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TO RECOGNIZE ST. JAMES THE GREATER ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF CATHOLIC HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA, AND ITS PARISHIONERS FOR ALMOST TWO CENTURIES OF SERVICE AND COMMITMENT TO GOD AS THEY CELEBRATE ITS ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY THIS YEAR.
Whereas, St. James the Greater Roman Catholic Church of Catholic Hill, South Carolina, was established by Bishop John England, the first Bishop of Charleston, in 1826; and
Whereas, St. James is situated at the crossroads of the Charleston-Savannah highway and the old plantation road that linked Walterboro with the area where the Ashepoo and the Combahee Rivers converge and flow into the Atlantic; and
Whereas, the first worshipers were local Irish landowners and their African slaves; and
Whereas, in 1856, the frame church burned to the ground catching fire from the burning fields nearby. No immediate effort was made to rebuild the church. In only a few years the War Between the States began, and there is little written record of church activities for approximately forty years after this time; and
Whereas, during this forty-year period the parishioners who were mostly former slaves continued priestless in the Irish Catholic tradition of serving God; and
Whereas, around 1897, a priest named Daniel Berberich discovered the presence of Catholic people in this area which is known locally as the crossroads where he found a group of people with a thriving Catholic faith, and Father Berberich immediately put into operation a plan to rebuild the church and to build a school; and
Whereas, Father Berberich served the people of St. James until 1909, and the church continues today under the auspices of the Diocese of Charleston; and
Whereas, the present church was built in 1935 replacing the 1897 structure which had grown weak with age and damage by storm. The bell in the tower is from the 1897 church and was placed there by Father Berberich; and
Whereas, the members of the House of Representatives, by this resolution, would like to recognize the St. James Church and its parishioners for their faith and Christian service and devotion as they celebrate the one hundred seventy-fifth anniversary of this truly special House of God. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the House recognize St. James the Greater Roman Catholic Church of Catholic Hill, South Carolina, and its parishioners for almost two centuries of service and commitment to God as they celebrate its one hundred seventy-fifth anniversary this year.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to St. James the Greater Catholic Church.
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