North Mount Pleasant Magazine 2020-2021

NMP www.NorthMountPleasant.com | www.ParkWestNeighborhoods.com | www.BrickyardHomes.com north mount pleasant T he Charleston area’s centuries-old houses of worship — both the grand parish churches in town and the wonderfully named chapels of ease in the country — are unique windows into the past. During the Colonial period, the small provincial churches were constructed by the Anglican Church of England in the “wilderness” as a place of worship for the ease of early settlers. Rice and cotton planters and others worshipped there since it was too far from town to attend their regular church. While some of these are ghostly ruins today, a handful of historic little gems survived devastation and ransacking through 300 years of wars and hurricanes. At these rural chapels and at churches across the South, covered-dish potluck spreads are convivial gatherings after the service where parishioners can display their culinary chops with homemade fare. The nearest chapel of ease is Christ Church, right here in Mount Pleasant, which was established in 1708. Close to Snee Farm on Route 17 North, the small square building with its white cupola has been repaired and rebuilt several times — beginning in 1724 and again in 1874. It has an active congregation that outgrew the chapel and now meets in a larger addition. Not far away, other pre-Revolutionary chapels of ease include St. James Goose Creek, circa 1713, with its pale pink Georgian façade and pelican sculpture over the door; beautifully preserved Pompion Hill, near Huger, circa 1763, which has Huguenot roots and sits on a bluff beside a branch of the Cooper River; and simple Strawberry Chapel, circa 1725, in Moncks Corner. These treasures are all inactive and privately owned, but they have special historic importance. They are locked and under surveillance to prevent vandalism, though they do open for services at least once a year. That is when covered dish picnics often follow. BY ANNE SEMMES Church Picnic Traditions CoveredDishDelightsWorth Praising Photos by Anne Semmes. Christ Church in Mount Pleasant. Homemade food brings the community together. Delicious desserts at a church picnic.