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April 26, 2024

On Sunday, April 28, 2024, we welcome the Rev. Dick Tucker to celebrate and preach at our Sunday morning services. Dick was received into The Episcopal Church about 12 years ago. In the past he has served as a hospice and hospital chaplain, and as pastor of 4 American Baptist churches in the northeast. When arriving in Brevard he sought a church where he could both grow spiritually and be useful. He has never regretted choosing St. Philip’s. Please join us in welcoming Dick!

• Sunday at 8:00 a.m. – From Palm Sunday through the summer, we will enjoy sharing the same Holy Eucharist, Rite II liturgy in our Sunday morning 8:00 a.m. spoken service as the 10:30 a.m. service.
• Adult Forum at 9:15 a.m. – On Sunday, April 28, 2024, St. Philippian Kevin Greene will begin a three-week discussion regarding the Reformation with the topic “The Reformation expands: Zwingli and Calvin, and a discussion of their ideas and differences with Luther.” Kevin graduated from Campbell University with a degree in Religion and Philosophy. After college he spent three years at Southwestern Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas before graduating from Southeastern Seminary. During his last year of seminary Kevin changed his focus from church history to pastoral counseling. He would spend the next 35 years in the mental health field specializing in grief and trauma concerns. Kevin and his wife Caroline have lived in Brevard since September of 2023. Adult Forum meets in the YAC, our large downstairs meeting room.
• Coffee & Conversation at 9:15 a.m. – On Sunday, April 28, 2024, St. Philippian Dr. Christy Bauman will be facilitating a conversation around the spiritual rites of passage, particularly the birthright and the rite of legacy. We will discuss our first breath and our last breath. Coffee & Conversation meets in Miller Hall, our large upstairs meeting room. The presentation begins at 9:15 a.m.
• Godly Play at 9:15 a.m. – Children ages 4 through 5th grade will be engaged in Godly Play. The Godly Play approach helps them to explore their faith through story, to gain religious language and to enhance their spiritual experience through wonder and play. Godly Play meets in the education wing downstairs.
• Children’s Church at 10:30 a.m. – On Sunday, April 28, 2024, we will have Children’s Church during the Liturgy of the Word in the 10:30 a.m. service. Children in K - 5th grade may be dropped off in the Sunday School room across from the Godly Play room (the youth classroom) before parents/grandparents go to church. Children will be brought to the church during the Peace and should join their family for communion.
• Sunday at 10:30 a.m. – Join us for Holy Eucharist, Rite II (with music) at our 10:30 a.m. service.
• Coffee Hour after the 10:30 a.m. service – All are invited and always welcome to join us in Miller Hall (our upstairs fellowship hall) after the 10:30 a.m. service for juice or coffee and fellowship. This is a great chance to mingle, meet new people, or just relax with friends.

Be a part of something big! Book a donation appointment at our Red Cross Blood Drive at St. Philip’s on April 29, 2024, in Miller Hall!

Prior to the public Explorations in Jewish Life and History Lecture (see below), a small group from both St. Philip's and from the Brevard Jewish Community (30 from each group) will gather at 2:00 p.m. to share a discussion on the current Israeli challenges and issues. If you desire to be one of the 30, please sign up in Realm or contact the parish office (office@stphilipsbrevardnc.org). The cut-off of 30 will be firmed adhered to, so sign up early!

On May 5, St. Philip's is pleased to host and participate in the second of a series of four sessions arranged by the Brevard Jewish Community. Dr. Geoffrey Levin from Emory University will speak on “Strangers in the Land of Egypt or Subjects of King David: Dilemmas of 20th Century American Jews" at 3:30 p.m. in Miller Hall.

The Diocese of Western North Carolina is excited to offer the following Building Beloved Community workshops to fulfill the Dismantling Racism requirements for vestry members, lay leaders, and staff.



Sacred Ground Circles (10 weeks beginning May 7, 2024 on Zoom) - Sacred Ground is a sensitive, prayerful resource that creates space for difficult but respectful and transformative dialogue on race and racism. It invites participants to walk back through history in order to peel away the layers that brought us to today, reflecting on family histories and stories, as well as important narratives that shape the collective American story. It holds as a guiding star the vision of beloved community – where all people are honored and protected and nurtured as beloved children of God, where we weep at one another’s pain and seek one another’s flourishing.

Join CrossTown for our "Love Your Habitat Day" on Sunday, May 12, 2024, where Transylvania Habitat for Humanity teams up with CrossTown for a day of community support! Visit the Habitat table, where our youth will share about the important work Habitat does in our area. While you're there, consider participating in our noisy offering by donating any spare change, cash, or checks. Every contribution counts, and all donations collected from CrossTown churches will be pooled together for a collective contribution to Habitat. Habitat will match the total amount raised by CrossTown, doubling the impact of your donation. Let's come together to support our community! 

