About Saint Ernest · Pageland, South Carolina
St. Ernest Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission church located at 510 Evans Mill Road in Pageland, Chesterfield County, South Carolina. Founded in 1990 and seated in the Myrtle Beach Deanery of the Diocese of Charleston, it is a mission of St. Peter Parish in Cheraw and serves roughly 40 Catholic households in the rural Pageland area near the North Carolina border. With seating for 110 and a single weekly Saturday vigil Mass at 5:00 p.m., St. Ernest is one of the newer Catholic outposts established during the Diocese of Charleston's long-running effort to bring the Church to every South Carolina county. Its patron saint, St. Ernest of Zwiefalten, was a 12th-century Benedictine abbot and martyr who died in 1148 and is commemorated on November 7.
- Established
- 1990
- Patron
- Saint Ernest of Zwiefalten
- Rector
- Rev. Noel Tria (Pastor of St. Peter Parish, Cheraw, which supervises the mission)
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston
Why belong here
St. Ernest Mission offers Catholics in rural northeast Chesterfield County a regular, nearby place to worship close to home, with a Saturday evening vigil Mass that fits the rhythms of working farm families. As a mission of historic St. Peter Parish in Cheraw, it is connected to one of South Carolina's oldest Catholic congregations while still having the warm, small-community feel of a 40-household mission where members know one another. Visitors and seasonal residents passing through Pageland — close to the Charlotte metro and the North Carolina border — are warmly welcomed at the 5:00 p.m. Saturday liturgy.
Mass times at Saint Ernest
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Friday 5:00–5:30 p.m. at St. Peter, Cheraw
- Saturday 3:00–3:30 p.m. at St. Peter, Cheraw
About St. Ernest Mission
St. Ernest Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission church serving the Pageland area of Chesterfield County, South Carolina. Founded in 1990 and seated within the Myrtle Beach Deanery of the Diocese of Charleston, it functions as a mission of historic St. Peter Parish in Cheraw. The mission seats 110 people and serves roughly 40 Catholic households in a part of the state where, historically, Catholics have been a small minority.
- Founded: 1990
- Type: Catholic Mission
- Deanery: Myrtle Beach
- Seating capacity: 110
- Registered households: ~40
- Parent parish: St. Peter, Cheraw
History & Background
The mission was established in 1990 to bring regular Catholic worship to Pageland, a farming town near the North Carolina border best known for its watermelon industry. For much of the 20th century, Chesterfield County reported only one Catholic church (St. Peter in Cheraw), and the establishment of St. Ernest Mission reflected the Diocese of Charleston's broader missionary push into every South Carolina county. From its earliest days the mission has been administered from St. Peter Parish in Cheraw, and pastors have historically combined St. Ernest with nearby missions such as St. Denis in Bennettsville.
- Founded in 1990
- Created as an outreach of St. Peter Parish, Cheraw (est. 1842)
- Part of the Diocese of Charleston's effort to evangelize thinly-Catholic rural SC counties
Patron Saint: St. Ernest of Zwiefalten
The mission is named for St. Ernest, a 12th-century Benedictine abbot and martyr. According to tradition, Ernest was born into a noble family in Steisslingen, Germany, and served as abbot of Zwiefalten Abbey from 1141 to 1146. He set out on the Second Crusade in the company of Bishop Otto of Freising, was captured in Arabia, and was eventually martyred in Mecca in 1148 for refusing to renounce his Christian faith. He is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on November 7.
- St. Ernest (d. 1148), Benedictine abbot of Zwiefalten, Germany
- Joined the Second Crusade (1146–1149)
- Captured by Saracens and martyred in Mecca
- Feast day: November 7
- Major shrine: Zwiefalten Abbey, Germany
Parish Staff & Leadership
Day-to-day pastoral care of the mission is provided by the pastor and finance staff of St. Peter Parish in Cheraw, the mission's parent parish in the Diocese of Charleston.
- Pastor: Rev. Noel Tria (per the Diocese of Charleston directory)
- Finance: Geraldine Hurst
- Phone line shared with St. Peter Parish, Cheraw
Visiting & Contact
St. Ernest Mission is located on Evans Mill Road in Pageland, with its mailing address handled through St. Peter Parish in Cheraw. Visitors are encouraged to contact the parish office in Cheraw for information about Mass, sacraments, and holy day schedules.
- Address: 510 Evans Mill Road, Pageland, SC 29728
- Mailing: c/o St. Peter, 602 Market Street, Cheraw, SC 29520
- Phone: (843) 537-7351
- Diocese website listing: sccatholic.org/facility_detail?613
Connection to St. Peter Parish, Cheraw
St. Ernest Mission is a dependent mission of St. Peter Parish, the historic Catholic church of the Pee Dee founded in 1842 by Irish immigrant and master builder Conlaw Peter Lynch. St. Peter's also oversees St. Denis Mission in Bennettsville, and the three churches together share priests, sacramental schedules, and administrative staff — a model that has long allowed the diocese to maintain a Catholic presence across the rural northeastern counties.
- St. Peter Parish, Cheraw: founded 1842, 602 Market Street
- St. Denis Mission, Bennettsville: also supervised from St. Peter
- Shared priests and sacramental schedules across the cluster