~ the eSPIRE Newsletter ~
December 15, 2019
The Third Sunday in Advent
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- Last Wednesdays Alive! service, supper, and classes: Tonight, December 11 (resume January 8)
- Last Rector's Bible Study: Tomorrow, December 12 (resumes January 9)
- Last day of Sunday School, Rector’s Forum: This Sunday, December 15 (resume January 5)
- Last inSPIRE mailing: December 18 (resumes January 8)
- Last Youth Groups: December 20 and 22 (resume January 3 and 5)
The church office will close at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, December 23, and will reopen at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, January 2.
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The Millers Welcome Their St. Philip’s Family at the Annual Advent Drop-In
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On Saturday, December 7, Church Street was a parade of festively dressed folks as St. Philippians made their way to the rectory for this year’s Advent drop-in. All the elements that we have come to expect from the past couple of years were in place: plenty of egg nog; live garland on the mantles and banisters; baked brie, meatballs, pimento cheese, and lots of other goodies laid out on the dining room table; the Rev. Andrew O’Dell decked out in his top hat and tails greeting people on the porch; and a bow tie in place of a clerical collar around the neck of our rector and host, the Rev. Jeffrey S. Miller.
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Parishioners meandered through the Millers’ home, sometimes talking to people they’ve known for years, sometimes talking to people whose faces they know from a far-off pew in the church or a far-off chair in the Rector’s Bible Study. The drop-in is another time in the life of our church, much like Kanuga is, when St. Philippians are reminded that even as close-knit as our parish is, sometimes the church friends we assume must know each other might actually require an introduction.
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The Wassail Bowl Reception
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Immediately following Lessons and Carols, please join us in the Parish Hall for our annual Wassail Bowl reception, where you may mingle with St. Philippian friends, family, newcomers, and guests while munching on refreshments. And of course there will be plenty of hot mulled cider––otherwise known as
wassail––to go around!
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Every year at Christmastime, the St. Philip’s Compassion Committee provides poinsettias and cards to parishioners who are especially in our hearts this season.
We need your help to get them delivered!
As you’re leaving the Wassail Bowl, please go by the downstairs entryway of the Parish House and pick up a plant (or a few plants!) to deliver to someone who lives near you or on your route home. The poinsettias will be sorted by ZIP code and the cards will have complete addresses.
Note:
Families who have lost loved ones this year are welcome to pick up their own poinsettias.
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Susan Yates Delivers Her Advent Message to a
Packed House at ECW (Every Church Woman) Luncheon
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Just before noon on Friday, December 6, the Parish Hall was abuzz with women of St. Philip’s, their guests, and other ladies from across our diocese, all of whom had come to enjoy an elegant luncheon while listening to renowned speaker
Susan Alexander Yates deliver her Advent message: “Finding Peace in a Season of Uncertainty.”
The Rev. Andrew O’Dell opened with a prayer, and ECW president Joanna Ghegan stepped in to introduce Susan, mother of five and grandmother of 21––a rather staggering number Susan admits “shocks” her, although that’s mostly because that number jumped very quickly when her daughter Libby gave birth to quadruplets.
Susan began with a disclaimer, because she was sure some of the ladies were looking at her and thinking, “What is the deal with her hair?” The smattering of tiny braids secured with turquoise beads was the result of time spent at a family reunion over Thanksgiving. Two eleven-year-old granddaughters urged her to get “beaded,”and Susan, wanting to do something special with them, agreed. “But nobody has told me how to get them out!” she announced with a laugh. And even though one of her friends told her that she could
not go to St. Philip’s in
Charleston, a really proper church, with beads in her hair, she did it anyway, figuring it was her right as a grandmother. (After all, grandmothers can do whatever they want.)
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Reminder: Vestry Nominations Due January 5
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As the deadline to submit names to the Nominating Committee rapidly approaches amid this season of expectant waiting, please prayerfully consider those St. Philippians you feel would be faithful stewards of the bounty God has given us and who would help lead our parish spiritually.
The wardens’ letter regarding the nomination process was emailed in November. A link to letter is below, and copies are available in the church office and in the narthex. Please submit names to Dorothy Lancaster, Nominating Committee member (
doroathome@yahoo.com), or to Rachel Murphy, Executive Assistant to the Rector (
rmurphy@stphilipschurchsc.org).
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Deadline for including names in Christmas Eve bulletin is this Friday
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If you would like to make a contribution to the Christmas Flower Fund as a memorial or in thanksgiving for a loved one, please click the link below and submit your information by this
Friday, Dec. 13. Forms are also available in the church office and in the narthex. You may pay online through the My St. Philip's portal of our website,
stphilipschurchsc.org, or you may drop off a check payable to St. Philip's Church at the church office or mail it to:
St. Philip's Church
Attn: Juli Garland
142 Church St.
Charleston, SC 29401
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One More Sunday With the Gift Card Trees!
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Did you pick a handcrafted ornament off one of the trees in the Narthex on Sunday? Did you put it on your own tree at home? Or will it be a stocking stuffer or hostess gift?
If you didn’t pick one up, it’s not too late--the trees will still be there on Sunday! Please remember to purchase a $25 gift card to Walmart, Target, Big Lots, Family Dollar, or Dollar Tree for each ornament you take, and give it to one of the volunteers you see in the Narthex on Sunday, or drop it by the church office by December 18. For more information about this endeavor, please click below.
