MISSISSIPPI CHURCHES

But the reasons to visit Mississippi don’t stop there — religious travelers will also find fascinating destinations at the birthplace of a certain rock ’n’ roll legend, and a shrunken facsimile of the Holy Land as it was in Jesus’ time.

Less than an hour’s drive from the state capital, Jackson, is the rustic community of Madison, home to The Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church. Tour the Gothic Revival chapel, consecrated in 1852 and restored from dereliction in 1976 — complete with a graveyard containing burial sites of the grounds’ original settlers, and constructors of Chapel of the Cross, the Johnstone Family.

Be sure to come for the “Days in the Country” festival which takes place annually over the first weekend in October.

Westward, where the Mississippi River needles a sinuous border with Louisiana in Claiborne County, is the First Presbyterian Church of Port Gibson.

This delicate white sanctuary and annex of a Romanesque Revival style dates back to 1859, making First Presbyterian the oldest church in the “Old Southwest” region of antebellum America — an area encompassing modern day Arkansas, Mississippi and portions of their neighbors. Crowning the chapel’s spire is the distinctive “Hand Pointing to Heaven” sculpture: a 200-pound iron fist extending an index finger to the sky above, coated in glistening German gold leaf.

Head south to Bay St. Louis along the coast near Louisiana to St. Rose de Lima Catholic Church to see an interior decorated with intricate frescos of Jesus and the Tree of Life. The history of St. Rose de Lima Church and a groundbreaking school are connected. In 1868, the first school in Bay St. Louis for African Americans opened in a two-story white building. In 1925, the school became St. Rose de Lima Church. These days it’s St.

Rose de Lima’s moving, talented Southern Gospel men’s choir that has visitors talking.

North of the panhandle in Hattiesburg is Sacred Heart Catholic Church, which hosts a Hispanic Ministry serving Spanishspeaking parishioners and churchgoers, in addition to their English services.

Sacred Heart also offers a wide array of Catholic education programs for young children as well as teens and adults interested in becoming Catholic.

One of the most unique destinations Mississippi has to offer is the Palestine Gardens in Lucedale. Here are toscale replicas (one yard = one mile) of a multitude of Holy Land sites and recreations of stories from the Bible. Nestled within the peaceful, enchanting Mississippi woodland, guided tours take visitors across the Jordan River to models situated as they would be on the map of ancient Judea, Galilee and Samaria.