Rev Jim Craig is Preacher and Celebrant

this Sunday November 5, 2023

Our Faithful Departed are Remembered this Sunday

This Newsletter is late, sorry to say, being written Saturday afternoon! Your Messiah Church leadership, beginning Thursday, have all been at the Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, at Saint James Church, James Island.

We celebrated Halloween last week on Tuesday Night. In my neighborhood, children and some adults dressed up in costume and went door to door collecting candy. Houses were decorated with witches & goblins, themes of death and the afterlife. I pulled out a few plastic skeletons and placed them on the porch to greet visitors as we passed out candy. This is what Hallowed Evening has become! In the church calendar, this was the evening before All Saints Day, a major feast day in the Church. It is a deeply important and meaningful festival for Christians, despite the trivial nature of our secular celebrations!

Tomorrow, November 5, the Sunday after All Saints Day, we will celebrate this religious holiday. Fr. Jim will read the names of our loved ones who have died from the altar-table. This is to remind us that in Christ, the living and the dead are together in God's Time. There is an official list that you can add to before worship. The Holy Eucharist is that place where time stops and the past and present come together with us in Christ.

The lessons for All Saints Sunday can be found at this link!

Let me conclude with the All Saints Collect:

Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Visioning Retreat II Concludes with With for Recommendation for Building a New Messiah Church

Our second visioning retreat with Ann Fleming of the Episcopal Church Building Fund concluded Monday afternoon, October 30, with five specific recommendations for building the new Messiah Episcopal Church on a new property in Myrtle Beach. You will be hearing more from the Steering Committee in the coming weeks, and the Vestry will have to act on the recommendations for us to move forward. But here is a brief Summary of the Recommendations of our team, pictured above.

(1) begin the process of calling a full-time residential priest to Messiah by Summer of 2024, and provide a paid support staff for the office to support our clergy and ministry

(2) Grow and Expand the Messiah Congregation, and redevelop and improve existing parish program and ministry offerings

(3) Proceed with the purchase of a 1.4 acre lot that we believe is the future location of the Episcopal Church of the Messiah in Myrtle Beach

(4) Develop a financial and business plan to fund 1-3 above and lay out the timeline and steps that will lead to the construction of our new church within five years. This report will become our plan to be presented to and approved by the diocese in December or January for support and funding for this new future!

Stay tuned for more news, and keep our congregation in prayer. This will require the time, talent and treasure of each of us!

Many Blessings,

Fr. John

Messiah Sunday Children's Program

Our regular worshippers include at least three families with young children who have difficulty attending the entire worship service. Most churches consider it a part of their ministry to all their members to provide a childcare opportunity during Sunday worship. Our Fall Childcare program began September 10.

Chelsea, our new childcare person has enjoyed working with our children and will continue to do so. With your support and encouragement, Messiah will develop a quality, predictable Sunday Children's Program. This is an important component to church growth! We are can report that Chelsea will offer childcare for our 7pm Christmas Eve Service!

A Short History of Episcopal Church of the Messiah

Messiah was founded as a congregation on Sunday August 4, 2013. The church rented classrooms on 79th avenue to hold our first worship services. We had to move our furnishings in and out each Sunday. Fr. Wilmot Merchant, Rector of Saint Stephen's, North Myrtle Beach, helped us connect with the Methodists, who gave us space for over a year at their 65th avenue school property near the ByPass. In the fall of 2014 we found temporary space with the Saint Philip Lutheran Church, and in November of 2014 we were recognized by the Diocese of South Carolina as a mission Congregation, Messiah. In 2019, we moved to our current location where we have full use of our own rental property. Our next step is to partner with the Episcopal Church Building Fund and the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina to find ourselves a new home! No one wants to be a refuge forever! That process is underway!