St. Andrew's and St. Cyprian's St. Andrew's and St. Cyprian'sEpiscopalians,
or at least our Anglican ancestors in the Church of England, have worshiped in
this area since the establishment of Fort King George in 1721. Because of
the vagaries of who settled where on the Georgia coast, no formal Anglican or
Episcopal congregation was organized in what is now McIntosh county until the
establishment of the Episcopal Church of St. Andrew in 1841.
St. Andrew's
Our
mission at St. Andrew's is to know Jesus Christ better and to reach out in His
Name to others through evangelism and mutual respect of all human beings; to
honor Him as Head of the Church through our worship, stewardship, education,
pastoral care and fellowship.
At the direction of Bishop Stephen
Elliot, a group of planters and other citizens of McIntosh County organized a
mission congregation under the name St. Peter's Church, Darien in 1841. A
year later, the name of the congregation was changed to St. Andrew's and the
congregation was admitted as a parish in the diocese in 1843. The first
rector was the Rev. Richard T. Brown.
The first church building was completed
in 1844. It was located a short distance north of the current St. Andrew's
church. The civil war was not kind to Darien or St. Andrew's. From
1862 to 1866, the parish was abandoned. in 1863, Union troops, including
the 54th Massachusetts under the command of Colonel Robert Shaw, burned Darien.
This action was ordered by Colonel Montgomery of Kansas, and Col. Shaw, who was
reluctant to burn the town, wrote to his mother about his distress over the
burning. Col. Shaw was killed in action shortly thereafter.
Some healing began when, after the war,
Mrs. Shaw and some of her friends sent money to assist in the rebuilding of St.
Andrew's. Although those funds were in fact used to construct a church at
the Ridge, members of the parish eventually raised the funds to buy the lot
where the Bank of Darien had previously stood and to construct the present St.
Andrew's church building. The building was completed and consecrated in
1879.
In the years since 1879, the fortunes
of St. Andrew's rose and fell with the fortunes of Darien in general. On
several occasions, the status of St. Andrew's moved from that of a
self-supporting parish to a mission and back again. In 1989, St. Andrew's
regained parish status and has ever since been a self-supporting parish in the
diocese of Georgia.
St. Cyprian's
Our
Mission at St. Cyprian's is to know Jesus Christ better and to honor Him as head
of the Church through our worship and fellowship; and to build up the Body of
Christ by increasing our membership.
In December of 1873, the Hon. Rev. James Wentworth Leigh, Dean of
Hereford Cathedral in England, held services for former slaves in a small room
on Major Pierce Butler's island. The services for the freed slaves
continued on Mr. Butler's property, and twenty-two persons were confirmed by
Bishop Beckwith in 1874. During 1874-75, parishioners asked Father Leigh
to hold services in Darien as well, and in 1875 members of the congregation
began construction of the present St. Cyprian's church. The land was
donated by Frances Kemble Butler Leigh, the wife of Father Leigh. Funds
for the building came from benefactors in England and the North. The
building was consecrated in 1876 and named for Cyprian of Carthage, a martyred
African saint of the early church.
Father Leigh returned to England in
1877. With a notable exception, St. Cyprian's has traditionally been
served by the clergy of St. Andrew's. However, from 1892 through 1914, St.
Cyprians was under the direction of the Rev. Ferdinand M Mann, an African
American priest of the church. It was during this time that St. Cyprian's
school was established for the education of African American children in Darien.
The school served the community for many years, and several of the current
members of St. Cyprian's received their initial education at the school.
St. Cyprian's is constructed of tabby
according to the building methods of mid 19th Century coastal Georgia. it
is believed to be one of the largest tabby structures still in use in Georgia.
The building suffered extensive damaged in the hurricane of 1896 and by another
storm in 1898, but in each case the building was repaired and the congregation
continued to worship.
Over the last two decades, the
congregations of St. Andrew's and St. Cyprian's have moved closer together.
In addition to sharing clergy, they now share the use of the parish hall and
participate jointly in Sunday School. The Episcopal Church Women and the
Christian Men's Fellowship are also combined. At present there is a single
Episcopal Community in McIntosh County with two distinct and valuable faces: The
Episcopal Churches of St. Andrew and St. Cyprian.
