Meet our Priest-in-charge

The Rev. Courtney Davis-Shoemaker

The Right Reverend Ruth Woodliff-Stanley called the Reverend Courtney Davis-Shoemaker as priest-in-charge of St. Peter’s, Charleston, in October 2024. Ordained to the priesthood in 2009, Rev. Courtney has served for the past five years as assistant priest of St. Stephen’s, Charleston.

The Rev. Davis-Shoemaker looks forward to creatively moving the church forward. “With Bishop Woodliff- Stanley’s support, I will explore alternative times for worship and how we may best engage non-churchgoers and Episcopalians who may have left the church,” said Davis-Shoemaker. “This will be a time to experiment in how we spread the message of God’s unending love and invite people to bring their authentic selves into a new community. I do not know exactly how God will use this new space and what will come but I am excited to prayerfully explore what God may be up to in West Ashley!”

A native of Asheville, North Carolina, Courtney graduated from The General Theological Seminary in 2008 and was ordained a priest the following year in the Diocese of Massachusetts. She has served as the urban resident at St. Stephen's in Lynn, MA; a vicar at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Haw River, NC; Episcopal/ Lutheran chaplain at Elon University; and most recently as the assistant priest at St. Stephen's, Charleston. Having moved to Charleston in 2017 with her spouse, the Rev. Adam Shoemaker, she has also served on the Standing Committee and Commission on Ministry in the Diocese of South Carolina. Courtney and Adam have three children and their family moved to West Ashley in June 2024.