At last night's meeting, the Vestry overwhelmingly approved a return to corporate worship on August 23.

We will be announcing protocol in the days to come, but rest assured that we will continue to broadcast the services for those who are unable to attend or who are not yet comfortable with returning.

Tune into our streaming site this Friday, August 7, at 7:00 p.m. for a very special "Quaranconcert" featuring tenor Johnathan White, with our very own director of music, Pat Gould, accompanying on piano and organ! Music will include some beautiful sacred solos as well as some of your favorite Broadway tunes. This is a gift to the parish from Johnathan and Pat, one we hope will bring you joy and comfort in a time of uncertainty and isolation.

We hope you can catch the stream so that we can all watch (and chat!) together, but if you can't make it at 7:00, no worries! The video will also be available on our Vimeo and YouTube channels after the stream.

I stand before you a proud daughter and granddaughter of two United States Marines. I am very proud of my military heritage and the service of these two great men in my life. I'm proud of my brother, who also served in the United States Marine Corps. But above all I am proud of the young people of our church who have stepped up and answered their country’s call to join the armed services and serve our great nation here at home and abroad.

Have you ever really noticed the prayer we say each and every Sunday for these precious young people who protect you and me each and every day? Listen to the words carefully and take them in:

I recently joined the St. Philip's Compassion Committee as a notewriter, and for me it is a distinct honor and privilege to write to these young people. It can be a huge boost in morale for service members to get letters from home and loved ones, but it also makes a huge difference to them knowing their home church cares about how they are doing and that we are praying for them.

The Most Reverend Foley Beach, Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, will install the Rev. Ryan Streett as rector of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Madison, Mississippi, tomorrow, August 6, at 5:00 p.m. Central Time (6:00 p.m. Eastern), and you're invited to watch live on YouTube!

Because of the pandemic, Father Ryan was not able to have the Rev. Jeff Miller preach at the service as he had hoped, but we in Charleston can count the church's decision to limit the congregation to vestry and family only and stream the service as one of our pandemic blessings, since we'll be able to watch! We'll also get to "meet" Fr. Ryan's assistant, who will be ordained during the first half of the service.

Please continue to pray for Fr. Ryan, his wife, Anna, and their children as they begin their new life in Madison. They are currently in an apartment eagerly awaiting the day they can move into their new house (September 1!), which comes complete with chicken coops in the backyard. "You'd better believe we're getting some chickens!" he tells us. We believe it, Fr. Ryan!

The Rev. Justin Hare, Assistant to the Rector for Young Adult and College Ministry, is officially part of the staff at St. Philip's! Our numbers were pretty much back up to normal this week with David Gilbert and the Rev. Andrew O'Dell back from their travels, so Fr. Justin got a good introduction to what has become our "normal" staff meeting. Fr. Jeff explained to him how the "Hollywood Squares" work, Fr. Marc opened us up in prayer, and we were off! Nebraska-native Rachel Murphy shared some notes on her discussions with the Wedding Guild before telling us about her youngest sister Elizabeth, otherwise known as "Sister Number Three," who visited over the weekend and saw the Atlantic for the very first time! We heard from Joy Avera, who celebrated her anniversary with her husband, Mark, last week, and will be celebrating her dad's 92nd birthday this weekend.

After that, the theme of the meeting seemed to be "idioms and phrases," as we all seemed to learn some new ones. Angela Clark got a kick out of "the ox is in the ditch," which came up early on. "Good luck, Lee!" she warned her preschool co-director, apparently expecting to use it quite often. Seemingly grateful for a new phrase, she paid it forward later on when Ben Singleton mentioned the somewhat scary situation he would be facing very soon: his only daughter, Samantha, heading off to college. Angela encouraged him to use this one: "I pay all the bills. I have all the say." Another member of the staff encouraged him simply to tell his daughter to stay away from the three B's: beer, boys, and balconies.

