~ the eSPIRE Newsletter ~

March 31, 2024

Easter Day

no inSPIRE or eSPIRE next week

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Holy Week and Easter

Today: Holy Wednesday

• 8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist



Note: Wednesdays Alive! is in recess and will resume April 10.


Maundy Thursday

• 6:00 p.m. ~ Holy Eucharist (nursery available)


Note: The Rector's Bible Study is in recess and will resume April 11.


Good Friday

• 12 noon ~ Good Friday Liturgy

• 5:00 p.m. ~ Fellowship supper

• 6:00 p.m. ~ Stations of the Cross (on the Parish House lawn)


Note: The church office will be closed on Good Friday. No youth group.

Holy Saturday: Easter Egg Hunt

10:00 a.m. on the Parish House lawn

For children in the fifth grade and younger ~ remember to BYOB (bring your own basket!)

Register your egg hunter(s)

Easter Day

• 6:30 a.m. ~ Holy Eucharist (contemporary, on the Parish House lawn)

• 7:30 a.m. ~ Fellowship breakfast (Parish Hall)

• 9:00 a.m. ~ Festal Holy Eucharist (nursery available)

• 11:15 a.m. ~ Festal Holy Eucharist


Kids, bring a flower to add to the children's cross!


Note: No Sunday school, Rector’s Forum, Foundations, or Children’s Church on Easter. No Youth Group.


Note: The church office will be closed Easter Monday and Tuesday.

Livestream Links

Stations of the Cross and the Easter sunrise service will not be streamed.

Maundy Thursday
Good Friday (noon)
Easter Day (9:00 a.m.)
Easter Day (11:15 a.m.)

Lay Servers Urgently Needed ~ Can You Help?

Acolytes ~ Ushers ~ Greeters ~ Chalice Bearers

Holy Week and Easter Lay Server Signup

In the event of a pastoral emergency while the church office is closed, please contact the Rev. Bill Christian at (843) 327-0791.

Other Upcoming Events and Registrations

Reception for the Bishop and Confirmands

April 7 ~ In the Parish Hall immediately following 10:30 a.m. Youth Confirmation service

Monthly Men's Lunch

Wednesday, April 10~ Noon in the Parish Hall

Speaker: Neil Wolitzer

Senior Managing Director, Evercore;

former Partner and Managing Director,

Goldman Sachs, NYC

About Neil Wolitzer

DATE CHANGE:

Grandparents @ Prayer

Thursday, April 11~ 11:00–11:45 a.m.

Conveniently timed for you to stop by before the Rector’s Bible Study to pray intentionally for your grandchildren. Resources and prayer team members available.

Learn more

April Saturday Serves

April 20 ~ 9:30 a.m. –11:30 a.m.

Hands-on help for the Lowcountry Fellowship of Christian Athletes!

On-campus option
Off-campus option

Prayer as Worship Workshop

Saturday, April 20 ~ 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Parlor

Learn more

Lowcountry FCA Annual Banquet

Monday, April 22~ 5:30 p.m. at the College Center at Trident Tech

Learn more and register

Tea Room Gift Shop

Donations from our talented parishioners needed!

Get ideas or let us know what you're donating

Tea Room

April 22–26 ~ 11:30 a.m.–2:00 p.m. daily

All hands on deck!

Volunteer signup

Cinco Carnival

May 5 ~ 3:00–5:30 p.m.

Fun and fellowship

Learn more and register

Parish News and Notes

Walk for Water 2024: Team St. Philip’s Raises Almost $9,000 for Water Mission 

by Susan Harp, Walk for Water Captain



Despite the dismal weather forecast for March 24, Walk day turned out to be delightful, with cloud cover enough to keep temperatures comfortable. Walk organizers made several route changes to accommodate the expected rain and flooding, but God’s favor was upon us, and by Walk’s end, the sun was shining without a cloud in sight! 


As a first-time walker and this year’s Team St. Philip’s captain, I was awed by the attitudes of volunteers and other teams, but mainly by our St. Philip’s family. People were happy to be there and came to make a difference––and they did.


Our team had 126 registered walkers, and St. Philip’s raised $8,659.10! A shout-out to our youth, who raised $336.87 in this year’s first Bucket Challenge. The goal of this activity was to create awareness of the daily struggle families face in obtaining water, to increase their gratitude for their own many blessings, and to participate in responding to this need themselves in the name of Jesus. I think this was accomplished.


I was so blessed to be part of this event––thank you to everyone who participated!

Walk for Water pictures
Donate to Team St. Philip's (no, it's not too late!)

New C.S. Lewis Topic Begins April 10: The Weight of Glory

7:15 p.m. in the Parish Hall ~ following

Wednesdays Alive! worship and supper



Last week the Rev. Brian McGreevy wrapped up his study of C.S. Lewis’s The Last Battle, and when Wednesdays Alive! returns from Easter recess on April 10, he will begin a study of The Weight of Glory to close out the semester, which finishes May 15.


"The Weight of Glory" is a sermon Lewis preached during World War II at the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Oxford, and it is found in a collection of nine sermons and addresses under that same title. We will also be looking at parts of another sermon in that same collection entitled "Learning in Wartime."

