Historic SC church raises over $1 million to preserve building

The congregation of a historically significant black South Carolina church founded in the 1860s has raised more than $1 million to help preserve the building and its grounds.

Soapstone Baptist Church of Pickens County, which was originally established by a group of newly freed slaves, successfully concluded its three-year fundraising campaign on Tuesday to create a $1 million preservation endowment for the church.

Mable Owens Clarke, a deacon at the church and part of the board of the Soapstone Preservation Endowment, explained the purpose of the campaign in emailed comments to The Christian Post. 

“We formed the endowment because the church and grounds are a historic site and we wanted to be certain it would be maintained long after services might end,” said Clarke. “The congregation is small, but our friends from all over the world who have helped preserve the grounds and accomplish the endowment are many and mighty.”

Clarke described the successful fundraising campaign as “our happy accomplishment,” adding that she and the church were “so grateful to have come this far.”

Clarke directed CP to the Endowment’s website, which noted some of the significant milestones in their preservation campaign, including Rep. David Hiott, R–Pickens, and Rep. Chandra Dillard, D–Greenville, leading the South Carolina Legislature to pledge $250,000 in matching funds once the Endowment had raised its first $250,000.

They also received a $250,000 matching grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, after two initial failed applications for the grant.

The Endowment described the “final push” as coming via the recruitment of 100 entities, including individuals, businesses, families and other churches, who each pledged at least $3,000 as either “one-time or cumulative gifts.”

The Rev. Chester “Chet” Trower Jr., who has served as lead pastor of Soapstone Baptist Church for nearly 15 years, conveyed his thankfulness for the milestone to the Greenville-based Fox Carolina.

“To God be the glory,” Trower told the news affiliate. “People from near and far have answered the call to help preserve this sacred place and its story in American history.”

Soapstone Baptist Church was one of 30 historically African American congregations to receive this year a collective $8.5 million in grants from the NTHP’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.

“The Black Church has been foundational to American history and culture,” said NTHP in a statement released in February. “Through the generous support of our partners, we remain committed to ensuring the legacies and history of historically Black Churches live on for generations to come.”