St. John's Episcopal Church stands at the corner of Wheat and Holly Streets in the Shandon neighborhood of Columbia, South Carolina, a parish of about 1,000 members whose ministry began in 1912, when the area was a new suburb on the edge of the city. Today the parish gathers for the Holy Eucharist each Sunday at 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., the later service enriched by the Chancel Choir and other ensembles, while a full slate of Sunday school classes, weekday Bible studies, and a long-running children's pageant shape the common life of the parish through the year. Generous giving of food, clothing, and shelter to neighbors across the Midlands is woven into who St. John's is, from a Helping Hands weekend food program at Hand Middle School to a 1,000-pound English bell that still rings out over the rooftops to call the parish to worship.
A Parish Founded in 1912 for the New Suburb of Shandon
St. John's was planted in 1912 as a church for the new suburb of Shandon, and more than a century later the parish still gathers on the same corner of Wheat and Holly. Sarah and Edmund Heyward were among the founders, and grandsons and great-grandsons of the family still worship and serve in the parish. The church has enjoyed long and fruitful relationships with its clergy, and today is led by two full-time priests, with additional staff in music, formation, and administration. As a parish of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, St. John's shares in the diocesan mission to make, equip, and send mature disciples of Christ, and is well represented in the wider life of the church through summer camp at Gravatt, Kanuga retreats, diocesan youth ministry, and the mission and governance of the diocese itself.
The parish marks its common life around four notes, framed by the rector: community (friendship, family, love, and compassion), joy (time-honored celebrations), generosity (giving of self), and steadfastness (a treasured living tradition). Members describe St. John's as both an intimate community in which you can know others and be known to them, and a place of thriving programs, guilds, mission trips, and ministry teams. The parish's longest relationships of service include Hand Middle School, Finlay House senior housing, the Bishop's parishes in Haiti and Ecuador, and a range of Columbia food and shelter ministries.
Sunday Worship: From Quiet Rite I to a Family Liturgy at 10:30
Sunday is the principal day of worship at St. John's, and the Holy Eucharist (also called Communion and the Lord's Supper) is the central act of the parish's week. All baptized Christians are invited to receive Communion at the Lord's Table. Services are guided by the Book of Common Prayer and are liturgical and sacramental in nature, with both services using a reverent, traditional idiom.
The 8:00 a.m. service is quieter and more intimate than the later liturgy and uses the traditional language of Rite I. It includes some organ music and a closing hymn. The 10:30 a.m. service is enriched by the Chancel Choir and other ensembles, including Selah, an acoustic contemporary group that plays about once a month. The later service is a family-friendly, warmly traditional liturgy with elements intended for the youngest worshipers. Children ages 3, 4, and 5K are invited to follow the crucifer out of the church before the Gospel and sermon for Children's Church, and they return at the Peace.
St. John's Singers, the parish's children's choir, sings periodically at the 10:30 service, and students in sixth grade and above serve as acolytes. All baptized Christians, of whatever tradition, are welcome at the altar; visitors are encouraged to fill out a welcome card found in the pew, introduce themselves to a clergyperson or a greeter after worship, and join the lemonade and coffee hour on the patio afterward.
The Bell Tower and the 1,000-Pound Call to Worship
The bell tower at the front of the church houses a 1,000-pound bell cast by the Taylor Bell Foundry in Loughborough, England, and dedicated in 1963 in memory of Pudge Heffelfinger, the first professional football player in the history of the game. Heffelfinger had played at Yale and been named to the first All-American team in 1889; his daughter Jane Winston was a member of St. John's at the time of the bell's dedication. The bell became inoperable sometime between then and the early 2000s, and its restoration is attributed to former rector Fletcher Montgomery, who suggested the bell be rung as a call to worship and tolled for funerals.
Today the call to worship at St. John's is three rings of the bell for regular services and seven for major feast days such as Easter, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday. Choir member Jamie LaBorde is the usual manual Sunday ringer at the beginning of the 10:30 service, and the bell is rung mechanically by the organist at the end. Cogburn Gaillard tolls the bell for burials, beginning with quick rings that signify the sex of the deceased (three for a man, two for a woman), then slow rings once for each decade of life, and finally a quicker ring for each remaining year since the last decennial birthday. Once the bell falls silent, the service begins.
