2 Rock Hill churches celebrate Palm Sunday in Fountain Park

For most Christians, Palm Sunday is no ordinary Sunday. And for two downtown Rock Hill churches, this Palm Sunday service was no ordinary service.

That’s because First Presbyterian and St. John’s United Methodist came together prior to their regular Sunday worship for an ecumenical “Hosanna at the Fountain” in downtown’s new Fountain Park.

The two churches, only a few blocks away from each other, held a joint opening prayer, hymn and Scripture reading in the park’s amphitheater Sunday morning before processing back to their respective sanctuaries, waving palm fronds as they went.

The event was open to any member of the public – even those who happened to be walking by – and both churches informally reached out to other local congregations to join the service. But the Presbyterian and Methodist churches found it easy to come together since they share a Sunday worship time.

The Rev. Larry C. Duncan, pastor at First Presbyterian, said the idea came from a similar interchurch service he took part in while in Summerville as a pastor. It was a joint effort of churches to plan and organize Sunday’s event.

“It took about a month to coordinate,” Duncan said. “We both have ushers here; our choir will perform the hymn; and then there will be a 15-minute opening service before we each go back to our own church.”

Duncan opened the service after a large crowd of worshippers filled the park between the fountain and the amphitheater. St. John’s senior pastor, the Rev. Debra Quilling Smith, provided the reading from the Gospel of Matthew. Palm Sunday was the first such service either church has held since Fountain Park opened late last year.

“This is really nice,” said Lloyd Chase, one of the head ushers at St. John’s, as he looked out at the fountain under a sunny Sunday sky. “A lot of people made fun of this idea (to open Fountain Park), but I think it’s really helped out downtown.”

Duncan agreed, especially since the new park is directly across Saluda Street from his church and replaced a half-empty public parking lot.

“One of the purposes of the park is that it’s supposed to be used as a community gathering place,” Duncan said. “I hope this will be the beginning of a lot of services for different churches here. I’d love to have a Sunday evening vespers service here in the summer.”

Karen Hickman, a member at First Presbyterian, said the short service was a “beautiful” one to take part in.

“The sound from the choir was great, and I was way back here,” she said.

She also would like to see the park play a bigger role in church services in the future.

“I love sharing these experiences with the other downtown churches,” Hickman said. “We’ve discussed that in the session, and I think the park provides a central point downtown for all the churches to work together.”

The morning service followed a Friday evening rain shower and an unseasonably cold Saturday night. But participants found the Sunday morning sunshine perfect for the service.

“I prayed for sunshine today, but I didn’t mention a temperature,” Duncan said.

For his part, Chase said the weekend weather wasn’t a major concern coming into the service.

“God’s got all that under control,” he said.

This story was originally published March 29, 2015 at 10:49 PM with the headline "2 Rock Hill churches celebrate Palm Sunday in Fountain Park."