History of St. Ignatius

The History of St. Ignatius Church

Rev. Anson Greene Phelps Dodge, Jr. built St. Ignatius on Demere Road in 1886 for the formerly enslaved freedmen and women who were now living and working on the island, primarily in the mills. Following damage from a hurricane in 1898, parishioners immediately rebuilt the church and rotated it 90 degrees. St. Ignatius closed as a mission in the 1980s and merged with Christ Church, Frederica making it a full member of our parish. Saturday evening services are held here.

Future plans include rotating the church back to its original position, completing some renovations, and stabilizing the parking lot. As with Christ Church, the wood is heart pine which has never been painted or stained. The altar rail is hand carved. The lectern, Bishop’s chair, Priest’s chair, and Baptismal font were all donated by Lovely Lane Chapel. The stained-glass windows behind the altar were made in Philadelphia by the Willet Company depicting the Trinity.

The bell was installed in the 1980s and is from the WWII Liberty Ship, Henry Wynkoop. For years the windows in the church were translucent, jalousie-panel glass. Beginning in the year 2000, ten new stained-glass windows were designed by Mary Beth Keys, a parishioner of Christ Church, completed by the Wippell Company of Exeter, England, and blessed by The Rt. Rev. Henry I. Louttit, Bishop of Georgia, on April 29, 2001.

A plaque displaying some of the list of names of the first baptized members of St. Ignatius from 1870-1970 was installed in the church in 2009.