A Year of Sunday School: Little Lambs, Shining Stars, and Middle School
Christian formation is a centerpiece of parish life at St. John's, and the Sunday School program is one of the parish's most distinctive gifts. Classes for children begin at 9:30 a.m., with breakfast served in the Dining Room of the Barr Center from 8:45 to 9:30 during the school year. The program is named for the lectionary, the children, and a deep conviction that the faith is shared from generation to generation.
For the youngest parishioners, Little Lambs is the 3- and 4-year-old class in Room 129, faithfully led by Ashley Jaillette, Kelli Turnipseed, and Caroline Tevepaugh, where children engage in play, story, song, and craft as they learn the Bible. Shining Stars, the K through second grade class in Room 226, is led by Sally McCants, Lolly Petroff, and Ted Belsches and explores Bible stories through interactive, hands-on learning. Seeking Shepherds, the third through fifth grade class in Room 227, is led by three families (the McCauleys, the Colemans, and the Plylers) and follows the lectionary to deepen the connection between the Gospel lesson and the children's everyday lives. Middle schoolers in sixth through eighth grade meet in Room 221 with Barbara and Bobby Jones, working through the Bible Project video series and competing in trivia along the way. High schoolers meet in Room 222 to dive deeper into the Gospel readings for the day.
Children's Chapel is a long-standing tradition at St. John's. Before the Gospel at the 10:30 service, children ages 7 and under are invited to join an adult at the back of the church to walk to the chapel for storytelling, prayer, and song, returning to the sanctuary at the Peace. The St. John's Singers, the parish's children's choir, sings periodically at the later service. The nursery, for children ages 3 and younger, is led by at least one staff person and a volunteer and is offered in Heyward Hall from 9:15 a.m. until 11:45 a.m. on Sunday mornings. Vacation Bible School and the New Baby Ministry are also part of the parish's family ministries.
Youth: Episcopal Youth Community and the High School Class
Episcopal Youth Community, known as EYC, gathers the youth of the parish in sixth through twelfth grades on Sunday evenings for fellowship, games, and conversations about their faith. Special events such as trips and service opportunities are scheduled throughout the school year, and St. John's youth are encouraged to take part in diocesan youth retreats, made free to them through the Jack Fleischer Memorial Fund. A Youth Minister, Henry Scouton, and a Director of Family Ministries, Lynae Beresford, walk alongside the youth and their families. High schoolers meet for Bible study on Sunday mornings, and confirmation is part of the formation path for older youth. The parish has also engaged Ministry Architects, a church consulting service, to listen alongside children, youth, parents, and staff over a 12-month process and help the parish dream about the next chapter of its formation ministries.
Adults: Sunday Classes, Bible Studies, and the Rector's Wednesday Hour
Adults at St. John's have a range of Sunday morning and weekday formation options. Equipping the Saints is the lecture and discussion class for adults, led by the rector and the Adult Formation Committee, meeting in Room 215 on the upper level of Heyward Hall and moving through a series of series each year, often beginning with the Bible and the Christian life. The Wired Word is a discussion-oriented class that meets in the Library on the first floor of Heyward Hall, working from lessons emailed in advance that link Scripture, current events, and common life. Faith at Home, coordinated by the Director of Family Ministries, meets in the Parlor on the main level of Heyward Hall and considers Christian faith in the home, often around the rhythms of raising children. The Monthly Sunday Early Adult Class, a great fit for 8 a.m. worshipers, meets on the first Sunday of the month at 9 a.m. in the Dining Room of the Barr Center; Davis Bourne leads the class and provides a generous breakfast.
Weekday Bible studies are a hallmark of the parish. The Rector's Bible Study meets on Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. in the Parlor. The Men's Bible Study meets on Tuesdays at 7 a.m. in the Dining Room, and a Younger Men's Bible Study meets on Fridays at 7 a.m. in the Parlor. A Women's Bible Study meets as announced. The rector, clergy, and lay leaders also lead a Wednesday night program during the program year, with supper in the Barr Center from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and teaching and adult formation from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., while children and youth gather for their own programming and nursery care is provided for the youngest.
