|
St. John's Lutheran
Church
CHARLESTON
In his Sketch of St. John's, the Reverend E. T.
Horn says: "In March, 1734, while the ship containing the
exiled Salzburgers lay off the harbor of Charleston, Governor
Oglethorpe brought their Commissary, the Baron von Reck, and
their pastor, the Reverend John Martin Boizius, with him to
the city. Here they found a few Germans, firm in their
attachment to the Lutheran faith, and hungering and thirsting
for the Holy Supper. In May, therefore, Bolzius was glad to
accompany von Reck as far as Charleston that he might minister
to this little company, and on Sunday, May 26th, 1734, at five
o'clock in the morning, most probably in the inn where Bolzius
was stopping, he administered the Holy Communion to those whom
on the day before he had examined and absolved according to
the usages of the Lutheran Church".
The congregation of
St. John's was organized in 1757, with the Reverend John
George Fredichs as pastor. On June 24, 1764 the first building
was dedicated.
The second, and present, structure was
dedicated in 1818. Dr. John Bachman, friend and associate of
J. J. Audubon, the celebrated naturalist, was pastor of the
church at that time, and is buried beneath the
pulpit.
The fine wrought iron gates, forming a screen
between the columns of the portico are among the city's
masterpieces.The congregation was influential in the
organization of Newberry College and the Lutheran Theological
Seminary in South Carolina.
Prominent persons of German
descent are buried in the graveyard.
BY
HAZEL CROWSON SELLERS
South Carolina Churches
|