Wednesdays Alive! resumes September 11!
Join us at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday evenings (mid-September through mid-May) for a vibrant, joyful, and spirit-filled communion service. Wednesdays Alive! is a come-as-you-are service, so regardless of whether you're a visitor to Charleston wearing shorts and a hawaiian shirt, a nurse wearing scrubs, or a banker in a suit, you'll fit right in at Wednesdays Alive! Supper and Christian formation follow the service. So come and connect on Wednesday nights––we can't wait to see you!
5:30 p.m.: Worship
6:15 p.m.: Supper in the Parish Hall
7:15 p.m.: C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" with the Rev. Brian McGreevy (in the Parish Hall)
About the class: Come join us on Wednesday nights as we explore the riches of C.S. Lewis’s marvelous book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the first of the famed Chronicles of Narnia, which have sold hundreds of millions of copies and have been translated into 47 languages. The leading British bookstore chain, Waterstone's, announced that their extensive reader poll named The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe "the greatest children's story of all time." That would be reason enough to study the book, but easy to dismiss if you're an adult.
But what if there is FAR more going on in this story than you ever imagined? What if it is profoundly laden with spiritual principles and wisdom for adults living in a culture that seems to be racing in the wrong direction? Listen to these words from the brilliant Oxford professor and theologian the Rev. Dr. Alister McGrath on the importance of the Narnia books:
“The evocative stories of Narnia affirm that it is possible for the weak and foolish to have a noble calling in a dark world; that our deepest intuitions point us to the true meaning of things; that there is indeed something beautiful and wonderful at the heart of the universe; and that this may be found, embraced, and adored. [In Narnia we see] a good and beautiful creation spoiled and ruined by a Fall, in which the Creator’s power is denied and usurped. The Creator then enters into the creation to break the power of the usurper and restore things through a redemptive sacrifice. Yet even after the coming of the Redeemer, the struggle against sin and evil continues, and will not be ended until the final restoration and transformation of all things.
“We each have our unique story. But our own story needs to be brought into connection with a grand narrative, a big story which gives our story a new importance and significance. Why? Because we realize that our story is framed by something greater which gives us value and purpose. Lewis’s remarkable achievement in Narnia is to allow his readers to inhabit this big story, to get inside it and feel what it is like to be part of it.”
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is both theologically rich and poignantly beautiful in its writing, and it can help equip us to live boldly for Christ in a culture that has lost its way. If you haven't read this book since you were a child or have never read it, you are in for a great adventure on Wednesdays--come and bring a friend!
The Rev. Brian McGreevy
bmcgreevy@stphilipschurchsc.org or (854) 429-1938