All knitters and crocheters are welcome! We meet every Tuesday morning from 10:00-11:30 a.m. in the church parlor. Please join us whenever it suits your schedule for knitting and lots of conversation. We enjoy spending time together. If you have any questions, please contact Susie Stubbs at susiestubbs@yahoo.com.

Warm weather is here and it's time to brighten up your wardrobe for Spring! Shopping at The Shop of St. Philip's is a great way to do that, plus it helps the ECW provide grants to our community partners.

We are excited to announce the leader of our retreat will be the Rev. Canon Augusta A. Anderson, Canon to the Ordinary and Chief of Staff for the Diocese of Western North Carolina. Canon Augusta will guide and inspire our time together with playfulness and prayer while deepening our relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Earth Day worship with Bethel A, First United Methodist, Good Shepherd, St. Philip’s, St. Timothy, and the Unitarian Universalists. During the service, we sang hymns celebrating our planet and shared Bible readings and poems. Over the past few weeks during CrossTown, our youth had discussions about the importance of creation care and challenges they see. During the service, they had the opportunity to share parts of those conversations. Participants were also introduced to Mud Guy! Mud Guy helped us think about the ways humans came from the earth and encouraged us to take better care of the place we came from. Thank you so much to everyone who helped plan and lead this worship service. We look forward to doing it again next year!

At the April 11 meeting of the WNC Diocese Executive Council, Jann Mellman's appointment to the Executive Council was confirmed by vote of the council, and she attended her first meeting. The Executive Council is to the Diocese as the Vestry is to the Parish, working with Bishop José and his staff on matters that impact the Diocese of Western North Carolina that covers the westernmost 13 counties of North Carolina.

The Executive Council appointment is a three-year term, serving with a body of 21 members who, just as our Vestry does, rotates one-third of the representatives each year. Please join us in congratulating Jann on the appointment and thanking her for having a voice and an ear for St. Philip's, as well as the good of the Diocese, at the table.

The needs at Sharing House are real all year long. As you do your shopping, think about picking up an item or two and putting in the red wagon in the parish hall foyer. We'll make sure it gets to Sharing House for immediate distribution.

• King and queen blankets
• Comforters
• Tarps and tents
• Towels
• Flashlights and lanterns
• Mixed greens
• Spaghetti Pasta
• Spaghetti sauce
• Dessert mixes
• Salad dressing
• Rice mixes
• Pasta salad mixes
• Pet food
• Baby wipes

In the early 200s CE the Christian community was a small, non-descript religious group in the lands around the Mediterranean Sea. Some estimates put the number of Christians at around 100,000—0.15 percent of the total population. Judging from the burial chambers in the Roman catacombs, only a handful of burial sites can be identified as Christian sites during this period. 

Jump forward 75 years and the evidence suggests a period of exponential growth within the Christian faith. The catacomb markers become significantly more numerous. Christian names become more popular. In Egypt alone some 15% to 20% of the population appear to have adopted Christianity.

What happened? Was there some charismatic leader to show up on the scene? Were there hugely successful tent revivals? Did someone finally come up with an orthodox theology? In his recent book, Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues, (from which the above data was taken) Jonathan Kennedy follows the lead of sociologist Rodney Stark in arguing that what happened was a plague. More specifically, what is referred to as the Cyprianic Plague—a devastating and lethal outbreak of what may have been a viral hemorrhagic fever.

So how, exactly, did this plague impact the growth of Christianity? Although one needs to exercise caution in attributing a specific, singular cause to what, undoubtedly, had multiple causes, it is clear that the Christian response to the plague was a significant factor. While families were huddled up in their homes avoiding contact with their neighbors; while the dead and dying were dumped in the streets to avoid contaminating the living; while the wealthy were fleeing the cities to take refuge in their country retreats; while all of this was going on the Christian community, according to Bishop Dionysius of Alexandria, “Heedless of danger,…took charge of the sick, attending to their every need.” In other words, Christians demonstrated their faith through acts of love to those in need. This example of selfless brotherly and sisterly compassion was not an insignificant stimulus to the growth of Christianity during this period as individuals were drawn to a community that defied cultural expectations and put others before self.

We, too, are living through an epidemic—an epidemic of tribalism where those who think alike band together to the exclusion of “other” thinkers; an epidemic of irrational hatred toward those whose faith or lifestyles or country of origin lie beyond the “mainstream”; an epidemic of religious expression parading as politics and politics parading as religious orthodoxy. In the face of these epidemics how are we to respond? What can we do? How can we make a difference? Those believers of the 3rd Century CE give us a clue. It is as easy and as hard as the counter-cultural attitude of allowing Christ’s love to flow through us in acts of open-armed, loving, compassionate acceptance of those who are suffering from the epidemics of our time. A love that refuses to be held captive by political divisiveness; a love that is more imaginative than “either-or” ways of thinking; a love that recognizes the presence of God in every other person; a love that takes seriously the Gospel writer’s assurance that “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

David Yeager, Sr. Warden

Thank you for investing your time in the work and mission of St. Philip’s. Your volunteer effort supports many Ministries at St. Philip’s. Visit Easel Alley (outside the parish office) or visit https://www.stphilipsbrevardnc.org/ministries to find Spiritual work that calls to you and learn how to get involved.

