On Easter Sunday in 2013 our small group of committed Episcopalians, without a church home, gathered before dawn on a Chechessee River dock to read Morning Prayer. A sudden, brilliant sunrise on the river’s horizon at the final “Amen” convinced everyone worshiping there that God was with us and He would show us the way to continue our Christian walk together.
So with the help of Bishop Provisional Charles von Rosenberg, Archdeacon Calhoun Walpole, and supply priests and liturgical gifts from near and far, we continued to worship on various docks until the low country’s famous no-see-ums and unpredictable summer weather forced us indoors. Pastor Renty Kitty and the members of Okatie’s Saint Luke Baptist Church generously opened their doors to our group for Sunday services while we looked for a permanent church home.
With months of labor by dedicated members, a martial arts studio was converted into a chapel and the members of our fledgling Episcopal Church in Okatie celebrated the first Eucharist in our Hazzard Creek home on September 14, 2014. Two months later, delegates to the 234th Diocesan Convention voted to accept our worshiping group as a Mission and we were welcomed into full union with the Convention of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina.
