Ehrhardt, South Carolina, is a town many have not heard of. It’s a rural place with a supporting population of only about 500 people. During the day, a tractor can be seen driving down the road, its driver offering you a friendly wave. Pastures of cows and horses stretch across the landscape. It’s a charming Southern farming town.
It’s pretty quiet here at night, too, with the only noises coming from nature’s symphony. And when the lights go out, all you see is stars! I should know. I grew up here, and my family still lives here. In fact, we can trace our family’s history back to Ehrhardt’s early days.
And, though there are many farming towns like it across the South, there is something very different about Ehrhardt that separates it from others.
You see, for a town so small it is quite unusual to have two churches of the same denomination within a couple of miles of each other. Not only that, but to be able to trace the current families in the church to some of the founding families is something special. What history these two churches have witnessed!
When Ehrhardt was settled, the area was made up primarily of German, Swiss and Dutch immigrants. They wanted to have a place to worship that reminded them of home. And, thus begins our tale of two churches.
Originally, the first church was St. Bartholomew, which is now Mount Pleasant Lutheran Church. This congregation can trace its history back to around 1750! It was about a mile from town at a crossroad. Conrad Ehrhardt, the town’s founder, wanted a church closer to town, so, Ehrhardt Memorial was built within the town limits in 1904. Mr. Ehrhardt stood up after its dedication sermon, declared the church out of debt and deeded them the two-acre lot as a gift.
Look closely at the front doors of Mount Pleasant behind me. Notice anything odd with this Lutheran church? Traditionally, as a symbol of the blood of Christ, the church entrance door is painted red. The red doors on Protestant churches also symbolize its roots in the reformation. The late George Copeland may have explained it best why these doors are white. With a twinkle in his eye, he would say, “Those white doors show the Dutch background of this church, and they will never be painted red.”
Here’s a little history for you.
The early sermons at Mount Pleasant were delivered in German. In fact, the Rev. John Henry Graff, who served as pastor from 1800 to1811, was not liked and was fired because he preached only in German. It was also said that a common punishment was to have to sit through his often 3 to 4 hour sermons!
Ehrhardt Memorial was originally known as Ehrhardt Evangelical Lutheran Church. Sometime between 1925 and 1928, the name Memorial was added to honor Conrad Enrhardt.
With two Lutheran congregations in the same small town, you would think they would combine into one. According to church history, numerous efforts were made to combine them between 1958-1963, to no avail. There’s too much history and heritage in each, although they do share a pastor and combine services on Easter and Christmas, alternating the location of the service each year.
From my family’s pew at Mount Pleasant, we’ll see you again on the next episode of Stories, Secrets and Sagas.
