The week before Christmas was busy for our Home Missions Team, as they went around to several of our mission partners to distribute the gift cards so generously donated by our St. Philip's family and friends. Deb Ohlendorf, Director of Development at Lowcountry Pregnancy Center, sent this message to the Team:

Thank you again, St. Philip's!

All children ages three and up are invited to sing with the children's choirs of St. Philip's! This semester, since no Sunday School is available, our young people will learn Bible songs and study the corresponding Bible stories. Come learn and sing with us as we look forward to our concert in the church in April!

Questions? Contact Pat Gould at pgould@stphilipschurchsc.org or (843) 364-9552.

Ages 3-4 (Cherub Choir): Wednesdays 4:00–4:30 p.m.

Ages 5-6 (St. Nicholas Choir): Wednesdays 4:30–5:00 p.m.

Ages 7-8 (St. Cecilia Choir): Wednesdays 4:15–5:15 p.m.

Ages 9-high school (Canterbury and St. David Choirs): Thursdays, 6:00-7:30 p.m.

If you're in high school or college and you're looking for a way to earn some money, we may be looking for you! Please contact Pat at pgould@stphilipschurchsc.org or (843) 364-9552 to apply for this position (3:45-5:45 p.m. on Wednesdays).

Epiphany represents the season in the church calendar when Christ was manifested to the Gentiles––the people who were not Jewish––and, later, all people who did not make Him their Lord and Savior. When the Magi visited Jesus at home in Bethlehem, they were among the first, if not the first, Gentiles who recognized Christ as the King of the Jews. When Christ was presented at the Temple in Jerusalem forty days after His birth, a righteous and devout man named Simeon, moved by the Holy Spirit, said it right as he cradled Jesus in his arms. He exclaimed, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation ... a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2).

In my fall Bible study, we studied what “glory” means. We learned that God’s glory is not only manifested in a sparkling pyrotechnic display, as many of us assume, but also as we, His image bearers, extol His name, divine nature, and eternal majesty through Christ’s ministry of forgiveness and reconciliation to all the nations. As we are forgiven and reconciled in our hearts to God, we are free to unfurl the Lord’s glorious light to others— “the Gentiles” who do not know Him—like a ribbon rippling in the wind of His spirit.

It is this image and others that propelled me nineteen years ago to live and serve in Rwanda and then to serve there again, the second time in a completely different place and capacity at the Dufatanye Organization. One theologian, R. DeVries, has written that Christ’s glory, “goes hand in hand with [His] suffering on that hill outside Jerusalem.” He continues, “. . . if the full weight of God’s glory is to enter our lives, it will be as we walk alongside Jesus in the way of the cross.” As I have ministered in Rwanda, this has been true for me.

Have you heard? The St. Philip's Choir has been invited to serve as the resident choir at St. Paul's Cathedral in London the week of August 15–21, 2022! The choir will present Evensong each weekday and sing the Sunday Eucharist service on August 21.

All parishioners are invited to join us on this exciting adventure––you could even come along as a new choir member! The price per person includes hotel, sightseeing, tour bus and guide, breakfast each day, four dinners, and much more (airfare separate), and you will have plenty of time for theater and extra sightseeing. The more people we have traveling, the lower the cost will be––if we have 50 people traveling, the cost will be only $1983 per person! Our first payment of $250 per person will be due at the beginning of August 2021, and final payments are due June 1, 2022.

Would you like to join us as a choir member? All vocal parts are welcome! Rehearsals resume next Wednesday, January 13, at 6:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall. Social distancing and masks are required. We will learn music for Evensong and then present it to our congregation several times this year when we are well prepared.

For more information about London or to audition, please contact Pat at pgould@stphilipschurchsc.org or (843) 364-9552. Above all, please pray for all choir members as we embark on this great adventure!

Ladies, join our weekly discussion group, "Hope and Healing in Marriage: True Stories of Renewed Love," led by author Pringle Franklin! This nine-week study of the stories of real couples dealing with a mixed menu of struggles and issues such as infidelity, alcoholism, abuse, loss of love, destructive anger, the death of a child, and chronic illness will allow you to gain inspiration, hope, encouragement, and insight as you strengthen your marriage and your relationship with God.

