Scurrying Like Ants

As a child I always thought I wanted an “Ant Farm.” These “ant farms” I mention were advertised in various magazines and they looked totally awesome. Ants housed in an aquarium allowed the person with an ant farm to see the intricacies of an ant community. An ‘ant farmer’ could watch ants as they worked and scurried around within the confines of their habitat.

     

The St. John's congregation dates its origins to the 1742 arrival of Dr. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the father of the Lutheran Church in America. He stopped for two days in Charleston on his way to visit the Salzburger colony at Ebenezer, Georgia. He returned a month later and spent three weeks waiting for a ship to Philadelphia during which time he held services, taught catechism to the children of the German residents, and held services with communion on Sundays.

Rev. Dr. John Bachman (1790-1874) brought a golden era to St. John's in the nineteenth century, but it ended abruptly when Charleston and St. John's were devastated by the War Between the States.

A brief period of racial enlightenment largely disappeared after the Civil War, but had made an important mark in American Christian history while it lasted. Three of the nation's most important early African-American leaders came from St. John's, and the first group of Lutherans to send an American missionary to Africa also took place within the congregation.





Figures in St. John's History

Heyward W. Epting (1942 - 1972)

Rev. Dr. Heyward W. EptingReverend Heyward W. Epting was the Pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church from 1942 through 1972.

 

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History Corner

Talented Organist

St. John’s has had many talented organists over its long history. Today I want to remind our congregation of an exceptionally talented organist in recent times.

For 31 years Hazel King was organist-choirmaster at St. John’s. She served faithfully from 1968 to 1999 when she retired due to the onset of Parkinson Disease.

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Sunday Worship

8:30 a.m. Service with Holy Communion
9:45 a.m. Sunday Church School
11:00 a.m. Service with Holy Communion


Nursery available in Parish Hall during all services. Doodle Bags are available in the back of the church to keep little hands busy: they include coloring books, crayons, books, and stickers!

 
St. John's Lutheran Church, Charleston, SC