We are thrilled to share the news that Dorothy Hanckel Lancaster has accepted the call to serve as our next Director of Ministry to Children and Families. As a lifelong member of the parish, Dorothy is known to many in the St. Philip’s family, and she brings to the ministry team a deep joy for helping children grow in the knowledge and love of the Lord. In fact, Dorothy served as our Children’s Director for sixth months in 2000 before she and her husband, Gregg, relocated to Germany for two years. Dorothy has also served in many other aspects of the life of the parish, including as a member of the Vestry and as a Sunday School teacher. She has always had a desire to help plant seeds of faith in children’s hearts and to encourage parents in the spiritual upbringing of their children.

Dorothy and Gregg have been married for 21 years and have three children: Mary Kathryn, 17; Anne, 15; and Palmer, 10. Dorothy homeschooled her children for nine years, and for the past three years, she has worked as the Assistant Director for a local Christian preschool. Dorothy will begin part-time in June and will come on full-time in August. She is looking forward to getting to know those of you whom she doesn’t already know and is excited for the opportunity to serve the church in this ministry.

Please join us tonight at 5:30 for our midweek service of come-as-you-are Holy Communion! The Rev. Justin C. Hare will be giving the homily, while the Rev. Marc Boutan will be leading the praise team in worship music.

This will be our last Wednesdays Alive! service before the summer recess. Please note that beginning June 2, Mere Christianity on Zoom will begin at 5:30 instead of 7:15.

This past Saturday night, May 22, Mount Nyiragongo erupted in Goma, Congo, just across the border form Rwanda. The volcano is only one hour’s drive from my home in Rwanda, where I lived for almost six years. This town is named Musanze, but it was named Ruhengeri when I lived there. You can easily find it on a map and see how close it is to the volcanic site.

Towering over Congo and Rwanda, the 11,385 ft. high Mount Nyiragongo is currently one of the world’s most active and deadly volcanoes. Initial estimates are that thirty-five people died from the recent eruption. According to the Weather Channel, over a dozen people died in car accidents while trying to evacuate. Lava hit the homes of one neighborhood and destroyed over one thousand homes, killing at least thirty-two people. On Monday, families walking across a wide expanse of the cooling lava died from the poisonous gases. Over thirty thousand people have fled their homes, and many have streamed like a long line of ants into nearby Rwanda.

If you or someone in your family is graduating this spring (or graduated in December), please submit the information at the link below (if you haven't already).

If you're not sure whether you've submitted, check here.

Tomorrow's the day, folks––if you haven't yet seen for yourself why the best way to spend your Thursday lunch hour is on Zoom with the Reverend Jeffrey S. Miller, check it out tomorrow! Your assignment last week was to figure out where you're going to be when you tune in––on your own sofa? At a bistro table on the patio of a coffee shop? Sharing a screen on your friend's porch? Wherever you've chosen, be there at noon tomorrow with a sandwich (if you want one), your Bible, and a good wifi connection so you can click the link below and join the group! First-timers are welcome––even on the last day before summer recess! See you (on Zoom) then!

If you're in your 20s or 30s and you haven't yet connected with the Rev. Justin Hare, you've been missing out! Justin and the rest of the young adult crew recently enjoyed some fun in the sun, and more activities are on tap––contact Justin and join the fun by clicking below!

Summer is almost here, which means it's almost time for "Endless Summer" youth group at St. Philip's, when the 6th–12th-graders of St. Philip's and the surrounding community meet up on Fridays at 6:00 p.m. for games, a teaching, prayer, and fellowship!

Friday, 5/28: Middle School Youth Group (6:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall)

Sunday, 5/30: High School Youth Group (off-campus)

Friday, June 11: Youth Group Endless Summer (6:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall)

Reservations for this Sunday's services of Holy Communion at 8:15 and 10:30 a.m. open today at 9:00 a.m. Children's worship and childcare during the 10:30 service are available for infants and young people through third grade, with limited capacities within each age group. You may register for childcare at the link below after first registering to attend the 10:30 service, or you may call the church office at (843) 722-7734 to reserve space.

The church office will be closed and the cemetery will be not be open to visitors on Monday, May 31, in observance of Memorial Day.

In the event of a pastoral emergency, please call or text the Rev. Bill Christian at (843) 327-0791.

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.

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!

You may recall that sexton-in-training Cecilia Walchesky, who passed the 24-month milestone in April, receives payment for her services in the form of jellybeans, candy corn, and various chocolate candies. You probably assumed that those chocolate candies were of the milk chocolate variety, the variety of choice for the under-360-month set.

While you would be correct most of the time, that would not have been the case the other day, as young Walchesky discovered herself midway through the "chew" portion of the paycheck deposit. Yes, the worst had happened: she had received dark chocolate as payment.

Now, there are two sides (at least) to every story, and while we don't know whether financial administrator Juli Garland wronged Walchesky intentionally or Walchesky carelessly chose that payment herself, we are happy to report that we at least know the resolution was sweet. Walchesky was paid in full mere minutes later, when she visited the office of the director of communication (who happened to have funds available, the type that melt in your mouth and not in your hand), and after a through inspection of the packaging (they do make dark chocolate M&Ms, you know), several candy-covered chocolates were dispensed, and the debt was satisfied.

If you follow St. Philip's on social media, you already knew most of this news. But if it was new to you and you haven't followed us yet, why don't you take a moment to follow us right now? That way, you too can be among the first to hear stories like these!

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

May 26 ~ Last Wednesdays Alive! service before summer recess

May 27 ~ Last Rector's Bible Study before summer recess

May 31 ~ Memorial Day (church office closed)

June 6 ~ Choral Evensong (5:00 p.m.)

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)

We pray for the sick: Sam Chesnutt, Diane Christensen, Patty Cox, Sarah Fayard, Elizabeth Flowers, Mary Forbes, James Gettys III, Robert Gould, Steve Green, Jonathan Hanger, Jack Howell, Steve Jarrett, Clark Johnson, Denise Keranen, Claudia Kolster, Joe Livesay, Connor Lowndes, 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.