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"The Huguenot Church, also called the French Huguenot Church or the French Protestant Church, is a Gothic Revival church located at 136 Church Street in Charleston, South Carolina. Built in 1844 and designed by architect Edward Brickell White, it is the oldest Gothic Revival church in South Carolina, and has been designated a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The congregation it serves traces its origins to the 1680s, and
is the only independent Huguenot church in the United States.As Protestants in predominantly-Catholic France, Huguenots faced persecution throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, many Huguenots fled France for various parts of the world, including Charleston. The early congregation of Charleston's Huguenot Church included many of these refugees, and their descendants continued to play a role in the church's affairs for many decades. The church was originally affiliated with the Calvinist Reformed Church of France, and its doctrine still retains elements of Calvinist doctrine. The church's services still follow 18th century French liturgy, but are conducted in English.
The church is located in the area of Charleston known as the French Quarter, which was given this name in 1973 as part of preservation efforts. It recognizes that the area had a historically high concentration of French merchants.
History
The Huguenots, who were French Calvinists who faced suppression in France, began to settle in other areas in the sixteenth century, founding such failed colonies as Fort Caroline in Florida and Charlesfort in modern South Carolina, as well as settling in established areas, such as South Africa, Britain, and existing colonies such as New Netherlands and Virginia. In 1598, King Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes, granting certain rights and protections to the Huguenots. This edict was revoked by Louis XIV in 1685, prompting a mass exodus of Huguenots from France.
A group of 45 Huguenots arrived in Charleston in April 1680, having been sent to the colony by the English King Charles II to work as artisans, and began holding sporadic services the following year. The Reverend Phillip Trouillard is believed to have conducted the first service. In 1687, Elias Prioleau became the church's first regular pastor. Prioleau had been pastor of a church in the French town of Pons before his church was torn down in 1685. Prioleau remained pastor of the Charleston Hueguenot Church until his death in 1699.
Families associated with the church in its early decades included the Gourdin, Ravenel, Porcher, de Saussure, Huger, Mazyck, and Lanier families, though the church's early years have been difficult to document due to the loss of its early records in a fire in 1740. Families associated with the church in later years included the Bacot, de la Plaine, Maury, Gaillard, Meserole, Macon, Gabeau, Cazenove, L'Hommedieu, L'Espenard, Serre, Marquand, Bavard, Boudouin, Marion, Laurens, Boudinot, Gibert, Robert, and Fontaine families. Huguenots continued to migrate to Carolina throughout the first half of the 18th century, though most of their congregations were gradually absorbed into the Episcopal Church.
The first Huguenot Church, located at the site of the present church, was blown up by city authorities in an effort to stop a spreading fire. It was replaced by a simple brick church in 1800. This building was torn down in 1844 to make way for the present church, which was completed the following year. This third church sustained damage during the Civil War and the Charleston Earthquake of 1886, and was restored with funds from Huguenot descendant Charles Lanier of New York.
Due to a decline in membership in the early 19th century, the church began translating its French liturgy into English in 1828. With the new English liturgy, an elaborate new building, and charismatic 19th century pastors such as Charles Howard and Charles Vedder, church membership and attendance increased.
By 1912, membership had again declined, and for most of the 20th century, the church was not used for regular religious services. The local community of Huguenot descendants did occasionally open it for weddings, organ recitals, and some occasional services organized by the Huguenot Society of South Carolina. Today's congregation dates from 1983.
Design
The present church was designed by Edward Brickell White, a local architect who had also designed a number of Greek and Roman buildings in the area, most notably Market Hall, the steeple of St. Philip's Episcopal Church, and the St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church. The church was built by local contractor Ephraim Curtis.
The church is a stuccoed brick structure, three bays wide and six bays long, with each bay divided by narrow buttresses topped by elaborate pinnacles. The three front windows are topped with cast-iron crockets, and a battlement parapet surrounds the top of the church. The interior consists of walls with plaster ribbed grained vaulting, with marble tablets etched with names of Huguenot families.
