A very quaint, historical church that has a warm welcome to it. The service is beautiful as are the parishioners. We absolutely loved the sermon, as the priest was a phenomenal speaker read more

After having toured and eaten our way through Charleston, our tour group headed to St. Simons Island the following day. Our First stop was Christ Church. The congregation began in 1736, headed by John and Charles Wesley and the spot has been a place of worship continuously at that time. The services were held outdoors for several years, the church being build in 1820. The preservation of this 198 year old (as of this writing) building was impressive--it appeared that it had been built recently but we were assured that everything was original. The docent who led our tour was excellent and her narrative brought the history to life. She pointed out one stained glass window created by the famous Louis Tiffany and like the tourists we were, all jostled for position to take a photo. We also toured the cemetery. It was kept in pristine condition by both volunteers and paid employees. Since I have an interest in architecture, one of the highlights was seeing a grave enclosure constructed of tabby. Tabby is a type of concrete made by burning oyster shells to create lime, then mixing it with salt water, sand, ash and broken oyster shells. The resulting product is unusually strong and resilient to nature and is usually covered by a smooth exterior such as stucco. Sure enough, in this example, much of the stucco had eroded away but the tabby seem to be relatively untouched after over a hundred years. As beautiful as the church was, it was the live oak trees with pendulous Spanish "moss" (not really moss but a bromeliad) with the sunlight filtering through and the overall serenity of the place that made it difficult to leave. In fact, I sat down under a tree and just took the place in. In addition to the "moss," this tree was also covered with "resurrection fern," most appropriate for a cemetery! A few others in our group did likewise and the poor tour operator had to gather us up after all the others were already on the bus. Christ Church at Frederica should be in the top ten on your bucket list as, indeed, should St. Simons Island. The charm and the beauty of this magical place will take your breath away. read more

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This church is well known for its cemetery, which reminds me of a country version of Bonaventure Cemetery (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil), and by country, I mean far more benevolent and innocent than its Savannahian counterpart! There really is no neat and tidy compartmentalization of living, dead, young, old, etc. here. In the same churchyard you have graves, azaleas, a wedding tent, towering live oaks, a chapel, and a playground, and they all flow into one another as natural as can be. This is not the way at any churches up North near me. It's all quite segregated and neatly partitioned. I was first a little turned off by how everything was so on top of everything else, but I spent time wandering around, and really took in the spirit of the place. I think the cemetery really stands out because it has been beautifully maintained, and there are very old graves, as well as recent ones. Families have gone to great lengths to commission huge memorial statues for their loved ones. I even saw some Georgia Bulldogs created by my friend, Donna, at Concrete Creations in Brunswick! Personality and humor adorned many of these gravesites, and it made me think, at the end of the day, if you haven't laughed in life, have you really lived? It's free to wander and visit. I recommend visiting on a weekday so you don't disturb any wedding ceremonies or church services over the weekend. I met the caretaker, who, like many Golden Isles residents, was a displaced northerner. His daughter lives two towns away from me. I stayed 4 weeks on Jekyll Island and encountered a couple of spirits. I am a skeptic, but the older I get, the more I have unexplainable encounters (see my JI Historic District photos of the spirits I caught on camera there), and I believe there is stuff out there we can't explain, and that the same spirit that makes you you, is stronger than the body you leave behind. That said, despite my spirit encounters on Jekyll, I didn't get any weird energy here. There were a couple spots, and I definitely didn't like the feeling I got when I read birth and death dates on lost babies for people a century ago. But overall, I think any spirits on the island are lurking in the known haunted places, where you can get ghost tours in October. This was more a place of rest. This is a beautiful place to take photos, and it is very well known in the region for weddings. It's super close to Fort Frederica, Frederica Park, Cannon's Point Preserve, and Guale Preserve, so definitely make it a stop on your itinerary. read more

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I've visited this church and cemetery plenty of times in the past and it seems like I find something new each time I visit. It is a beautiful church full of history with a cemetery to match. Unfortunately my last visit I didn't get to actually go inside the Church due to service going on at the time, and myself being in shorts, tyedye and sandals just didn't seem fitting. In the cemetery here you will find burials from the civil war soldiers, past and present politicians to regular people. There are some very beautiful monuments in this cemetery worth checking out. read more

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Well we're not Catholics we heard such good things we decided to make the trip to the church. Love old buildings and this doesn't disappoint. Beautiful simple older church. Didn't go inside as they were having a 5pm mass but walked the grounds and checked out the tombstones which some dated back to early 1800s. Really a fascinating story and great architecture and history. read more

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You can't go to St. Simon and not visit the Christ Church. It is one of the many wonders of the island. On the day we visited there was a lady parishioner there to welcome us and give us a mini tour. She wanted us to see the Tiffany window and gave us a brief history. She also mentioned the wonderful cook book that was written by the members and was being offered for sale to raise money for charity. We bought a copy and it has many fantastic Southern recipes in it. Get a copy as it is well worth the price. read more