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Senior Send-Off on Senior Recognition Sunday

May 18, 2022 by Staff Report

During the 10:30 service on Sunday, May 22, our high school seniors were invited up for a gift, Rebecca McLaughlin’s Confronting Christianity, and a blessing given by youth minister David Gilbert:

“Father, we want to thank you for our time here together this morning, for all the friends these young people have made through their many years of school, youth group, Sunday school, and church. For all the days of laughter and fun, and all the times of great discovery and learning.

“Lord Jesus, we thank you for all you have given them––the energy and skill so that these young adults can graduate high school. Thank you for their teachers, their mentors, and especially for their family and loved ones, who celebrated with them in their great joys and comforted them in their dark valleys. We thank you for these graduates and we give them to you in prayer this morning. As this chapter of their life closes, a new one begins.

“We present these graduates of 2022 as an open book before you. Lord, come and ascribe your words into their lives. Fill their minds with your thoughts. Fill their bodies with your strength. Fill their heart with your dreams. Lord Jesus, fan into flames the spiritual gifts that you have anointed them with, so that over the next four years of college, they may live in holiness, fulfill your Kingdom work, and lead souls to your great love. Lord, guide them into campus ministry, to Christian college fellowship, and to a church at their respective campuses, to continue in the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers. Help them not to squander the next four years, but to bear fruits of righteousness for you.

“St. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5, ‘And we urge you, young brothers and sisters, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seeks to do good for one another. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances. For this is the will of God and Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and he will surely do it.’

“Guide them to eternally serve you this day and every day, We ask all this in the glorious Name of Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen.”

We are praying for God’s blessings and peace to be with all of our high school and college seniors, as well as those finishing up grad school, as they prepare for graduation and whatever journey they are embarking on next.

About Our Graduates

High School

Several St. Philippians are graduating from Porter-Gaud this year, including DuBose Egleston, who is finishing up 12 full years. DuBose was on the sailing and track teams at Porter, and he is now headed to Virginia Tech, where he will be joining the Corps of Cadets as part of the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps. Eliza Ford is also finishing up 12 years at Porter-Gaud, where she helped lead the girls’ swim team to several SCISA state championships. She is at the tail end of a very busy May and a race to the finish of her high school career, and soon she will be off to the University of Georgia Terry College of Business, where she plans to study marketing. Mary Kathryn Lancaster, who again participated in the fall musical and spring play as she did each year at Porter, was a member of the track team, Vestry, and senior girls Bible study. She served as a peer leader, tutor, and service leader and is a member of the Cum Laude Society. Mary Kathryn is honored to be one of the recipients of the John D. Hollingsworth scholarship to Furman, where she plans on being part of the pre-law program, double majoring in Spanish and politics and international affairs with the hopes of becoming an immigration attorney.

Rayna Gilbert, the elder daughter of youth minister David Gilbert, will be graduating from James Island Charter High School and heading to the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, where she will be a Capstone Scholar; Rayna was also a recipient of the University Scholars Award. Rayna’s classmate, Lillian Smith, was in the International Baccalaureate program at James Island, where she enjoyed being a leader, volunteer, supportive friend, and hardworking student. Senior Recognition Sunday fell on her 18th birthday! Her parents are grateful that she puts God first in all she does and that she is a loving sister to Virginia Rhett. In the fall, Lillian will be heading to Wofford.

Amelia Agosti has been focusing on art at Ashley Hall, and she started a jewelry business creating one-of-a-kind beaded pieces. She will be continuing her studies as an art major at Clemson.

College/Graduate School

Eliza Huey Briscoe graduated from the USC School of Medicine in Greenville, and she will soon begin her pediatric residency at University of Utah Health. William Davis, who earned his BS in engineering from the University of South Carolina School of Engineering, will be joining Boeing as a mechanical engineer in their elite Engineer Training Program. Catherine Donald earned her BA in arts management with an additional concentration in the music industry from College of Charleston. She is working on carving her own path in a world of chaos, and her parents are so proud of her and so excited to see where her future takes her! Baker Franklin, who double majored in drama and art history at UNC-Chapel Hill, will be working for Co-Life, a local start-up venture that matches homeowners with long-term tenants. Leland Freshley has loved his four years at Clemson and is looking forward to living and working in Greenville for Global Lending Services. Delia Hipp graduated summa cum laude with a master’s in social work from Winthrop University. She is moving to Charlotte, where she will be working full-time as an abuse victim advocate and counselor for a nonprofit.

View the complete list of graduates