Pineville, a historic refuge
Part 37: Belle Isle Presbyterian Church
By Warner M.Montgomery Warner@TheColumbiaStar.com

Belle Isle Presbyterian Church began in 1951 as a Pineville outpost chapel. This building was dedicated in 1984.

In 1951, an outpost Presbyterian chapel was organized in Pineville. Thirty years later, it became Belle Isle Presbyterian Church.

Mrs. Ernest F. (Eileen) Turner of Eadytown and Elder Howard H. Kemp, who lived in Pineville and attended St. Stephen Presbyterian Church, called a meeting in September 1951 to form a Christian mission in Eadytown (the part of Pineville closest to the Santee dam). Twelve miles of poor dirt road made it difficult for Presbyterians to attend church in St. Stephen. They met at the home of Mrs. James H. (Annie) Martin.

The first Sunday school was held in an old store building belonging to Mr. and Mrs. John Herbert Clarke. Rev. Moorefield secured an organ and two pews and Rev. John C. Bailey of the St. Stephen Church offered to conduct services at 4 pm each Sunday. He conducted services at both churches until Rev. William C. Rhodes Jr., a ministerial student at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga., accepted a call to the St. Stephen church.

The first members of the Pineville Presbyterian Chapel were Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Turner, Betty Jo Saunders, Ernest F. Turner, Mrs. J. H. Lott, Jeanne Blackmon, Steele Blackmon, Evangeline Hughes, Randal Blackmon, Ella Mae Mathis, Charles Mathis, Perry Hughes, Willie G. Graham, Mrs. W. G. (Bertha) Graham, Arnis and Grace Blackmon, George Robert, and Mary Quattlebaum. Howard Kemp provided leadership in this new venture.

A petition requesting formal organization and bearing the names of 37 people was presented to the Harmony Presbytery in 1954. The Presbytery decided to maintain the chapel as an outpost of the St. Stephen Church.

The old store building was used until 1965 when Oakland Hunting Club donated three acres to the church. T. O. Medlin constructed a small cement block building for use by the congregation.

This property, as well as the Clarke property, was originally a part of Mexico Plantation, previously owned for many past generations by the Marion and Gourdin families. Gabriel Marion's home was at nearby Belle Isle Plantation (later owned by Gourdin families) where his younger brother, Gen. Francis Marion, is buried. In honor of the Swamp Fox and the Marion and Gourdin families, the name was changed to Belle Isle Presbyterian Chapel in 1965.

Pews for use in the new chapel building were originally school room benches in the old Russellville Grammar School and were used in the church in St. Stephen before coming to the chapel.

An early worship service bulletin stated: "We welcome to our pulpit this morning, Dr. Lowell F. Martin, son of Mrs. Annie P. Martin, who is an active layman in the Southern Methodist Church in Charleston…The first Communion Service was given to the church by a group then known as the Lake City Academy of Fishing. This Academy was made up of fishing enthusiasts such as Jim McElveen, R. L. Cockfield, and L. S. Fleniken and others who took pride in their masterful skill with rod and reel in the deeps of Lake Moultrie, and were regularly in attendance at church when in this area."

When Mr. Rhodes of St. Stephen Presbyterian Church resigned, the chapel's attendance declined. Elders from St. Stephen held services sporadically over the next several years.

In 1979, Sue McElveen, a summer resident of Hall's Subdivision on Lake Moultrie, persuaded Rev. David Bell, pastor of St. Stephen, to re- open the chapel. During Christmas of 1980, several ladies invited the entire community to a supper and over 65 attended. This led to an annual supper, and chapel services began once again.

A committee from Harmony Presbytery met with chapel members and agreed to promote the chapel to a church. Rev. Jim Burgess held a service on April 26, 1981, witnessing the birth of Belle Isle Presbyterian Church with 34 charter members.

Rev. Jim Burgess resigned in 1983, and Rev. Samuel Lipsey became the supply minister. The small block building overflowed from a growing congregation leading to the proposal of a new sanctuary. The congregation also agreed to exchange the site for an adjoining 2.55 acres with the Oakland Club.

With financial assistance from Harmony Presbytery and volunteer labor from the community, and under the direction and leadership of W. D. Thornhill, a beautiful new brick sanctuary was dedicated October 21, 1984.

The church continued to grow. A Library Committee was established in 1985 with Jackie Cravens, Iris Neal, and Howard Kemp as members. In 1986, a Cemetery Committee was established with members Mona Thornhill, Wilma R. Martin, W.D. Thornhill, and Paul Downard.

Belle Isle Presbyterian Church was placed in the Charleston- Atlantic Presbytery in 1990, thus putting all churches in Berkeley County in the same Presbytery. The 20th Anniversary was held April 29, 2001, and the new Social Hall was named in honor of W. D. Thornhill.

Pastors serving the church have been • John C. Bailey (ret.) 1951 • William C. Rhodes Jr. 1952 - 1965 • Joel D. Blackwell 1966 - 1967 • David A. Bell 1979 - 1980 • James Burgess 1981 - 1983 • Samuel Lipsey 1983 - 1986 • James R. Keezel 1986 - 1991 • Wilbur Parvin 1992 - 1994 • James J. Pitts 1994 - 1995 • Margaret Zedan 1996 - 1997 • John N Miller, Jr. 2000 - 2005 • Cliff McLeod Jr. 2005 - Present

( Keith Gourdin of Pineville contributed to this story.)

(Next week: Day Dawn Baptist Church)