Although we've all settled fairly well into this way of life, of working remotely and seeing the two-dimensional versions of each other, there's a definite desire to move on, and we were so happy to hear that we might see each other in person on August 23 during worship. But of course, some people will still be in isolation then, or will not yet feel comfortable gathering. If you're unsure how to proceed, or if you're feeling lonely or withdrawn, please do reach out to us by filling out the questionnaire at the link below, or calling one of the priests directly. Your St. Philip's family is here for you and eager to help you however you need!

The Rev. Jeff Miller: (843) 812-0556

The Rev. Andrew O'Dell: (843) 639-9084

The Rev. Marc Boutan: (843) 737-1277

The Rev. Brian McGreevy: (843) 793-9830

The Rev. Justin Hare (843) 478-3443

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

Dear fellow pilgrims,

What a joy it has been to walk through this extraordinary book with you for most of the past year! I am so grateful for your commitment and encouragement as we have all sought to learn from the wisdom of the Scriptures expressed by Lewis in The Screwtape Letters. My prayer for all of us is that we will lean into Godly habits that will annoy the Devil, help form our worldview, and enable us to live boldly Christian lives.

If you have enjoyed this class, I would encourage you to prayerfully consider who God might put on your heart to share the podcast or church website with so as to multiply its impact. Several folks have reached out to me recently who had been told about it by friends and ended up finding the class to be a blessing that the Lord used powerfully in their lives.

I have attached below the materials from last week, as well as a summary of all the emails I have sent out since last September. My hope is that as you review these prayerfully, you will be challenged to put into practice some of these habits in a way that will draw you more deeply into following Jesus.

Here is last week's summary of the habits from "Screwtape Proposes a Toast," plus takeaways from the class and my "Top Twenty" list from the class as a whole:

I will keep you posted on plans for future classes and meanwhile commend to you all the resources on the St. Philip's website. If you want to dig deeper into Lewis, there are two other classes there and on Apple podcast you may want to check out: "C.S. Lewis and the Christian Life" and "The Fellowship: Lewis, Tolkien, and the Inklings."

Many blessings to you and yours during the rest of this summer, and now receive this blessing from Jude 24-25:

Further up and further in,

Brian+

This week, the Rev. Marc Boutan oce again offered up his reflection and song of praise on Tuesday, and Thursday, the Rev. Brian McGreevy will be taking a look at one of the great hymns of the church. If you haven't yet seen all of the offerings, or if you'd like to rewatch, click the top link below. And if you're not yet on the list to receive the video links by email, click the bottom link to sign up.

We regretfully announce that we are not moving forward with our annual parish retreat at this time as we’ve received word from Kanuga staff that they will not be hosting any groups this fall.

Looking for inspiration? Why don't you tell us about a time you saw God especially at work in your life, or about how worship has changed for you in the past few months, or about how you pray? Whatever you'd like to tell us about, we can't wait to hear it!

Send your story to inSPIRE editor Lea Andrews at landrews@stphilipschurchsc.org.

Hurricane season is now, and now is the time to prepare. While most of us in the lowcountry were spared damage from Tropical Storm Isaias, others suffered greatly. We never know how bad the effects of a natural disaster will be, so we must prepare ahead of time, even if that means preparing to get help afterwards. This is where the St. Philip's Disaster Relief Team comes in. The Team's mission is to provide help, assistance, and hope to our parishioners and neighbors in times of extreme crisis by offering comfort and minor emergency repairs.

We have a network of parishioners who are willing and able to respond when they are called via our phone tree. We have two points of the phone tree and geographic coordinators for most of the tri-county area already in place. We are always happy to welcome new volunteers!

We pray for the sick: Harold Arnold, Jr., Kelsey Brockbank, Katie Burris, Hal Dyer, Elizabeth Flowers, Mary Forbes, Robert Gould, Janet Hanger, Jonathan Hanger, Amy Kittrell, Reed Kurtz, Joe Livesay, Alan McNeel, Rogers Moore, Benjamin Schools, Mike Walsh, Lindsey Wing, and Vereen Woodward.

We pray for our expectant parents: Torrey and Ryan Knapp.

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, 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 Committee.

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 10/40 Tribal Commission, for Water Mission, and for St. Jean Baptiste, our sister church, and the schools in Haiti.