St Peter's Catholic Church
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CLOSED NOW - Opens at 8:00am

1529 Assembly St, Columbia, SC 29201

The need for a Catholic church in the Midlands became apparent with the infusion of Irish workers, a cheap source of labor, brought here to dig the Columbia canals. Bishop John England sent an Irish born priest, Fr. James Wallace, to minister to the Catholics here, with the hopes of establishing a church with consecrated ground for a cemetery. In 1824 the cornerstone for the first church designed by architect Robert Mills was laid. Since this was the only church in the Midlands, St. Peter’s became known as the “Mother Church of the Midlands”. The parish continued to grow, and under the leadership of Fr. Thomas J. Hegarty, the old church was razed and a new larger church was built on the same site. Frank P. Milburn, designer of the state capitol dome, was chosen as architect of the new church built in Gothic Revival style. In keeping with the European tradition of burial inside churches, Fr. Hegarty’s body was interred in a memorial alcove within. St. Peter’s continues to be a vibrant, diverse parish dedicated to serving the needs of Catholics within the Midlands.

Reviews

dingers

03/06/2011

Provided by YP.com

Traditional Catholic Church

Saint Peter's was the epitome of traditional Catholicism. Having visited almost all of the Catholic church in Columbia, this church was one of few in downtown Columbia to have its own large parking lot. (I found this to be a problem with every other Catholic church in Columbia.) Street parking and parking in adjacent business lots are available too.

The music was traditional, conservative hymns with a pipe organ: my preferred type. The church is laid out in a cruciform with beautiful stained glass windows. The parishioners were very friendly.

Saint Peter's offers all of the services and volunteer opportunities of a large parish. It also has its own school. Being an old building, it did not have a cry room for babies. However, a nursery is provided at the 10 a.m. and noon masses in the adjacent building for children 4 and younger. They also have a meeting hall to the side for functions, volunteer groups within the church, a youth ministry, etc.

There is always something going on in the bulletin. This is a large congregation.

My only complaint is that I sometimes have a difficult time hearing the priest. I am young (in my 30s) but the priests have a tendency to not speak loud enough in the microphone, although I hear the other announcers just fine. Otherwise, I prefer the traditional conservative hymns and I really love this church.