Saint Clare of Assisi celebrates 5 years as parish on Daniel Island

It was almost 22 years ago, but Daniel Island resident Joan Vitalo remembers it well.

She and her husband, Al, both Catholic, were attending the community’s first “Inter-Denominational Thanksgiving Service.” Father Scott Newman, their pastor at Divine Redeemer Catholic Church in Hanahan, sprinkled the Vitalos and the other “island pioneers” in attendance with holy water.

“He prayed and dedicated Daniel Island to Mary, Our Lady of the Americas,” recalled Joan.

The Vitalos knew one day something special would take place here. And they dreamed of the time when they could practice their faith and attend mass without having to leave the island.

Fast forward to Easter Sunday in 2014, when Daniel Island’s Saint Clare of Assisi Catholic Church officially became an island parish, beginning with services in the Bishop England High School Performing Arts Center. Approximately 300 people attended that momentous first mass – including the Vitalos.

“Our first mass as a parish was jubilant, holy and hope-filled,” recalled Joan.

On Easter Sunday this year, the church celebrated its fifth anniversary. There were 1500 people in attendance that day, five times the amount five years ago, symbolic of the resounding support the young parish is receiving from all across the Charleston region.

Leading Saint Clare, even before the church held its first service, has been its beloved pastor – Father Gregory West. For the first four months of the church’s existence, he was the only staff member. Reflecting on the anniversary, he sat pensively in the church’s administrative office space at 225 Seven Farms Drive, considering the parish’s impact.

“Five years,” he said. “Where do I start? We have grown exponentially in terms of programming, ministries, small groups and outreach. I think we went from zero to 500 families in the first year. It grew very, very quickly.”

They have a little over 800 families now, or, as Father West states protectively, “2300 souls.”

And if you ask any of those souls, they will tell you how much the establishment of Saint Clare of Assisi has meant to them.

“We feel so abundantly blessed by our priest, staff and fellow parishioners,” said Saint Clare member Dan DiMarzio. “We’ve gotten to know so many wonderful people and see how they live out their faith in everyday life. It’s been an inspiration to us, really pushed us to be more involved and intentional in our thoughts, desires and actions.”

“It’s been so great to see all of the new families, young and older, over the past five years moving into the area that want to join our Catholic community at Saint Clare of Assisi,” added Catherine August. “Our stewardships and parish ministries have really taken off and a special emphasis has been placed on the spiritual foundation of our young children.”

“The families are what is most important to me about Saint Clare,” said Danielle White, who praised the church for the compassion the congregation extends to her entire family - especially her daughter, Sara Francis, who has special needs. “My heart is healed by that love week after week…I love that we are strengthening our faith and living it out right here on Daniel Island together.”

Parishioner Madelaine Beckford, who serves as Saint Clare’s director of music and liturgy,

is proud of the church’s fifth anniversary.

“It means we’re doing something right,” she said. “I also think it’s really amazing to see how much the community has grown in a such a short time – and to see how many good things are happening here.”

“We have been members since the beginning, five years now,” added Ben Sands. “Of the many things we love about Daniel Island, Saint Clare of Assisi is at the top of the list. In this special community, we have found a source of continuous support, inspiration and growth as well as some of our most important friendships.”

“It’s very, very cool to be part of a grassroots effort,” said Daniel Island resident Mandy Riley, who serves as a women’s ministry co-leader at Saint Clare. “It’s been a beautiful thing to see the rapid growth of the parish and we have such an amazing priest. He is just so dynamic and caring.”

Mandy and her husband, along with the Vitalos and several other parishioners, were part of the Good Shepherd Club, which started years before the church came into existence with a mission to bring a new Catholic parish to Daniel Island. Mandy is encouraged by the momentum she sees within the church.

“I just feel like there is a movement of really bringing people back into the church and on fire for the faith,” she said, calling Father West the quintessential “fire starter” for their congregation.

Mandy has also been touched by the way the church reaches out to the brokenhearted, citing the outpouring of love and support extended within the last year to two spouses in the parish who lost their wives to cancer.

“The way the community has come together to do dinners, last minute calls, you just put out an email and people respond because they want to help,” Mandy added.

Helping others is indeed a large part of the Saint Clare mission. To truly gauge the effectiveness of that mission, look no further than the church’s Saint Vincent de Paul (SVDP) conference, which coordinates an outreach effort that has provided more than $250,000 in assistance to local citizens in need since 2016.

“We go into people’s homes and we help them,” said Bernie Still, SVDP conference president and Saint Clare parishioner. “We don’t physically hand them cash. We send checks to their landlord, we pay their rent, we do their utility bills. We do things in the community and can hug the people and pray with them. And that’s a very powerful thing.”

And by the end of this year, Saint Clare is expected to hit another milestone – yet another answer to prayer – with the groundbreaking on their new permanent church at the corner of Etiwan Park Street and Seven Farms Drive. They are working on getting the financing nailed down on the project, the largest capital campaign in the Diocese of Charleston, added Father West, and have a few additional approvals to obtain through the Diocese. But they are on track to proceed. Last year, in a symbolic gesture, parishioners gathered at the site to paint their names on rocks. They then buried them in a hole in the ground where their glorious new house of worship will one day rise up, as Father West led the group in a prayer using the scripture “On this rock I will build my church.”

If all goes as planned, the first mass in the new church will likely take place in 2021.

What’s next?

“Wherever the Lord leads us,” he added. “We hope to be the brightest of light, the shining city on the hill. However, God has a plan – and we are receptive and open and listening and obedient to whatever he has in store for us.”

With so many blessings and so many joys over the years, is there is one that stands out above the rest?

“In terms of one singular thing, I could give you 100 things,” said Father West. “…It’s not one singular thing. It’s all of the above.”