Saint Andrews
Our mission at St. Andrew’s is to know Jesus Christ better and to reach out in His Name to others through evangelism and mutual respect of all human beings; to honor Him as Head of the Church through our worship, stewardship, education, pastoral care and fellowship.
At the direction of Bishop Stephen Elliot, a group of planters and other citizens of McIntosh County organized a mission congregation under the name St. Peter’s Church, Darien in 1841. A year later, the name of the congregation was changed to St. Andrew’s and the congregation was admitted as a parish in the diocese in 1843. The first rector was the Rev. Richard T. Brown.
The first church building was completed in 1844. It was located a short distance north of the current St. Andrew’s church. The civil war was not kind to Darien or St. Andrew’s. From 1862 to 1866, the parish was abandoned. in 1863, Union troops, including the 54th Massachusetts under the command of Colonel Robert Shaw, burned Darien. This action was ordered by Colonel Montgomery of Kansas, and Col. Shaw, who was reluctant to burn the town, wrote to his mother about his distress over the burning. Col. Shaw was killed in action shortly thereafter.
Some healing began when, after the war, Mrs. Shaw and some of her friends sent money to assist in the rebuilding of St. Andrew’s. Although those funds were in fact used to construct a church at the Ridge, members of the parish eventually raised the funds to buy the lot where the Bank of Darien had previously stood and to construct the present St. Andrew’s church building. The building was completed and consecrated in 1879.In the years since 1879, the fortunes of St. Andrew’s rose and fell with the fortunes of Darien in general. On several occasions, the status of St. Andrew’s moved from that of a self-supporting parish to a mission and back again. In 1989, St. Andrew’s regained parish status and has ever since been a self-supporting parish in the diocese of Georgia.
Saint Cyprians
Our Mission at St. Cyprian’s is to know Jesus Christ better and to honor Him as head of the Church through our worship and fellowship; and to build up the Body of Christ by increasing our membership.
In December of 1873, the Hon. Rev. James Wentworth Leigh, Dean of Hereford Cathedral in England, held services for former slaves in a small room on Major Pierce Butler’s island. The services for the freed slaves continued on Mr. Butler’s property, and twenty-two persons were confirmed by Bishop Beckwith in 1874. During 1874-75, parishioners asked Father Leigh to hold services in Darien as well, and in 1875 members of the congregation began construction of the present St. Cyprian’s church. The land was donated by Frances Kemble Butler Leigh, the wife of Father Leigh.Funds for the building came from benefactors in England and the North. The building was consecrated in 1876 and named for Cyprian of Carthage, a martyred African saint of the early church.
Father Leigh returned to England in 1877. With a notable exception, St. Cyprian’s has traditionally been served by the clergy of St. Andrew’s. However, from 1892 through 1914, St. Cyprians was under the direction of the Rev. Ferdinand M Mann, an African American priest of the church. It was during this time that St. Cyprian’s school was established for the education of African American children in Darien. The school served the community for many years, and several of the current members of St. Cyprian’s received their initial education at the school.
St. Cyprian’s is constructed of tabby according to the building methods of mid 19th Century coastal Georgia. it is believed to be one of the largest tabby structures still in use in Georgia. The building suffered extensive damaged in the hurricane of 1896 and by another storm in 1898, but in each case the building was repaired and the congregation continued to worship.
