Who We Are

OUR HISTORY
In 1956, The Diocese of South Carolina was given a gift of land off 11th Avenue North in North Myrtle Beach by the Tilghman family. In late 1968, the rector, Rev. Herbert C. Gravely, and the parish of Trinity Church in Myrtle Beach, began planning a summer chapel on the property. After many months of work, the ground-breaking ceremony was held on Palm Sunday, March 31, 1969. On Sunday, August 31, 1969, the first Holy Eucharist was celebrated in the unfinished building. Until June 1974, vacationing clergy conducted worship sevices while enjoying the use of the apartment in the original building. St. Stephen's became a year-round congregation organized as a mission of the Diocese of South Carolina in April, 1974.

The congregation of 32 who had transferred their membership from Trinity, called the Rev. Edward M. Covert to be their first full-time priest. On August 1, 1981, the Rev. Preston B. Huntley, Jr., succeeded Rev. Covert as Priest-in-Charge. In 1985, St. Stephen's was granted parish status by the Diocese and Rev. Huntley became the first Rector. In April 1997, the Rev. J. Grafton Cockrell succeeded Rev. Huntley. In January 2000, Rev. Cockrell called the Rev. Dr. Wilmot T. Merchant, II to be his assistant. On Easter Sunday, April 15, 2001, Rev. Cockrell retired.

St. Stephen's entire congregation, through its wardens, implored the Bishop to allow Dr. Merchant to become their next rector. On March 18, 2002, with the support of the whole parish, the Vestry unanimously elected the Rev. Dr. Wilmot T. Merchant, II, to succeed Rev. Cockrell effective Easter Sunday, March 31, 2002. Dr. Merchant had served St. Stephen's in various positions from October 1999 until he was elected. Dr. Merchant is the first black priest to be called by a parish that was 99.9% white in the more than two-hundred year history of the Diocese. As a growing parish, we want to invite you to come and grow with us if you do not already have a worshipping community.

OUR RECTOR
The Rev. Dr. Wilmot T. Merchant, II is a native of Liberia, West Africa. His paternal great-great-grandparents were among the freed slaves who were returned to Africa fom the United States during the 1800's. His maternal ancestors were indigenous of the land that became known as Liberia.

He is a 1986 graduate of Cuttington University, Liberia, with a BA in Theology. He was ordained a Deacon on December 30, 1986, and advanced to the Priesthood on December 30, 1987, in the Episcopal Diocese of Liberia, Province of West Africa. He is now a resident priest in the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina. In 1987 he received a Certificate from St. George's College, Jerusalem, Israel. In 1992 he received his Master of Divinity degree from the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massahusetts; and in 1993 he received his Master of Theology degree from the Weston Jesuit School (Roman Catholic) of Theology also in the City of Cambridge. Weston is now a part of Boston College. In 2000 he was awarded his Doctor of Ministry degree from Drew University, Madison, New Jersey.

Dr. Merchant has served churches and institutions in Liberia and the United States. His family relocated from New York City to Loris, South Caroina, because his wife, Dr. Eugenia Cooper Merchant, a pediatrician, was employed by Loris HealthCare System. At the present time, she is employed by Health Care Partners of South Carolina, Inc.

On March 18th, 2002, the Vestry of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church unanimously elected Dr. Merchant as their third Rector to succeed the Rev. J. Grafton Cockrell, their retiring rector.

As a result of a prolonged Civil War in their home country, Dr. Merchant and his wife became American citizens. They have two sons and a daughter, Wilmot, III, Charles and Victoria Ann. Dr. Merchant has two older children, Wilma, who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Wilbert, who still lives in Liberia.

THE COLUMBARIUM
St. Stephen's Columbarium, walls containing the ashes of the deceased, which also includes a Bell Tower, is the first to be built (1980-1985) on a church property in South Carolina.

Throughout its history, it has been the function of the church to baptize us when we are born and to bury us when we die. Concerned with its outreach ministry to the community and wishing to provide a dignified Christian burial at a nominal cost, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church offers the privilege of burial in its parish Columbarium.

Front-lit and shining white against the night sky or rising against a clear blue morning, the bell tower and surrounding Columbarium walls are St. Stephen's most outstanding architectural features. The five Columbarium walls are named for the four Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and the Apostle Paul. Simple and dignified in its concept, the structure expresses the ideal of Christian burial and evokes a vision of an old English churchyard.

Niches in the Columbarium are available to anyone desiring a Christian burial. We invite you to spend a few quiet moments in our Contemplation Garden near the Columbarium. If you would like more information, please call the Church office at (843) 249-1169.

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Recently, one of our Affiliate Members created a page on the FindAGrave web site where one can now go to find the niche of a loved one who has been interned in St. Stephen's Columbarium.
To go to the St. Stephen's Columbarium on the Find A Grave website, please click here.