St. James Baptist Church groundbreaking
After years of negotiations, planning and setbacks, members of St. James Baptist Church gathered Saturday, Oct. 24, to celebrate the groundbreaking for a new home, marking a milestone in the congregation’s 140-year history.
The ceremony at 9 Union Cemetery Road brought together church members, elected officials and community leaders who helped advance the relocation of one of Hilton Head Island’s oldest congregations.
Founded in 1886 in Mitchelville, St. James Baptist Church has deep roots in the island’s Gullah community. Its current location on Dillon Road falls within the runway protection zone at Hilton Head Island Airport, making relocation necessary to address aviation safety concerns.
The new 4.67-acre campus, adjacent to Union Cemetery, will include a 250-seat sanctuary and fellowship hall. The historic Cherry Hill School, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, will also be relocated. Stained-glass windows donated by generations of church families will be incorporated into the new sanctuary.
For the Rev. Arthur Evans, pastor of St. James, the groundbreaking represented more than the beginning of construction. It reflected the congregation’s faith and determination through years of uncertainty.
“This is what is needed in our country,” Evans told those gathered, emphasizing the importance of community members recognizing and supporting one another.
He described St. James as a community church committed to serving others and expressed gratitude to those who worked to make the relocation possible.
Beaufort County Assistant County Administrator Jared Fralix recalled a time when the project appeared stalled. He credited state Sen. Tom Davis and the local legislative delegation with securing an additional $4 million in state funding, allowing the project to move forward without the lengthy federal funding process.
Fralix also recognized longtime church leader Herbert Ford, who had previously described the project as being “stuck in the mud.”
“Mr. Ford, look around. The sun is shining. The ground is dried out. We got the shovels ready to go,” Fralix said. “And I’m proud to say that we are no longer stuck in the mud.”
Hilton Head Island Mayor Alan Perry praised the cooperation among the congregation, town, county and state.
“This effort shows that public safety and historic preservation do not have to compete with each other,” Perry said.
Davis emphasized the historical importance of the congregation and the responsibility to protect its legacy.
“This is a church groundbreaking, but it’s also keeping of a promise that a community which has given so much to this island would not be pushed aside as the island changed around it,” Davis said.
Town Council Member and Mayor Pro Tem Alex Brown, who said he became involved in the relocation effort more than a decade ago, recognized Ford’s persistence and reminded those attending that work remains.
The ceremony included selections from the St. James Baptist Church music ministry, prayers led by Evans and the ceremonial turning of dirt.
For a congregation whose history spans generations of island families, the groundbreaking marked the beginning of a new chapter while preserving its connection to the past.
