My friend Father Gregory West has recently unveiled the stunning designs for the church his parish will be building soon in Charleston:
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.”