A Busy Week for the Music Department

Pop-Up Concert, French Quarter Serenade, and John Stainer’s “The Crucifixion”


The music department of St. Philip’s Church had a busy few days last week! On March 21, Johann Sebastian Bach’s birthday, Chris Walchesky (harpsichord), Paul Reese (violin), and Zippy Hood (oboe) offered a pop-up chamber concert in the sanctuary. Although they didn’t play any of Bach’s music, all the pieces were ones he surely would’ve enjoyed––and he probably wouldn’t have wanted to hear his own music on his birthday anyway! Watch the concert on the music department’s dedicated YouTube channel:

Pop-Up Chamber Concert

Later that evening, Zippy Hood took the Canterbury and St. David Choirs out on the choir room portico during one of their final rehearsals of the year to sing “Peace Like a River” to the springtime passers-by. Molly Hare, who captured the beautiful moment on video, commented that the next generation was “shining the light”!

And on Palm Sunday, the St. Philip’s Choir and a full orchestra presented the 100th anniversary of the Charleston Premiere of John Stainer’s The Crucifixion: A Meditation on the Sacred Passion of the Holy Redeemer, an incredibly beautiful and moving opening to Holy Week, which is available to stream on both YouTube channels:

John Stainer's "The Crucifixion"

Women’s Bible Study Gets Tea Room Volunteering Rolling


We are less than a month away from the opening day of the 2024 Tea Room, which means it’s time to get all those volunteer positions filled!


Molly Hare sent us this picture of the ladies of the Wednesday afternoon Bible studies, who got the volunteer ball “rolling” last week by getting hundreds of silverware sets rolled and ready for the eager diners who will be flooding the Parish House gate come 11:30 a.m. on April 22!


There are so many ways you can lend a hand to this parish-wide effort, which, besides giving us a week of beautiful fellowship as we work side by side in the kitchen or Parish Hall or courtyard or gift shop, raises funds for the mission and ministries of our church.

Volunteer signup
Get gift shop ideas or let us know what you're donating

Diocesan Registrations

Anglican Women's Spring Gathering

Saturday, May 4, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ~ Christ the King, Pawleys Island

Learn more and register

Camp Jubilee

 A summer camp ministry of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina. Spots are available in both June and July.

Learn more and register

Sorry, Not Accepting Applications Just Yet!

Just look at that face. There is no way that anyone walking past that face could do anything but smile, which is why we feel so extremely confident that we made the right decision in hiring Phoebe to serve in the Smile Ambassador department of St. Philip's Church.


Phoebe, who just returned from a trip to Switzerland and currently has several weekend trips planned with her mom (who was dropping off her Tea Room volunteer form when she and Phoebe stopped in), will work under Roving Smile Ambassador Marshall. Now, Marshall is quite the traveler himself, so our hope is that they can stagger their travel plans so that one is getting the smiles on the streets of Charleston whenever the other is out of the state (or the country). But if Marshall decides it'd be prudent to hire a third ambassador who rarely leaves the Lowcountry, well...who are we to argue? We'll let you know when we're accepting applications.


If you follow St. Philip's on social media, you already knew about this new hire. But if you hadn't heard, 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 most exciting office news?

Like St. Philip's on Facebook!
Follow us on Instagram!

IMPORTANT DATES

March 28 ~ Maundy Thursday (service at 6:00 p.m.)

March 29–April 2 ~ Church office closed

March 29 ~ Good Friday (Good Friday liturgy at noon and Stations of the Cross at 6:00 p.m.)

March 31 ~ Easter Day (services at 6:30, 9:00, and 11:15 a.m.)

April 4 ~ Lowcountry Pregnancy Center Annual Banquet with Eric Metaxas

April 7 ~ Youth Confirmation service (10:30 a.m.) followed by reception

April 10 ~ Monthly Men's Lunch (noon in the Parish Hall)

April 10 ~ Wednesdays Alive! resumes

April 11 ~ DATE CHANGE: Grandparents@Prayer monthly drop-in (11:00–11:45 a.m. in the chapel)

April 11 ~ Rector's Bible Study resumes

April 20 ~ Saturday Serves: Lowcountry FCA

April 20 ~ Prayer as Worship Workshop

April 22 ~ Lowcountry FCA Spring Banquet

April 22–26 ~ St. Philip’s Tea Room

May 4 ~ Anglican Women’s Gathering (Pawleys Island)

May 5 ~ St. Philip’s Cinco Carnival

June 17–20 ~ Vacation Bible School (VBS)

St. Philip's calendar
Spring Lay Ministry Schedule
Altar Guild Schedule
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We pray for the sick: Jimmy Bowes, Diane Christensen, Karen Collins, Catherine Cousins, Mary Forbes, Myron Harrington, Marvin Kirkland, Melvin Knight, Rena Mack, Eric Panizza, Lou Parker, Barbara Sainsbury, Fran Sanders, Esther Spade, Pete Sperr, and Ginny Townsend.        


We pray for our expectant parents: Becca Baird and Louis Duffie, Sarah and Wyatt Baldwin, and Katy and Andrew Brown.


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, Hope to Home, Lowcountry Pregnancy Center, Star Gospel Mission, 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.

Sunday's Readings

Collect for Easter:

Almighty God, who through thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ hast overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may, by thy life-giving Spirit, be delivered from sin and raised from death; through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.


Readings for Sunday:

  • Isaiah 25:6–9
  • Mark 16:1–8 

ST. PHILIP'S CHURCH

142 Church Street | Charleston, SC 29401

(843) 722-7734, www.stphilipschurchsc.org

Church Office Hours

8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday

8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Friday