The Music Ministry: Chancel Choir, Selah, and Singers for Children
Music is a defining feature of St. John's worship. The Director of Music Ministries, Amanda Hines Wrona, directs the Chancel Choir and supports the entire music ministry, including the children's choirs, after twenty years of service at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields Church. The Organist, English G. Morris, Jr., joined St. John's in 2025 after a 57-year career in church music that included 36 years as Organist and Director of Music at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church in Columbia; he has also served twice as Organist-in-Residence at York Minster Cathedral and completed a term as Visiting Organist at Canterbury Cathedral.
Beyond the Chancel Choir, the parish supports a range of ensembles. Selah, an acoustic contemporary group, plays about once a month at the 10:30 service. The St. John's Singers, a children's choir for grades 4 through 10, sings periodically at the later service. The St. John's Music Makers serves children in 4K through second grade. The Handbells and the Drum Circle offer additional ways for musicians of various ages to take part. The St. John's Requiem Choir supports the parish's funeral ministry, ringing out the bell and lifting up the music in times of loss.
The Feast of Lights and Other Markers of the Year
St. John's is a parish that loves to mark the seasons. Each year on January 6, the parish gathers for the Feast of Lights, an Epiphany pageant begun in the ministry of the Rev. John Barr, whose assistant Barbara Bild and Acolyte Master Bill Woodruff produced the first celebration. The pageant offers a progression for a child raised in the life of the church: a child begins as one of the lambs of the stable in the front pews, progresses to a Shepherd or Angel, then serves as a page to one of the Kings, and finally appears in high school as one of the Apostles or contemporary ministers of the church. The Apostles wear felt shields with appropriate symbols, sewn by Ruth Woodruff and signed by the actor each year since 1982, a living archive of generations of St. John's children. The tradition is capped by the 12th Night Party, with three cakes presented by the Wise Men.
Other markers of the year shape the common life. The Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper brings the parish together before Lent. Lent itself is observed with fasting and reflection, including simple services of Holy Communion and preaching in the Chapel on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m., a fuller Maundy Thursday liturgy at 7 p.m. with the washing of feet and the stripping of the altar, and a Good Friday service at 12:15 p.m. with the long reading of the Passion, the veneration of the Cross, and a sermon. Wednesday night suppers and programs run through the program year. The Blessing of the Animals, the Advent Festival, the Pentecost Celebration, the Kanuga Parish Weekend, and Gravatt Day each have their place on the calendar. The Summer at St. John's series includes SnoBall Sundays, family movie nights, garden potlucks, and a fall Welcome Back Sunday that kicks off the program year.
Servant Ministry: Food, Shelter, and the EMS Closet
St. John's takes seriously its calling to be a church in the world beyond its walls. A portion of every pledge goes to the parish's Servant Ministry, which is distributed through the year to agencies that feed the hungry, assist those in financial crisis, address homelessness, and care for the elderly. Recent giving has supported Fresh Start, a ministry of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in the Waverly neighborhood that offers laundry, food, and other services; Harvest Hope Food Bank, South Carolina's largest food bank; the Cooperative Ministry, which works to increase the economic self-sufficiency of people experiencing poverty in the Midlands; St. Lawrence Place, part of Homeless No More, which offers support services, classes, and up to two years of housing for families experiencing homelessness; Family Promise of the Midlands, which helps families experiencing homelessness work toward sustainable independence; and The FriendShip, which serves members age 50 and older with transportation, home maintenance, and social engagement to help them age in place.
The Helping Hands Ministry, a ministry of the parish itself, packs 20 to 30 weekend food kits each week of the school year for students at Hand Middle School, along with special food boxes at Christmas. The parish also houses the EMS Closet in Heyward Hall; the non-profit provides clothing to students in Richland County and has been welcomed at St. John's for over two years. The parish maintains longstanding relationships of service in Haiti and Ecuador, and St. John's members are regular participants in the diocesan mission of the wider church.
