March 4, 2003     

 A Small Church Called

Saint John Catholic Church

located in North Charleston, S.C.

Gail A. and James R. Piedmont
North Charleston, SC

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all who published previous Saint John Histories.   Also, our thanks to Brothers Edward E. Bergeron and Leonard A Quinn for opening the church to us for our research.  In addition, we recognize Fr. William C. Burns for his effort in gathering  together Diocesan records that provided factual historical information and listed the priest population from 1930 to 1984.  And lastly, we appreciated the Diocesan Archivist, Mary Giles, for providing time and space at the Archives to  research church records.

Introduction

Saint John Catholic Church and Parish was established in 1930 to serve the expanding population in the North Charleston area of Charleston County.   Its rich history includes events in cultural, economic, and urban expansion.  

The Congregation population was influenced by changes in nearby military bases, the redrawing of Parish boundaries, and a variety of other social changes.  “A Small Church Called Saint John Catholic Church located in North Charleston, SC.” provides a short history that  basically outlines only part of its history.

A Short History of St. John Church and Parish

St. John Parish will celebrate its Diamond Jubilee in April 2004.  The small congregation of St John was labeled “The people outside the Navy Yard fence” as early as 1915 when a benefactor willed funds to help establish a church to accommodate these folks.   During the 1920s, masses at the Navy Yard were held within a school on the base and later  in a Navy Yard Chapel.  Finally in 1926, Bishop W. Russell, the Bishop of Charleston, recognized the “people outside of the Navy Yard fence” and appointed a Chaplain to accommodate the needs of  both the Navy and the so labeled civilians.  The first sacramental event recorded for Saint John parish  was a baptism in  1927.  

Father Michael Reddin soon set out to plan and oversee the building of a church and rectory.  The mission  styled Saint John Church was dedicated in April 1930 by Bishop Emmet M. Walsh  with a congregation of about 160 families.  The exterior of the church is approximately 70 feet in length, 25 feet wide, and 24 feet high with a sacristy on the side and a bell tower over the sacristy.  Stained glass windows are arranged on the long sides of the church and a round stained glass window is located over the small porch at the church entrance  The church is constructed of stucco and brick with a high A-framed roof.  A handicapped ramp was installed in 2001. 

During the 1940s, additional construction of new buildings was overseen by Father Plikunas included a rectory, church hall, school, convent, and a second story addition to the rectory.  This construction coincided with the military bases (Navy and Air Force) build-up caused by World War II.  Bishop Emmet M. Walsh  dedicated the school in 1949 with School principal,  Sister Superior Clemente Kiefer and eight other School Sisters of Notre Dame of Baltimore, Maryland and a student body of 350 pupils    The school, designed by Rev. Michael McInernay of Belmont Abbey, North Carolina, has eight classrooms, a kindergarten, principal office, first aid room and the living quarters and a chapel for the nuns.

Several events occurred during a forty year period of time that caused St. John parish population to change.  During the late 1960s and early 1970s the Diocese partitioned St. John into three parishes, and the closure of the Navy Yard in 1996 caused a decrease in congregation size.  By 1996, St. John Church found itself without a pastor and the Diocese could not assign a new pastor because of a shortage of personnel.  This latter problem was solved in 1997 when three religious brothers of the Congregation of  Christian Brothers of New York, Brothers Edward E. Bergeron, Leonard A. Quinn, and William P. Cronin, moved here to assume the duties as pastoral administrators of St. John parish.  Also, in 1997, Bishop Thompson assigned a retired priest, Father Ernest E. Kennedy  as Canonical Pastor to celebrate mass on the weekend.  In 2002, the church population started to show a very small increase in attendance at the weekend masses due to Father Kennedy’s warm personality and the friendly nature of the parishioners.

 Similarly, two factors influenced the St. John School’s population.   The major factor for the change in student body population was the influence of the military presence in the North Charleston area.     The school population peaked at around 500 pupils early in the 1950s and decreased to around 200 students in the late 1980s.   The other factor causing a change was the movement away from traditional religious teaching nuns to lay teachers.  This latter problem was caused by a shortage of teaching nuns throughout the United States.  By 2002, both factors resulted in a greatly reduced school population to an enrollment of less than 100 students.   However, in 2003 the  school principal, Carole Anne White, assisted by eight lay teachers and one new Notre Dame Nun teacher of Toledo, Ohio, continue to  provide quality education to students from kindergarten through grade eight.   The convent located on the second floor of the school was converted into class rooms, offices, storage rooms, and a library.

The parish has produced six individuals who chose to enter ministry: one as a priest and five as nuns.  The congregation in the last six months of 2002 provided food packages to 180 families though its community outreach program.. There is an active church council, ladies guild, and budget committee that assists the Brothers in the church administration.  Also, a small active parish youth ministry  performs charitable activities in the area and participates in the Home Works project within the state.   The Church ministers the sacraments, holds three masses on the weekend and ministers to the sick through its Eucharistic ministers. 

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