1734-Religion

The first Lutheran Holy Communion was held by Rev. John Martin Bolzius.

The St. John’s congregation was organized in 1742 with arrival of Dr. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the father of the Lutheran Church in America. He stopped for two days in Charleston on his way to visit the Salzburger colony at Ebenezer, Georgia. He returned a month later and spent three weeks waiting for a ship to Philadelphia during which time he held services, taught catechism to the children of the German residents, and held services with communion on Sundays  at various places including the Huguenot Church. Their first structure began construction in 1759  on Clifford Street (behind where the present Archdale church sits) and was dedicated in 1764.  

The original St. John’s Lutheran on Clifford Street, c. 1764

1780-American Revolution

Governor John Rutledge arrived in Camden, SC and learned the terms of Charlestown’s surrender. Rutledge was disappointed by Gen. Lincoln’s surrender and wrote “the Terms of Capitulation are truly mortifying.” He demanded to know why Lincoln “did not evacuate the Town, & save his Troops.” Things looked bleak for South Carolina militarily.