Join a worship service or simply visit St. Philip’s Church, the oldest congregation in the United States south of Virginia and part of the Anglican Church in North America. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, preached in the congregation’s earlier structure and George Washington also worshipped there. The church continues to play an important role in Charleston’s spiritual, cultural and civic life.
The congregation was founded in 1680 by early settlers in the area that would become Charleston. They constructed the first official church building a few blocks from the site of today’s church. It was named St. Philip’s, but commonly called “the English church.” When space ran out, the congregation built a larger Anglo-Palladian-style church at today’s location. The first services here were held on Easter Sunday 1723. Unfortunately, that church structure succumbed to fire in 1835, so again, the congregation rebuilt and it is in this newest building, a national historic landmark, that worshippers gather today.
In addition to John Wesley, revivalist George Whitfield preached at St. Philip’s Church. One of its early rectors, the Rev. Dr. Robert Smith, served as the founding president of the College of Charleston. Note that the church established the colony’s first hospital and one of its earliest schools.
Visit the cemetery around the church and across Church Street, where you’ll find gravestones of signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, as well as of governors Charles Pinckney and Edward Rutledge. On the church’s exterior, note the octagonal steeple, designed by architect Edward Brickell White in the Wren-Gibbs tradition, as well as three Tuscan porticos.
After admiring St. Philip’s Church or attending a service, have lunch or dinner along East Bay Street and do some sightseeing. Rainbow Row’s pastel-colored historic homes are close by, as well as the Heyward-Washington House and Waterfront Park.
Find St. Philip’s Church on Church Street in Charleston near The Battery. Worship and prayer services are held on Sundays and Wednesdays. The earlier Sunday service is quieter and more contemplative, while the mid-morning service is quite lively.
