Author: danrad

Blood Drive Thank You

What an amazing group of people at St. Philip! The semi-annual blood drive on Monday, October 16 collected 96 pints of blood! It was certainly a team effort to handle all the task that had to be done. So many folks commented they loved the food, missed Margaret Mitchell and Louise Jargowsky, and would come back to us as long as they could. This is such a strong time honored community ministry that the congregation at St. Philip should be very proud to be a part of.

A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CONNTRIBUTED.

“IT FEELS GOOD TO SAVE A LIFE”

Council Notes News

Church Council News – October

Post author By danrad
Post date October 31, 2017
No Comments on Church Council News – October

Dan Radmacher

Council met Monday, October 16, at 7 p.m. in the church library. Once again, the spending plan for 2018 dominated the discussion.

Council examined a draft plan that, despite cuts to several areas, anticipates an $11,000 shortfall next year. As noted during the meeting, a large percentage of annual spending is taken up by the fixed costs that are fundamental to the work and ministry of the church: Staff compensation and benefits, office and other administrative expenses, utilities, and property upkeep and maintenance.

At current giving levels, there is little room for spending on the ministries and benevolent activities that many want to see the church engage in. St. Philip is fortunate to have an endowment fund and other investment funds, though. Pastor David discussed the philosophical approach council has been taking to utilizing these funds — appropriating money from them mostly for one-time expenses — and questioned whether the church needs to rethink that approach.

After much discussion, council decided to move forward with developing a spending plan for congregational approval that anticipates a significant shortfall and to meet an hour early in November to devote more time to discussing both how to approach spending and how to best communicate the issues and situation to the congregation.

Pastor Kelly debuted the church’s new Twitter account, @StPhilipROA, and council discussed ways it could be put to good use. Dan Radmacher updated council on the website redesign, and Pastor David discussed the plan for the rollout of the new logo and tagline.

Sarah Parker was unable to attend the meeting but sent an email describing her experience at a training session for the Forwarding Faith Campaign, the effort to raise at least $2.5 million over the next five years to provide an endowment for faith formation activities in the Virginia Synod. That campaign is now entering the congregational phase, and council agreed that a reasonable goal for St. Philip would be to secure commitments from members of the congregation to give $25,000 over three years.

Sarah will lead that campaign over a six-week period from January 21 to February 25 with the last week corresponding with St. Philip’s 60th anniversary. The pastors shared that they had already pledged $3,000 personally and that other St. Philip families have made similar commitments.

Pastor David reported that situations requiring pastoral care continue to arise with greater frequency than normal and that he and Pastor Kelly are doing all they can to meet those needs.

Council will meet again on November 14 at 6 p.m. in the church library. Anyone is welcome to attend.

Congregational Life

Listen God is Calling

Thank you to all of you for the many ways you serve God’s church through the ministry of St. Philip. Truly our calling is about God’s work and our hands. If you have been thinking about ways to connect to the ministry at St. Philip and have not been quite sure how to start please consider serving by:

Offering Counter Coordinator

Each Sunday we are blessed by the generosity of the people of St. Philip and each week some quiet servants make sure that financial offerings are counted and recorded before being deposited in the bank. We need someone to help train and coordinate this group of quiet servants. Speak with Pastor David if you might help with this ministry.

Recycler

We are looking for someone who would twice a month empty our recycling containers and take recyclable materials to the recycling center at Hollins University. Speak with Pastor David if you might want to help care for God’s creation this way.

Photographers

This is for everyone. Please, please take pictures of ways mission and ministry is happening through the community of St. Philip. Then share them with Laura our office administrator to be celebrated on our St. Philip website and social media.

Worship Assistants

Ushers, acolytes, power point clickers, sound system operators, readers, communion assistants. This is absolutely a great way to live out your faith on Sunday morning. Speak with Carol Dillman at 8:30am worship and Mary Jo Sahm at 11am worship.

News Preschool

Reflections from St. Philip Preschool Director

Post author By danrad
Post date October 31, 2017
No Comments on Reflections from St. Philip Preschool Director

Danielle Murray

While I sit here and sip my coffee, thinking about things happening in my life and my friends lives, I look up my students playing happily in the “running room.” The realization hits me. In just a few short years they will be dealing with so many of the same issues.

