​Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley has called the Rev. John West as priest-in-charge of St. James-Santee, McClellanville. Father West was ordained to the priesthood in 2000 and has served as a priest in the Dioceses of Georgia and Virginia before making his way to the Diocese of South Carolina.

“I am delighted and very happy to be the priest-in-charge of St. James-Santee Episcopal Church," said Father West. "It is a lovely, warm, inviting and welcoming congregation. I look forward to getting to know my new colleagues and the many Episcopal Church members in the Diocese of South Carolina.”

Father West earned his undergraduate degrees from the University of Georgia and attended Virginia Theological Seminary. He also attended Saint George's College in Jerusalem, Israel. He has three grown children.

The Right Reverend Ruth Woodliff-Stanley has called the Rev. Courtney Davis-Shoemaker as priest-in-charge of St. Peter’s, Charleston, a church that was returned to our diocese last year and was most recently known as The Church of the Good Shepherd. Ordained to the priesthood in 2009, the Rev. Davis-Shoemaker has served for the past five years as assistant priest of St. Stephen’s, Charleston. She will begin this full-time role at St. Peter’s on November 1, 2024.  As Rev. Davis-Shoemaker explores the possibilities for ministry at this location over the coming months, it is expected that the church, located at 1393 Miles Drive in West Ashley, will reopen in early 2025.

“I could not be more thrilled that the Rev. Courtney Davis-Shoemaker has accepted the call to serve as priest-in-charge of St. Peter’s,” said Bishop Woodliff-Stanley. “Her deep spirituality and her gifts in convening community, administration, and pastoral care, will help set St. Peter’s on a firm foundation. Additionally, both her experience in renewing church communities and her creativity will inform the early days of developing a new season in this historic parish that will serve the needs of the neighborhood and the wider community.”

Over the past few months, Bishop Woodliff-Stanley has convened several conversations with members of the West Ashley community as they imagined together the future of the church. The Rev. Davis-Shoemaker took part in some of these conversations, and she plans to continue these conversations and build on that early discernment when she begins on November 1 and prepares to reopen in the new year. “This period will also involve intentional listening to neighbors and interested parties to creatively think about ministry in West Ashley and how we can best support our community,” said Davis-Shoemaker.

The Rev. Davis-Shoemaker looks forward to creatively moving the church forward. As she noted in a message to the congregation at St. Stephen’s, Charleston, “With Bishop Woodliff- Stanley’s support, I will explore alternative times for worship and how we may best engage non-churchgoers and Episcopalians who may have left the church after the schism,” said Davis-Shoemaker. “This will be a time to experiment in how we spread the message of God’s unending love and invite people to bring their authentic selves into a new community. I do not know exactly how God will use this new space and what will come but I am excited to prayerfully explore what God may be up to in West Ashley!”

While the church building in West Ashley was constructed in the 1970s and the name eventually changed from St. Peter’s to the Church of the Good Shepherd, the origins of the congregation date back to its initial location as St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on Logan Street in downtown Charleston. That building was destroyed by fire in 1861, but the cemetery remains to this day. In 1927, the congregation reorganized and merged with Christ Church on Rutledge Avenue to form a new St. Peter’s on that site. It moved to West Ashley in 1973. As our diocese looks to reopen the church, it will return to the historic name of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.

A native of Asheville, North Carolina, Davis-Shoemaker graduated from The General Theological Seminary in 2008 and was ordained a priest the following year in the Diocese of Massachusetts. She has served as the urban resident at St. Stephen's in Lynn, MA; a vicar at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Haw River, NC; Episcopal/ Lutheran chaplain at Elon University; and most recently as the assistant priest at St. Stephen's, Charleston. Having moved to Charleston in 2017 with her spouse, the Rev. Adam Shoemaker, she has also served on the Standing Committee and Commission on Ministry in the Diocese of South Carolina. Courtney and Adam have three children and their family moved to West Ashley in June 2024.

View the announcement from St. Stephen’s, Charleston, at this link.

With sadness we share the news that the Rev. Len Williams died on Monday, May 13. Father Len most recently served as interim priest-in-charge of Epiphany, Summerville, and was chaplain emeritus of the Charleston Port and Seafarers’ Society. A Celebration of Life will be held at Grace Church Cathedral in Charleston on Saturday, May 25, at 11 am. Please keep his wife, Angela, and their family, in your prayers as we remember the blessing he was in the lives of so many. 

