Growth of the daughter chapels, summer migration from plantations and difficulty of travel caused a waning interest in St. Luke’s. Finally, in 1875, a local congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was organized. Five trustees purchased the building from the Episcopal vestry. Their names are John Porcher, Henry Crosby, Robert Crosby, Burrel Wiggins and Atticus Mulligan.
In 1767, land was laid out and established as a parish, to be called and known by the name of St. Luke’s Parish. Commissioners were appointed to secure a parsonage house in a suitable location for the Anglican missionary who would be sent. However, the Revolution interfered with these plans.
In 1786, led by William Hort of the “Indian Lands”, these men built the church: John Bull, James Garvey, George Hipp, Jason Guerard and Daniel Stevens. Mr. Bull donated 4 acres of land from the Bull barony for the church-site, “halfway between Fording Island Road and New River Bridge: Dalcho, the Episcopal historian, described the building as 40 feet long and 36 feet wide, with convenient pews and a handsome pulpit; windows arched and glazed. One or two graves mark this original site, known for many years as “Bull Hill”.
Nearly unchanged since 1824, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, is a part of the Bluffton charge in the Walterboro District. St. Luke’s United Methodist Church has carried on its services continuously, even in times when the membership dropped below a dozen. It has never been without a minister’s guidance.
(Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 12-Jun-2019)