The Reverend Michael S. White,
Rector, Christ Church Episcopal
Savannah, Georgia
Said:

October 28, 2009 — “While we were worshipping in borrowed space, waiting for the court to allow us to return to our home on Johnson Square, we truly experienced an amazing spiritual renewal. We came to see experientially what scripture proclaims to be true – that the Church really is the people and not the building in which we meet.

Without a building to point to as our self-definition, we formed as a community centered on the worship of Christ. We are a diverse group, and we delight in the fact that we do not all have to think the same. What we share is a common worship of Christ and common desire to serve God and God’s world.

As we return to Johnson Square for our first service, we do so a changed people. We are excited to bring the truths of Church that we have experienced, while in exile, back to our beautiful historic church. The mission, ministry, and community that we shared during this time away actually attracted many new families who were not part of Christ Church Episcopal before we had to leave our historic home.

We are an Episcopal congregation that can trace our heritage back 276 years with rectors like John Wesley, George Whitfield, Bland Tucker, and George Maxwell (who continues with us as our Rector Emeritus), but in many ways a new body, a new congregation with new vitality. We are a traditional Episcopal Church fused with a sense of Christian peace, joy and love, and many people have found this expression of worship and sense of community to be just what they needed.

We have prayed each Sunday for our sisters and brothers who have chosen to leave the Episcopal Church. We wish them well as they seek to find God’s call for their new community with a new mission outside the Episcopal Church. For those who feel a connection with the Episcopal Church’s heritage and would like to continue to be part of Christ Church as Episcopalians, we welcome them to join us as we rejoice together in the shared future God has in store for us as Christ Church, Savannah.”

Michael S. White
michael.white@ccesavannah.org
912.414.0378