Endless Summer Youth Group

This Friday, August 18 ~ 6:00–9:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall/Youth Room

Fellowship, games, Scripture, prayer, dinner, movie. All 6th–12th-graders invited.

Canterbury/St. David Beach Retreat (Sullivan's)

This Saturday, August 19 ~ 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. camp––beach time to follow! All 4th–12th-graders invited––no choir experience necessary.

Back-to-School Blessing

This Sunday, August 20 ~ during the 10:30 service

All students and teachers will receive a blessing and a bag tag. 

As we say goodbye to the summer and get back to our fall routines, let’s get together for a time of encouragement and community! Young adults and parents are invited to enjoy a time of fellowship and mingling over heavy hors d’oeuvres, beer, wine, and sodas. After the fellowship time, we will have a brief session of teaching and encouragement, complete with information about all the ways you can stay connected. Meanwhile, youth and children will be entertained with activities of their own (including a pizza party!). 

Through August 21: $15* per adult

After August 21: $20 per adult

Youth and kids 18 and under are free!

*Pay-what-you-can option available.

Please register by August at the link below. However, if you realize you can join us after the deadline has passed, go ahead and register and come on down––we always have leftovers!



This joint event for our young adult and family ministries is hosted by Justin Hare, David Gilbert, and Dorothy Lancaster.

On Saturday, August 5th, a group of about 25 enthusiastic St. Philippians participated in a very rewarding morning with the Hope to Home Ministry. Hope to Home (H2H) is a Christian-based ministry whose mission is to collect new or gently used donated home goods, such as mattresses and pillows, and then deliver these essential home furnishings to displaced or formerly homeless individuals and families who have just secured housing. H2H transforms their empty living space into a comfortable home as we extend Christian love to the family. 

Click the link below to read about how God’s plan to provide for an H2H family was at work through one of the volunteers days before the workday.

The Broken Plates

by Pringle Franklin

Her new dinner plates were bright and cheery, white with a blue rim and flowers in the center. Their clean potentiality seemed to represent the unfolding of a second chance for “Jeannette” and her son. They had recently transitioned from homelessness to being the first occupants of an affordable housing unit carved out in an otherwise upscale apartment building on the city’s gentrifying East Side. The granite countertops, the sunlight spilling through the tall windows, the cohort of smiling volunteers delivering furniture—all this seemed surreal to Jeannette, an hourly wager who for years had struggled to catch a lucky break.

She finally had a place to live and would soon have furniture of her own. Jeanette watched with a bemused smile as I and the other volunteers from St. Philip’s, serving as part of the Saturday work session with Hope to Home Furniture Resource, carried in chairs, lamps, and mattress sets and unpacked bins of household goods. Someone was stacking bowls, cups, and plates on the kitchen counter. But when the last two plates came out of the box, they were found to be broken.

Sunday school for children and youth 0–18 (including the 7th-grade Confirmation class with Al "Gator" Phillips) begins Rally Sunday, September 10! Registering from the comfort of your home will save you time and be tremendously helpful as we start to assign teachers and classrooms. If you are interested in helping with Children's Ministry, there is an option for that, too.

St. Philip's children's choir's weekly rehearsals resume Thursday, August 31, for our 4th–12th-graders and Wednesday, September 13, for our 3-year-olds–3rd-graders. All are welcome to join whether you have choir experience or not! Choristers sing in 6–8 church services (depending on age) throughout the school year. Click the link below to register and see rehearsal schedule.

Speaking the Truth in love is a scriptural mandate for Christians, yet our culture today often sees Truth and Love as incompatible. In seeking to engage a hurting world, how can the Church share the Truth of God's Word that makes for human flourishing while speaking from a place of deep empathy and compassion and humility? World-class theologians and scholars who have done deep and thoughtful work on this question will help us engage this challenge both philosophically and practically at this year's Mere Anglicanism Conference. 

Presenters include eminent scholars Sam Allberry, D.A. Carson, John Dickson, Rebecca McLaughlin, Amy Orr-Ewing, Vaughan Roberts, Calvin Robinson, and Carl Trueman. The conference will include two festal worship services: an opening Choral Evensong and a Choral Eucharist, officiated by Diocesan Bishop Chip Edgar and Archbishop Foley Beach, respectively, as well as daily Morning Prayer. 

Dear St. Philip’s Church,

During a visit to Charleston last fall, we met Catherine Jones as we toured the sanctuary. We learned she was a BSF [Bible Study Fellowship] student, as was my wife, Claudette. We took a photo of them together which we’d like to share with you and trust you can get the print to Catherine.

At the Wednesday night service, we left a pastor with some prayer requests for two of my friends who were having health challenges, Jim Vaiana and Todd Teske. Since then, after some time, we can report positive outcomes for both men––and for Jim, a near-miraculous improvement.

We thank you for the prayers. He does hear us.



We also treasure the fellowship in Christ we experienced in the two brief visits to St. Philip’s.

Press on toward the high calling of Christ.

Yours in Christ,

Tom Siekmeier 

Littleton, CO

Pictured above: Catherine Jones (left) with Claudette Siekmeier in October 2022. Catherine is one of several Open Door Ministry volunteers who open the sanctuary to visitors during the week for prayer and reverent touring.

