Our Vision. Our Future.



The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina has purchased a three acre parcel of Land for us, on which we will build a new church home! 

This land is Our Land!

To borrow from folk singer Woody Guthrie’s 1945 song, the land is ours!

This land is your land, this land is our land,

from 17 Bypass to 38th Avenue!

from Oleander Drive to Hartsfield Place,

This land was made for you and me!

The signing of purchase documents occurred last week in multiple locations, beginning with Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley’s signing of the documents in Charleston on Saint Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2025. (See Photo below.) The owner of the property is the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina. Officially, the “Trustees of the Protestant Episcopal Church of South Carolina”. The Trustees will continue to own this property until we become a parish and are financially capable of assuming the loan, some years from now. In the words of Charlie Jordan, our parishioner and attorney who faithfully shepherded the closing process, "The loan amount is $2,200,000. The Lender is the Episcopal Church Building Fund. The Note is payable by the Trustees and has a 20-year term".

Our understanding with the Diocese of South Carolina is that the Episcopal Church of the Messiah, a mission congregation of the diocese, will have stewardship of the three-acre property while the diocese continues to pay the loan. Our stewardship of the property will include making plans for a new church facility on the site, as well as raising money through a capital campaign and finding other resources to fund construction of the new Episcopal Church of the Messiah in Myrtle Beach.

In addition to the 2.2 million dollar purchase cost, Messiah’s vestry expended $63,972 to purchase the property. This included $39,547 in earnest Money, and $24,425 in design and survey costs, for a total of $63,972. These costs are itemized as follows:

Earnest Money: $39,547 

Geometric Soil Survey & construction specifications: $7,625

Chancel Construction, Concept design drawings & construction parameters: $15,000 

Property Survey: $1,800 

Total Earnest Money, Design and Survey Costs: $63,972

These expenses were paid by savings that Messiah had prudently accrued since it was founded in 2013. In addition, ever since the South Carolina Supreme Court awarded our former church property to the ACNA group in 2022, parishioners and friends have quietly been contributing to a Capital Campaign fund in preparation for this exciting day of property ownership. And now, our work continues, as the vestry will be planning our next stages, including forming parish teams to continue the design work for our future church and organizing a capital campaign.

There are many people to thank for helping the Episcopal church of the Messiah reach this milestone in our history. We begin with the intrepid visionaries who founded Messiah in 2013 when a schism took away their church. About half of our current church membership were part of this group. Next, we acknowledge the hard work of our Vision & Property Team, who in 2022 led the congregation in a process of vision discernment and property analysis that led to the purchase of our new home at 38th and 17 Bypass: Kristi Burch, Rick Stall, Charlie Jordan, Peggy Kovacs and John Sorensen. Then, we are thankful for the many new members who have joined the Messiah Congregation in recent years in our temporary location. These people have the spiritual vision to see what is possible in the future for us all. And finally, we thank Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley and the Diocese of South Carolina for putting their faith in our future. It was July of 2024 that the Standing Committee of the Diocese met with our team, and enthusiastically approved the purchase of this three acre parcel as the new location for the Episcopal Church in Myrtle Beach!

Vicar John Sorensen

Below:  Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley signs the land purchase documents for Messiah's new home. March 17, 2025.

Above: Kristi Burch with Ann Fleming of the Episcopal Church Building Fund at the 2023 Diocesan Convention. Ann has just been called to a new position in the diocese. In June, Ann will join Bishop Ruth's staff as the Congregational Development officer for the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina.

Episcopal Church of the Messiah Property Search:

Finding Our New Home

Team Leader Kristi Burch writes here about the process of finding our new property at the corner of 38th Avenue and 17 Bypass.

In our quest to move into our next phase as the Episcopal Church in Myrtle Beach, we were given the opportunity to go through a visioning process for Messiah. 70% of Parishioners came together over two different retreats two summers ago. These retreats, led by Ann Fleming of the Episcopal Church Building Fund, led to small teams that collected data about the area and our parish. The data about where we all live and how we commute to worship on Sunday morning is what kept us focused on the area where we found our future home. That it’s not far from our current home tells us that this is the location for us to build our house of worship.

The parcel that we now call our own is an ideal location and size for a growing parish. It’s within the city limits of Myrtle Beach at the northeast corner of Highway 17 Bypass and 38th Avenue North. There is no direct access off either of these roads. To access the property, use Oleander Drive, then turn onto Hartsfield Place. This is a cul-de-sac that is mostly undeveloped. Each time you drive on 38th Avenue near Oleander Drive, please pray for the coming building that we will call home. The visibility and impact of our church location will be significant.

It was not easy for us to find a new location for Messiah. Traditionally, many Myrtle Beach churches built buildings on land that was donated or purchased at minimal cost. Neither option was available to us. More recently, churches have used repurposed commercial real estate space in Myrtle Beach. However, industrial areas are often not zoned for assembly space, which is the zoning that worship spaces require. Additionally, Myrtle Beach has one of the lowest commercial real estate vacancies in the country. This lack of supply makes the cost of land and rental space drastically higher than anywhere else in the Diocese, except the peninsula of Charleston. 

The impact of the cost of commercial real estate, the incredible growth of Myrtle Beach, and the reduced number of Episcopal Churches in Horry County lead the Bishop and Standing Committee to identify Messiah as a place to invest in church growth. That support became evident in July of 2024 when the Standing Committee approved the funding to purchase a parcel of land on which to build a new church. We presented two parcels for consideration. One was considered too small, and our current new property was chosen as the best location for a new Episcopal Church of the Messiah!

Over the past several months, we have worked with local architect Tom Miller and local commercial builder Chancel Construction to develop a concept plan. Before closing on the property, we wanted to be sure that a building that fits our vision can be constructed on the property with enough parking. It does! The building can be constructed in three phases. Now that the property has been purchased, the next steps in the process will need feedback and ideas from the congregation. We will also want your time and talent, your hopes and prayers for the future ministry of Messiah Church. We believe that this design and planning process will continue to form Messiah as a community of people who continue to worship together, care for one another, and become worthy stewards of the physical gifts God has given us.

My favorite part of our visioning retreats was hearing about the past experiences of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Messiah is a worshiping and caring parish. Less than half of our current members were part of the local Episcopal Church prior to the schism. Therefore, more than half of our current members are new to Messiah and Myrtle Beach. This blend of experience is a gift to the next phase of Messiah’s parish life.

Kristi Burch

Below:  Our Concept plan for our new Episcopal Church of the Messiah home on our three-acre property, by Tom Miller of Miller Design Services.

Left, a Google Maps view of our new property with our lot outlined in red.