Father Timothy Kavanaugh, rector of Our Lord's Chapel Episcopal Church in Mitford, North Carolina, shows his parishioners, by word and example, how to live more abundant lives. According to Philippians 4:13, he prays, "I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power." He counsels the elderly and shows compassion for widows, orphans, the mentally handicapped and terminally ill. In giving of himself unselfishly to the point of physical and emotional exhaustion, he merits the love and respect of the citizens of Mitford.

The village of Mitford has its share of elderly citizens with their special problems of loneliness and physical infirmities.

As people grow old, they gradually lose autonomy. Many small towns like Mitford have no nursing homes or retirement centers to care for the aged.

Spinsters like Miss Sadie, widowers like Russell Jacks, and childless...