The church's organ, purchased in 1845, is a unique tracker organ designed by New York organ maker Henry Erben (1801–1883). The "tracker" connects the keys and pipe valves, and responds to the organist faster than modern mechanisms. The organ's tone is similar to organs used during the Baroque period.
The church now holds regular services, which are in English, although since 1950, an annual service has been conducted in French to celebrate the spring. The congregation still teaches Calvinist doctrine, and its liturgical services are derived from those developed by Neufchâtel and Vallangin, from 1737 and 1772, respectively. The church is governed by a board of directors and board of elders."
History from the Church website:
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"The Huguenot, or French Protestant movement, was a major force contributing to the evolution
of the European Protestant Revolution. The harsh persecution of the Protestants by the French Catholic Court resulted in their migration to foreign lands in Europe, South Africa and the Americas.
By the late 17th century, Huguenots had settled in New York, Philadelphia, and other Eastern coastal areas. These early groups were greatly augmented when Louis XIV caused the Edict of Nantes to be revoked in 1685, thereby divesting French Protestants of all religious and political prerogatives. The English were happy to encourage these refugees to settle in the colonies, most of whom were representative of France’s prosperous merchant and professional classes.
In April of 1680 the ship Richmond arrived in Charleston with 45 French Protestants (Huguenots) aboard. More refugees followed, and in 1687, a church was built on what is now the corner of Church St. and Queen St. in downtown Charleston. About four hundred and fifty Huguenots had settled in the Low Country of South Carolina by 1700.
The original church was destroyed in 1796 in an attempt to stop the spread of a fire, which had burned much of the surrounding area. The replacement for the original building was completed in 1800 and dismantled in 1844 to make way for the present Gothic Revival edifice, designed by Edward Brickell White and dedicated in 1845. The church was damaged by shellfire during the long bombardment of downtown in the War Between the States and was nearly demolished in the severe earthquake of 1886.
When the building was completed in 1845, the church also purchased and installed a tracker organ carved in the style and shape of a Gothic chapel. Its keys are connected with the pipe valves by a wooden “tracker’ or mechanical linkage which responds to the organists touch faster than any modern mechanism allows. Its tone is similar to the Baroque organs for which Bach and Handel composed. It was built by the leading American organ builder of the first half of the nineteenth century, Henry Erben. After the fall of Charleston in 1865, federal soldiers dismantled the organ and were loading it on a New York bound ship when the pleas of the organist, Mr. T.P. O’Neale, and some influential friends saved it.
Today, the services are no longer in French except once a year, and worshipers no longer arrive in boats as they did when this was known as “The Church of the Tides”. However the church is alive and well and growing in both membership and program. Attendance is at an all time high. The church boasts a varied congregation made up of young single people, traditional families with children as well as mid-life and senior members. Although there are members who are descendants of French Huguenot families, being of Huguenot descent is not a requirement for membership.
The Huguenot Church of Charleston is independent and is not affiliated with any governing church body. We see this as an advantage in a time of intradenominational strife. The church shares many historical links to the Presbyterian Church (Church of Scotland), the Dutch Reformed, and Lutheran Church by virtue of its early leadership under John Calvin. Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion published in 1536 form the historic basis for the formation of these “Calvinist” denominations. The French Protestant (Huguenot) Church is perhaps least known among them. This may be attributed at least in part to the tendency of Huguenot immigrants in the American Colonies to assimilate into their communities and their intermarriage into families who were practicing Anglicans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, etc. So, the Huguenot Church of Charleston is unique. It is a living remnant and reminder of the Huguenot experience here in South Carolina.
Our Sunday worship follows the original Liturgies of Neufchatel and Valangin with prayers, music, scripture readings and sermon included in a traditional context. Communion is served the 1st Sunday of every month at the altar rail.
Worshipers of all Christian backgrounds are welcome, and the church attracts a large number of visitors owing to Charleston’s vibrant tourism. In addition, the Sunday worship is followed by a light meal known in the church as the collation. Wine is served in the French tradition.
The collation remains a firm commitment of the church to its tradition of fellowship and welcoming hospitality for which Huguenots are known."