Turning now to diocesan affairs, we find Bishop Cheshire preparing to begin a long campaign to free St. Mary's School from its burdensome debt and to raise an adequate endowment for the institution. When he addressed the convention of 1912 he reminded the members that on October 15, 1913, he would complete twenty years as bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina. In his opinion, the most important work accomplished in this period was the establishment of St. Mary's as a diocesan school. The Bishop declared that he would like to celebrate his twentieth anniversary by paying off the debt on St. Mary's and by raising one hundred thousand dollars towards a permanent endowment. He wished, therefore, to devote much of his time for the next eighteen months to this end, and asked for the convention's support. The convention indorsed his suggestion and promised its co-operation. At the convention of 1913 a special committee on an endowment for St. Mary's was appointed to work with the Bishop. Notwithstanding the efforts of Bishop Cheshire and the committee, very little money was raised by the anniversary of his consecration. Thus, the matter stood until 1916, when Bishop Cheshire proposed an exceedingly ambitious program. The plan called for raising fifty thousand dollars to retire the school's funded debt and to meet certain necessary expenses, one hundred thousand dollars as an endowment, and another hundred thousand for additions and improvements. It was further suggested that the dioceses of East Carolina, South Carolina, and the Jurisdiction of Asheville should be asked to co-operate in this endeavor. The convention adopted the plan, and the quota for Bishop Cheshire's Diocese was set at seventy-five thousand dollars. The Bishop was untiring in his efforts to interest his people in the needs and promising future of St. Mary's. The program for raising the endowment was progressing well when the war disrupted its work, but the campaign was by no means abandoned. By the end of 1921 more than one hundred and forty-six thousand dollars had been pledged. Two years later the Bishop reported that St. Mary's School was free of all debt. The generous gifts to the school by Mr. Lawrence Holt and Mr. William A. Erwin, which followed shortly afterwards, gave the Bishop much pleasure and made him feel that the work which he considered the most important of his episcopate was now permanently established.