SI Magazine Winter 2016-17

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When hurricane hugo
hit the South Carolina
coast on Sept. 21, 1989,
the devastatingly powerful
storm destroyed Sunrise
Presbyterian Church on
Sullivan’s Island.
The pastor at the time, Rev. Prue “Mac” Hammett,
was among the first to return to assess the damage. He
described the shocking impact of seeing the church in
ruins – a fallen tower, pews knocked over, hymnals strewn
everywhere, the roof mostly gone or collapsed and an
entire wing of the building in a
heap on the street.
Hammett, who had been
a pastor in the mountains of
Kentucky, knew from older
ministers in that region that
when a storm broke windows or
took off the roof, the first thing
to check afterward was the wind-
whipped Bible.
“The communion table was
turned over, the pulpit toppled
on its side and the pulpit Bible
was soaked, lying on the floor,”
Hammett wrote. He knelt down to
read its text, and the Bible was open to Jeremiah 33:10-11:
“…Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of
Jerusalem that are deserted, inhabited by neither people
nor animals, there will be heard once more the sounds of
joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and
the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house
of the Lord, saying, ‘Give thanks to the Lord Almighty,
for the Lord is good, his love endures forever. For I will
restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,’ says
the Lord.”
The passage served as a sign of hope and a promise to
rebuild.
Even today, a scroll that hangs prominently behind the
pulpit contains the words from this prophetic passage. The
pulpit Bible, displayed in the entryway in a stand that was
handmade from the front doors of the old church, remains
open to the same page.
Another extraordinary event
occurred about a month after the
storm, when a fisherman discovered
a gunnysack in the mud of a nearby
creek. The sack contained silver
pieces used during communion,
and the fisherman returned them to
the church. The silver pieces were
cleaned up but never fully repaired
from the saltwater damage. They are
still used in the communion services.
The Sunrise congregation met
under a large yellow and white tent
in the parking lot for two years while
the church was under construction.
In September 1991, the first worship service was held
in the new building, the one that stands today overlooking
Breach Inlet, just across from the Isle of Palms.
Rev. Dr. Vance Polley – or Pastor Vance, as church
members affectionately refer to him – has been at the helm
A photo of Sunrise Presbyterian Church from the air.
Hurricane Hugo ripped apart Sunrise
Presbyterian Church in 1989.
Photo by Brandon Clark.
Photo courtesy of Sunrise Presbyterian Church.