The Rev. Taylor Smith Called as Priest-in-Charge at St. James, Charleston
The Right Reverend Ruth Woodliff-Stanley has called the Rev. Taylor M. Smith as priest-in-charge of St. James Episcopal Church in Charleston (James Island), which will soon be returning to the Diocese of South Carolina and The Episcopal Church as a result of the SC Supreme Court decision in April 2022. Fr. Taylor, who recently served a congregation in the Diocese of Maryland, will lead the reopening of St. James Episcopal Church on Sunday, November 6.
Bishop Woodliff-Stanley is hopeful for the future of St. James, and for the pastoral skills and experience Fr. Taylor will bring to the congregation. “I am thrilled to call the Rev. Taylor Smith to serve as priest-in-charge of St. James as we welcome this historic church back to the diocese,” said Bishop Woodliff-Stanley. “Taylor is a seasoned priest with a heart for outreach and a keen pastoral intuition; his easy manner and gracious spirit will be great gifts in helping us reestablish St. James as a strong presence in our diocese.”
A lifelong Episcopalian, Fr. Taylor has roots in Buffalo, NY, and spent his high school years in New Jersey before moving to North Carolina to attend Duke University as an undergraduate. Upon graduation, he began a career as a commercial loan officer near Charlotte for about six years prior to discerning a call to the priesthood. He graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1996 and was ordained to the priesthood in the Diocese of Western North Carolina where he continued to serve in diocesan and parish ministry for four years.
In 2000, he was called to the Diocese of Maryland, where he served at Grace Church, Elkridge for 12 years and then St. Mark’s Church in Highland, MD for nine years. In January, Fr. Taylor moved to Charleston with his wife, Kathy, after she accepted a job with Roper St. Francis Healthcare.
Since moving here earlier this year, Fr. Taylor has spent time visiting a number of Episcopal churches in the Lowcountry as he discerned his next call. He shares Bishop Woodliff-Stanley’s vision for the future of St. James Episcopal Church on James Island. “I am equally honored and excited to be called by Bishop Woodliff-Stanley to serve St. James,” said Fr. Taylor. “I look forward to living into the call and living up to the challenge. As with everywhere else in the world, there’s great opportunity in James Island to spread Good News of God’s inclusive love and we will do that through worship and by serving Christ by serving the world around us.”
While Fr. Taylor and his wife are new residents of South Carolina, Kathy was born in Columbia, SC, and much of her extended family still lives in the area. Married for 26 years, they have two sons: Stafford, a senior at the University of South Carolina, and Mason, who works in the Charleston area.
Details and service times for Fr. Taylor’s first Sunday at St. James are still being finalized, and will be shared as soon as they are available. With a history dating back to the early 1700s, St. James was a part of St. Andrew’s Parish and has a long history with the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina. It is located directly across from the Bishop Gadsden Episcopal Retirement Community at 1872 Camp Road in Charleston (James Island).