Water Mission, one of our mission partners, will be shipping out a variety of materials to a large financial partner who is making a donation in honor of 400 potential partners in the Charlotte area. Can you be there to lend a hand with the shipment along with the Home Missions Team? Please contact Jill Settle at jillasettle@gmail.com or call her at (843) 697-0818 with questions! 

The whole parish is invited to help prepare the sanctuary for our celebration of the Nativity! Bring gloves and clippers for yourself if you have them and a breakfast treat to share. All helping hands are welcome––there will be tasks for all activity levels!

If you would like to make a contribution to the Christmas Flower Fund as a memorial or in thanksgiving for a loved one, please submit your loved ones' info at the link below. After you complete the form, you may pay online through the giving page of our website (select "Christmas Flowers" from the dropdown menu), or you may send a check payable to St. Philip’s Church to the church office (attn: Juli Garland, Christmas Flowers).

The angel trees are leaving after Sunday's services! But there's still time to make someone's Christmas. Here's how!

1 . Take an ornament home as a reminder (and as our gift to you!). 2. Purchase one or more $25 gift cards from Walmart or scan the QR code on the ornament tag to visit Lowcountry Pregnancy Center’s Amazon Wish List or Lowcountry FCA’s donation page (dedicate to "St. Philip’s Angel Tree").  3. Return the gift card at any church service or bring it to the office by Monday, December 18, at 9:00 a.m.

Remember, the ornament is yours to keep!

Now in recess: Sunday School, Rector’s Forum (resume Jan. 7)

Today: Final inSPIRE/eSPIRE mailing (resumes Jan. 10)

Tonight: Final Wednesdays Alive! service/supper/class (resumes Jan. 24)

Tomorrow: Final Rector’s Bible Study (resumes Jan. 25)

Friday: Final Middle School Youth Group (resumes January 5)

Sunday: Final High School Youth Group (resumes January 7)

December 25–January 1: Church office closed (in the event of a pastoral emergency while the office is closed, please contact the Rev. Bill Christian at 843-327-0791.)

Grandmothers' Brunch

Thursday, January 4

10:00 a.m. in the Parish Hall

Generations Ministry invites all grandmothers to attend a brunch for fellowship and a well-earned rest from the holidays! In addition to enjoying a wonderful brunch menu, you will hear about the 2024 opportunities we will be offering to help grandparents be intentional in growing the faith of their grandchildren nearby and faraway. After the brunch, everyone is encouraged to go to the chapel for an opportunity to pray silently and individually for your grandchildren at our monthly Grandparents@Prayer drop-in. All are welcome––bring a friend!  

Foundations: A Journey of Faith

with the Rev. Andrew R. O’Dell

Sundays at 9:30 a.m. in Philadelphia Alley beginning January 7

Foundations is one of the best ways to get connected at St. Philip's. This semester-long course explores the foundational beliefs of the Christian faith in an environment that allows for conversation and connection. For those who feel led to join St. Philip's, the class will culminate in the service of Confirmation when the bishop makes his annual visitation (typically on the Sunday after Easter). Both newcomers to the church and longtime members will find the journey of Foundations to be an enriching, encouraging, and spiritually enlightening experience!

Mere Anglicanism Conference

January 18–20, 2024

Charleston Music Hall

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 will help us engage this challenge both philosophically and practically at this year's conference.

GrandCamp

June 17–21, 2024

Epworth-By-The-Sea

St. Simon's Island, GA

GrandCamp is a fun-filled overnight camp experience for grandparents and their grandchildren who have completed 1st through 5th grades. This wonderful gathering will take place amidst the oaks of Epworth By the Sea Conference Center, on beautiful St. Simon’s Island, Georgia.

Fourth Sunday in Advent Worship

December 24 ~ livestream available

• 10:30 a.m.: Morning Prayer (no sermon, no 8:15 service, no nursery or children's church)

Christmas Eve Worship

livestream available

The Rev. Jeffrey S. Miller, preacher (7:30 and 10:30 p.m. only)

• 4:30 p.m.: Children’s Christmas Pageant and Holy Eucharist (no sermon)
• 7:30 p.m.: Holy Eucharist (with orchestra and the Canterbury and St. David Choirs)
• 10:30 p.m.: Holy Eucharist (with orchestra and the St. Philip’s Choir)

Christmas Day Worship

in-person only

The Rev. William K. Christian III, homilist

• 10:00 a.m.: Holy Eucharist

This Morning: Morning Prayer

Wednesdays at 8:00 a.m. in the Chapel

The Rev. Andrew R. O'Dell is preaching at our services of Holy Eucharist at 8:15 and 10:30 a.m. Sunday school and adult classes, including the Rector's Forum, are in recess and will resume January 7.