"Father Len was a gifted and faithful priest," said Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley. "He served in the Diocese of Mississippi when I was a young priest there. I have respected and learned from his example for my whole ordained life. When I visited him the day before he died, Fr. Len focused the conversation on his gratitude for all God allowed him to do in his ministry. He has blessed countless lives. May he rest in peace and rise in glory."

A native of South Carolina, Father Len was ordained to the priesthood in the Diocese of Mississippi by Bishop Duncan Gray in 1981. He served as vicar of St. Mary's, Lexington (1982-1986) and St. Timothy's, Southaven (1986-2002)--where he helped shepherd the devoted congregation of a struggling mission church to build a thriving parish. Eventually, he found his way back to South Carolina, becoming the Charleston Port and Seafarers’ Society (ChaPSS) chaplain in 2001. He continued this important ministry, serving the seafarers who called in Charleston for 17 years as chaplain, and continuing even after he officially retired from the role in 2018. In retirement, Fr. Len served as a volunteer, bringing God’s love to all he met at the port. In 2021, ChaPSS dedicated the “The Father Arthur Lenwood Williams, Jr. Center,” its newest dockside seafarers’ center at the Hugh Leatherman Terminal in Charleston, SC, in honor of their beloved chaplain emeritus.

Fr. Len was also a long-time member of the North American Maritime Ministry Association (NAMMA) and received a NAMMA Distinguished Service Award in 2019. Following the center dedication at ChaPSS in 2021, NAMMA shared an article on their website in which the author noted the following: “In his address at the dedication, Fr. Len told the crowd of his family, friends, and colleagues from the ministry, church, and maritime industry how blessed and thankful he felt for the opportunity to serve as the ChaPSS chaplain. He remarked that when he was first approached to become the ChaPSS chaplain he was a bit hesitant, as he knew nothing about chaplaincy in general or seafarers’ ministry in particular. But looking back on his time of service he now views it as the most rewarding activity that he has ever been involved in during his tenure as an Episcopal priest.” 

It was further noted in the article that during his time as ChaPSS chaplain, Fr. Len served as a mentor, role model, and friend to the volunteers and staff of ChaPSS. Also in his "retirement," during the pandemic, Fr. Len began assisting the Rev. Bob Schwarz at Epiphany, Summerville, and after Fr. Bob's retirement in 2021, Fr. Len stepped into the role of interim priest-in-charge, where he served with a deep love for this congregation.

In addition to his wife, Angela, Fr. Len is survived by two sons, a daughter, stepdaughter, children-in-law, and four grandchildren. Please continue to hold the family in your prayers, as well as the congregation and leadership of Epiphany, Summerville, and all who grieve his death. A full obituary can be found at this link. 

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Fr. Len’s honor to: The Charleston Port & Seafarers' Society, P.O.Box 2442, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29465 (charlestonseafarers.org), or to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 (stjude.org/donatetoday).

Rest eternal grant to him, O Lord; let light perpetual shine upon him.

Clergy of the Diocese of South Carolina are invited to attend this year’s Clergy Retreat April 28-30, 2024, at St. Christopher Camp & Conference Center. Clergy should have already received an email invitation with details and a link to registration, also available at this link.

The retreat—previously known as Clergy Conference—is the annual gathering of active and retired priests and deacons serving in our diocese, hosted by the bishop and usually including presentations from a special guest speaker. This year’s speaker is the Reverend Dr. Amy Bentley Lamborn, who will give a series of retreat talks entitled “Practicing Resurrection: Spaces of Aliveness.”

Dr. Lamborn currently serves as Vicar of the Southeast Tennessee Episcopal Ministry (STEM) and Visiting Faculty in Pastoral Theology at the School of Theology, University of the South, Sewanee. She is also a Jungian analyst and pastoral psychotherapist in private practice. Lamborn previously served as professor of Pastoral Theology at the General Theological Seminary, visiting professor in psychology and religion at Marymount Manhattan College, and lecturer at the Union Theological Seminary. 

