If there was ever a time to pray, it's NOW. There are so many things that need prayer coverage that it's hard to know where to start. First of all, it's vital that you start by enriching your own prayer life. During this time when we are quarantined at home, perhaps you can increase your dedicated time with Him in prayer....
In the midst of this time of uncertainty, I hope you are well. May you find safe shelter not only in “social distancing,” but especially in drawing close to Him who is our true Dwelling Place...
St. Philippians and Friends, Even though we "broke the Internet" last Sunday when we, along with members of other churches across the country, went online in droves to worship, we are going to give the same streaming platform another shot this Sunday, the Fifth Sunday in Lent! Here is a link to the stream, which will begin a few minutes before 10:30 a.m. with the prelude....
Click the link below to read the St. Philip's eSPIRE, the email version of our weekly inSPIRE newsletter, which is packed with information about all that's going on in the life of our parish....
Dear Saint Philippians, Many of you have written and emailed to thank us for last Sunday’s online service; we are delighted that it was a blessing. As we move forward, still uncertain as to how long we will be prevented from worshipping together in the church, I want to provide you with some sense of what you may expect in the weeks to come. Because the situation is fluid, these plans are subject to change, but for now they represent the thinking of the clergy and lay leadership. ...
St. Philip’s is assembling a response team for our church members while we are all experiencing the challenges of COVID-19. This is a united effort of the Compassion Committee, the Home Missions Team, the Disaster Relief Committee, and our clergy. We are here to help each other!...
Dear St. Philip’s family, This past week of social distancing has been a surreal and difficult experience for the majority of Americans. Many are beginning to think that if the coronavirus doesn’t get them, “Cabin Fever” will. Not since World War II or the polio epidemic of the 1940s and 50s have the American people been so inconvenienced or threatened with long-term confinement and financial ruin. It reminds me of the following story shared by the Very Reverend Laurie Thompson, Dean of Trinity Seminary. ...
We celebrated Mission Sunday last week and had the opportunity to highlight the many ways that we as a congregation at St. Philip's are “doing mission,” or reaching out to others with the love of God in the name of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mission is an integral part of what God calls us to do as Christ-followers. While the Great Commission is commonly thought to be the Bible’s one mandate to mission, if we read scripture carefully, we will hear God’s heart for the world woven powerfully throughout all of the Bible. Jesus’ command that we take the Gospel to those who have not yet heard it was not simply an afterthought at the end of his earthly ministry. It was a continuation of the message we find consistently throughout Scripture: God loves us. Despite our rebellion, He went to unfathomable lengths to make it possible for us to know Him and His great love for us and for us to be with Him for all eternity. ...
We dotted all our I's and crossed all our T's; we had every hair in place and all our ducks in a row, but we weren't prepared ... for breaking the Internet! Thanks to everyone who joined us for worship on Sunday! Even though the service didn't come to your living room in quite the mode we were expecting, you were unfazed, and most of us were able to worship together just as we'd planned. Praise God!! Here's a note we received from our streaming platform on Sunday afternoon: Church Online Platform When the Church broke the Internet. This is an unprecedented time for the global Church and for online ministry. For most churches running the Church Online Platform, services went smoothly, and we praise Jesus for the lives that were forever changed! For some churches, though, services went out around 9:15 a.m. CDT/10:15 EDT. In anticipation of the highest-traffic weekend in history, the team had done in-depth load testing and purchased additional server and database capacity to meet the projected demand. But, with today’s traffic, an unanticipated variable arose that caused some issues with chat and with pages loading....
St. Philippians, we are pleased to announce that we are all set for online worship on Sunday, March 22, at 10:30 a.m.! Here are a few things to note: 1. The service will remain available online after the stream is over. This means that should you miss the service for any reason, you will still be able to watch later. 2. A service bulletin is available for you to view or print now. We have reformatted our traditional bulletin so that you may print it at home. There is a complete version which looks just like what you're used to, and there's an abbreviated version that you may print using a single sheet of paper (front and back). ...
Once upon a time, there was a master violin maker whose greatest joy was to make the most beautiful violins in the world. With each new instrument that he created, he went to great effort and expense. When each was complete, he would spend many hours testing its limits by playing it as only he could. For he dearly loved each one. ...
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When my son was in a terrible car accident in 2011, his life was in the balance, and with one phone call, the St. Philip’s prayer chain was alerted and I was able to get many people praying fast. I believe that through these prayers and many more throughout his recovery, he was saved and is now healed. St. Philip’s has had a prayer chain for about the last twenty ye...
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On November 2, St. John’s Chapel, a mission church of our diocese and one of St. Philip’s home mission partners, had its first community fundraising event. It was well attended and a huge success!unity...
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If you didn’t make it to this year’s parish retreat in the mountains of North Carolina, then you didn’t get to witness the joys of that weekend, among them the laughter at Friday’s social and sing-along, the hum of conversation as the bonds of our church family strengthened over each meal, and whatever happened at the hoedown that made the Millers and O’Dells rea...
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The 10th annual LAMB Dinner Party With a Purpose on October 24th was a very blessed night in the Lord. Thank you to all who prayed and helped make that night a true gospel success. There were many St. Philippians who came out even though they had to pack for Kanuga! Thank you. The theme for the event was God’s charge to Joshua, “Be strong and courageous ...” ...
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Have you ever looked at a hymn, wondering about the lines, dots, and squiggly things on the page? Or wanted to know why the choir paused, increased volume, or changed pace? Well, I did. While I enjoyed making a joyful noise, aka singing, I found it difficult to sing an unfamiliar hymn. I wanted to participate more fully in worship by learning how to read music....
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During Saturday’s program at Kanuga, the Rev. Dr. Kendall Harmon gave the St. Philippians in attendance a homework assignment: write a psalm of thanksgiving for a person, a place, or an event. Below are some of the psalms we wrote. ...
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That October day, Tracy Graudin was grateful just to be alive. She walked with her bare feet in the surf along the shore at Folly Beach, S.C. The sky was a vivid blue, electrifying and bright. As she meandered along, Tracy spotted the orange-and-black of a Monarch butterfly, the stained-glass pattern of its wings flitting past her in the brisk sea breeze. Its fragile b...
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Thank you, St. Philippians, for your most generous outpouring of love shown with stocking Tricounty Family Ministries’ pantry! You donated over 1,000 items...
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Last Wednesday, I attended the ECW fall dinner along with a large group of some of my favorite people ... the women of St. Philip’s! When asked if I would write about the experience, I went to prayer, and my thoughts began to revolve around the words “call,” “story,” and “kingdom.” The evening was one of food and fellowship punctuated by a talk given by th...
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