“C” is for Church of England. The first Church of England, or Anglican, house of worship in South Carolina was built in Charleston about 1681. In the first decades of their colony the Lords Proprietors followed a policy of religious toleration and encouraged immigrants from a variety of religious backgrounds to settle in South Carolina. In November 1706 the assembly passed “An Act for the Establishment of Religious Worship in this Province, according to the Church of England.” Commonly referred to as the Church Act, it made the Church of England the established, or official, Church of South Carolina. The act divided the colony into ten parishes. Once established the Church was supported by public monies that paid clergy salaries and the costs for erecting church buildings. During the Revolutionary War, the Church of England was disestablished in 1778.
“C” is for Church of England