Dr. Lamborn’s scholarly work focuses on the relationship between depth psychology and theology. Her publications include such topics as interdisciplinary methodology, Trinitarian theology and models of self/subjectivity, and Jungian psychology, phenomenology, and theology. Her most recent essay, “From Ghost to Ancestor: Transforming Jung’s Racial Complex,” was published in Jungian Reflections on Systemic Racism (Routledge, 2023). And her essay, “The Fourth Reduction: Carl Jung, Richard Kearney, and the Via Tertia of Otherness,” was a finalist for the Gradiva Awards “Best Essay” in 2012. Her book, Figuring the Self, Figuring the Sacred:  Imagining Unity and Multiplicity in Depth Psychology and Theology, will be published by Pickwick Publications in 2025.

Dr. Lamborn enjoys good literature and film, as well as British crime shows.  She is passionate about cooking/Southern hospitality, road cycling, and playing classical music (piano). We look forward to her joining the bishop and clergy of the diocese for what promises to be a rich springtime retreat at St. Christopher. ​

The Right Reverend Ruth Woodliff-Stanley has called the Reverend John Robert Spainhour to serve as priest-in-charge of The Church of the Epiphany in Summerville. While Father Rob most recently served in the Diocese of Vermont, his ministry in The Episcopal Church began in the Diocese of South Carolina and he is grateful to return to where he has spent much of his life.

Bishop Woodliff-Stanley is thankful for the experience Father Rob brings to Epiphany, Summerville, where the Rev. Len Williams has served the congregation faithfully for a number of years. “I am so grateful for the gracious and seasoned leadership of Father Rob and look forward to the continued growth and vitality of Epiphany as he and the congregation build upon the good work done during Father Len’s strong tenure,” said Bishop Woodliff-Stanley.

Following graduation from the College of Charleston in 1978, Father Rob began his career in education, as a teacher and later as assistant principal, while remaining deeply involved in lay ministry at Trinity, Pinopolis. After discerning a call to the priesthood, he earned a Master of Divinity from Trinity Episcopal Seminary and was ordained a priest in the Diocese of South Carolina in 1992. In his first call, he served for 10 years as rector of St. John’s, Oakland in West Ashley (Charleston). In 2005, he was called to the Diocese of East Carolina to serve two congregations while simultaneously working as principal of two public high schools in eastern North Carolina. He continued as a bi-vocational priest for nine years before answering a call to serve as full-time priest-in-charge of Church of the Advent in Williamston, NC.

In 2015, Father Rob was called as rector of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Swanton, Vermont, where he served for eight years before retiring from full-time ministry and returning to South Carolina in March 2023. Not long after his return, he soon became active in the Diocese of South Carolina again, serving as supply priest for a number of congregations over the past year. Father Rob is joyfully looking forward to serving part-time at Epiphany, Summerville. “Epiphany is a wonderful, historic parish with an energetic and lively congregation located in the heart of beautiful, historic downtown Summerville,” said Fr. Rob. “Building upon the great things of the past, I trust we will continue to see marvelous things together in the future.”

Though he was born in North Carolina, Father Rob has lived most of his life in South Carolina, first moving to Edisto Island while in elementary school. He was confirmed in The Episcopal Church in 1981 at St. George’s, Summerville. Throughout his ministry, Father Rob has been active in diocesan service as well, including as President of the Standing Committee and a member of the Diocesan Council in the Diocese of South Carolina, as well as a variety of diocesan roles in the Diocese of East Carolina, and the Diocese of Vermont. In addition, he has served The Episcopal Church at several General Conventions.

Father Rob is the proud father of his daughters, Cantey—who followed in her father’s footsteps as a teacher—and Avery (who unexpectedly died in 2016 and is interred at Grace Church Cathedral, Charleston), and five grandchildren. He lives in Goose Creek and joyfully spends time with his daughter and grandchildren whenever he is able.
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About Epiphany, Summerville
Epiphany Church of Summerville was founded in the 1880s and built in 1887 on land donated by Catherine Springs, a free person of color who operated a thriving business on King Street in downtown Charleston before opening a hat and dress shop in Summerville. In addition to donating money and land to Epiphany Church, she also donated the same to build the Banks School, which provided the first public education for Black children in Summerville. It was operated by Epiphany Episcopal Church, which was then a mission of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Summerville.