WHY BUILD A PERMANENT ORTHODOX CHURCH IN BEAUFORT?

Since the earliest days of our mission, it has been the goal of St James Orthodox Church to establish a permanent, beautiful, evangelistic, traditional and God-glorifying church building in Beaufort.  An Orthodox church building (often referred to as a "temple") is a vital aspect of the teaching of the Gospel and the preservation and transmission of the Church's Holy Tradition.  Internally, it has a specific structure that manifests our journey toward the Kingdom of God.  We move from "the world" with its distractions and rebellion against God, through the layer of the Narthex: an in-between place where we transition from the noise and bustle of worldly life into the life of the Kingdom, where we are called to "lay aside all earthly cares", entering the Nave where we pray and worship.  A church building  teaches faithful Orthodox Christians and evangelizes those seeking the fullness of the faith.  It provides a proper venue for our worship and prayer, and can facilitate our social gatherings where we practice what the Gospel preaches.  The church building is indeed an integral part of our worship, and offers us much wisdom in its form and beauty. 

We have outgrown our current rental space. This is an excellent problem, but a problem still.  A new larger building of our own would open the door to greater growth, both spiritual and material. And it is our desire at St James Orthodox Church to embrace this possibility fully, offering to our Lord the most beautiful building that we can, with room enough for all. 

Those who choose to participate in our ongoing Building Program will be participating in the evangelization of the Lowcountry, bringing Orthodox Christianity to this place. We are currently speaking with contractors and site engineers, and are in the process of fund-raising toward a proper, beautiful Orthodox church building in which to glorify God and manifest His Light in our home: the Lowcountry of South Carolina.

A TRULY ORTHODOX CHURCH DESIGN FOR THE LOWCOUNTRY

The church design you see here has been crafted by the skilled eye and heart of Andrew Gould of New World Byzantine. Andrew has designed many Orthodox churches as well as other structures such as homes and offices. His design philosophy has been shaped by Orthodox worship and teaching. The design you see is the product of three years of “whittling”, working with Andrew’s initial concept and slowly reshaping it to better suit the needs of the St James community. It draws from local architectural designs common to churches found in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, particularly in its wood-sided structure and its black and white exterior color palette. But it also features a unique, large cube-shaped cupola lifted prominently above the center of the nave of the church, surrounded by beautiful arched windows that pour sunlight into the heart of the worship space. The placement, size and specific design of this cupola echoes the differing designs of Orthodox churches around the world, suiting the locality in which they are found: the onion domes of Russia and the Slavic countries, the circular-pointed, hat-shaped cupolas of Romania, the round hemispherical domes of Greece and the Mediterranean lands, and so forth. In our case, we are employing a design that, at once, sits comfortably in our southern coastal town, and yet offers something both unique and consistent with traditional Orthodox architecture. It speaks both the language of traditional Orthodoxy and the vernacular of the Lowcounty.

The exterior will be surrounded by a covered porch space, which is a beautifully southern touch. It will serve as a gathering space for fellowship and will also serve as an inviting space for those visiting and inquiring about the Orthodox faith. Many of our parishioners have remarked at how much this porch space seems to beg for a handful of rocking chairs to be set out for the refreshment of those seeking some shade and fresh air.

Interiorly, after passing through the narthex, you encounter a series of solid wood columns forming two collonades along the slides of the nave. These lift the eyes while simultaneously drawing them forward along the center line of the worship space. Our eyes are lifted by the slender, graceful and warm-wood columns toward the “heavenly” space of the cupola which will house both a large icon of Christ called the “Pantocrater”, from which will hang a chandelier called a “choros” providing soft light in the center of the worship space. Our eyes are also drawn forward toward the altar space and the wooden iconostasis which will house beautiful icons of Christ, his Mother and the saints and angels.

Worship in Orthodox terms is characterized (among other things) by movement: a movement out of something and into something. The church building itself should teach lesson this to us and reveal the nature of this movement, drawing us inward out of the mundaneness of the world toward the radical holiness of the Kingdom of God revealed in Jesus Christ. All of this is intended to bring glory to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to make present the eternal dimension of the Kingdom of God, here and now in great beauty. May God bless our efforts and your generosity!

WAYS TO GIVE TOWARD THE BUILDING PROGRAM

• DIRECT: Cash gifts and checks may simply be brought to our church with the designation that they are to be used for the "Building Fund/Capital Campaign"

• MAIL: If you wish to send your gifts, our mailing address is: St James Orthodox Church, PO Box 911, Beaufort, SC, 29901 (please indicate that they are intended for the Building Fund/Capital Campaign).

• ALTERNATIVE FORMS: Some donors have found creative ways to donate, such as in the form of stocks or bonds, which we are happy to accept.

• ONLINE GIVING: we use a service called "Tithe.ly" for web-based giving. Please note that while this is a handy and simple way to give, it does incur a fee which can affect the total amount that finds its way to our church. Click the button below to access our online giving service, and choose the "GIVE TO" pull-down menu option called "Building Fund and Capital Campaign"