A look back at Faith & Values newsmakers

The Lowcountry is full of remarkable people. Faith & Values, a section concerned with religion, culture and social priorities, has featured many of them over the years.

In 2009, readers met church bishops and other leaders, local professionals, artists, craftsmen, a few people determined to affect helpful change and others simply fighting to survive.

This week, we look back at 10 of Faith & Values' newsmakers of 2009, the work these dedicated people pursued, their goals and struggles, controversies and accomplishments.

Consider and remember.

Photo Gallery

Ten outstanding people of 2009

Robert E. Guglielmone

Welcome Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston, which oversees 118 parishes and missions throughout the state and 32 schools, is the native New Yorker's new home.

Appointed 13th bishop of the diocese in January and consecrated in March, Guglielmone spent his first months getting to know the place (and letting others get to know him), then got down to business with clergy appointments, budget issues, cathedral construction, school issues, ministry and advocacy, preaching and many celebrations of the Mass.

The new year will include an effort to recruit priests and surely will bring new opportunities and tests. Mickey, his beloved dog, will know none of it -- only the good company of his master.

Mark Lawrence

In January 2008, the Rt. Rev. Mark J. Lawrence moved from Bakersfield, Calif., to Charleston to become the 14th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina.

During his first two years, Lawrence has faced numerous challenges as he tries to hold the diocese together even as theological disagreements threaten to tear it apart. Upset by what they perceive as the Episcopal Church's abandonment of essential Anglican doctrine and practice, Lawrence and other "orthodox" leaders fashioned a response: to withdraw from the governing bodies of the church.

But that wasn't enough for at least one local parish, which is on the cusp of breaking away completely.

Lee Pringle

Lee Pringle grew up singing at Mount Pisgah AME Church in Pringletown. He got his start in the Sunbeam Choir and, little by little over the years, worked his way to bigger choirs.

Living in rural Pringletown, he dreamed of the great beyond. When he was old enough, his renegade nature sent him off into the world. Experience came: eight years in the Navy, then a career in the business world selling insurance policies and retirement plans.

But his love for singing persisted. In 1999, hoping to draw attention to African-American culture, he started the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Gospel Choir. In 2008, he started the Spiritual Ensemble.

Life is but a song.

Bill Sasser

Bill Sasser used to be a regular dentist. He maintained an office in West Ashley. He saw many patients. A few mission trips, though, changed his outlook.

Sasser connected with Global Health Outreach, a short-term mission organization that's part of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations, a national ministry based in Bristol, Tenn. Ten years ago, he was trained as a team leader, which means he is responsible for recruitment, communications and logistics between the U.S. and other countries.

He has traveled to Central and South America, the Caribbean, Ukraine, Africa and the Far East, donating his services in the name of his Lord.

Peet Dickinson

At 35, the Rev. R. Peet Dickinson IV became dean of the historic Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul, the hub of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina.

Among the young priest's goals is to attract a new generation of worshippers. After all, the church sits on Coming Street, steps away from the College of Charleston and Medical University of South Carolina campuses and in the heart of Radcliffeborough, home to many students and young families.

Dickinson plays bluegrass guitar. It's a way to evangelize through music, he says. For years, he sang in church choirs.

But don't assume he's all hipster: He's well-grounded in Orthodox Anglicanism.

Carl T. Boone

In Charleston, there is a man whose life has been devoted to careful work, a modest man who hammers nails, climbs ladders and trims lumber in an effort to make the city a more beautiful place.

Carl T. Boone has been working, with little rest, since he could handle the tools, each day waking at dawn, each day visiting his workshop on King Street Extension, to assemble or repair cabinets and drawers, each day spending hours at one job site or another, little by little, with patience and persistence, improving the city's landmarks and historic homes.

The ordinary days have added up to 91 years and, taken together, amount to something extraordinary.

Jairy Hunter

When he arrived, the school's survival was in question. It was called Baptist College at Charleston then and had about 1,500 students and several creditors clamoring to get paid.

Jairy C. Hunter Jr. signed on as president in 1984 and committed to three years, enough time to get the school out of the hole.

Twenty-five years later, enrollment has doubled, degree programs have multiplied, the athletic program has grown, courses are available online, alumni giving has increased fivefold and the school has become one of the largest private accredited universities in the state.

Jonathan Green

He's back in the Lowcountry. Home on Daniel Island. Painting. Enjoying local jazz concerts. And advocating on behalf of Charleston's children, who, Jonathan Green says, will learn and grow and excel better if the arts are a part of their everyday school experience.

Green is providing the inspiration behind the arts- infused curriculum at the new Sanders-Clyde Elementary School. He also designed an enormous tile mural mounted by the school's entrance. The mural, which depicts aspects of African-American culture, was produced by local artists. It's meant to reinforce a positive sense of identity among children at Sanders-Clyde.

Nelson B. Rivers III

What can be done in a year? The Rev. Nelson B. Rivers III became the pastor of Charity Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston in September 2008. By fall of the next year, Rivers and the congregation had started health, economic empowerment, marriage and communications ministries; fixed the outdoor sign; renovated the kitchen and bathrooms; and devised plans for a children's church and family life center.

He is applying as much energy to his new vocation as he did to his old job. He spent three decades at various posts in the NAACP, capping his activist career as national chief of field operations and chief operating officer.

Today, he remains involved in the civil rights organization as vice president of stakeholder relations.

Laura Lyn Guerry

Laura Lyn Guerry, who died in November at 48, less than a year after being diagnosed with ALS, wanted more than anything for others to understand the terrible nature of her disease and push for a treatment or cure.

Once an athletic, community-oriented person, her health declined precipitously since January 2009, when she was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease that eats away at nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, paralyzing the body even as the mind remains alert. It is no way to live, and certainly no way to die, Guerry said. She fought until the end.

Her friends and family are likely to remember her as the energetic and accomplished woman she was.