The latest edition of our diocese's newspaper, the Jubilate Deo, is out now, and it is chock-full of great reads––several of which were written by St. Philippians! Take a look right now!

Are you on our diocese's email list? Click below to receive the bi-weekly e-news and the quarterly newspaper, the Jubilate Deo, straight to your inbox.

A man needs a deeper understanding of his masculine heart—and why God made him just like that. What if those deep desires in our hearts are telling us the truth, revealing to us the lives we were meant to live? A man must know he is powerful; he must know he has what it takes. The way we handle the heart is everything. Basic is not a retreat about the “seven things a man ought to do to be a nicer guy.” It is a four-day quest into the recovery of a man’s masculine soul, the release of a man’s heart—his passions and his true nature—all given him by God.

Questions? Contact Richard Moore.

Reservations for this Sunday's services of Holy Communion at 8:15 and Morning Prayer at 10:30 open today at 9:00 a.m.

Childcare during the 10:30 service is available for infants and young people through age five, with limited capacities within each age group. You may register at the link below after first registering to attend the 10:30 service, or you may call the church office at (843) 722-7734 to reserve space.

Do you receive Fr. Brian's updates and weekly wrap-up emails? Click here to read his last wrap-up email, and if you'd like to join his email list, let him know!

Your favorite C.S. Lewis scholar had another visit with the folks of "Pints with Jack," and you can listen to the episode TODAY! Subscribe to the "Pints with Jack" podcast on your favorite podcast app, or click the link below to listen through your browser as the Rev. Brian McGreevy talks to host Matt Bush about Screwtape's advice to his nephew, Wormwood, after he messes up!

If you follow St. Philip's, you've already gotten a look at the latest precious pups who came to visit. 8-month-old Master Beau stopped in for a short social call the day before Christmas Eve, while 10-year-old Miss Carly was all business and single-handedly (single-pawedly?) took care of Sunday bulletin printing ahead of the January 3 service.

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Call Juanita Orvin, who will connect you with a prayer minister who will pray for your concerns over the phone.

juanitaorvin@gmail.com or (843) 884-4018

Call Suzanne McCord, head of the prayer chain, and she will pass your request on to members of the chain.

suzanne1959@gmail.com or (843) 224-1630

January 6 ~ Epiphany Service (Holy Communion: Rite I, 5:30 p.m.)

January 18 ~ Martin Luther King Jr. Day

February 17 ~ Ash Wednesday

February 25-28 ~ Men's Retreat (Wild at Heart Basic Bootcamp) at St. Christopher

March 7 ~ Annual Parish Meeting

We pray for the sick: Kelsey Brockbank, Katie Burris, Harry Carr, Elizabeth Colwell, Glenn Corley, Elizabeth Flowers, Mary Forbes, Edward Good, Brooks Goode, Robert Gould, Janet Hanger, Jonathan Hanger, Mac Leppard, Joe Livesay, Connor Lowndes, Beverly Melvin, Leon Patat III, Elaine Pendarvis, Deborah Pollak, Edward Pritchard, Jr., Harold Robling, Charles Truluck, Mike Walsh, Carolyn Warlick, Lindsey Wing, and Charlie Yoho.

We pray for protection for Becca Baird, Chris and Julia Beasley, Graham Blunt, Henry Clayton, Ben Colyer, David Daughtridge, Hayes Fair, George Hoefer, Andrew Kane, Horry Kerrison, Charles Kirkman, Frazier Kulze, John Mason, Philip Middleton III, Jackson Miller, Ned Montgomery, Edward Pritchard, and David Scott serving in our Armed Forces.

We pray for our home missions: Star Gospel Mission, Tricounty Family Ministries, Lowcountry Pregnancy Center, St. John's Chapel, and the Open Door Ministry.

We pray for our world missions: For Suzy McCall and LAMB, for the medical missions to Honduras, for ministry to victims of genocide and AIDS in Rwanda, for Water Mission and the Global Water Center, and for St. Jean Baptiste, our sister church, and the schools in Haiti.