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Mission to LAMB in Honduras Coming Up in March
Information session Sunday, January 12, in the Parlor after the 10:30 service
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Jeff and Connie Rink will be leading a mission team to LAMB in Honduras March 7-14, 2020. All ages are welcome––youth under 18 must be accompanied by a parent.
The team will be taking much-needed dental care to the children at LAMB and beyond, working at the LAMB Children’s home on a building project, loving and ministering to the LAMB community, and seeing with our own eyes all that God is doing there for the Kingdom.
Please come to the informational meeting and learn more about this wonderful
opportunity to go to LAMB in Honduras!
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Your Little Angel Could Be an Angel!
or a shepherd ... or a donkey ... or ...
Christmas Pageant, 4:30 p.m. Christmas Eve Service
Parts (both speaking and non-speaking) available for children and youth ages three and up!
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Tonight's supper: Meatloaf
Tonight, December 11, is the last service of 2019
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December 12 will be the last Rector's Bible Study before Christmas recess
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Would you like to take another listen to Sunday's sermon? Or were you out of town and you missed it the first time? Sermons, the Rector's Forum, and more are available on our website,
stphilipschurchsc.org/sermons-classes.
Accompanying slide presentations for certain classes are also available for download.
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Never miss a sermon! Click below to subscribe to our Sermons podcast.
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SAVE THE DATE
Dec. 11 ~Last Wednesdays Alive! before Christmas recess
Dec. 12 ~ Last Rector’s Bible Study before Christmas recess
Dec. 15 ~ Last Rector’s Forum and Sunday School before Christmas recess
Dec. 18 ~ Community Carol Sing and Lunch (12:30 p.m.)
Dec. 24–Jan. 1 ~ Church office closed
Dec. 24 ~ Christmas Eve Services
• 4:30 p.m. Christmas Pageant (
click here
to register your child)
• 7:30 p.m. Holy Eucharist: Rite I (children’s choirs)
• 10:30 p.m. Holy Eucharist: Rite I (St. Philip’s Choir)
Dec. 25 ~ Christmas Day Service (10:00 a.m.)
Jan. 5 ~ Epiphany Fellowship Brunch (after 10:30 service)
Jan. 8 ~
First
Second Wednesday Men’s Lunch (12 noon)
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Membership Directory
Are you looking for a fellow parishioner's contact information? Our directory is online! Click the "My St. Philip's" button on our homepage,
stphilipschurchsc.org
, to log in or sign up for an account. And for easy access on your phone, download the Church Life app!
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Do you have a loved one you would like added to our prayer list?
Please provide his or her name by calling the church office, 843-722-7734
.
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We pray for the sick:
Katie Burris; Kelly Corlett; Elizabeth Flowers; Meredith Gale; Robert Gould; Tracy Graudin; Janet Hanger; Jonathan Hanger; Delia Hipp; Bobby Hood, Sr.; Patricia Irvin; Barbara Lisle; Joe Livesay; Jacqui Luce; Peter Moore; Stuart Philp;Aranell Ray; Edmund Rhett; Benjamin Schools; David Smythe; and Lindsey Wing.
We grieve with and pray for:
The family of Charles Henry Drayton III, who died December 2.
We pray for our expectant parents:
Ryan and Jennie Emerson, Oliver and
Courtney Iselin.
We pray for protection for:
Becca Baird, Julia Beasley, Graham Blunt, Henry Clayton, Ben Colyer, David Daughtridge, Hayes Fair, George Hoefer, Andrew Kane, Charles Kirkman, Frazier Kulze,
John Mason,
Ned Montgomery, Edward Pritchard, and David Scott serving in our Armed Forces.
We pray for our home missions:
Star Gospel Mission, Tricounty Family Ministries, Life Resources, St. John's Chapel, and the Open Door Committee.
We pray for our world missions:
For Suzy McCall and LAMB, for the medical missions to Honduras, for ministry to victims of genocide and AIDS in Rwanda, for 10/40 Tribal Commission, for Water Mission, and for St. Jean Baptiste, our sister church, and the schools in Haiti.
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St. Philip's Regular Weekly Worship Services
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Collect for
the Third Sunday in Advent
:
Stir up thy power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let thy bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honor and glory, world without end. Amen.
Readings for Sunday
:
- Isaiah 35:1-10
- James 5:7-20
- Matthew 11:2-19
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Sundays
8:15 a.m. – Holy Communion: Rite I, in the Church
10:30 a.m. – Holy Communion: Rite I, in the Church (on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Sundays)
10:30 a.m. – Morning Prayer: Rite I, in the Church (on the 2nd and 4th Sundays)
Wednesdays
8:00 a.m. – Morning Prayer, 1928 Prayer Book, in the Chapel
5:30 p.m. – Wednesdays Alive! Holy Communion: Rite II, in the Church (Sept.–June)
Lay server schedules are sent out quarterly, one month prior to the start of each quarter.
If you are unable to serve, please make an effort to find a substitute, and let
Felicia Lescow
in the church office know who will be substituting for you.
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ST. PHILIP'S CHURCH
142 Church Street | Charleston, SC 29401
Church Office Hours
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday | 8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Friday
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Click
HERE
if you would like to opt out of receiving the printed mailing of the newsletter each week.
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