St. Andrews By The Sea

We last visited Hilton Head in 1994, eighteen years ago.  At that time, we attended the St. Andrews By the Sea United Methodist Church.   We returned to worship there last Sunday.

It is such an architecturally lovely building, located in a beautiful setting.  But aside from those external factors, the worship experience itself was uplifting, refreshing,  and restored my faith in United Methodist Churches.

The main reason why I say that is that the church was full of people, on a non-holiday February Sunday. The sanctuary has probably a 300 to 400 capacity.  Churches in the part of the country we live in are rarely full,  with the exception of perhaps on Easter and Christmas.

I'd have to say that as a person-in-the-pew,  this may well be my favorite 'experience of church' in many years.   The pastor gave an excellent sermon and a good children's message.  It was Communion Sunday, and the serving of Communion was done efficiently.  Everyone knew their parts throughout the service, including the greeters, the ushers and the acolytes,  and did them well.  

I don't expect we will ever return to the island,  but if for any reason we did,  this is a church I would definitely want to attend again.

We returned on a rainy day to take these pictures.

One observation I would make is the congregation was 99% white.   Certainly, there are many non-white workers on the island, though I do not know where they actually live.

The church we attend with our youngest daughter on Long Island where she lives is perhaps the most ethnically diverse United Methodist Church I have ever experienced, much to its credit.

I thought of her on Sunday.  She plays the bells at her church.  The bell choir was playing at St. Andrews By the Sea.