Circular Congregational Church
Encyclopedia
The Circular Congregational Church is a church located in Charleston, South Carolina
. It is one of the oldest continuously worshiping congregations in the South. Founded in 1681, the church remains a vibrant, diverse community.
Historically independent, the church endeavors to follow Jesus Christ in the radical way of progressive Christianity. That is, they believe the Bible is truthful but not literal
, that God is a living Presence but not a dominating white man in the sky, that Jesus is a person of the Spirit and of saving wisdom but not a sacrifice to an offended God. We commit ourselves to equal and utmost respect of persons, joyful worship, theological discipline and discovery, social justice and dignity, and collegial leadership.
Circular Church fosters active interdependence in the local community as well, trying to be aware of the needs of people on the margins of society. In the last 20 years, this church has been instrumental in founding the city’s first marriage and family counseling center, Charleston’s crisis intervention service (Hotline), Hospice of Charleston, and the Elder Shelter. Space and leadership have been provided to the Charleston Interfaith Crisis Ministry, Amnesty International, Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Charleston PEACE, and other community organizations.
The congregation, international and multiracial, has been served for 15 years by “tent-making” (part-time) clergy, a reminder to the congregation that every member is called to priesthood and ministry.
Visitors are welcome both to explore the grounds and to explore the faith in worship, ministry, and life in community. They are one of the few congregation in the South that expresses its ecumenical commitment by belonging to two denominations, the United Church of Christ
and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
.
The earliest records of the church were lost when a violent hurricane swept them from the manse, located at White Point (the Battery), in 1713. During the colonial period, this unusual church had no official name, but "suffered itself to be called either Presbyterian, Congregational, or Independent: sometimes by one of the names, sometimes by two of them, and at other times by all three. We do not find that this church is either Presbyterian, Congregational, or Independent, but somewhat distinct and singular from them all."
Many of the early ministers hailed from Scotland, England, Wales, and New England. The "old White Meeting House" was enlarged in 1732, only a year after 12 Scots families moved down the street to start a church with a stricter Presbyterian government and doctrine. While many Presbyterians remained, the policy of this church "was not so much to define exactly a particular mode of their discipline, and to bind their hands up to any one stiff form adopted either by Presbyterians, Congregationalists, or Independents, as to be upon a broad dissenting bottom, and to leave ourselves as free as possible from any foreign shackles, that no moderate persons of either denomination might be afraid to join them. ”
Shaped by its independent mind and goaded by a colonial government that treated “dissenters” (non-Anglicans
) with contempt, this church became a greenhouse for revolutionary sentiment in the colony. Prominent members of the Meeting House, and its distinguished minister, William Tennent
(1772–1777), were frequently heard speaking for political and religious freedom. Tennent took his life in his hands when he made a wide tour of the Carolina back-country in 1775 to gain subscribers for the cause of independence.
The Archdale Street Meeting House separated in 1817 as the Second Independent Church, and later it adopted the name Unitarian. The congregation of Circular Church remained trinitarian
under the pastoral leadership of the Rev. Benjamin Morgan Palmer (1813–1835). Noteworthy is the fact that Palmer was a special son of this church, born in Philadelphia just two weeks after his parents had been driven into exile there in 1781.
By 1787, the vigorous congregation had built a second meeting house on Archdale Street to accommodate their growing number. For 25 years, Drs. Hollinshead and Keith, co-pastors of the church, preached one sermon in both houses each Sunday, alternating morning and afternoon services.
, Charleston’s leading architect who also designed the Washington Monument in D.C., completed the plans. The church he designed was a Pantheon-type building 88 feet in diameter with seven great doors and 26 windows. On its main floor and in the gallery it was said to accommodate 2,000 worshippers! The first major domed building in North America, it was described by one observer in 1818 as “the most extraordinary building in the United States.” However, people made fun of the fact that the church lacked a steeple and for years laughed at the rhyme:
The pious (and somewhat proud) people of Circular Church, as it was now popularly called, stopped the laughter in 1838 by raising a New England-style steeple that towered 182 feet above Meeting Street.
. The membership included two governors of the state, prominent senators, the editor of the Courier, and many others whose voices made Charleston eloquent and who extended the influence of their church far beyond its walls. It also included many slaves and poor whose names were unknown to anyone beyond its walls.
