St. Stephen's Episcopal Church is an Episcopal parish in Charleston, South Carolina, founded in 1822. It was the first Episcopal church in the United States at which pews were offered to attendants at no cost; other Episcopal churches either sold or leased pews to members to fund the churches. [1] The church was named as a contributing property to the Charleston Historic District when it was expanded in 1970. [2]
The congregation first met in a rented room. The construction of the first church was funded by donations and was intended to be a free church "for the general benefit of those who may not have it in their power to provide themselves with seats in other Churches." [3] The cornerstone of the first St. Stephen's was laid on September 30, 1823, on Guignard Street near Maiden Lane. [4] (Guignard Street ran all the way from East Bay Street to Meeting Street, and Maiden Lane extended a block further to the south than it does today.) The Right Rev. Nathaniel Bowen presided at the ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone of what would be a brick building of 36' by 50'. [5]
An open letter ran in 1834 about the inadequate size of the chapel on Guignard Street. [6]
On June 5, 1835, a fire destroyed several city blocks bounded by Market Street (to the south), Meeting Street (west), Hasell Street (north), and Maiden Lane and Anson Street (east). [7] The church was purposefully destroyed to create a firebreak during the fire. [8]
The decision was made to relocate the church to the site of the cemetery on Anson Street in Ansonborough, and the cornerstone for the current church was laid on December 26, 1835, on Anson Street [9] It was designed in the Greek Revival style by Henry and Edward Horlbeck, and completed and consecrated in 1836. [2]
In 1845, under Rev. Thomas Dupont, the church opened a parochial school, but it was closed in 1956 after the public school system opened. Rev. Dupont later opened a small orphanage, which eventually grew into the Episcopal Home for Children in York, and a home for women, which evolved into what is now Bishop Gadsden Retirement Community. [2]
The church closed temporarily on 17 January 1864, after suffering damage from shelling during the American Civil War, but repairs were soon made. It continued to grow, and became a self-supporting parish in 1866. [2] In 1880, however, the church was closed again, and most of the congregation joined what was then St. Luke's, and later attempts to re-open the church proved abortive.
In 1911, a mission with a parochial school opened at St. Stephen's. In 1923, an African-American Methodist congregation under Rev. William M. Morgan converted to Episcopalianism, and were given St. Stephen's to use as a place of worship. This began a long period when St. Stephen's largely served the black, working class people of Ansonborough. [10] As demographics shifted, the church renewed efforts at integration in 1987. Rev. Alanson Houghton was brought out of retirement to lead the parish through its reintegration period, serving until 1993.
The church suffered damage during Hurricane Hugo in 1989, and temporarily held services in its new parish hall while repairs were made. In 2001, the congregation again achieved the status of an independent parish, and in 1998, purchased the property at 54 Society Street for use as a rectory, church offices, Sunday School rooms, and Fellowship Hall. [2]
St. Stephen's withdrew from the Diocese of South Carolina when it broke ties with the national Episcopal Church in 2012. St. Stephen's affiliated with the new Episcopal Church in South Carolina, which later won the rights to the name "Diocese of South Carolina" in court and resumed operating under that name. [2]
St. Joachim Roman Catholic Church was the first Roman Catholic church founded in Northeast Philadelphia.
Jehu Jones Jr. (1786–1852) was a Lutheran minister who founded one of the first African-American Lutheran congregations in the United States, as well as actively involved in improving the social welfare of blacks.
Trinity-St. Paul's Episcopal Church in New Rochelle in Westchester County, New York was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. It is located at the northwest corner of Huguenot Street and Division Street. This church represents the body of the majority group of New Rochelle's founding Huguenot French Calvinistic congregation that conformed to the liturgy of the established Church of England in June 1709. King George III gave Trinity its first charter in 1762. After the American Revolutionary War, Trinity became a parish of the Protestant Episcopal Church of America.
The Huguenot Church, also called the French Huguenot Church or the French Protestant Church, is a Gothic Revival church located at 136 Church Street in Charleston, South Carolina. Built in 1844 and designed by architect Edward Brickell White, it is the oldest Gothic Revival church in South Carolina, and has been designated a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The congregation it serves traces its origins to the 1680s, and is the only independent Huguenot church in the United States.
Edward Brickell White, also known as E. B. White, was an architect in the United States. He was known for his Gothic Revival architecture and his use of Roman and Greek designs.
