It was a Columbia Seminary graduate who co-founded Montreat.
It was a Columbia Seminary professor who started Thornwell Children’s Home and Presbyterian College.
It was a Columbia Seminary graduate who began Souper Bowl of Caring.
It was Columbia, South Carolina that formed Columbia Seminary.
Let’s talk about our history and celebrate our future!
For the first half of its two-hundred-year history, Columbia Seminary was located in its namesake city, Columbia South Carolina. We will deeply engage Columbia’s history on Sunday afternoon, October 20, 2019 on the grounds of its one-time home, the Roberts Mills House. “To Count our Days: To Celebrate Our Stories” will feature a stimulating lecture from Columbia Seminary professor emeritus, Dr. Erskine Clarke, followed by a worship service featuring a mass choir and talented local musicians. There will then be a dinner on the grounds featuring recipes from regional Presbyterian church cookbooks. Tours of the Robert Mills house and Woodrow Wilson’s boyhood home and museum will also be available.
This event is a great way for Presbyterians to connect more deeply with our rich history so we can leave hopeful for a bright future! The event is free, but dinner is $20 for adults, and free for children 12 and under. You can purchase your meal tickets in the link below.
Two additional invitations:
Columbia is seeking local church choir members to join the mass choir. (You can find the music here: SATB 1 and SATB 2.) If you are interested in singing in the choir, you can contact Julie Bailey at BaileyJ@ctsnet.edu.
If you have a church cookbook or a very “Presbyterian” recipe you would like to submit, you can also contact Julie with that info.
3pm Dr. Erskine Clarke lecture, “Presbyterian Gentlemen, Enslaved African Americans, and an Antebellum Southern Mansion”
4pm Worship service featuring inspiration from seminary leaders through the generations and also featuring local mass choir
5pm Buffet Dinner featuring regional Presbyterian church recipes
Tours of the Robert Mills House and Woodrow Wilson’s childhood home will be available from 1:30-2:45 pm and from 5:30-6:30pm
All events except tours will take place under a tent on the front lawn of the Robert Mills House, 1616 Blanding St, Columbia, SC 29201
Additional information about Dr. Erskine Clarke
Copies of Erskine Clarke’s new book, To Count Our Days: A History of Columbia Theological Seminary will be available for purchase following worship. Clarke’s other books include By The Rivers of Water: A Nineteenth Century Atlantic Odyssey and Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic, which is the “official catalysis” for a new opera commissioned by the Cincinnati Opera to celebrate its 100th anniversary.
Hotel Information
Hotel Trundle – Boutique – .5 miles – $149.00/night
Stylish rooms in an informal boutique hotel with an annex offering free evening drinks & breakfast