Pastoral Care, Prayer, and the Agape Ministry
Pastoral care is shared between the clergy and a deep bench of lay ministers. The Pastoral Care Ministry includes the Agape Ministry, which remembers parishioners with notes and small acts of kindness; Altar Flower Delivery, which takes the Sunday flowers to those who are homebound or grieving; Eucharistic Visitors, who bring Communion to those who cannot be present; Hospitality to the Grieving, which walks with families in times of loss; the Prayer Team, which prays for the parish's intentions; and Love in Action, which responds to practical needs. Prayer requests may be sent in through the parish's prayer request form, and a weekly church newsletter, The Epistle, keeps the parish connected to its life and ministry.
The Diocese of Upper South Carolina and the Wider Church
St. John's is a parish of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina and shares in the diocesan mission to make, equip, and send mature disciples of Christ. Members are frequent participants in summer camp at Gravatt, Kanuga retreats, diocesan youth ministry, and the mission and governance of the diocese. The parish's rector has written of the grace of the diocesan family and of the strength that comes from being connected to the wider church. Bishop Porter Taylor has visited and taught the parish, and the rhythm of diocesan life, including Cursillo weekends at Camp Gravatt and annual youth retreats, shapes the lives of many at St. John's.
The Building at 2827 Wheat Street
The St. John's campus sits at 2827 Wheat Street in the heart of Shandon. The main entrances to the church are through the bell tower and the central doors on Wheat Street; accessible entrance is from the Holly Street side of the sanctuary. The church is equipped with an audio loop, and personal listening devices are available at the rear of the church; ushers are glad to help. Limited parking is available in the lot behind the church, including handicap parking, with abundant street parking on Wheat Street and the surrounding neighborhood.
Behind the sanctuary, Heyward Hall houses classrooms, a music suite, and the parish offices, and is also home to the EMS Closet, the parish's library and parlor, and additional gathering spaces. The Barr Center, named in honor of the Rev. John Barr, contains the parish gym and a kitchen, hosts Wednesday night suppers, church-wide luncheons, and the Welcome Back Sunday celebration that launches the program year. The courtyard and patio are at the heart of coffee hour and outdoor fellowship in the milder months.
Clergy and Staff
The Rev. Nicholas M. Beasley serves as Rector and leads worship weekly, preaching about three Sundays a month. He teaches in Bible studies and adult formation, provides pastoral care, marries, buries, and baptizes, and chairs the Vestry. He hopes to be more involved in the wider community as time goes by, helping St. John's continue its traditions of community engagement as followers of Jesus Christ. The Rev. Alex Barron serves as Priest Associate in a part-time role. A native of Rock Hill and a Sewanee graduate, he served parishes in South Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida, and was a chaplain in the United States Navy before his retirement. He now makes his home at Still Hopes with his wife Margie.
Amanda Hines Wrona directs the music ministry, including the Chancel Choir and the children's choirs, and is the chorus teacher and fine arts department chair at Airport High School. English G. Morris, Jr., is the Organist; Lynae Beresford is the Director of Family Ministries; and Henry Scouton is the Youth Minister. The staff also includes Rhonda S. Gardner, Financial Administrator; Laura Fowles, Parish Administrator, whose family has been at St. John's for more than 80 years; Megan Griffin, Administrative Assistant; and Kinnie Williams of the Janitorial Staff. The 2026 Vestry is led by Lauren McCauley, Senior Warden, and Ann Ruderman, Junior Warden.
Newcomers, New Members, and Joining the Parish
St. John's offers a Newcomers Class and the Welcome of Baptized Members twice a year, with classes led by the clergy and culminating in a welcome of new members in worship. A Newcomers class is held over three Sunday mornings in the fall, with clergy sharing more about St. John's, the Christian faith in the Episcopal Church, and getting to know new faces. Visitors are welcome at any service and are encouraged to fill out a welcome card found in the pew, introduce themselves to a member of the clergy or a greeter after worship, and join the lemonade and coffee hour on the patio.
Those unable to be present in person may stream the services live on Facebook or YouTube, and bulletins are made available in advance. Donations and recurring pledges are welcome through the parish's giving page at stjohnscolumbia.org/donate-to-st-johns, and the parish is supported by the time, talent, and treasure of about 1,000 members drawn from all over Columbia who, generation to generation, keep the feast and share it with the world God so loves in Christ.