Our Rector announced a few weeks ago that June 6 would be the target date for the lifting of COVID protocols at St. Philip’s, and that day is upon us!

The mask requirement was lifted on May 12, and this Sunday, June 6, will mark a return to almost (pre-pandemic) normal.

• No reservations or check-in at services

• No social distancing required

• No masks required

While some COVID protocols could linger for a little while longer (communion will continue to be in one kind––bread only), we anticipate that Rally Sunday, September 12, will mark a complete return to normal.

Whether they’ve got their diplomas in hand or they haven’t yet walked across that stage, St. Philip’s high school and college seniors are busy planning their next steps.

Jackson Parker Ayers, Porter-Gaud School,

Elizabeth Capers Bradley, Ashley Hall,

Hampton T. T. Davis, Porter-Gaud School,

Henry Mason Dee, Oceanside Collegiate Academy

Nathaniel Cordes Ford, Porter-Gaud School,

Harry Locke Johnson III, Porter-Gaud School,

Lilian Elizabeth O’Dell, Porter-Gaud School,

Virginia Bailey Ohl, South Carolina Virtual Charter School,

Frances Louise O’Shea, Academic Magnet High School,

Evelyn Grace Otis, Academic Magnet High School,

Lucy Deupree Richmond, Charleston County School of the Arts,

Charles Joseph Rohaley, Wando High School,

Robert Geraty Silcox, Wando High School,

Julia McCabe Templeton, Academic Magnet High School,

William Rodney Andrews II, Duke University,

Meredith Amelia Berly, The New School,

First Lieutenant Steven Alexander Boger, Air Force (F-35 B-Course)

Beaumont King Dixon, Boston College,

Mary Doris Freshley, Georgetown University,

Gordon Legare Gibson, Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School,

David Ellis Grubbs, University of South Carolina,

Victoria Wichmann Hipp, Liberty University,

Travis Stewart King, Clemson University,

Bachelor of Arts in Architecture, 

Septima Porcher McAdams, Anderson University,

Harrison Christopher Moss, Clemson University,

Sarah Bailie Silcox, College of Charleston,

During the 10:30 service on June 13, our clergy will say a special prayer for all of our graduates, and our high school graduates will be invited up for a blessing. The names of all of our graduates will also be printed in both bulletins.

If someone in your family graduated this spring or will be graduating in the fall and his or her name is not listed above, please fill out the online form at the link below by next Wednesday, June 9, at 4:30 p.m.

The St. Philip’s Home Missions Team recently partnered with St. John’s Chapel, a mission church in our diocese, to bless the teachers of Simmons-Pinckney Middle School in Charleston’s East Side with an updated lounge.

The teachers now have a Keurig coffee maker and a blender for smoothies and other snacks, plus a four-top table and chair set so they can enjoy their coffee and snacks with their fellow teachers. Two comfortable arm chairs have replaced the folding table in front of the window––it is now a bright and cheery spot to chat or read during free periods.

Please consider volunteering with one of our local mission partners in the future to help fulfill God’s purpose: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

St. Philippian Pringle Franklin recently interviewed Pastor Matthew Rivers of St. John's and his wife, Henrietta. Click the link below to learn the vision he and Henrietta have for St. John's and how God rescued Matt from a self-centered life and opened his eyes to true love.

Mere Christianity began as a series of radio talks during the darkest days of World War II in England. Lewis was asked by the BBC to do the talks because so many people were living in fear and anxiety and were feeling that the world was crumbling around them, that "the wheels had come off the bus." Our culture today is beset with many of those same anxieties, albeit for different reasons. Lewis's broadcast talks were then edited by Lewis and published in book form as Mere Christianity. The book is still remarkably fresh today and serves as an encouragement to the believer, a winsome challenge to the doubter, and an effective apologetic for the unbeliever.

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!

• Youth Group, Fridays at 6:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall (6th-12th grades)

• The inSPIRE/eSPIRE (both biweekly until September)

• College Fellowship

• Wednesdays Alive! services

• Rector’s Bible Study (click here to watch last week's class)

We are pleased to offer preschool camp for babies through age three! The first session is full, but there is still space available at the second session, where the children will enjoy socializing while engaging in age-appropriate activities. (Campers must have been born after September 1, 2017)

The fee per child is $250, and campers do not have to be St. Philip's Preschool students to attend. Space is limited, with preference given for church members and for full-week camp attendance.

Our final Wednesdays Alive! service before summer recess was last Wednesday, and apparently there was some concern about seating availability, because a worm took it upon himself to try to hide out in one of the office bathrooms so that he could make his way over to the sanctuary during the after-hours quiet and get himself seated well before the service.

However, the St. Philip's office is full of rule-followers (both the two-legged and four-legged kinds), so poor Mr. Worm didn't stand a chance of staying in the office over night. Office staff politely let him know he needed to leave, even going so far as to offer him a comfortable ride to the Tea Garden on a paper towel.

If you follow St. Philip's on social media, you already knew about this wiggly visitor, and you are also probably wondering where our sexton-in-training and office helper were this week (one is on an altered schedule following the end of the school year, and the other has been spending most of his time at home working on getting fast enough to catch his own tail––he's actually already caught it a number of times). But if this was new to you and you haven't followed us yet, why don't you take a moment to follow us right now?

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

June 6 ~ Choral Evensong (5:00 p.m., reception to follow)

June 7-11 ~ Preschool Summer Camp (session one––full)

June 13 ~ Senior Recognition in Sunday bulletin and inSPIRE (date change)

June 29 ~ Red Cross Blood Drive (Parish Hall, 12:00-6:00 p.m.)

July 12-16 ~ Preschool Summer Camp (session two)

July 21 ~ Georgia Boy Choir concert (5:30 p.m.)

We pray for the sick: Sam Chesnutt, Diane Christensen, Sarah Clarkson, Patty Cox, Sarah Fayard, Elizabeth Flowers, Mary Forbes, James Gettys III, Robert Gould, Steve Green, Jonathan Hanger, Jack Howell, Clark Johnson, Denise Keranen, Claudia Kolster, Joe Livesay, Connor Lowndes, Brumby McLeod, Beverly Melvin, Steve Melvin, Andrew Nash, Olivia Palmer, Deborah Pollak, Fran Sanders, Rose Tisdale, Mike Walsh, Carolyn Warlick, Lindsey Wing, and Charlie Yoho.

We pray for our expectant parents: Justin and Molly Hare, Tim and Liz Strickland.

We pray for protection for Becca Baird, Chris and Julia Beasley, Graham Blunt, Henry Clayton, Ben Colyer, David Daughtridge, Hayes Fair, Morgan and Mason Herring, Andrew Kane, Horry Kerrison, Charles Kirkman, Frazier Kulze, John Mason, Zach McFadden, 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, for The Persecuted Church, and for St. Jean Baptiste, our sister church, and the schools in Haiti.