Daniel Island's Saint Clare of Assisi Catholic Church silenced song and prayer to unveil their new design plan for their future parish that is planned for the island community in 2021. After four years of faithfulness, parishioners will finally have a place of prayer to call home. Their prayers have been answered, according to Father Gregory West, Pastor of Saint Clare of Assisi Catholic Church.
St. Clare is a parish of the statewide Diocese of Charleston and was established on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2014. The parish is a part of a larger organization called Parish Catalyst based out of Los Angeles, which features the top-50 Catholic parishes in the United States and Canada who have been recognized for their best practices. St. Clare serves the Daniel Island, Cainhoy and Wando communities and currently boasts approximately 2,200 members.
Since St. Clare's inception parishioners have performed their prayer service at Bishop England High School's auditorium. Families and friends of St. Clare are grateful to be able to practice their faith in this temporary dwelling, according to West. He said over the years it has inconvenienced them by having to pack in and pack up, week in and week out.
In November 2016, St. Clare kicked off their Blessed to Build capital campaign, to provide them sufficient funds to open the doors debt free after construction costs. During this past year the parish has raised nearly $10 million in cash and pledges, these funds have strictly come from members' donations, West said.
"We're blessed to have this opportunity to build because it's rather unusual that anyone gets to build churches these days," said West. "It's a wonderful surprise for those who move here, it's a joy once they understand that we get to do this. All of us grew up in churches that somebody else built, now this is our turn. We're not building this for ourselves or our grandchildren, we're building this as a sign of our devotion to and love of Almighty God."
The plans for the parish call for an 850-seat parish fashioned in a timeless Gothic Revival design, typical of most monumental and historic parishes in downtown Charleston. The traditional layout features a long nave leading to the sanctuary where the altar and ambo (pulpit) will be located. The construction include a tower and spire atop the parish, a columbarium for the interment of cremated remains, an education and administrative building and a large social hall with a kitchen. All buildings will be connected by a covered loggia which surrounds a central cloistered garden. These features pay tribute to the life of St. Clare, a cloistered nun and the first woman to follow in the footsteps of the more famous Saint Francis of Assisi during 13th Century Italy.
The tandem architectural firms selected to do the design and construction is Franck & Lohsen and Carter Hord (Washington, D.C.). St. Clare chose them from a long list of builders who they praise to be some of the best architectural agencies across the country that best fit this particular clerical style of design. Local firms were considered is this vetting process as well, according to Father West.
"The church building we'll build and its architectural features express how the tower pierces the heavens, everything is upward, the architecture speaks of beyond here and now," Father West said. "We are immersed in things eternal and heavenly. It's not an auditorium, it's not an arena, it's not a stage where rock music blares from. That's not what we're aiming for. We're aiming for an expression of the heavenly Jerusalem here on earth."
The first phase of building the parish itself is expected to cost approximately $15.5 million which is subject to change in the coming fiscal years.
“This is an extraordinary feat in the life of our young parish,” Father West continued. “Our parish is not yet four years old and we are already well into the design phase of our future sanctuary and fundraising. We realize how blessed we are to have come so far so quickly.”
The new building site will be located at the corner of Seven Farms Dr. and Etiwan Park St, across from Bishop England High School. If all goes according to St. Clare's scripture, permitting will begin in 2018 with groundbreaking construction expected to occur in the summer of 2019. Construction is projected to take two years and they hope to open their doors in 2021.
"This will be our contribution to the expression that Daniel Island is a part of The Holy City and we want a very distinctive architectural element because right now Daniel Island doesn't have a landmark. We would like to present this as our gift to Daniel Island to become a landmark," Father West continued. "My hope for the future that we will be, as scripture says, that 'bright city on the hill,' that 'lamp on the lamp stand,' that tower that we hope to build will be something you will be able to see from all the bridges. It will be a beacon of hope, faith and love. Everyone will have a home here and we'll pack them in as best as we can."
Saint Clare of Assisi Catholic Church is located at 225 Seven Farms Dr, Daniel Island. For more information visit http://www.clare.church/ or call 843-471-2121.