We were blessed with a beautifully sunny and truly spring-like (i.e. low 70s instead of low 90s as in recent years) start to the 2023 St. Philip’s Tea Room on Monday––with only brief showers on Tuesday! We saw lots of familiar faces in familiar places (like our tiara-wearing Dessert Queens keeping the dessert tables and carts stocked, of course), and how beautiful it was to see some of our newer St. Philippians learning the ropes of one of our favorite parish-wide traditions!

Thank you to all who labored and will continue to labor this week––may God bless the many, many hands at work and unite us in our mission of hospitality as we raise funds for our home and world missions, choirs, and youth ministries! In Monday’s email to the volunteers, Tea Room chairs Amanda Ayers and Hope Gamble wrote:

We had so many smiling faces in the Parish Hall and garden, both volunteers and guests. The food was delicious, the desserts were decadent, and the love and hospitality shone throughout the space. Did you see the sweet little girls with their tea cups, having a tea party with their mamas in the garden? Did you hear that beautiful piano music? Or the laughter coming from the dining room? During the opening prayer, Father Bill pointed out that all of us serving were to be evangelists, spreading the love of Jesus to our guests, to our community, and to each other through our hospitality. Volunteers, I’d say we were successful in this charge. Thank you for your time, your hard work, and your love today.

Dining room help needed––no experience necessary!

Diners are also needed! Please join us for lunch and encourage family, friends, and coworkers to join us, too!

And we always need dessert, of course! Current needs: Cake! Chocolate, coconut, caramel––whatever you like to bake ... and key lime and lemon pies!

Proceeds from the Tea Room benefit St. Philip's foreign and home missions, St. Philip's choirs, and youth ministries.

Tea Room Week Schedule Changes

• TONIGHT: Wednesdays Alive! service only (no supper or class)
• TOMORROW: Rector’s Bible Study in recess

About 25 people gathered for a Generations Ministry wine and cheese at the lovely home of Amy and Joe Anderton on Sullivan’s Island. Sandra Anderson, who recently took over as the head of ministry, shared her vision for the upcoming year and encouraged grandparents to commit to praying for their grandchildren and being intentional about having a relationship with them. To learn more about the ministry and to join the Generations Ministry email list, click the links below.

All are invited to witness the confirmation, reception, and reaffirmation of our adult candidates next Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. The Rt. Rev. Chip Edgar III will be preaching. A reception in the Parish Hall will follow. The Rev. Brian McGreevy’s C.S. Lewis class will not meet, and our regular Wednesdays Alive! service, supper, and class will resume May 10.

The Rev. Andrew R. O'Dell (pictured above, far right) wishes to thank this semester’s Foundations helpers––we couldn’t have done it without you! The next offering of Foundations will begin in the fall. Thank you to Rhett Smith, Louisa Aldrich, Tommy Kerns, Leigh Rowe, and Kevin Gravely!

The Rev. Justin Hare returned from Rwanda on Sunday! He had made the journey to attend GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference), and he also spent time with the Dufatanye Organization, one of our world mission partners. Read about his time overseas in next week’s inSPIRE!

Photo courtesy of Dufatanye Organization (Instagram)

There are many Christians in my practice as a family doctor in North Charleston, and it is not uncommon for us to speak the things of God together. While I was sharing with a pastor’s wife named Shannon Sims about Mere Anglicanism, the conference St. Philip’s hosted in January which this year focused on C.S. Lewis, she immediately responded that she and her husband had been missionaries to Thailand for five years and had used the film adaptations of The Chronicles of Narnia, particularly The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, as an evangelical tool.

She and her husband were sponsored in Bangkok, a land where they did not speak the language. She said it was the hardest thing that they had ever done, yet it was the best thing they had ever done with their four sons.

Seniors of St. Philip’s, you’re invited on a special outing to beautiful Millford Plantation in Pinewood, SC! (And while we anticipate most guests will be 60 and over, we will happily welcome anyone who’d like to come!) 

Schedule: The bus will depart from St. Philip’s promptly at 8:45 a.m. and will return at about 4:30 p.m. Parking for your vehicles will be available in the church lot. 

Cost: $145 per person, which includes coach fare, lunch at Summerton Diner, entrance fee for our group’s private tour of Millford Plantation, and all gratuities. 

