Saluda Street

In 1932, Rev. James Faile began a mission, which would later become the Chester Church of God, in a store building on Pickney Street. The Rev. Wade H. Horton assisted Rev. Faile in establishing the church.
 
After several months, the church moved its' location to an old building on Gadsen street where the Rev. J.C. Green served as Pastor. It was during his tenure in 1937, the church bought property on Mobley Street and erected a wooden structure, which would be their worship facility for the years to come. It has been stated that Rev. Green would walk thirteen miles from Richburg to Chester for all of the church services.
 
Those who pastored the church at this location, succeeding Rev. Green were: Rev. Heaton; Rev. Frank Smith; Rev. Leonard Carroll; Rev. L.R. Patterson; Rev. W.C. King; Rev. Rainey; Rev. G.C. Timmerman; Rev. Silas Meeks and Rev. J.R. Mullinax.

Since 1950, several improvements have been made. However, due to the loss of records, it is impossible to itemize each improvement. The campus of the Saluda Street Church of God has went through renovation several times in its history. The present parsonage was built and later enlarged; The Junior and Youth departments were built; The old parsonage converted to Sunday School classes; Fellowship building built and later remodeled; restrooms built in junior department; a van and a shuttle bus; a paved parking lot; several surrounding parcels of land; a gymnasium, and a sanctuary remodel. We presently are in the process of raising money to pay off all of the church debt and allow us to be able to refurbish the old fellowship hall and do some improvements to the facility.

From the beginning of the Saluda Street Church of God with only a few members in 1932, our church has grown to its present membership of 252. We praise God for the way He is pouring out His blessing upon our church. We thank Him for the dedication, leadership, faithfulness, holiness, love and labor of each pastor and faithful member and friend who has contributed in any way to see the church progress for the glory of God.

We are currently looking for any pictures or video from the past to put together a DVD or our history. If you happen to have anything that will help us in this endeavor, please contact the church office at (803) 385-2394. We would like to scan any picture to add to our project. If you would like to pre-order a DVD, you may also do that by contacting the church office.