Rev Jim Craig is Preacher and Celebrant

this Sunday October 15,

Coffee Hour and Messiah's Future Discussions after Church

This Sunday, we have an old and excellent Collect that begins worship. It reminds us that doing good works is an important part of our faith. Good works flow from our participation in the Spiritual Grace of God:

Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Old Testament reading this week (link) continues our journeying with the Children of Israel in the Sinai. The tenor, emotion, aura of the group is laden with expectation and growth and anxiety over the future . . . both good and bad behavior are regular occurrences! Last week, Moses was away on retreat with God on Sinai Mountain. There he received the wonderful Ten Commandments. While he was away, the people grew restless and made Idols and worshipped Baal! But slowly they are formed as the People of Israel, learning from their mistakes, getting closer to God, Elohim, the Holy One.

Sunday's Gospel Lesson continues Jesus' parables in the Book of Matthew (link). The theme continues addressing the radical nature of who gets into the Kingdom of God. Everyone is welcome, regardless of ethnicity, background, family or citizenship. However, grace is not cheap: New followers are expected to repent and change their lives and hearts, beginning with baptism, and symbolized in the story by the "wedding garment" that some people at the feast are not wearing!

Fr. Jim is leading worship this Sunday, and preaching on these excellent lessons from Exodus and Matthew. Above is a wonderful photograph of Jim baptizing his grandchildren last month!

I, Vicar John, am on vacation for ten days, driving on the beach in Florida and attending a Jacksonville Jaguars football game. I'll be back with you Sunday, October 22, and then October 29, when we begin our two-day visioning retreat with Ann Fleming of the Episcopal Church Building Fund. And a few days after that, the Annual Diocesan Convention begins on James Island on November 2!

Be sure to attend one of the Messiah Ministry conversations on October 15-17. The Announcement is below!

Many Blessings,

Vicar John Sorensen

Messiah Sunday Children's Program Continues this Week!

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. Thankfully, we had a successful restart 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 also working on having childcare for our 7pm Christmas Eve Service!

Messiah Visioning Retreat II to be held October 29-39

Save the Date for the next Stage of our Parish Planning Process

Much progress has been made by the four teams that were formed at the conclusion of the July 13-14 Parish Visioning retreat with Ann Fleming of the Episcopal Church Building Fund. While there is still work to do in the coming weeks, we plan to have that work completed for the next visit of Ann Fleming with us on Sunday & Monday, October 29-30. This date coincides with our Diocese of South Carolina Annual Convention on November 2-4, 2023. This way, Ann's travel and accommodation costs can be shared by us and other parishes Ann will visit, while also attending Convention.

The plan is for Ann to meet with the members of Messiah Church on Sunday, October 29, after worship, for the Afternoon. Lunch will be included. The retreat will continue beginning Monday Morning, and conclude later that day. Details will follow, but please set aside the dates if you are able!

The Tenth Anniversary of Messiah Church:

A Short History of Episcopal Church of the Messiah

Ten years ago this month, 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!

More Messiah's Future Discussions to be Held

October 15-17

We thank you for joining our planning committee members for informal discussions in September! New discussions are scheduled in the Upper Room for Sunday, October 15 after church, Monday October 16 at 5:30 and Tuesday, October 17 at 2pm.

Senior Warden Rick Stall (above, Lower left) and Planning Team Leader Kristi Burch (photo, Top right) had three conversations in September with parishioners about the Church of the Messiah of the future. They joined with parishioners in conversation about the three core passions identified in the Visioning Retreat: Liturgy, Music and Inclusion.

From Kristi Burch: "The Messiah family has additional opportunities to discuss the life of the Messiah. We really want to hear from each of you. We don't want to leave out anyone's perspective. We've had 3 sessions so far and we are offering more. 

Please come for fellowship and sharing of your own experiences that could enhance the life of Messiah." Kristi and Rick hope to dig deeper than buildings and facilities on so many people's minds. What ministry do you want Messiah to be doing? What is congregational life like? Join us in the Upper Room for Sunday, October 15 after church, Monday October 16 at 5:30 and Tuesday, October 17 at 2pm.