Broken relationships

Financial worries

Daily parenting struggles

Health issues

It’s a good reminder for me. This short time I have with each of them is invaluable. I get to remind them to look for the positives. I get to teach them about their rights as a human. I get to teach them about respect and their emotions and how to make the two work together. I get to choose to tell them when I’m having a hard day so their hard days don’t seem so foreign but just a different type of day.

It’s a good day to spend with a classroom full of preschoolers.

Congregational Life Music Ministry

Martin Luther and His Gift of Music

Post author By danrad
Post date October 31, 2017
No Comments on Martin Luther and His Gift of Music

Judy Burnette

Martin Luther was a man of many gifts. One that people often do not realize was his musical talent. His music background was very strong. He sang in choir and played many instruments. He believed that music was a wonderful way to teach scripture to people so they might better understand its meaning. Martin Luther wrote many hymns. Nearly all of these were based on scripture. His most popular hymn was, A Mighty Fortress.

Martin Luther believed that music during worship, especially congregational singing, was of utmost importance. He considered the only part of worship more important was the Word of God. Martin Luther’s belief in the power of music in worship was shared by other people such as the composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach wrote some of the world’s finest sacred choral music. His Cantata No. 80 is based on Martin Luther’s text from A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.

Feast at Philip's Ministries

Community Thanksgiving Feast at Philips

Post author By danrad
Post date October 31, 2017
No Comments on Community Thanksgiving Feast at Philips

Saturday, November 25th, 3:00-5:00 pm

You are invited to help serve a traditional Thanksgiving meal to our neighbors in the Melrose-Rugby neighborhood and in the Hollins neighborhood. There are two opportunities to serve:

St. Philip and Abundant Grace Assembly will serve our wider community together at Melrose Towers on Melrose Ave. We will also serve to-go meals to folks from the Goodwill Jobs Campus.

St. Philipians will serve those who come together in our Fellowship Hall.

How can you help?

Volunteer to serve at the Feast

Purchase and cook a turkey and/or a ham

Bake a pie or pies

Volunteer to help set up or clean up

Make a financial donation to support the Feast (be sure to write “Feast at Philips” on your check)

This is a great opportunity to share God’s love by sharing with our neighbors. If you would like to be a part of this ministry, there is a volunteer sign-up sheet in the narthex with specific duties listed. If you have questions about offering yourself for this feast, speak with one of the pastors. Thank you for your servant hearts!!

News Worship Events

We Give God Thanks

We give God thanks for the diversity of people throughout our community and for the unity we celebrate in Christ Jesus our Lord. Witness to the gifts of diversity and unity is happening again this year as the churches of the Hollins community gather to give thanks. Participating churches are Enon Baptist, Summerdean Church of the Brethren, St. Philip Lutheran, Northview United Methodist, Hollins Church of the Nazarene, Green Ridge Presbyterian, and First Baptist of Hollins.

We gather to celebrate the goodness that is God’s promise in Christ Jesus. We lift up our connection to one another and boldly give our thanks and praise to God as we worship and as we live the life of faith in our neighborhood.

This year, as in years past, the churches of the Hollins Community will worship together. The worship service Sunday, November 19, at 7:00 p.m. will be held here at St. Philip. MAKE PLANS TO BE PRESENT AND DEMONSTRATE ST. PHILIP HOSPITALITY. St. Philip will be hosting a reception immediately following the worship service. If you are interested in helping provide food or staffing the reception please speak to Pastor David or Linda Rhodes.

Uncategorized

Devotional, October 16

Christ the King Sunday – Colossians 1:11-20

Focus: Christ the Ruler of All

word of life

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and indivisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:15-16 NRSV)

Read Colossians 1:11-20

The church calendar comes to a close with Christ the King Sunday. Christ is proclaimed as the one who has dominion over all. This proclamation is supported by this beautiful text from Colossians. With its hymn-like qualities, the message of this passage concerning the immediate reign of Christ is intended to be sung higher than the stars and wider than the oceans.

This passage begins with a prayer of strength and patience, but shifts to a resounding confession of faith. “[Jesus] has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14 NRSV) It is Jesus alone who has the capacity to rescue and save us from the power of darkness in our lives.

Give examples of the power of darkness.
How do we get transferred into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son?

