Church Plants
Every Sunday, St. Andrew’s members gather for seven worship services held in three different locations – Mount Pleasant, Charleston, and North Charleston. Our original church is in Mt Pleasant and it continues to serve as the resource center for all of our church plants. We’re not interested in building larger worship centers but instead we’re focused on planting churches that reach and serve their own community and then, in turn, plant new churches.
Every location that is planted from St. Andrew’s carries the same DNA. Worship styles, whether traditional or contemporary, are similar. We ask all of our members to first commit or belong to their local congregation. We also ask them to be a part of a Life Group and to serve in one ministry within their congregation.
Reaching the Community
St. Andrew’s Mt. Pleasant
The Rev’d Canon Randy Forrester
Rector, St. Andrew’s
Founded in 1833 as a chapel of ease, St. Andrew’s was part of a multi-campus church when founded. St. Andrew’s planted her first church in 2010 and is located in the Old Village and houses our offices and support staff. Three Sunday worship services are offered in the Historic Church in Mt. Pleasant – an early morning, quiet, contemplative traditional service, a blended service with modern language and both traditional and contemporary music, and a traditional service with hymns and choir. Two larger contemporary services meet in the Ministry Center Sanctuary on Sunday mornings. With the exception of the early morning (7.45 am) service, Children’s Ministry takes place during the services at all of our Sunday services. Many of the resources and classes available to members in Mt Pleasant and at our church plants.
Learn more about the Anglican church in Mt. Pleasant.
City Church (Charleston)
Lead Pastor: The Rev’d Rusty Graves
St. Andrews City Church, seeks to connect people on and around peninsular Charleston to the power and presence of Jesus Christ. City Church was planted in 2010. The church has a mix of young professionals, students, and new families who gather for worship and are scattered throughout the Charleston community to proclaim and present the life changing message of Christ to those around us. City Church meets at the Music Farm, the most popular music venue in the heart of the city.
Learn more about the Anglican church in Charleston.
Park Circle (North Charleston)
Lead Pastor: The Rev’d Seb Cummings
St. Andrew’s Park Circle is located in the heart of one of our city’s fastest-growing neighborhoods and was planted in 2013. Our congregation in Park Circle desires to connect the men, women, and children of our community to the presence and power of Jesus Christ. We’re honored to be a part of the North Charleston community and are excited to see God continue to transform these neighborhoods. St. Andrew’s Park Circle is comprised of a diverse age range of members from young families new to the area to older saints who have found a spiritual home.
Learn more about the Anglican church in Park Circle.
Leadership and Resources
St. Andrew’s is led by the Rector, Randy Forrester. As the Rector, he leads the Mt Pleasant congregation and is assisted by designated campus pastors at each church plant. Those church planters maintain their collegiality by sharing office space, administrative staff, and by occasionally preaching at each other’s churches.
The church staff, located in Mt Pleasant, is able to serve and resource all of our churches. This system eliminates the need for church plants to grow a staff. This also means that our campus pastors can dream big dreams for their congregations and communities. When they have an idea, they probably have a team member in Mt Pleasant who can point out problems and pitfalls and they have a colleague that can help them plan and execute their ideas. Because of their size, our church plants are able to quickly assess and meet needs within their congregation and communities.
Global Partnerships
St. Andrew’s is a part of the Anglican Church in North America and is well connected to Anglican churches and Archbishops from around the world.
St. Andrew’s was one the founding churches of the Diocese of the Carolinas in 2012. St. Andrew’s also acts as a resource for all of the diocesan churches.
Through the Ridley Institute, our school of theology, the church has become an innovative leader in theological education for laypeople and seminarians and has made their lectures available worldwide by streaming classes on the web.