Rev Jim Craig is Preacher and Celebrant

this Sunday September 17.

Coffee Hour After Church, with Baptism Cake

Rev Jim is Preaching and Leading worship this Sunday, September 17 at Messiah Church, and the liturgy will include baptizing his and Cindy's granddaughters Eva and Annais.



This Sundays Gospel reading continues Jesus' teaching on forgiveness and reconciliation in the Christian Church. Last week, we learned the importance of members taking the time to work out their differences in love. This week, the theme in Matthew 18 continues with Peter asking Jesus about how many times he needs to forgive:

Peter came and said to Jesus, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

Rev Jim will preach on this theme this Sunday, September 17. Childcare is available. You can read the Sunday Lectionary at this link.

Rev. John Sorensen, Vicar

Messiah Sunday Children's Program Continues September 17

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 began last Sunday. She will continue September 17. With your support and encouragement, Messiah will develop a quality, predictable Sunday Children's Program. This is an important component to church growth!

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!

Messiah's Future Discussions to be Held

September 20, 21 & 23

Please Join Rick Stall and Kristi Burch to

share your thoughts about Messiah's Future!

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

You are invited to join them and other parishioners for one of these times in the Upper Room (Parish Hall) at church. Pick a time that works for you! Bring a bag lunch or breakfast if you like, we will have light refreshments:

Wednesday, September 20, Noon

Thursday, September 21, 9am

Saturday, September 23, 10am

Meet with us informally to share your prior church experiences, your ideas and your suggestions. What experiences and insights do you have about how we can grow our parish life?' We think this will be fun as well as informative! To learn more, you can email Kristi at K3Burch@gmail.com, or talk with Rick or Kristi at Church.

Messiah Visioning Retreat Concludes

The Parish Planning Process Begins!

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