In full disclosure, I was running late heading in to church this morning.  I cursed both God and Jesus due to the rain, lack of parking spot and the idiot who parked too close to my spot, so I had to shimmy out of my car. They were taking temperatures at the door (again, COVID-19 measures) and once inside, open seating. Back to my safe pew box, starting to really like these!

Once I sat down, I was immediately calmed from the hurried beginning to my morning and my parking fiasco. The Huguenot Church has an intimate atmosphere along with the historic beauty of some of the previous churches I’ve visited so far on this journey.  As a newbie to their service, I appreciated the Liturgy book in the pew that allowed me to follow along with the readings and the bulletin. This particular Liturgy was first published in 1713 – and if you reference the picture, you’ll see it was translated from the Liturgies of Neufchatel and Vallangin (after a quick Google search, I discovered the original work from Neufchatel is described as “This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.”  Truly love the history of it all.  And to bring us right back to 2021 – fans of the Bravo show “Southern Charm” will enjoy seeing my particular liturgy was donated by The Ravenel Family.  

The choir is behind the organ and the acoustics in this church are magnificent.  Not sure how many members they have, but they create a mighty roar.  The organ—both audio and visually— was gorgeous.  The church is dimly lit with a beautiful, yet modest chandelier hanging down from the center.  Early in the service, I was taken aback as we said the ten commandants out loud prior to confession. I hadn’t read those in a minute.  If you need a refresher – they are also posted in a marble slab at the front of the church (see pic).

Today’s sermon was about baptism and the different times in a person’s life one gets baptized, and asking the question, does God “require” it?  The sermon came from the Assistant Pastor, Reverend Chaplain Baldwin, and if I understood correctly, he previously served in the Air Force.  He shared two poignant stories about military members who found Christ during deployment, and he baptized them in the moment. He also told the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch from the book of Acts. Now I didn’t know the story of a Eunuch so I linked to this story I found – fascinating members of the palace, specifically in this case, the court of Candace, Queen of Ethiopia. The Eunuch had traveled to Gaza to pray and on the way back, Philip was summoned to him. They prayed together, and ultimately Philip told him he could be baptized because he simply believed. Evidently, the Eunuch had inquired in Gaza about being Baptized in Judaism and he wasn’t allowed… I’m a bit hazy on this part honestly.            https://www.gotquestions.org/Ethiopian-eunuch.html

What I found way more interesting was the misspelling of King Louis XIV on the marble memorial for Elias Horry. Fun fact – Louis XIV was known as the Sun King and built the iconic palace, Versailles.  Horry was born in France in the late 1600s when the Edict of Nantes was passed by King Henry IV.  Essentially, the Edict of Nantes brought civility to France and ended the French Wars of Religion. Henry’s grandson, King Louis XIV brought forth the Edict of Fontainbleau (1685) which drove the exodus of Protestants from France.  Hence, the Horrys came to South Carolina. King Louis is referred to as Lewis multiple times on the memorial – have to wonder if it is a slight. America was the land of religious freedom – no matter your choice, America was a safe haven. If you’re a history buff like me, you know how much blood was shed in Europe specifically in the 1400s/ 1500s/1600s between Catholics and Protestants and what made America so appealing in the 1600s/ 1700s. Why couldn’t have they have just let each have their beliefs and move on? What is it about religion that makes people want to kill if you don’t believe the same they do?  It seems to go against the teaching of Jesus, yet how many people have been killed in his name, by supposedly other people who also follow him.

This post is a bit longer, as this service was the one I most wanted to do the most research on afterward. Lots of history with the Huguenots that I personally find very fascinating.  And the best part of the Huguenot service? It started at 10:30 a.m., and we were out at 11:07. Short and sweet!