May Birthdays

01 Michelle Roth

01 Grant Cobb

02 Meredith Tooley

02 Sue Ann Miller

02 Debra Izard

03 Holmes Desmelik

04 Chappie Powell

04 Susan Hansel

04 Sally Rausch

05 Carol Cartwright

06 Barbra McCune

06 Lucia Bennett

06 Mimi Pomeroy

07 William Begg

07 Wyatt Topper

07 Julie Workman

09 Carole Orr

09 Ben Long

09 Dorothy Trotter

10 Marcia Millar

10 Beth Busbee

10 Mary Thigpen

12 Ida Smith

12 April Méndez

13 Barbara Walter

13 Megan Shepherd

14 Bru Izard

15 Daniel Richmond

16 Susan Winsor

16 Leo Alvarenga Byers

16 Lila Alvarenga Byers

17 Dan Pascone

18 Adrian Zabala

18 Beth Rich

18 Ali McCabe

19 Mary Dryselius

19 Susan Whaley

23 Grant Bullard

23 Judy Mowery

25 Bruce Roberts

25 Eric Manner

25 Emma Newman

25 Judith Davis

25 Paul Ann Gaines

26 Barthell Joseph

26 David Messer

27 Cohen Taulbee

28 Shannon Powell

28 Jen Silva

29 Pam Watson

30 Pauline Merrill-Foster

31 Julie Heinitsh

31 Chuck Cibella

May Anniversaries

01 Chip and Rebecca Freeman

06 Mac and Veronica Morrow

06 Chris Foster and Pauline Merrill-Foster

11 Jared and Jen Silva

14 Jim and Judy Pierce

14 Greg and Carole Hilderbran

16 Bill Byers and Jo Pumphrey

20 Adrian and Kathryn Zabala

22 Michael and Joann McCarthy

24 Don and Susie Stubbs

28 Mark and Mary Richmond

28 Davis and Perrin Whitfield-Cargile

30 Miles and Teresa Coady

31 Terry and Sheree Watt

31 Bob and Paulette Cantey

The Season of Easter begins with the first Alleluia of Easter and ends 50 days later on the Day of Pentecost. During this season, the liturgical color is white, and the liturgies are uplifting and joyful. From the ashes of Ash Wednesday, God has brought us into the fullness of life and joy!

CSW Director Rob Field will lead a two-day pilgrimage in Western North Carolina May 2-3 to explore the frescos of renowned artist Ben Long. We will tour multiple sites with Long’s frescoes, including Chapel of the Prodigal in Montreat, Sloop Chapel in Crossnore, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in West Jefferson,, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Glendale Springs, and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Wilkesboro. We will also visit the Haywood Street Congregation in Asheville to see a new fresco painted by a student of Long’s. We will travel as a group and spend the night of May 2nd at the Holiday Inn Express in West Jefferson. For more information, click here.

Join us each week at our services of Holy Eucharist!

• Sundays, 8:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II (spoken)
• Sundays, 10:30 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II (with music)
• Tuesdays, 2:00 p.m. – Holy Eucharist Rite II (College Walk Senior Living Community Chapel)
• Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. – Holy Eucharist with Prayers for Healing (Chapel)

Barbara Boerner (2024)

Craig Gralley (2024)

Mike Wallace (2024-Junior Warden)

Jo Buescher (2025)

Jann Mellman (2025)

David Yeager (2025-Senior Warden)

Peggy Bridges (2026)

Gordon Murray (2026)

Jen Silva (2026)

Pat Dunham (Clerk)

The Rev. Elizabeth Roles, Rector

Abby Glass, Children, Youth, and Family Minister

Dr. Brittnee Siemon, Director of Music Ministry

Edna Hensley, Facilities Manager

Angela Patane, Maintenance Supervisor

William Begg, Co-Treasurer, Receipts

Bob Wesneski, Co-Treasurer, Disbursements

Jill Stewart, Parish Administrator

A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA!

Sea Silk, the Linen of the Bible

"And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in clothes of byssus, and put a gold chain on his neck.”

Genesis 41:42 The Darby Translation

Now here’s a thing. When the Bible mentions linen in our modern translations, the author probably - at least in the Old Testament - is referring to byssus, or sea silk. In the e-pistle editor’s own words, sea silk is the highly-coveted fabric made from hardened spit from an endangered Mediterranean clam. (More or less gives new meaning to, erm, clam, doesn’t it?)

Click here to read this BBC article about the last surviving sea silk seamstress and learn something new about the fabrics of the Bible.