Who We Are
A Brief History of Lowcountry Presbyterian Church
The Charleston Presbytery, before the merger with the Atlantic Presbytery, began focusing on the potential growth in Bluffton in the 1980s. In 1988, the presbytery purchased the nine-acre parcel of property for $50,000 an acre(or $450,000) at the corner of Simmonsville Road and state route 278. A portion of the money was borrowed from the General Assembly and other portions were financed by the bank.
Rev. Dr. Frank Sells was the pastor of First PresbyterianChurch of Beaufort and served on the committee that recommended the purchase of this parcel. While serving as pastor in East Tennessee Presbytery for several years he was approached by this presbytery to see if he would be interested in becoming a development pastor in Bluffton. In late 1992 he accepted the position and became the NCD pastor on July 1,1993 of what was temporarily named the Rose Hill Church(because the property was purchased from the Rose Hill Corp).
With the support of First Presbyterian Church of HiltonHead and Providence Church in those early years, this new congregation first met for services on September 12, 1993, in a local bank building with 45 in attendance. This was the temporary home for this new congregation for only several months. By October a building was begun on the church property, and completed in time for the Christmas Eve worship service that year. This initial building would serve as the sanctuary, office, fellowship hall, and classroom facility until the time to build a larger and more permanent structure. It was designed to service a congregation of approximately 200members. The name “Lowcountry” was chosen by the congregation following a worship service in early October.
The church was chartered on June 5, 1994 with 88 members, but within two years formal steps were taken to build a new and larger facility. In June, 1998, the congregation authorized construction and four months later received the300th member of this church. The presbytery co-signed a $1.9million mortgage in February, 1999 and construction began.
Rev. Dr. Patti Simpson, began as associate pastor in October,1998, but poor health forced Rev. Sells to end his ministry herein January, 2000. The congregation continued to grow, and to be especially active in programming to serve the community of Bluffton. Rev. Tino Ballesteros (a retired pastor from SavannahPresbytery) served as part-time interim for one year beginningMay, 2000. He presided over the occupation of the new sanctuary in August, 2000.
A year later the congregation called Rev. Dr. Michael Armistead to be the next pastor, serving here until September 2003. Rev. Simpson resigned earlier in July. This opened the door for Rev. Dr. Gerald Kramer to come as a designated pastor after serving as interim pastor at Providence Church on theisland. Rev. David Braak came to serve as co-pastor with Rev.Kramer in January, 2005, but by the end of the following year that relationship was dissolved. Rev. Kramer retired in August,2011.
The church celebrated the burning of the mortgage in May,2011 with considerable help financially that came from the sale of some of the church property to allow for the widening of Simmonsville Road. Rev. Dr. Robert McCreight served as interim pastor from August 1, 2011 to January, 2014. On November 24, 2013 the congregation approved a call for Rev.Christine Herrin who started her ministry at LPC on January 7,2014. May 20, 2018 the congregation approved a call for Rev.Stephanie Dion as associate pastor and in August, 2018 she began her ministry at LPC.
We at LPC are indebted to and grateful for those who, for 25 years faithfully built and maintained our church buildings, but more importantly built a community of faith, welcoming strangers and ministering to this community and beyond by sharing God’s love in word and in action. May we continue their legacy, investing our gifts, energy and financial resources
to reach out as God leads to (in the words of our vision statement) “…offer meaning and hope to all by the way we worship, serve, and live.” LPC is indeed GROUNDED and GROWING! - Rev. Chris Herrin.