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St. Philip's Church is an historic church at 142 Church Street in Charleston, South Carolina. Its National Historic Landmark description states: "Built in 1836, this stuccoed brick church features an imposing tower designed in the Wren-Gibbs tradition. Three Tuscan pedimented porticoes contribute to this design to make a building of the highest quality and sophistication." On November 7, 1973, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark.
St. Thomas' Parish is an Episcopal church in Washington, D.C. It is part of the Diocese of Washington.
Prince George Winyah Church is an Anglican church in Georgetown, South Carolina. Prince George Winyah is one of the oldest continuous congregations in South Carolina, and the church building is one of the oldest churches in continuous service in South Carolina. Prince George Winyah (Anglican) and Churchyard was named to the National Register of Historic Places on May 6, 1971.
Trinity Episcopal Church, now known as Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, is the first Episcopal and the oldest surviving sanctuary in Columbia, South Carolina. It is a Gothic Revival church that is modeled after York Minster in York, England. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places on February 24, 1971.
The Circular Congregational Church is a historic church building at 150 Meeting Street in Charleston, South Carolina, used by a congregation established in 1681. Its parish house, the Parish House of the Circular Congregational Church, is a highly significant Greek Revival architectural work by Robert Mills and is recognized as a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
Strawberry Chapel is a parochial chapel of ease in the lower part of St. John's, Berkeley Parish in Berkeley County, South Carolina that was built in 1725. It is on Strawberry Chapel Road between South Carolina State Highway 8-44 and the West Branch of the Cooper River. Bordering Strawberry's property is the South Carolina State owned historic site of the “Town of Childsbury.” It was a planned community that was settled in 1707. The town no longer exists. They were named to the National Register of Historic Places on April 26, 1972.
The Benjamin Simons Neufville is a Greek Rival house at 72 Anson St., Charleston, South Carolina. It is one of the largest houses in the Ansonborough neighborhood. The house was built by Eliza Neufville Kohne in 1846 and remained in the family until 1904. The house was purchased by the Historic Charleston Foundation in 1959, which added a brick and wrought iron fence and tore down a later addition to the home, before selling it in 1962. While much of the interior was original, a fire in the 1950s resulted in much of the first floor of the home requiring extensive repairs.
St. James's Episcopal Church is the third oldest Episcopal congregation in Richmond, Virginia. Only the older St. John's Episcopal Church on Church Hill also remains an active congregation.
The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, often referred to as Mother Emanuel, is a church in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1817, Emanuel AME is the oldest African Methodist Episcopal church in the Southern United States. This, the first independent black denomination in the United States, was founded in 1816 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Morris Brown was one of the founders of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and its second presiding bishop. He founded Emanuel AME Church in his native Charleston, South Carolina. It was implicated in the slave uprising planned by Denmark Vesey, also of this church, and after that was suppressed, Brown was imprisoned for nearly a year. He was never convicted of a crime.
Christ Church, also known as Christ Episcopal Church, is a Christian house of worship located on the corner of Church Street and Main Street in Newton, New Jersey. It is a parish overseen by the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The congregation first met on 28 December 1769 and was granted a charter by New Jersey's last Royal Governor William Franklin on behalf of Britain's King George III. Christ Church is the oldest church in Newton and the third oldest parish in the Diocese of Newark.
Christ Church is an Episcopal church at 28 Bull Street, Johnson Square, in Savannah, Georgia. Founded in 1733, it was the first church established in the Province of Georgia and one of the first parishes within the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, earning it the nickname "the Mother Church of Georgia". The present church building was constructed in 1838 and is located in the Savannah Historic District.
Grace & St. Peter's Church is an Anglo-Catholic Episcopal parish in the city of Baltimore, in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland. The congregation is the product of the 1912 amalgamation of two earlier parishes, St. Peter's Church and Grace Church. Its building, constructed in Brownstone, is an elaborate example of English Gothic Revival architecture dating from 1852. Today, Grace & St. Peter's is distinguished by its Anglo-Catholic liturgy and professional choir. From 1940 to 2020, it was also home to the Wilkes School at Grace & St. Peter's, an Episcopal day school which closed in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
|title= (help)|title= (help)Coordinates: 32°47′06″N79°55′52″W / 32.784956°N 79.931128°W