Her love for animals extends far beyond her medium. Merging her creativity with compassion, she has auctioned her work and donated from 50%
If you haven’t yet wandered through The Marshall Muse Gallery’s newest exhibit, “Nature’s Kingdom,” take a cue from a curious deer and stop in to discover what animal-inspired artworks are waiting around the bend. For instance, Linda Reville’s Strength & Courage watercolor features three bucks and a bald eagle, and dips deeply into Mother Nature’s palette, from earth tones to indigo blues. Other works, says gallery owner Tracey Marshall-Becker, are “very diverse from pottery, wood, sculpture, fiber art, paintings, acrylic oil and watercolor,” July 1–25. Info: themarshallmusegallery.com.
A nosy Nelly knocks at our door: In my second year of college at UNCG, I went back home to Goldsboro during fall break, where I met our family’s newest addition, Nelly — or what I like to call her, Nosy Nelly. There she lay, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, pulling the threads from the comforter on my bed. A bit shy and reserved — and occasionally snoopy — our white-furred cat with blue eyes isn’t the sweetest kitty on the block, but somehow she found a soft spot for my sister, Bre, and me. Our soon-to-be-Nelly was first found in a loved one’s garden, digging up more than just weeds, and had to be moved to a home that would accept her, claws and all. And if anyone will take in a stray, misbehaving cat who doesn’t listen, it’s my sister. We’d fostered many cats since moving to our latest house and, like the rest of them, our mother let us keep Nelly until we could find her a forever home — which turned out to be closer than we thought. A few months passed and my mother finally gave up the pretense. Nelly had settled in our house with no intention of leaving. When guests visit, she’ll peek out curiously from underneath our beds, ultimately deciding it’s not worth her time, and slide back into hiding. Sometimes considered rude or aloof, she just might surprise you. In fact, if you’re lucky enough — or shake a treat in your hand — she may find her merry way to your lap for an evening nap. A year ago, I asked my sister why she chose the name Nelly, half expecting it to have originated from the phrase “nosy Nelly,” fitting for a curious cat who’s torn up our blinds to sneak a peek outside, but that seems not to be the case. To this day, my question remains unanswered. All we know is that the name fits her all too well. 
Dear Diego: Elementary school plays a key role in a child’s development, but for shy and reserved Joi, who found it hard to make genuine friends, she spent most of it by herself. That was until I met Diego. “Joi, could you please stop that!” yells Mrs. Perkins, my fourth-grade teacher, during our class walk to the playground. I’m near the back of the line and have, unknowingly, slipped into a daydream, humming a tune the entire walk back — loud enough for her to hear me from the front of the line. A little embarrassed now that my classmates are staring at me, I walk the rest of the way back with my head down. “I thought it sounded good,” says a voice behind me. Diego. He has a Go, Diego, Go! backpack — fitting, isn’t it? — and light-up Skechers he wears everyday. From that moment on, Diego and I are two peas in a pod, never leaving the other’s side. He becomes my first best friend and later evolves into a crush. I am fascinated by his ability to climb the monkey bars just as he is fascinated by my swift running skills — so much so that he brags to all his male friends that I could beat them in a one-on-one race if they dared to challenge me. Sadly, a year later, his father, who is in the military, is stationed overseas, which means Diego has to leave. Now as an adult, I appreciate the love Diego showed little Joi when she needed it the most. I hope he has grown up to impact other people as much as he impacted me. And who knows? Maybe we’ll meet again one day. Until then, I’ll keep an eye out for light-up Skechers. 
“Once I started doing film acting at the studio, I just fell in love with it,” exclaims Emi Curia — a Winston-Salem native and actress. A year after graduating from UNCG, Emi’s career continues to rise. At 22, she’s already a veteran of the hit TV series 
Father’s Day is right around the corner and we’re bracing ourselves for a day where we hold back the eye rolling as the corniest puns ever, aka dad jokes, exit the mouths of our fathers. They’re a comical and fun play on words, but, if your father is like most, he probably feels unashamed when blurting out the same joke over again and again — on repeat forever and ever. And, if you’re not careful
