Dear St. Philip’s family,

On March 6th of 2022, we will hold our Annual Parish Meeting. During that meeting, we will elect the next class of leaders to serve on the Vestry. At our September meeting, the Vestry appointed Todd Brown (Senior Warden), Kat Phillips (Junior Warden), Elizabeth Hagood, Robby Marion, Connie Rink, Gantt Folline, Bob Kunes, and Bill Warlick to serve as a nominating committee.

The goal is for this to be a Spirit-led process, executed by the Vestry and blessed by the clergy. The challenges associated with COVID, particularly the reduced personal parishioner interaction, led us to start the nomination process earlier than previous years. We encourage you to spend time in prayer concerning this matter and to allow the Lord to lay on your heart individuals that might well serve the church in this leadership position. We ask that you not contact the person regarding your nomination as the names submitted will be held in confidence by the committee. After committee review and prayer, qualified candidates will be contacted by the committee regarding their interest in serving.

Several members of the St. Philip’s clergy and staff team participated recently in the initial CPR/AED (automated external defibrillator) training class, and you'll have your own chance to receive the same training tomorrow! Every additional person trained increases the safety of our congregation. Participants will learn the importance of quick CPR and use of an AED in the event of a cardiac emergency. The class focuses on the American Heart Association chain of survival: recognition of a cardiac emergency, 911 call, quick CPR administration, and early use of an AED.

This class is at an especially convenient time for those attending the Rector's Bible Study! Please email Doug Ringer at ringdoug@gmail.com or phone him at (423) 827-6596 if you wish to participate tomorrow or in the future. Classes will continue to be scheduled for Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. for now, but we will be working on evening or weekend options shortly.

The name change coincides with a planned expansion of the 501(c)3 nonprofit’s services. Neighbors Together plans to address homelessness by developing seven apartment units at 1914 Reynolds Ave. in North Charleston to serve as temporary housing for single mothers and their children. While they will continue to offer groceries, hygiene products, and clothing for neighbors in need, they also hope to better address health needs by increasing cancer screenings, matching foods with clients’ medically prescribed diets, and offering telehealth appointments to address mental health needs. By researching grant options, they also plan to expand job training to include courses for such in-demand jobs as front-of-house restaurant staff and certified nursing assistants, while a new computer lab will enable Neighbors Together to become a hub for job searches and resumé building. 

According to the Neighbors Together website, the name change reflects the transformation they have seen when people come together to help each other. “After all, we are neighbors together.” Please continue to pray for our mission partner under their new name, and learn more about their ministry at their new website, neighborstogethersc.org.

Grandparents, did you miss the Generations Ministry kick-off coffee event, or would you like to give guest speakers Tim and Sherri Stringer another listen?

You’re in luck, because audio from the event is available on our website! Click the link below to listen.

Congratulations and thank you to Jill Jones, the winner of the "Name That Column" contest! Jill received a copy of Never Too Late by Rob Reinow for her creativity. Look for the November installment of "Godly Grandparenting Matters" in next week's inSPIRE and eSPIRE!

If you attended church in person on Sunday, you likely noticed the scaffolding on the north side of the church. Please pardon our appearance as we pinpoint trouble spots and attend to some much-needed repairs.

Regenerate is a high school youth group retreat at Camp St. Christopher. It will run Friday night, November 12th, through Sunday, November 14th at noon. It is an incredible opportunity to get together with other high schoolers from the diocese and worship, study, and grow in your faith.

If your 9th-12th grader is interested in attending, please email David Gilbert by this Sunday, October 31, with your child's name, date of birth, and T-shirt size. The cost for the weekend is $140, which covers cabin rental and meals.

About the film: An elder C.S. Lewis looks back on his remarkable journey from hard-boiled atheist to the most renowned Christian writer of the past century.

The Most Reluctant Convert features award-winning actor Max McLean as the older Lewis and Nicholas Ralph––breakout star of PBS Masterpiece’s All Creatures Great and Small––as young Lewis. Beautifully filmed in and around Oxford, this engaging biopic follows the creator of The Chronicles of Narnia from the tragic death of his mother when he was just nine years old, through his strained relationship with his father, to the nightmare of the trenches of World War I to Oxford University, where friends like J.R.R. Tolkien challenge his unbelief.

