SSPC Happenings - June 16, 2021

June 16, 2021

Bi-Weekly Summer Newsletter

•bridge (noun): a time, place, or means of connection or transition.

Bridges are everywhere I look. Not literal bridges (although our coastal island has plenty of those), but metaphorical ones. We are gearing up for the really toasty, sticky days of South Georgia summer. Summer bridges last school year to the next one. And this whole season of transition into in-person living feels like one colossal, very wooden (and kinda wobbly) bridge. We are peeking out from our year “in hiding.” Even if we were out and about, social gatherings were not prevalent and the ones we attended were from behind masks. Many battened down the hatches and lived alone or with the same four (lovely) people for months and months. Bridge times are essential, as we shed what no longer fits and get ready for the shoreline in front of us. We are feeling this bridge wobble underneath us as we adjust to being social again, as we adjust to life without a loved one we lost, and any number of ways life feels different post-pandemic. Bridges take trust. And balance. And courage.

Our church is hosting its first Bridge Mission group this week from Reid Memorial and Covenant Pres in Augusta, Georgia. It’s a week full of eco-exploration, of marsh cleanups and devotion times. It is aptly named as a liminal place where young Christians get to wander around and get curious about what it means to be a keeper of God’s creation. It is not environmentalism in the political sense nor is it denial of our responsibility as caretakers of God’s world – it is a sacred in-between space, a bridge place. We pray for them as they think theologically about what it means in the 21st century: how do we as Christians live in wonder, awe, and tender care of all that God made?

And I want to end with one final bridge, THE bridge: Jesus Christ. Jesus was crucified on a cross – a literal intersection of two wooden beams. One beam is the human realm he was born into and loved with all his heart. The vertical beam is his total alignment with his Creator. The at-one-ment of the bridge that is Jesus Christ is a promise to us in every intersection, crossroads, or transition that we face. We can make it through the shaky uncertain times of transition knowing that Christ has lived it too; Christ is used to liminal spaces and grace abounds in them. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Rev. Kate Buckley

Parish Associate

Summer Events

Sunday Worship

June 13, 2021

Musical Notes

It’s that time of year – conferences everywhere are coming to life. We feel very fortunate to be able to go to the Montreat Worship & Music Conference in Black Mountain, NC. While we are indoors, we will have to wear masks per North Carolina rules for camps and conferences but being outside in the mountain air will be wonderful. There will be assigned seating for each group in the big Anderson Auditorium, which is great for Presbyterians who are used to sitting in the same pews each week! This year’s theme is “Gathered in My Name” and the preacher is Rev. Cecelia (CeCe) Armstrong. The liturgist is the new pastor at Shallowford Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Rev. Anna George Traynham. Please be in prayer for those attending - myself, my niece Kate Helton, Amy Bishop, Ami Bishop, MacKenzie Bishop, Hal and Suzanne Morrison, Ginnie Schroeder, Judy Stipp, and Ann Nermoe. As always, we hope to bring back lots of new and exciting ideas for Worship and Music.

The Chancel Choir is living into the choir loft the more they sing. It is such a joy to be able to make more inspirational music due to the natural acoustics and the new sound equipment (kudos to the operators!). This Sunday, we will be singing Give Me Grace to Follow Jesus by Bill Conner and Glenn A. Pickett. “Give me grace to follow Jesus; let me share His love today. Help me, God, to walk in mercy where my Savior leads the way.” The hymn is 463 How Firm a Foundation. The following week, we will sing In This Very Room by Ron and Carol Harris. Our hymn will be 372 O For a World.

Love & Gratitude,

Rhonda

The Weeks Ahead

Sunday, June 20