David Gilbert with his future wife, Jordan Warlick

The Christmas Eve service is so beautiful and special to my heart for so many reasons. I was raised in a non-Christian home and didn’t come to the Lord until I was 22. I was visiting Charleston for Christmas (this was before Jordan Warlick and I were wed) and it was my first time meeting her parents, Bill and Carolyn Warlick. They discovered I wasn’t a Christian and started asking me questions and dared me to think deeply about Christianity being the Truth. So on Christmas Eve when Bill asked, “Who wants to go to the Christmas Eve service at St. Philip’s?”, I quickly said, “I will go!”

My motives were not pure. I was trying to win him over and show him that I was just the kind of guy his daughter should marry! But God’s motives were pure and Jesus began a work in me that unraveled all my defenses.

After the Gospel was preached I knew I had to ask Jesus into my heart forever! I did and sat there floored by the power of God, the music, and the presence of his people. I wept when the lights went out and the church sang, “Silent Night, Holy Night.” I had heard that song hundreds of times before on the radio, but I had never heard it in a church and never with the power of the Holy Spirit showing me truth after truth through each stanza! I had no idea what God had in store for my life and there was no way I could have imagined that it would lead me to be a volunteer leader and then youth pastor at St. Philip’s for 16 years. It is my joy to invite you and your loved ones to the very service that saved my soul!

Christmas Eve: Tuesday, December 24

4:30 p.m. ~ Christmas Pageant ~ Holy Eucharist: Rite I

7:30 p.m. ~ Children’s Choirs Sing ~ Holy Eucharist: Rite I

10:30 p.m. ~ St. Philip's Choir Sings ~ Holy Eucharist: Rite I

Christmas Day: Wednesday, December 25

10:00 a.m. ~ Family Holy Eucharist