Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance - Church of the Epiphany

Church of the Epiphany - Eutawville, S.C.

Today's Church Photo in Lieu of Attendance is the Historic Church of the Epiphany in Eutawille, S.C. It is a lovely church and grounds and the good humor in the maintenance sign makes me smile each time. I hope everyone is having a good weekend.

As the Eutaw village grew (later named Eutawville),the people felt the need for a church that was conveniently located; so, in 1849 the present church building was built as a community chapel. It was not consecrated so that services could be held by any denomination in the area. The original building had a slave gallery. It was later removed and a small fenced area provided for the few African Americans who wanted to attend. For many years, this chapel was used for a chapel of ease for the Rocks Church, also called the Church of the Epiphany. The first Rocks Church was built in 1804 near the entrance gate of the Rocks Plantation and for some time was a chapel of ease for St. Stephen’s Church. The congregation of the Rocks Church was composed mainly of families who had migrated westward from St. Stephen’s Parish. The Rocks Church was separated from St. Stephen’s Church in 1864 and became the Parish Church of Upper-St. John’s. The chapel in Eutawville was enlarged and improved at this time (1864). In 1880, a chancel and vestry room were added and the roof re-shingled. In 1899, the carved rood screen was put up. It was reportedly made by Dr. Edmonds, a medical doctor whose hobby was woodcarving, to disguise the fact that the ceiling in the sanctuary was lower than that of the church.