The Reverend Terrell Hathorn Griffis, Sr.

The Reverend Terrell Hathorn Griffis, Sr., age 86, died Friday, April 19, 2019, at the Veteran’s Nursing Home in Collins, Mississippi.

Funeral services will be held on Thursday, April 25th at 11:00 a.m. at the Church of the Mediator, with the Right Reverend Morris K. Thompson, Jr. and the Reverend Morris Thompson, III officiating.  Interment will be in the Columbarium in the Memorial Garden with Robert Barham Family Funeral Home in charge of the arrangements.  Visitation and a reception will be held in the Parish Hall following the service.

Terrell was born in Sturgis, MS and attended Mississippi State University.  After serving in the army in Korea, he graduated from Delta State University, where he met and married Marcia Wilson, his wife of 61 years.

He graduated from Candler School of Theology at Emory University and served Louisville churches as a Methodist minister before becoming an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Mississippi.  While vicar of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Bolton, he organized a mission, The Church of the Creator, in Clinton.  He was active in the teenage rock climbing and spelunking camping program in Sewanee, TN.

Upon retiring from St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in LaPlace, LA, he moved to Meridian and became active in the Church of the Mediator, where he served as Interim Priest in 2007.  He was also vicar at Trinity Episcopal Church in Newton and a supply priest.

Terrell was an ardent MSU fan and an avid reader, but his devotion was to his calling. His was a quiet ministry: serving small churches, prisoners, and those suffering from addiction and abuse.  Active in Cursillo, he was a Diocesan Spiritual Director for Happening, a Spiritual Leader of the first prison Kairos at Louisiana State Penitentiary and Spiritual Leader for Cursillo #1 in the Virgin Islands.  He served as chairman on the Diocesan Committee for Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse and designed a worship service for this program.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Sam and Pauline Griffis, and sister Virginia Arneson of Grenada. He is survived by his wife, Marcia; daughter, Katherine Griffis; son Terrell Jr., and wife Rebecca and granddaughter Madison Kate of Enterprise; granddaughter Jennifer Ferry and husband Mike, and great grandson Jaden Terrell of Meridian; brother Bryce and wife Nancy Griffis of Starkville, and numerous extended family and friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to the Church of the Mediator Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 3400, Meridian, MS 39303, or the charity of your choice.