Huguenot Church

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 This edict was revoked by Louis XIV in 1685, prompting an exodus of Huguenots from France.[6]

Huguenot cross

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.[5] The Reverend Phillip Trouillard is believed to have conducted the first service.[5] 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.[9] Prioleau remained pastor of the Charleston Huguenot Church until his death in 1699.[9]

Families associated with the church in its early decades included the Gourdin, Ravenel, Porcher, de Saussure, Huger, Mazyck, Lamar 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.[9] 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.[5]

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.[5] 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.[5] The church is surrounded by a graveyard where many Huguenots are buried.

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.[9]

By 1912, membership had again declined,[9] 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.

The church's interior

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.[5]

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.[5][10]

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.[4]

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.[4]

• Reformed Church of France
• French Confession of Faith
• List of Huguenots
• Bible translations into French
• List of National Historic Landmarks in South Carolina
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Charleston, South Carolina

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Huguenot Church (Charleston, South Carolina).

• French Protestant (Huguenot) Church, Charleston, SC Official Website
• French Protestant Huguenot Church Cemetery, Charleston, SC, USA at Find A Grave.
• French Huguenot Church, Charleston, SC from the National Park Service website
• Huguenot Church, Charleston County (136 Church St., Charleston), at South Carolina Department of Archives and History
• Historic American Buildings Survey for the French Protestant Huguenot Church, 136 Church Street, Charleston, Charleston County, SC
• Psalm 25 "A toi, mon Dieu, mon cœur monte" from the Genevan Psalter performed at an event at the cathedral in Noyon, France marking the 500th anniversary of John Calvin's birth in 2009. The music has been credited with little documentation to both Claude Goudimel and Louis Bourgeois. Only three of the ten verses of the original are performed here. This is the type of music most certainly used during the early days of this congregation's history. YouTube video (3:06)
• Geneefs Psalter YouTube Playlist of performances of works found in the Genevan Psalter. Contains 183 videos; 10 hours in length.
• 140 Church Street - Hugenot Church