EPISCOPAL DIOCESE TO SELL HOLY TRINITY, OF CHARLESTON, PROPERTY
On yesterday, March 30, 2023, Bishop Woodliff-Stanley, of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, ANNOUNCED that the diocesan authorities had decided to sell the property of the Holy Trinity Church, in Charleston. HT was one of the eight local churches in contention the South Carolina Supreme Court finally ruled (Aug. 2022) belonged to the Episcopal diocese. The bishop gave two major reasons for the decision: the area was already served by returning parishes. St James, of James Island, is a short distance down Folly Road. St John's, of Johns Island, is also not far, to the west. To the north, the diocese is likely to get back Good Shepherd, in West Ashley (still pending in the state supreme court). The second reason was that the state of the buildings at HT would require a great deal of investment for refurbishing, money better used elsewhere.
Everyone who knows the Charleston area knows that Holy Trinity stands on a major piece (1.96 acres) of highly desirable commercial real estate worth a small fortune. It is at 95 Folly Road, not far south of U.S. 17. Folly Road is the main artery running from 17 through James Island to Folly Beach. The church is in the area called South Windermere which developed as a suburb of downtown Charleston mainly after the Second World War. The completion of the James Island Connector, connecting James Island directly with downtown, in the 1990's produced an explosion of growth in the whole area south of U.S. 17.
Holy Trinity was a small parish of the old diocese. It was not an historic one. The earliest reference I have found to it dates from 1940 (register of tax exemption status). The church structure appears to be built in the 1950's and lacks any architectural sophistication. At the schism, the clergy and laity of HT adhered to the new Anglican diocese. Afterwards, the parish declined, from 204 baptized members in 2014 to 170 in 2021, and 96 confirmed communicants (2014) to 83 (2021). At the same time the budget drifted downwards from $226k to 212k.
Thus, slowly but surely, the Episcopal diocese is settling on the dispositions of the properties involved in the decade-long legal war. Yet, recall that three properties are still to be decided by the SC supreme court, Good Shepherd, of Charleston, Old Saint Andrew's, and Holy Cross (Stateburg). The court has been sitting on these issues for six months without a hint of resolution. Your guess on when they will move is as good as mine. Meanwhile, both dioceses are trying to move on into the future.
