Religious Crosses by GraceCrescent Hill Baptist may be closer to the angels than any other congregation in Columbia
Crescent Hill Baptist Church will celebrate its 75th anniversary this coming Sunday. The church, located on hill along Two Notch Road, is known for its white steeple that is visible for miles. Pastor Ron Bryan stands in front of the church.
It’s a church with a tiny congregation, and just maybe the tallest steeple in Columbia.
Crescent Hill Baptist, on Two Notch Road near Beltline Boulevard, celebrates 75 years Sunday. Its gleaming white steeple topped by a cross is a beacon of hope not just for its mostly senior congregation, but for others, too.
“I can’t tell you how many times people — strangers — have stopped at our church and come in and told me, ‘You don’t know me, but I have been a patient in Providence Hospital, and I was in despair, and I looked out the window and saw your steeple, and it gave me hope,” says Pastor Ron Bryan, 61.
Over the years, it has been passed down that Crescent Hill’s steeple of hope, as it’s called, might be the city’s tallest.
The verdict, after working with the Richland County GIS mapping office: Crescent Hill Baptist just may be closer to the angels than any other church in Columbia — absent an official elevation survey of every city church.
Crescent Hill is 356 feet above sea level, its steeple about 75 feet higher.
On top of many steeples are religious crosses, which can be seen for great distances.