Questions? Kitti Mullins: kittimullins@aol.com or (843) 224-9595

The Rev. Bill Christian: bchristian@stphilipschurchsc.org or (854) 429-1939

This event is capped at 40 guests, so register soon!

We will be recognizing our hardworking high school and college seniors on Senior Recognition Sunday on May 21 and in that week’s inSPIRE (mailed and emailed May 17). If someone in your family is graduating this spring, please submit his or her information at the link below!

Register Today for Camp Jubilee!

The Rev. Andrew R. O'Dell is preaching at our services of Holy Eucharist: Rite I at 8:15 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

Lots of Visitors for Tea Room Week!

So many interesting characters come out of the woodwork (and woods!) during Tea Room week—and it’s only just begun! It all started when organist and choirmaster Chris Walchesky made an appearance on campus on Monday, enjoying lunch and providing some live music in the dining room, which in itself may not seem terribly interesting, but since Chris is one of our "Sunday staffers," this may very well have been the first time any of us have seen him on a Monday!

Yesterday, Mayor Tecklenburg paid us a visit and reprised his role as Tea Room accompanist, tickling the ivories as baritone Robert Dickson sang "Summertime." Yesterday also happened to be Robert's 80th birthday, and our Rector, who had been dining with the rest of the clergy team, led the patrons and dining room staff in a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" while the mayor played along.

Later in the afternoon, a squirrel popped into the courtyard outside of the church office, eager for a St. Philip’s Shrimp Salad plate and a slice of bourbon pecan pie, but unfortunately, he had not read his eSPIRE carefully enough, and he showed up 30 minutes past closing time! Although he managed to make a decent meal out of birdseed, we expect he will be back today to try again for his Lowcountry lunch!

Finally, we saw Bishop Lawrence, who claimed to be on campus for an ALI meeting, but we know why he was really here: Miss Em's Lady Baltimore cake! Miss Em (or Mrs. Whipple, depending on your age), who delights Tea Room patrons with her Lady Baltimore cake every year, kindly delivered one just for the clergy and staff––of course we were happy to share with the Bishop Emeritus of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina!

If you follow St. Philip's on social media, you already knew about our parade of visitors, but if this is this the first you're hearing about it, why don't you take a moment right now to click the links below and give us a follow so that you, too, can be among the first to know about visitors we deem interesting, weather-related schedule updates, and other breaking news?

Important Dates

April 26 ~ No supper or class following Wednesdays Alive! service

April 27 ~ Rector’s Bible Study in recess

April 28–29~ Southeastern Intentional Grandparenting Conference

April 30 ~ Shine the Light Capital Campaign Launch (9:30 a.m. presentation, noon celebration lunch)

May 1~ Lowcountry Fellowship of Christian Athletes Annual Fundraising Banquet

May 3 ~ Adult Confirmation (6:00 p.m.), reception following

May 4 ~ Grandparents@Prayer Drop-In (11:00–11:45 in the Chapel)

May 9 ~ Generations Ministry Dessert and Q&A with Jeff Miller

May 11 ~ ECW Spring Social (6:00 p.m.)

May 12 ~ Seniors’ Excursion to Millford Plantation

May 21 ~ Senior Recognition Sunday

June 19-22 ~ Vacation Bible School (VBS)

June 26–30 ~ GrandCamp 2023

We pray for the sick: Johnny Anderson, Sallie Barrera, Tim Bass, Elizabeth Bowles, Tory Bowles, Diane Christensen, Karen Collins, Cullen Crowley, Sally Fayard, Mary Forbes, Dana Heikes III, Susan Hemminger, Susan Keenan, Marvin Kirkland, Robert Kizer, Thomas Legaré, Libby LeLand Puckette, Wes Lewis, Rena Mack, Elaine Pendarvis, Eli Penn, Bill Phillipps, Fran Sanders, Joanna Sparks, Pete Sperr, Margaret Swanson, Jenny White, and Lindsey Wing.

We pray for our expectant parents: Sarah Beth and Devin Angel, Kimbrell and Bruce Blackwood; Elizabeth and William Bryan; Ainsley and Dominic Monda; and Demontre and Minka Parish.

We pray for protection for Becca Baird, Graham Blunt, Robert Cale III, Henry Clayton, David Daughtridge, 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, 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:

O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of thy people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calleth us each by name, and follow where he doth lead; who, with thee and the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever.Amen.

Readings for Sunday:

• Nehemiah 9:6–15
• Psalm 23
• John 10:1-11