Shandtel Heyward says people are always curious about St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church. They drive or walk past the white clapboard building on Rutledge Street and can’t guess at its history, or how her congregation’s kept it standing for more than a century.
As of Sunday, hundreds of Charleston residents and visitors no longer have to wonder.
St. Paul was one of nearly two dozen houses of worship which this weekend welcomed tourgoers for the ninth annual Spirited Brunch, a free and self-guided snack tour of downtown Charleston’s prayerful spaces. The format for The Food Section’s signature event never changes and, incredibly, neither does the weather: This was the ninth Spirited Brunch in a row to unfold under immaculately sunny skies, following a day on which two inches of rain fell.
What was different this year was turnout.
Spirited Brunch congregations logged record-breaking guest tallies in 2026, with several seeing more than 200 visitors in just an hour or two. For the first time ever, with volunteers and snack supplies exhausted, several houses of worship packed up early.
We know this was deeply disappointing to attendees—especially since we encourage tourgoers to visit sites in whatever order they choose—and apologize for any inconvenience caused by the premature service suspensions. We’re already thinking about ways to avert this problem in 2027, when we celebrate our tenth anniversary with what we hope is our best Spirited Brunch yet.
To that end, we’d love to hear more about your Spirited Brunch experience. If you joined us for Spirited Brunch, please consider completing this short evaluation form; the survey should take about 2-3 minutes to complete. It’s completely anonymous, but survey takers can opt to provide their email address to enter a drawing for a Spirited Brunch commemorative poster, designed by Annie Grotophorst.
And if you weren’t able to join us this year, you’re in luck: We’ve created a short audio postcard from yesterday’s event. As always, The Food Section’s journalism is created by humans, not AI, so it’s missing the literal bells-and-whistles and other enhancements that online tools can manufacture on demand, but I guarantee it’s not short on meaning.
Have a listen—if only to hear Heyward’s warm welcome to St. Paul visitors.
See you next year!
This is our second year to attend Spirited Brunch and it is such a unique way to entice residents and tourists alike to learn about some of the oldest keepers of Charleston history – namely, the congregations of its many houses of worship. It is an event we look forward to annually as part of Preservation Month.
As to the fact that this year’s crowds exceeded the prepared offerings, I would encourage the congregations to keep their doors open no matter how much is left on the table because the tour of spaces and encounter with congregants far outweighs the delicious bites.
Thank you, Libba! I wholeheartedly agree. We instruct participating houses of worship to do exactly that, but part of what makes Spirited Brunch special is the congregations are given near-total autonomy to conduct their programs as they choose–which almost always works out in attendees’ favor, but not this time around.
Please complete an evaluation form if you haven’t already done so! This is valuable feedback to share with the congregations.