Florence’s Christ Episcopal Church to celebrate 150th year

Christ Episcopal Church will celebrate its 150th anniversary at 10 a.m. June 7.

S.C. Bishop Mark Lawrence of Charleston will lead the service at the quaint church, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Father Michael Burton is the rector of Christ Episcopal, located at 2305 U.S. 327. He is assisted by Deacon Hiram Moseley.

Christ Episcopal’s building is in the shape of a cross, originally painted white. The outside walls are boarded and battened. The boards are 10 inches wide running up and down, every seam covered with a beveled board about four inches wide and two inches in the center.

The inside walls are hard-finished plaster, while the woodwork is a variety of pines and the pews are heavy heart pine.

A Gothic design door opens into each transept and the rear of the nave. Gothic windows, originally glazed in ground glass, were replaced with clear glass.

The furniture is handmade of walnut, except for the white marble font. Instead of an altar, there is a communion table. The first instrument was a melodeon placed midway in the nave.

The church at first had no heat. Members provided themselves with hot soapstones in little flannel jackets. And the rugs from the carriages — some of them fur — were brought in to ensure comfortable feet during the services.

A wood-burning heater was installed midway in the church during the 1880s. A coal-burning heater was inherited from St. John’s Episcopal Church in 1932.

“Mr. J.D. Dunnaway, a member of our Bible class, built a fine flue that made us much more comfortable,” touted Bessie A. Gregg in “A Sketch of Christ Episcopal Church.”

Christ Church was first organized as a chapel in 1843 by the Rev. N.P. Tellinghast, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Society Hill. It was formally established as Christ Church, Mars Bluff, in 1856.

The Rev. Augustus Moore took over the chapel in 1854. He became the first rector of the church and served until 1876.

The land was donated by Dr. Edward Porcher. The sanctuary was consecrated in 1859.

But by the late 1890s, Christ Church had become a mission church rather than a parish. Monthly services continued until they were suspended in 1918.

The church began an annual homecoming service in 1927. It held special services, such as baptisms and weddings, during the 1930s and 1940s.

It was officially reorganized as a mission church in 1950.

The public is invited to the anniversary celebration.

IF YOU’RE GOING

WHAT: Christ Episcopal Church’s 150th anniversary

WHEN: 10 a.m. June 7

WHERE: Christ Episcopal Church, 2305 U.S. 327, Florence (near Quinby)

COST: Free

INFO: Call (843) 346-4975