The use of “kingdom” is quite rare in the New Testament outside the gospel accounts of the life of Jesus. This passage implies the transfer to the kingdom of Christ has already occurred. We have already been rescued and forgiven our sins. The reign of Christ has already begun.

Sometimes we do not associate Christ as being present at the time of creation, but can limit his presence to his time on this earth. With soaring language, the author of Colossians proclaims Jesus present at creation, and it is through him all things came into being. Jesus is the first, in that he is the most important of all.

Jesus is the first-born of creation, but also the first born of the dead. Take a moment to contrast verse 15 and verse 18 in chapter 1. Christ is not just king and ruler over a few people, but over all of creation. It is Christ which gives us hope of a future beyond our limited time on this earth.

The clearest snapshot we have of God is through Jesus Christ. If asked what God looks like, we can point to Christ as long as we acknowledge that even Christ does not precisely define the vastness and mystery of God.

Describe what God looks like.
What images (if any) best portray the image of God?

Jesus is declared the firstborn of creation. Most certainly Jesus is the firstborn of the new creation made by God through Jesus on the cross. He is the head of the church, the body of Christ. Though he died on the cross and faced humiliation, that reality does not diminish the authority of Christ as the head of the church. It has always been the church of Christ and Christ alone.

Describe what it is like if (and when) a church forgets that Christ is the head of the church.
Describe a church which fully places Christ as its head.

Word among us
“Holy Spirit defeats Immaculate Conception”
“St. Michael and All Angels dominates”
So reads the headlines on the sports page after a weekend of high school football.

Describe a time when you supported a #1 team or participated in a first place team.
What does it feel like to be #1?

Victory has more to do than the final score of a sporting event. Using #1 language to describe Christ is not typical. We do not want to get caught up in theology of glory language, but rather proclaim the crucified Jesus Christ.

But on Christ the King Sunday, we could post #1 signs throughout our churches. For on this day of the church year, we resoundingly declare Jesus Christ as number one and head of the church, of the whole of creation, and of the dead. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation…” (Colossians 1:15 NRSV)

There is more. “He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything…” (Colossians 1:18 NRSV) God has turned the world upside down by bringing Jesus from death to life. Christ is the first resurrected from the dead. As we join Christ in our baptism, we join the winning team which through Christ defeats the power of death and sin. The victory is because of God’s action through Christ.

How does it feel to be part of the first place team established by Christ?
Is this something to brag about and tell others? Explain your answer.

faith practice in daily life

Live among God’s faithful people

This passage from Colossians boldly connects the glory of God with the blood of his cross. It is through the cross that God has reconciled all things. God has not been defeated by the powers of darkness which grab hold of us while living in this world. Instead let us claim our baptismal inheritance and hold tight to Christ as our ruler of our life, church, and world.

What questions do you have about the reign of Christ?
What evidence do you see that Christ reigns triumphant?
What difference does it make that Christ is #1?

Prayer

May we be made strong with all the strength that comes from God’s glorious power, and may we be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to God, who has enabled us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Amen. (modified verse from Colossians 1:11)

last word

Ponder what it means to be part of the winning team of Christ.

Global Missions Ministries

Global Mission News

Thanks to the faithful support of our congregation and community we were able to send a check for $5,867.00 from this year’s Mission Fest to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi. The money this year will all be put toward food security. We also have collected $854.72 in noisy offering in just the first 6 months of this year. Our St. Philip family is made up of truly generous people.

We are looking forward to a change in our fundraising for 2018. Our 2017 Mission Fest fell on a different date due to the Lenten/Easter season. The weekend that was chosen just happened to be a very busy event weekend in Roanoke and then we were also blessed (!?) with rain. In spite of all this we still were able to host a successful event. We know you all appreciate what a big undertaking our Mission Fest turns out to be, soooo, the GM committee has decided that we would host two smaller fundraising events in 2018 – one in the spring and one in the fall. More information will be coming after January 1. We are hoping these two events will be just as successful and that everyone can find a place where they can help out.

The Global Mission team is also hoping to plan another Mission Trip to Malawi late next summer. Our trips are always faith building as we strengthen our relationships with our brothers and sisters in the ELCM. If you think you might be interested in joining us or just have questions to ask please see Pastor Kelly or Kathleen Radtke.