“My house shall be called a house of prayer

for all nations.” ––Isaiah 56:7

“The effective fervent prayers of a righteous

man avail much.” ––James 5:16a



Answered Prayers (Thank You, Lord):

1. For the successful La Gonâve Haiti Partners conference held at St. Philip’s. 2. For the successful gathering of grandparents and grandchildren at the beach. Pray for continued guidance for Sandra Anderson and her team. 3. For Guv Gottshalk and Steve Graudin’s adult forum summer series on Israel. 4. For the ongoing success of the outreach at Henry’s on the Market: Theology on Tap for young adults and Mark Finlay’s men’s group. Bless the owner of Henry’s abundantly. 5. For the good turnout for the Sunday Sundaes event. 6. For the excellent work and workmen restoring our church and buildings. For keeping them safe. 7. For Jeff’s safe return from his vacation. 8. For the recent pouring out of the Holy Spirit in Salem, Oregon, and for the many young people that came to Christ. 9. For the release of the kidnapped nurse and child in Haiti.

The Rev. William K. Christian III is preaching at our services of Holy Eucharist: Rite I at 8:15 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

If you called the church office between about 12:45 and 1:00 a couple of Thursdays ago, chances are you didn't reach anyone, because we were all very busy fawning over the newest addition of the Stahl (of cookie fame) family: Georgie the miniature Bernedoodle!

During his visit, Georgie enthusiastically met the rector, the Rev. Jeffrey S. Miller, and the parish administrator, Chisolm Leonard. If Georgie was offended that Chisolm needed the word "Bernedoodle" repeated, he didn't show it. In fact, he was quite patient each time his lineage was explained to a new admirer (he's half Bernese Mountain Dog, half Miniature Poodle)––but he never could explain to us where the D in Bernedoodle (and Goldendoodle, Sheepadoodle, etc.) comes from.

If you follow St. Philip's on Facebook and Instagram, then you probably already knew about Georgie's visit. But if you're just now hearing the news, don't you think you should take a moment to follow us so that you, too, can be among the first to hear about upcoming events, weather-related schedule updates, and the latest doodle news?

Important Dates

August 19 ~ Canterbury and St. David Beach Retreat

August 27 ~ “Goodbye, Summer!” Summer Send-Off

August 31 ~ Canterbury/St. David choir rehearsals resume

September 1 ~ ADOSC Night at the Riverdogs

September 7 ~ Grandparents@Prayer drop-in (11:00–11:45 a.m. in the Chapel)

September 8 ~ Middle School Youth Group resumes

September 10 ~ Rally Sunday (ministries fair, children’s Sunday school, single service at 10:30, fellowship lunch)

September 10 ~ High School Youth Group resumes

September 13 ~ Wednesdays Alive! resumes

September 13 ~ Wednesday children’s choir rehearsals resume

September 14 ~ Rector’s Bible Study resumes

September 17 ~ Rector’s Forum resumes

October 1 ~ Furniture Drive for Hope to Home

October 20–22 ~ Anglican Women's Retreat

January 18–20, 2024 ~ Mere Anglicanism Conference

We pray for the sick: Sallie Barrera, Tim Bass, Jean Carlton, Babbie and Noel Casey, Diane Christensen, Karen Collins, Silas Cressman, Cullen Crowley, Sally Fayard, Mary Forbes, Dara Heikes, Susan Hemminger, Ken Holden, George Hooks, Marvin Kirkland, Robert Kizer, Wes Lewis, Rena Mack, Allison and Doug McAdams, Alan McNeel, Rene Meyer, Elaine Pendarvis, Eli Penn, Meredith Repik, Sally Rhett, Fran Sanders, Pete Sperr, Margaret Swanson, Jimmy Townsend, Lindsey Wing, and Libby Wright.

We grieve with and pray for Suzanne McCord and family on the death of her sister, Karen Morris Healey, on August 3.

We pray for our expectant parents: Elizabeth and William Bryan, Jill and Alton Phillips.

We pray for protection for Becca Baird, Graham Blunt, William Bruce, Robert Cale III, Henry Clayton, David Daughtridge, Paul Economy, Noah Flowe, Eric Gaines, Morgan and Mason Herring, Andrew Kane, Quin Kane, Horry Kerrison, Frazier Kulze, John Mason, Zach McFadden, Philip Middleton III, Jackson Miller, Edward Pritchard, Nathaniel Rollings, David Scott, and Joey Villeneuve.

We pray for our home and world missions: Lowcountry Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Lowcountry Pregnancy Center, Star Gospel Mission, Suzy McCall and LAMB, for the medical missions to Honduras, for ministry to victims of genocide and AIDS in Rwanda, for the Persecuted Church, for Anglican Frontier Missions, for Uganda Christian University Partners, for Water Mission and the Global Water Center, and for St. Jean Baptiste, our sister church, and the schools in Haiti.

Collect for Sunday:

Almighty God, who hast given thy only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin and also an example of godly life: Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavor ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Readings for Sunday:

• Romans 11:13-24
• Psalm 67
• Matthew 15:21-28