Written for the screen and directed by two-time Emmy and BAFTA winner Norman Stone (BBC’s Shadowlands), The Most Reluctant Convert brings to life the spiritual evolution of one the 20th century’s sharpest minds and keenest wits.

If you would like to receive updates such as schedule changes and weather-related cancellations and you are not already on the Rector's Bible Study email list, please join by filling out the form at the link below.

Youth group is open to all 6th–12th-graders of St. Philip’s and the surrounding community. Plan to play hard and pray hard. Questions? Contact youth minister David Gilbert at dgilbert@stphilipschurchsc.org or (843) 708-3795.

The Rev. Justin C. Hare will be preaching this Sunday at our services of Holy Communion at 8:15 and 10:30 a.m.

On Monday, a jumping spider determined to attend last night's ECW Fall Dinner hitched a ride into the church office on a UPS package. The eager arachnid was a full 33 hours early to the event, the first event for Every Church Woman in over 18 months!

As you may remember from the situation we had with the inchworm who tried to spend the night in the office ahead of a Wednesdays Alive! service, we do not allow overnight guests, so we escorted her out to the Tea Garden, where we told her she was free to rest and dine on any snacks that crawled or flew her way until it was time to head to the Parish Hall the next evening.

If you follow St. Philip’s on social media, you already knew about our spider friend’s little adventure. But if this is news to you, why don’t you take a minute to visit us on Facebook and Instagram and click the like or follow buttons so that you, too, can be among the first to hear stories like this?

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

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

frichards7@aol.com or (843) 345-8797

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

Nov. 3 ~ Men’s Lunch (12 noon in the Parish Hall)

Nov. 3 ~ No C.S. Lewis class

Nov. 6 ~ Lowcountry Walk for Life

Nov. 7 ~ All Saints' Fellowship Brunch (12 noon in the Parish Hall)

Nov. 9 ~ Theology on Tap (7:00 p.m., Henry’s on the Market)

Nov. 14 ~ Choral Evensong (5:00 p.m. in the church)

Nov. 20 ~ Cursillo Fall Clean-Up Day at Camp St. Christopher

Nov. 24 ~ No printed inSPIRE (Thanksgiving week)

Nov. 24 ~ Church office closes at 1:00 p.m.

Nov. 24 ~ No Wednesdays Alive! service, class, or supper

Nov. 25 ~ Thanksgiving Day Service (10:00 a.m.)

We pray for the sick: Charles Cornwell, Gerry Dickinson, Sally Fayard, Mark and Cindy Fields, Elizabeth Flowers, Mary Forbes, Dave Gund, Mary Anne Hanckel, Susan Hemminger, John Jerger, Claudia Kolster, Joe Livesay, Connor Lowndes, Lucille MacLennan, Sarah Marshall, Beverly Melvin, John Murray, Juanita Orvin, Olivia Palmer, Isla Pearce, Mave Riggs, Valerie Rouillard, Fran Sanders, Jay Schrimpf, Larry Scoville, Lynne Scoville, Jason Stryker, Sidney Vandiford, Hope Walters, and Lindsey Wing.

We pray for our expectant parents: Kimbrell and Bruce Blackwood, Justin and Molly Hare.

We pray for protection for Becca Baird, Chris and Julia Beasley, Graham Blunt, Henry Clayton, Ben Colyer, David Daughtridge, Hayes Fair, Tripp Hathaway, Morgan and Mason Herring, Andrew Kane, Horry Kerrison, Frazier Kulze, John Mason, Zach McFadden, Philip Middleton III, Jackson Miller, Edward Pritchard, Nathaniel Rollings, and David Scott serving in our Armed Forces.

We pray for our home missions: Star Gospel Mission, Neighbors Together, Lowcountry Pregnancy Center, and St. John's Chapel.

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.