To learn more, you can email Kristi at K3Burch@gmail.com, or talk with Rick or Kristi at Church.

Messiah's July Visioning Retreat I Concluded

The Parish Planning Process Is Underway!

Four Planning Teams Formed,

Planning Process is Underway

Friday and Saturday, July 13 and 14, over 40 parishioners joined us for one or both days of our two-day retreat. About 35 people were with us for some or all of Friday, and over 27 finished the work with us on Saturday (photo above). I’m excited that our Visioning Retreat with Ann Fleming of the Episcopal Church Building Fund is now complete. Now, the planning work begins.

At a meeting with the Vestry and other church leaders, after church on Sunday, July 15, Ann outlined the planning process whose goal is the creation of a new Church of the Messiah at a new location in Myrtle Beach. We imagined 4 Teams and a Steering Committee that will lead this research and planning.

The Steering Committee organizes the work of the four teams, and assembles an application to the Episcopal Church Building Fund and the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina for the re-establishment of Messiah at a new Location in Myrtle Beach. Kristi Burch and Peggy Kovacs are the Co-Chairs of the Steering Committee that will coordinate the tasks of the 4 teams. The Steering Committee Leadership Team, which is Kristi and Peggy joined by Vicar Fr. John, Charlie Jordan and Warden Rick Stall, has been working for two weeks to clarify the team tasks, goals and a time-line. We now have four teams and a leader.

The Data Team, led by Monica Orosz will assemble demographic, national church and parochial data, civic numbers and research to guide us in church placement, mission goals and to help us understand the larger community which is Myrtle Beach. Data helps us discern who we are and where we live and who God has called us to be in Myrtle Beach. What justifies the our and our partners' anticipated financial support for Messiah Church in Myrtle Beach? Members: Maggie Burch, Allen Jeffcoat, Skip Williams & George Welles.

The Finance Team, led by Al Wiggins will assemble our historical financial data, our operating budget, and create a church-planting budget to help us grow and own property at a new location. This includes funding requirements, capital resources, fundraising goals, are all part of this team's work. How do we pay for this venture? Members: Pat Patterson, David Martin, Skip Williams.

The Parish Ministries Team, led by Charles Evans, will begin to dream what our core ministry is as Church of the Messiah. What parish Life aspects are central to our existence? What is our vision for a church in Myrtle Beach? What is our spiritual core that will capture the imagination of our members and donors for an Episcopal Church in Myrtle Beach? What spiritual practices do we need to sustain ourselves as a congregation? What building facility will we need? Members: John Manley, David Hardin, Sharon Williams.

The Interim Site Selection Team. Led by David Martin, with Mary Jeffcoat & Fr. John, this group will begin the relocation process by exploring a temporary location for Messiah during the transition. This team's work will become the Site Selection Team that looks to find our "final" location, but we may find ourselves in a temporary location during the interim.

These teams have begun their work. Monica and the Data Team will soon be handing off information to the Site Selection and Ministry Team for the next phases of the work.. The Goal is to have a report and a proposal ready in draft form by the end of September to present to the Diocese of South Carolina and our potential supporters and collaborators. When this stage of the work concludes, Ann will visit us again, perhaps in October to review that work and the application and plan our next steps.

This is an exciting time for the Episcopal Church of the Messiah in Myrtle Beach. As your Vicar, I deeply appreciate the dedication of the forty or more people who spent many hours on the two-day retreat, beginning a Visioning Process for Messiah. I'm equally grateful for those who volunteered for the four teams, and for those who are waiting for an opportunity to participate. Our future is bright!

What's going on? The work is underway, in various committees, and in time applications and conversations will be made with the Diocese of South Carolina, The Episcopal Church Building Fund, and other sources. It's difficult to report to the congregation when we're in the middle of the work, so please be patient. When we have something to report, we'll do so!

Many Blessings,

Fr. John Sorensen

Vicar