Discover what each house of worship is serving for Spirited Brunch and why
Calvary Episcopal Church
Calvary is serving seafood salad, chicken salad, and corn salad prepared by the Episcopal Church Women group under the leadership of Andrea Lawrence, as well as coco bread in celebration of its collaboration with Graeme Mortimer Evelyn, a multimedia artist of Jamaican heritage who’s working on a new altarpiece for the church. “Food at Calvary is not just one item,” church member Grace Wingfield says. “It represents everyone coming together and sharing.”
Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist counts among its members Catholics from a broad range of cultural heritages. In recognition of their diverse backgrounds, and in tribute to Charleston’s French history, St. John is serving mini quiches with ingredients drawn from the Irish and Polish culinary canons.
Central Mosque of Charleston
Central Mosque of Charleston will serve hummus, Arabic salad, spinach pie, cheese pie, and stuffed grape leaves. On the sweets side, they’re also offering dates and basbousa, a syrup-soaked semolina cake popular with members originally from the Middle East.
Church of the Holy Communion
Church of the Holy Communion is serving the foods and drinks that would typically appear at its social events, including pimento cheese sandwiches, benne wafers, and lemonade.
Circular Congregational Church
Circular Congregational Church is serving favorites from its 2026 cookbook, the first cookbook issued by the church since 2017. Recipes were selected for their outstanding flavor, nutritional value, and environmental sensitivity. Tourgoers will get to taste basil lemonade, deviled eggs, spinach balls, “Must-have Pimento Cheese,” and Moravian Lovefeast buns, a lightly spiced roll that the church decades ago made an Ash Wednesday tradition.
“All food will be simple and fresh, in accord with our church commitment to care and simplicity,” an organizer pledges.
First Church of Christ, Scientist
Charleston’s First Church of Christ, Scientist is honoring its New England roots, and giving visitors a taste of its annual Thanksgiving morning service by serving pumpkin pie, apple pie, and cider. As an organizer puts it, “Although food is not a part of Christian Science services, we have a special service on Thanksgiving morning : Everyone always leaves filled up full with spiritual gratitude.”
The French Protestant Huguenot Church
The French Huguenot Church is made up of parishioners from various backgrounds and denominations, an approach symbolized by the Huguenot torte it plans to slice for visitors. Huguenot torte, an apple-nut crisp, doesn’t have anything to do with the original Huguenots. But a Charlestonian who brought the Missourian recipe home from a 1930s trip to Texas served the dessert at Huguenot Tavern on Queen Street.
Grace Church Cathedral
As a preview of its annual tearoom, which annually raises $80,000 for charity, Grace Church Cathedral is serving pimento cheese sandwiches, brownies, and iced tea. This year’s tearoom is scheduled for Memorial Day week.
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church
Holy Trinity is serving bougatsa, a Greek custard pie made with phyllo, as well as baklava, spanakopita, and Greek rice pudding.
Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim
KKBE is serving a selection of Ashkenazi baked goods, including rugelach, black-and-white cookies, and babka
The Louis G. Gregory Baha’i Museum
The Louis G. Gregory Baha’i Museum will serve a diverse selection of fruit as a nod to a quote from the faith’s founder, Baha’u’llah: “Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch…So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.” Additionally, the spread includes black-and-white cookies, symbolizing and underscoring the faith’s commitment to unity.
Mother Emanuel AME Church
According to the Mother Emanuel AME historian, the church is serving okra soup because the West African plant “came to this country with our ancestors who helped establish our denomination.”
St. Johannes Lutheran Church
St. Johannes will serve German apple cake and tea, in keeping with the menu for St. Johannes’ twice-yearly dessert tearooms.
St. John’s Lutheran Church
St. John’s is serving German cookies in tribute to its founders’ ancestry.
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
In honor of its founders, and its members who are descended from them, St. Mark’s is serving pilau and collard greens.
St. Mary of the Anunciation
St. Mary is serving what an organizer describes as “the beloved Southern staples we share together every Sunday after Mass,” including biscuits, cookies, and tea sandwiches.
St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church
St. Matthews Lutheran Church plans to serve German pastries and punch.
St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church
St. Paul recently celebrated its 130th anniversary with the motto, “We’re still standing.” The predominantly African American congregation is serving shrimp and grits for the Spirited Brunch because the dish is inseperable from the Lowcountry, same as St. Paul’s.
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
St. Stephen’s plans to serve cheese straws, a favorite item from its longstanding reception teas which follow Sunday services. “Cheese cookies represent St. Stephen’s because we strive to be that kind of presence in our community—warm, welcoming, and rooted in something deeper than ourselves,” Rev. Julia Madden says.
The Unitarian Church in Charleston
Because the Unitarian faith has no religiously significant foods, The Unitarian Church in Charleston is serving President John Adams’ favorite apple pan dowdy; Adams practiced Unitarianism.
The following congregations will table at the Alumni Center, 86 Wentworth St.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints will serve peach cobbler baked in a Dutch oven to honor “the Mormon pioneers who travelled across the Plains and settled the Western U.S.,” according to an organizer.
Hindu Temple of Charleston
The Hindu Temple of Charleston plans to serve rice biryani as an example of a prasad, or vegetarian dish offered to a deity during worship.
Sikh Gurdwara Nanak Dabar
Volunteers from the Sikh community will serve meatless pulao, potato cutlets and a sweet pudding which has been blessed.
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