Those walls of the splendid Circular Church were not long to stand. On December 11, 1861, a great fire started near the Cooper River. During the night, a “hurricane of fire” swept all the way across the city, leaving in its wake the ruins of Old Circular. The Civil War soon followed with its devastating effect. The black members of the church withdrew in 1867 to form the Plymouth Congregational Church.
The psychology of defeat continued to demoralize the church for more than a decade, and it was a chastened and much reduced congregation that gathered the brick from the overgrown ruins of the great 1804 meeting house and erected a new sanctuary in 1890.
(its successor) in 1954, and Atlantic Presbytery of the United Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 1968. It is one of the few congregation in the South that expresses its ecumenical commitment by belonging to two denominations, the U.C.C. and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
. It is one of the oldest continuously worshiping congregations in the South. Founded in 1681, the church remains a vibrant, diverse community.
Historically independent, the church endeavors to follow Jesus Christ in the radical way of progressive Christianity. That is, they believe the Bible is truthful but not literal
Biblical literalism
Biblical literalism is the interpretation or translation of the explicit and primary sense of words in the Bible. A literal Biblical interpretation is associated with the fundamentalist and evangelical hermeneutical approach to Scripture, and is used almost exclusively by conservative Christians...
, that God is a living Presence but not a dominating white man in the sky, that Jesus is a person of the Spirit and of saving wisdom but not a sacrifice to an offended God. We commit ourselves to equal and utmost respect of persons, joyful worship, theological discipline and discovery, social justice and dignity, and collegial leadership.
Circular Church fosters active interdependence in the local community as well, trying to be aware of the needs of people on the margins of society. In the last 20 years, this church has been instrumental in founding the city’s first marriage and family counseling center, Charleston’s crisis intervention service (Hotline), Hospice of Charleston, and the Elder Shelter. Space and leadership have been provided to the Charleston Interfaith Crisis Ministry, Amnesty International, Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Charleston PEACE, and other community organizations.
The congregation, international and multiracial, has been served for 15 years by “tent-making” (part-time) clergy, a reminder to the congregation that every member is called to priesthood and ministry.
Visitors are welcome both to explore the grounds and to explore the faith in worship, ministry, and life in community. They are one of the few congregation in the South that expresses its ecumenical commitment by belonging to two denominations, the United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...
and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...
.
History
From its beginning over 325 years ago to the present day, the story of Circular Church has been attached to the history of the city around it. The beauty and cultural vigor of antebellum Charleston were intensified in this church. Likewise, the calamities and dogged endurance of this church put the trials of the city into high relief.Colonial origins
The congregation was co-founded with Charles Towne, 1680–1685, by the English Congregationalists, Scots Presbyterians, and French Huguenots of the original settlement. In a spirit of diversity and liberality, these "dissenters" erected a Meeting House in the northwest corner of the walled city. The present sanctuary occupies that exact site. The street leading to it was called "Meeting House Street," later shortened to Meeting Street.The earliest records of the church were lost when a violent hurricane swept them from the manse, located at White Point (the Battery), in 1713. During the colonial period, this unusual church had no official name, but "suffered itself to be called either Presbyterian, Congregational, or Independent: sometimes by one of the names, sometimes by two of them, and at other times by all three. We do not find that this church is either Presbyterian, Congregational, or Independent, but somewhat distinct and singular from them all."
Many of the early ministers hailed from Scotland, England, Wales, and New England. The "old White Meeting House" was enlarged in 1732, only a year after 12 Scots families moved down the street to start a church with a stricter Presbyterian government and doctrine. While many Presbyterians remained, the policy of this church "was not so much to define exactly a particular mode of their discipline, and to bind their hands up to any one stiff form adopted either by Presbyterians, Congregationalists, or Independents, as to be upon a broad dissenting bottom, and to leave ourselves as free as possible from any foreign shackles, that no moderate persons of either denomination might be afraid to join them. ”
Shaped by its independent mind and goaded by a colonial government that treated “dissenters” (non-Anglicans
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
) with contempt, this church became a greenhouse for revolutionary sentiment in the colony. Prominent members of the Meeting House, and its distinguished minister, William Tennent
William Tennent
William Tennent was an early American religious leader and educator in British North America.-Early life:Tennent was born in Mid Calder, Linlithgowshire, Scotland, in 1673. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1695 and was ordained in the Church of Ireland in 1706...
