Category: Congregational Life

Categories
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.

Categories
Congregational Life Music Ministry

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.

Categories
Christian Education Congregational Life

Intergenerational Faith Formation 

October 8 (10-10:45am), ALL ages will gather between worship services for a short bible story followed by a service project. Just for 45 minutes, 10-10:45am. Just once per month.

In October, in honor of St. Francis of Assisi Day, we will make goodies for local pet shelters. I encourage everyone to be part of these gatherings! If you’d like to help with these in any way, please speak with Pastor Kelly.

Categories
Christian Education Congregational Life

Children’s Faith Formation 

[Jesus] called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” 

(Matthew 18.2-4)

Children’s Faith Formation happens in the worship service – where kids participate in the central communal act of god’s people, worshipping together! Jesus invites us all to have the faith of a child. Let’s learn from the children of St. Philip about how to live like that!

Check out the Kid Central table in the narthex with each week’s Children’s Bulletin, story books, Spark Family booklets, Bible story books, and the kids Busy Bags with crayons, activities, etc. The table is low so kids can get to the materials.

Let the little children come!

Categories
Christian Education Congregational Life

Family Faith Formation 

Sunday, October 22, 4-6pm

For St. Philip families, especially those with children age birth – 5th grade.

What will we do at Family Faith Formation?

Play games!

Learn a bible story!

So kids and families can get to know each other better

And so families can practice sharing bible stories and fun together

Led by one of the pastors

Dinner for all at 5:30pm, provided for you by a St. Philipian

The hope of this gathering is to provide regular time for families to gather in faith, fun and fellowship, much like the youth groups currently gather. There will not be childcare because kids of all ages are part of this gathering! Hope everyone can join in the fun! Questions? Want to help serve a meal for families? Talk to Pastor Kelly.

Categories
Christian Education Congregational Life

ADULT Faith Formation 

Faith in Real Life (Sundays, 10am, in the library) Jesus said: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39)

But how do we do that, exactly? How do we live our faith in daily life? How do we understand the intersection of our faith with our social, political, and religious views? These are the sorts of questions that are central to Faith in Real Life!

All are invited for an open and positive format on Sunday morning as we work to build the bonds of fellowship and connect our faith with the events of everyday life. Please grab a cup of coffee in café and join the discussion.

Monday Morning Bible Study: Monday mornings 9:30am-10:30am. Study of scriptures that follow the Narrative Lectionary readings on Sunday morning. This is a great way for you to come to Sunday morning worship ready to be engaged with the word as the story is told. If you have not been a part of the Bible study crew now is the time to try it out. The crew meets in the church library.

Categories
Congregational Life Youth Ministry

Youth News 

(More details are available in your email and texts)

Youth Group: Both Middle School and High School Groups meet on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month, 4-6pm, with dinner for all at 5:30pm. Come join the fun!!

October:

1st – Middle School and High School Youth Groups

15th – Middle School and High School Youth Groups

25th (Wed.; 6:30-9pm) – Flashlight Maze at Layman Farms

November:

6th – Rake leaves for members of the congregation

12th – Youth-led Worship Service: both services!!

17th – 19th (Fri-Sat) – Lost & Found: Youth Retreat for 7th & 8th graders

20th – Middle School and High School Youth Groups

19th (7pm) – Hollins Community Thanksgiving Worship

Youth Faith Formation: 

Middle School and High School Faith Formation is part of Sunday Youth Group.  We use lots of different materials: re:form Bible study, videos, conversation, and “burning Jesus questions” (but PK, why would we want to burn Jesus?!).

Categories
Congregational Life Music Ministry

‘Tis the Season Once Again…And It’s Busy 

Judy Burnette 

It is an exciting time with our choir. We have a couple of changes taking place with our schedule, as well as, the beginning of Christmas Eve preparations.

First of all, our 8:30 a.m. and 11:00a.m. choirs will sing together for two services a month. This will give the congregation more opportunities to enjoy their music, as well as, give the choir more time to sing as one choir.

Here is how it will work. On the second Sunday of the month, the combined choir will sing at the 8:30 a.m. service. Then on the 4th Sunday, they will sing together at the 11:00 a.m. service. The rest of the Sundays will have the same schedule that we have had in the past.

Second, we will begin preparing our Christmas Eve music on Wednesday, October 11 at 7:00 p.m. in the choir room. We will spend the first 40 minutes of each choir rehearsal learning the music. As always, we would love for you to be a part of the fun…even if it is just for these few weeks before Christmas. Hope to see you there!

Categories
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 8:330am worship and Mary Jo Sahm at 11am worship.

Categories
Worship Assistants

October 2017 Servers

October_2017_Servers