The little village of Greenville Court House was still in its infancy when Reverend Rodolphus Dickerson established St. James Episcopal Mission in Greenville in 1820. The mission held services in a log courthouse on Court and Main streets, attended by a handful of families from Charleston who summered in the Upcountry to escape the heat on the coast. Five years later, entrepreneur and landowner Vardry McBee deeded four acres to St. James Mission on which to build a brick church. The modest mission was received into the Diocese of South Carolina in 1826 as Christ Church Parish.
Over the past 200 years, Christ Church has ministered to the community by helping establish such entities as the Sterling Hope Center for after-school education programs, and the Greenville Free Medical Clinic. “Christ Church has a long history of concern for the community, so we want to be faithful to that tradition and move it forward,” says Reverend Dr. Harrison McLeod, who has served as the parish pastor since 2008.
A pandemic during their bicentennial year did not prevent parishioners from reflecting on how 200 years of history have shaped the church, though it did impact several of their planned projects. As gathering in person was not an option last year, parishioners were forced to think outside the pulpit. When the pandemic shut things down, many of the feeding ministries in Greenville shut down as well. To meet that need, the parish used its kitchen to prepare meals for the hungry and homeless in partnership with Project Host, providing 170,000 lunches to date.
As part of their bicentennial 20 For 20 program, parishioners were asked to volunteer 20 hours in the community during 2020. “Many folks were able to do that in the first quarter of the year, but once March rolled around, that effort became more difficult,” reports the pastor. Yet other projects, such as the development of a piece of property the church-owned in the Sterling community, were completed. Partnering with Habitat for Humanity, Christ Church built six new single-family homes on the street they call Joshua’s Way.
In January, Dr. McLeod hopes to launch the Church Street Chorale Academy, which has been delayed by the spread of Covid-19. Based on a transformational program the pastor implemented at his previous parish in Texas, the Chorale Academy will invite 30 third graders from underserved Greenville County schools to participate in music education. “We’ll pick up those kids a couple of days [each week] after school and bring them to our campus, offer them tutoring in their academic classes, serve them a meal, offer them piano and voice lessons, and they’ll sing with us on Sunday morning.”
Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, Christ Church has continued to be a force for good, crafting solutions to address unmet needs in the community. “I want Christ Church to become a beacon of hope,” Rev. McLeod declares. “We want to be a safe place for people to come and experience healing and God’s grace in their lives while working together for a better future.”