(1772–1777), were frequently heard speaking for political and religious freedom. Tennent took his life in his hands when he made a wide tour of the Carolina back-country in 1775 to gain subscribers for the cause of independence.
The Archdale Street Meeting House separated in 1817 as the Second Independent Church, and later it adopted the name Unitarian. The congregation of Circular Church remained trinitarian
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
under the pastoral leadership of the Rev. Benjamin Morgan Palmer (1813–1835). Noteworthy is the fact that Palmer was a special son of this church, born in Philadelphia just two weeks after his parents had been driven into exile there in 1781.
The Church in exile
When the British captured Charleston in 1780, this church was bitterly rewarded for its love of freedom by the illegal exile of 38 heads of families to St. Augustine (in Spanish territory) and then to Philadelphia. Their families were left destitute in an occupied city. The Meeting House, vacant since the cannonball episode, was used as a British hospital and left a shell. Yet these years of suffering were a furnace that forged the Independent Church into an Instrument that would exert great influence on the political, religious, and cultural renaissance of its city after independence. In 1782, acting in astonishing faith, the church-in-exile held a congregational meeting in Philadelphia where they made arrangements to call a minister to Charleston “as soon as may be feasible.” (Tennent had died in 1777.) Members remaining in Charleston began the week of British evacuation to rebuild the Meeting House.By 1787, the vigorous congregation had built a second meeting house on Archdale Street to accommodate their growing number. For 25 years, Drs. Hollinshead and Keith, co-pastors of the church, preached one sermon in both houses each Sunday, alternating morning and afternoon services.
Robert Mills' "Extraordinary" Building
In 1804, the time had come to replace the Meeting Street house with a more commodious building. Martha Laurens Ramsay proposed a circular form and Robert MillsRobert Mills
Robert Mills may refer to:*Robert Mills , American architect*Robert Mills , American physicist*Bob Mills , Canadian politician*Robert P...
, Charleston’s leading architect who also designed the Washington Monument in D.C., completed the plans. The church he designed was a Pantheon-type building 88 feet in diameter with seven great doors and 26 windows. On its main floor and in the gallery it was said to accommodate 2,000 worshippers! The first major domed building in North America, it was described by one observer in 1818 as “the most extraordinary building in the United States.” However, people made fun of the fact that the church lacked a steeple and for years laughed at the rhyme:
Charleston is a pious place
And full of pious people
They built a church on Meeting Street
But could not raise the steeple.
The pious (and somewhat proud) people of Circular Church, as it was now popularly called, stopped the laughter in 1838 by raising a New England-style steeple that towered 182 feet above Meeting Street.
From glory to destruction
During the “glory days” of 1820-1860, Circular Church had a large congregation of white and black members. The first Sunday School for religious education in South Carolina was started here in 1816, and members founded the Charleston Bible Society, a prototype to the later American Bible SocietyAmerican Bible Society
The American Bible Society is an interconfessional, non-denominational, nonprofit organization, founded in 1816 in New York City, which publishes, distributes and translates the Bible and provides study aids and other tools to help people engage with the Bible.It is probably best known for its...
. The membership included two governors of the state, prominent senators, the editor of the Courier, and many others whose voices made Charleston eloquent and who extended the influence of their church far beyond its walls. It also included many slaves and poor whose names were unknown to anyone beyond its walls.
Those walls of the splendid Circular Church were not long to stand. On December 11, 1861, a great fire started near the Cooper River. During the night, a “hurricane of fire” swept all the way across the city, leaving in its wake the ruins of Old Circular. The Civil War soon followed with its devastating effect. The black members of the church withdrew in 1867 to form the Plymouth Congregational Church.
The psychology of defeat continued to demoralize the church for more than a decade, and it was a chastened and much reduced congregation that gathered the brick from the overgrown ruins of the great 1804 meeting house and erected a new sanctuary in 1890.
From independence to interdependence
The independent or Circular Church joined the Congregational Association in 1882, the United Church of ChristUnited Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...
(its successor) in 1954, and Atlantic Presbytery of the United Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in 1968. It is one of the few congregation in the South that expresses its ecumenical commitment by belonging to two denominations, the U.C.C. and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).