Rejoice: America’s newest parish will be launched tomorrow—UPDATED WITH VIDEO

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:56 pm by Deacon Greg Kandra

Rejoice: America’s newest parish will be launched tomorrow—UPDATED WITH VIDEO 2016-09-30T15:56:44-04:00 Deacon Greg Kandra

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Some wonderful news about my friend Father Gregory West and his growing flock in South Carolina:

In a modest two-room office tucked away in a Daniel Island shopping plaza lie the makings of something tremendous.

No ornate decorations or grandeur, just the buzz and bang of construction work in harmony with the ring of the phone echoing through the office. While it may be hard to tell, years of prayer and hopes are just days from coming to life. A longtime dream of a Catholic parish on Daniel Island will finally become a reality on Easter Sunday as St. Clare of Assisi celebrates its first official mass and is canonically established as the parish of Daniel Island.

At the forefront of the debut is the Rev. Gregory West. Born and raised in the Charleston area, West spent the last 20 years spreading his ministry around the state before returning home a month ago to deliver a Catholic parish to Daniel Island. With no physical church, West has set up in the office space and Bishop England High School to lay the groundwork for the parish. St. Clare of Assisi will be the third Catholic parish West has established in South Carolina since 1995. “Right now, we’re building the infrastructure,” West said. “We’re organizing the skeleton of what it means to run a church.”

West says the Catholic Diocese of Charleston has been interested in creating a parish on Daniel Island since Bishop England relocated there in 1998. Bishop of Charleston Robert Guglielmone has been eager to begin the past couple of years, but the Diocese had to wait until it could secure priest personnel and until Daniel Island had the population to justify the parish.

“We’ve gotten to the point where we can devote a lot of our energy, particularly priest personnel, to what’s happening here,” West said. “There are great growth plans here. It’s really picking up steam. Now is the perfect time to get going.” For the past four weeks, West and St. Clare have used Bishop England’s performing arts center to hold Mass. More than 600 people filled the 520-seat auditorium for the first Mass. With an even larger crowd expected Sunday, Mass will be held in the Bishop England gymnasium.

Read the rest.

Another local paper, meantime, has this:

A search for a more permanent home for the church will be underway soon, though Father West has reason to be patient with the physical location. “It is imperative to remember that a church is a people, not a building,” he advises. “Coming together to celebrate Mass, to pray and to serve, to learn, and to support the wider community, are all reasons why we are a church. Buildings to support the work of the people will come later.”

West’s parishioners couldn’t agree more, clearly feeling that they already have been blessed with a tremendous church leader, regardless of ultimate bricks and mortar. Says Good Shepherd member Betsy Sarsfield of Father West, “He is amazing! He is a very dynamic charismatic priest.” This is perhaps most conspicuous when he offers a homily, the time during Mass reserved for guided reflection around a specific Bible reading. “When I was in the seminary we were taught to prepare our homilies with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other,” Father West recounts. “The Word of God is alive and addresses the situation of every human in every age. Mixing an explanation of the Bible’s passages with a little humor, I hope that people leave Mass with an ever-stronger sense of how God is in love with them in every moment of life.”

It is an approach clearly resonating with parishioners. Resident Leslie Iaria, who is raising five kids in the Catholic faith, has already seen Father West establish a wonderful connection with the youth of his congregation. “Our family is excited about finally having a parish on Daniel Island,” shares Iaria, “and Father West makes everyone feel so welcome. He has made going to church enjoyable – even our children do not mind going to church anymore!”

Congratulations and prayerful good wishes to all the faithful who have eagerly been awaiting this moment. Ad multos annos!

UPDATE: A local TV station aired a story about the new parish Sunday night:

WCIV-TV | ABC News 4 – Charleston News, Sports, Weather

Churches

The people in the pews

Previous Post

April 19, 2014

Holy Saturday: Easter Vigil rehearsal

Next Post

April 19, 2014 Homily for April 20, 2014: Easter

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Mad Men" 9/11 advent All Things New Amazing video amazing videos amazon america Anglicans Anti-Catholicism art ascension thursday ash wednesday Atheists baltimore Bible Bishops Blogging bonnie engstrom Books bridgeport Brooklyn Chaplains children christian art christmas Church Churches CNEWA Converts criticism Deacons Death Penalty easter eastern christian Eastern Christians Ecumenism education Education Eucharist Europe euthanasia Evangelization Exorcism Family Feasts Gay rights Good Friday Great links Great Moments in Journalism Hanging with the saints heather renshaw Hispanic Catholics Hispanics History homelies Homilies Humor Hymn of the Week Immigration indianapolis Inspiration Interfaith news ireland Jesus Jews Journalism Judaism lent Liturgy logos Marriage Mary Media Medical news Mental health Middle East Monks Movies Music Muslims My world and welcome to it New Evangelization new york News Nuns Parenting Parish life peoria Persecution Politics politics Pope pope francis pope john paul Prayer Preaching Priests Pro-life Quote of the day radio rebecca frech ripp Ripped from the headlines rippred from the headlines Sacraments saints Scripture sex abuse Sex abuse crisis SEX ABUSE CRISIS TAGGED WITH: SEX ABUSE CRISIS The people in the pews the visitation project theatre This & that Thomas Merton Trappists TV Uncategorized uncategorized VATICAN Vatican vocation Vocations Voices & Views Women Worth a thousand words Writing Year of Faith year of mercy young people

Select a Month December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which king's prayer during a deadly illness resulted in 15 more years of life?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Solomon Josiah Hezekiah Ahab

Books by This Author Books by Deacon Greg Kandra

See All Titles »