CIU Alumnus, Mayor, Rally to Preserve Historic Church

CIU Alumnus, Mayor, Rally to Preserve Historic Church

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley (left) and Redeemer Presbyterian Pastor Craig Bailey (photo: Charleston Preservation Society)

Call it collaboration between church and city.  But in a place like Charleston, S.C. where historic preservation makes the city what it is, a plea from the mayor to save a 172-year-old church building is no small matter. 

Mayor Joe Riley is asking the community to help the congregation of Redeemer Presbyterian Church to raise $1.6 million to buy the property where the church meets, to ensure the church building will not be converted into a home.  Redeemer Presbyterian, built around 1840, is led by the Rev. Craig Bailey, a 1993 graduate of Columbia International University where he earned his Master of Divinity Degree.  His wife is Kathryn (Cottle) Bailey, who earned her bachelor’s degree from CIU in Bible Teaching in 1983. 

Check out media coverage of how the city of Charleston and Redeemer Presbyterian Church are working together:

https://www.live5news.com/category/240206/video-landing-page?clipId=7526803&autostart=true

https://redeemer-charleston.org/category/buildingupdates/

The Charleston Post and Courier also endorsed the preservation of the church in an editorial: 

www.postandcourier.com/article/20120721/PC1002/120729855/1022/help-save-historic-church-building.