You Can Probably Get Some If You Leave Right Now

If you've spent any amount of time in the church office, you've likely noticed a few things, like ... we get a lot of leftovers. A lot. And we're always excited about them.

We all have our favorites, though. Some of us can't get enough of Connie's beef stew. Others think the chicken marbella is an absolutely heavenly blend of chicken and prunes. (Until chicken marbella came along, who knew "prunes" and "heavenly" could ever belong in a sentence together?)

But yesterday, with the arrival of the Wassail Bowl leftovers, which included a tray from Hamby's, we were given an opportunity to add some new favorites to the list. And boy, did Chisolm Leonard find his.

Was it the deviled eggs? The pecan raisin crisps? The mini tomato pies? No, it was the pickled carrots. And after declaring them the best carrots he'd ever tasted––pickled, regular, or otherwise––he doubled down a few minutes later with, "These are going to ruin me for all other carrots."

Yes, folks, they were darned good carrots. And we expect that Chisolm's endorsement, which we posted to our stories, will likely lead to a Lowcountry-wide shortage, especially since Hamby's themselves shared it on their own account. Go get your carrots now, folks. Right now.

If you follow us on social media, you've already been hankering for the sweet heat of a pickled carrot, but if you don't ... why not? Take a minute right now to give us a follow so that you, too, can be among the first to hear about schedule changes, special events, and the staff's rants and raves.

Important Dates

December 13 ~ Final Wednesdays Alive! of 2023

December 14 ~ Final Rector’s Bible Study of 2023

December 15 ~ The Greening of the Church (9:00 a.m.)

December 15 & 17 ~ Final youth group meetings of 2023 

December 24 ~ Fourth Sunday in Advent worship service (10:30 only, no sermon) 

December 24 ~ Christmas Eve services (4:30, 7:30, 10:30 p.m.)

December 25 ~ Christmas Day service (10:00 a.m.)

December 25–January 1 ~ Church office closed

January 4 ~ Grandmothers’ Brunch (10:00 a.m.)

January 4 ~ Grandparents@Prayer Drop-In (11:00–11:45 a.m. in the chapel)

January 7 ~ Sunday School, Rector’s Forum resume

January 10 ~ Monthly Men’s Lunch (noon)

January 18–20, 2024 ~ Mere Anglicanism Conference

January 24 ~ Wednesdays Alive! resumes

January 25 ~ Rector’s Bible Study resumes

February 3~ Parish Oyster Roast (Egleston residence)

We pray for the sick: Beau Brogdon, Diane Christensen, Karen Collins, Steve Darling, Mary Forbes, Pat Gould, Steve Graudin, Emily Meyer Hall, Jason Hamshaw, Myron Harrington, Ken King, Marvin Kirkland, Nancy Love, Charlie Lyddane, Rena Mack, Clifton Orvin, Eric Panizza, Lou Parker, Fran Sanders, Ava Singleton, Pete Sperr, Sarah Tisdale, Ginny Townsend, and Lindsey Wing.  

We grieve with and pray for Covell Rogers and family on the death of her sister, Anne Terrell Masters, on November 30.

We grieve with and pray for Jill Settle and family on the death of her brother, Marcus (Marc) Owens Ackerman, on December 7. 

We pray for our expectant parents: Becca Baird and Louis Duffie, Katy and Andrew Brown, Liesl and Luke Cressman, Lexi Meyer and Pat Ozog, Amy and Michael Rabb.

We pray for protection for those serving in the armed forces: Becca Baird, Janie Baird, Henry Clayton, David Daughtridge, Eric Gaines, Andrew Kane, Quin Kane, Horry Kerrison, Frazier Kulze, John Mason, Julia Middleton, Philip Middleton III, Jackson Miller, Edward Pritchard, Nathaniel Rollings, and David Scott.

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 the Third Sunday in Advent:

O Lord Jesus Christ, who at thy first coming didst send thy messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Grant that the ministers and stewards of thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at thy second coming to judge the world, we may be found an acceptable people in thy sight; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Readings for Sunday:

• Isaiah 65:17-25
• Psalm 126
• John 1:19–28