Saint Paul's Church (Augusta, Georgia)

Saint Paul's Church

Saint Paul's Church
Basic information
Location Augusta, Georgia, United States of America
District Episcopal Diocese of Georgia
Country United States of America
Ecclesiastical or organizational status parish
Website Saint Paul's Church
Architectural style Colonial
Saint Paul's Church (Episcopal)
Location 6th and Reynolds Sts., Augusta, Georgia
Coordinates 33°28′33″N 81°57′40″W / 33.47583°N 81.96111°W / 33.47583; -81.96111Coordinates: 33°28′33″N 81°57′40″W / 33.47583°N 81.96111°W / 33.47583; -81.96111
Area 2 acres (0.81 ha)
Built 1751
NRHP Reference # 73000642[1]
Added to NRHP April 11, 1973

Saint Paul's Church is a historic Episcopal church located in downtown Augusta, Georgia, adjacent to Riverwalk Augusta. A member of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, Saint Paul's conducts its worship services using the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. The church, located on the corner of 6th and Reynolds Street, is the oldest church congregation in Augusta. It was established in 1750 by the Church of England at the site of Fort Augusta. There have been five churches on the site. The current church building of colonial architecture style was designed by Henry Ten Eyck Wendell and dedicated in 1920. It can seat up to 600 people.

Saint Paul's is an active congregation. Its three Sunday worship services at 8 a.m., 11 a.m., and 5:30 p.m. include celebration of the Lord's Supper, known in the Episcopal Church as the Holy Eucharist. The 8 am service (no music) uses Rite I of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. The 11 am choral service uses Rite II of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. The 5:30 Celtic Communion is a meditative healing service that includes quiet music by local musicians. The nave is open to the public for private prayer from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m, Monday through Thursday, and 9 a.m. to noon, Friday. A guestbook and historical brochures are available in the narthex.

Christian formation classes for all ages are held each Sunday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Nursery care is offered from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The 11 a.m. service is broadcast on local radio at WGAC 580 AM Radio and 95.1 FM Radio. Listeners can hear the service on-line at http://wgac.com/listen-live/

Saint Paul's has a long history of service and hospitality to the wider Augusta community and to the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia. It is a member of Downtown Cooperative Church Ministries, a consortium of downtown Augusta churches which provides food, medical, housing, and financial assistance to those with limited means. The Saint Paul's Outreach Committee raises funds to support local charities. In cooperation with Golden Harvest Food Bank, the parish's bi-monthly Manna Pantry program provides nutritionally healthy foods to local residents dealing with food insecurity.

Through its River Room event facility, St. Paul's provides a site for a wide range of community activities, including wedding receptions, concerts, school proms, training seminars, fund-raising galas, and meetings of local community and business organizations. Saint Paul's also hosts athletes competing in the Augusta Ironman Triathlon each September, providing a pasta dinner for competitors, a gear drop for the swim event, drinks and snacks for participants and volunteers, and a quiet space for spiritual preparation.


History

Saint Paul's Church was the third church associated with the Church of England established in the colony of Georgia after Saint John's Church, Savannah, and Christ Church, Frederica.[2]

There have been five Saint Paul's churches at the corner of 6th and Reynolds Street, and formal religious services associated with the name Saint Paul's Church in Augusta have been held since 1751. The mother church of Augusta, Saint Paul's began in 1749 when the President and Assistants of Georgia's governing council approved the petition of Augusta resident James Fraser for permission to build a church and burial ground. [2]

Residents of the town erected a small, half-timbered chapel beside Fort Augusta, and appealed to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (S.P.G.) to send a minister. At its dedication, this chapel was named Saint Paul's for London's historic St. Paul's Cathedral. Services were led by Lay Readers until the arrival of Rev. Jonathan Copp two years later. Rev. Copp brought with him a baptismal font, a gift from the S.P.G., which can be seen in the narthex of the current church.

In 1758, the Colonial Assembly of Georgia divided the colony into eight parishes, with the parish in which Augusta was located being named for "The Parish Church and Burial Place of Saint Paul's."[3]

The original church building was of Gothic architecture, but burned down during the American Revolutionary War. The fourth church was designed by architect John Lund in the colonial architecture style. It burned to the ground during the Great Augusta Fire of March 1916, which also destroyed the homes of many Saint Paul's parishioners of the time.

The Episcopal Diocese of Georgia was founded at Saint Paul's on February 24, 1823. During the Civil War, the First General Council of the Episcopal Church in the Confederate States was held at Saint Paul's from November 12-22, 1862, during which time the delegates adopted a Constitution and Canons for the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States and elected Stephen Elliott, Bishop of Georgia, as its Presiding Bishop.

The churchyard of Saint Paul's holds the graves of William Few, a signer of the U.S. Constitution, and George Mathews, a governor of Georgia who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. The body of Confederate general Leonidas Polk, who was also Episcopal Bishop of Louisiana, was buried at Saint Paul's following his death near Marietta, Georgia, in June 1864. Bishop Polk's remains were interred beneath the chancel window of the fourth church until they were removed to Christ Church, New Orleans, in 1945. A plaque commemorating his life is affixed to the wall to the left of the Saint Paul's altar. Joseph Wheeler, the Confederate general born in Augusta, was a member of Saint Paul's.


Burials

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

See also

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 Malone, Henry Thompson (1960). The Episcopal Church in Georgia, 1733-1957. Atlanta, Georgia: The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Atlanta. p. 27.
  3. ↑ Miller, William K. (1945). History of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, Augusta, Georgia. Augusta, Georgia: W. K. Miller. p. 4.

[1] [2]


  1. ↑ Malone, Henry Thompson. The Episcopal Church in Georgia, 1733-1957. Atlanta, Georgia: The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Atlanta,1960. 334 pages.
  2. ↑ Miller, William K. History of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, Augusta, Georgia. Augusta, GA: W.K. Miller, 1945. 84 pages.
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