Mark your calendars for another Cross-Generational Faith Formation event on Palm Sunday, April 5! Gather at 10am in the Fellowship Hall for an interactive time of learning, faith conversation, and creativity! Don’t miss out on this awesome opportunity to grow in faith as we journey to the cross. Disciples aged 0 to 100 are invited, make plans to join in the fun!
Author: Rae Barker
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Thrivent Financial Programs Update
Reminder to direct any remaining 2019 Choice Dollars. If you are eligible to direct Choice Dollars based on your insurance premiums or contract values, you have until March 31st to direct any remaining 2019 Choice Dollars. Over 40,000 churches and non-profits have been recommended by a member and enrolled in this program, including St Philip. Log on to Thrivent.com or speak to Financial Consultant Max Holland if you have any questions.
Help Out With Your Action Teams. If you are a Thrivent member, please consider touching base with St. Philip’s Action Team Committee (Pastor David, Pastor Laura, team leader Maribeth Schermer, Donna Spradlin, or Max Holland). The committee can help you use your Action Teams to support ministry at St Philip. You can lead an Action Team project, or be a Team member by applying for an Action Team. Benefit Members can apply for two Action Teams each year, and Associate Members can apply for one each year.
Thrivent Financial Membership. Become a Thrivent Benefit Member by purchasing a qualifying Thrivent insurance or annuity product. Or you can become an Associate Member by paying an annual fee of $19.95, or purchasing a product from a Thrivent subsidiary (such as Thrivent Mutual Funds), or joining the Thrivent Federal Credit Union. For more information on Member Benefits, go to Thrivent.com or speak to Financial Consultant Max Holland.
This event has been cancelled.
Does your family enjoy camping?
Camp Caroline Furnace Lutheran Camp and Retreat Center is revving up for the 2020 season, and you are invited to an informational event to learn about the Camp Caroline Furnace camping experience.
On Sunday, March 22 at 5:00pm, College Lutheran Church in Salem will be hosting a Family Night event. Join in the fun – dinner, games, and a campfire for s’mores. Bring your questions about summer camp and retreats. All are welcome.
FREE…GOOD FOOD…GOOD FELLOWSHIP…GOOD INFORMATION
An RSVP is requested to julie@carolinefurnace.org or respond to the Facebook event, found at the College Lutheran Church Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/events/166951391227167/
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26 Years of Life Giving Ministry
For the past 26 years one of the most gratifying ministries at St. Philip has been a semi-annual blood drive held in May and October each year. Started by St. Philip members Margaret Mitchell, Ruth Farmer, Virginia Cassell, and Helen Miller in 1993, blood drives hosted by St. Philip Lutheran have collected a total of nearly 9,000 units of blood and have saved over 26,500 lives.
St. Philip Lutheran’s next blood drive is Monday, May 11, 2019, 11:30am – 7:00pm. The last day to donate blood elsewhere and still be eligible to give whole blood at St. Philip is March 10.
Please consider donating blood. Extend an invitation to your neighbors, friends, and colleagues to donate on May 11.
Lots of help from the congregation is needed to make sure the blood drive will be a success. Please look for a sign up sheet in the gathering space later in March or speak to Debbie Kanode to volunteer.
IT FEELS GOOD TO SAVE A LIFE!
PLEASE NOTE: All in-person gatherings have been all-in person events have been suspended until April 1. Please see this note from the pastors regarding the response to COVID 19. http://www.stphiliplutheran.net/pastoral-update-to-covid-19/
Have you ever had questions about end of life care, legal options, funeral planning, or legacy giving? These are hugely important topics that often bring up a lot of questions. St. Philip is hosting a three-part event to learn more about how we can celebrate life as aging adults. This month there will be three sessions covering many important aspects of caring for elderly adults, including hospice care, legal processes, funeral planning, and legacy gift giving.
These sessions will be held on March 1, March 15, and March 29. Each session will follow the 11:00 service on Sundays and include a light lunch. Please RSVP to the church office by February 24 if you would like to attend these informative sessions! If you have questions, please see Pastor Laura.
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The Wilderness of Lent
Lent is a season of the church year that begins on Ash Wednesday and culminates on Good Friday where we remember the crucifixion of our savior, Jesus Christ. Lent is an important time in the church year, because it’s a time set apart for us to acknowledge our sinfulness and all that draws us from God while at the same time, giving thanks for the immense love, mercy, and faithfulness of God displayed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As we celebrate the season of Lent this year at St. Philip, we will be embracing the theme of wilderness. Lent begins in the wilderness. The Spirit guides Jesus into the wilderness where he comes face to face with temptation and struggle. Yet, in his forty days of fasting, resisting, and wandering, Jesus is shaped and formed for ministry. Similarly, through the wilderness of Lent, we are invited to surrender to the wild leadings of the Spirit. We rarely enter the wilderness willingly, but hopefully through our wandering we remember who we are and whose we are.
There is no wilderness space too harsh or threatening for God’s love. This Lent, we welcome you to the journey. We pray that your Lenten journey through the wilderness will be holy, enriching, and draw you more deeply into relationship with God.
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Holy Week Schedule
Palm Sunday, April 5, 8:30a.m. & 11:00a.m.
This worship begins as the congregation gathers in front of the church (weather permitting) with the Procession of Palms, remembering the triumphal entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem.
Maundy Thursday, April 9, 2020 – 6:00p.m.
Gather in the fellowship hall for wine, cheese, and hors d’oeuvres. This night remember the disciples gathered in the upper room for Passover and the Last Supper. After the meal, move to the sanctuary for Holy Communion and the Stripping of the Altar.
Good Friday, April 10, 2020 – 7:00p.m.
Gather in the sanctuary for the service of Tenebrae which means darkness. This service involves the reading of the Passion Story and the extinguishing of candles to remember our Lord’s suffering and death, as well as the disciples’ denial and flight.
Easter Sunday, April 12
Easter Sunrise Service, 7:00 a.m. at the Outdoor Chapel
Easter Festival Service 8:30 a.m. & 11:00a.m.
Easter Breakfast, 9:45 a.m.
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March 2020 Worship Servers
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St. Philip Invitation – March 2020
Fear is a formidable force. It has power to shape responses, to color conversations, to create barriers, and to form not only individuals but whole communities. Fear is formidable yet not ultimate. Fear left solely in the hands of humanity may actually have enough power to make a world defined by itself.
BUT God, God in Christ Jesus of the cross demonstrates and gifts love in such a perfect way that fear can be relegated to a place of inconsequence. Love then, and particularly God’s love then is the defining character of response, conversation, people, and communities. Fear is formidable, God’s perfect love is ultimate.
Explore on each Wednesday of Lent how this promise comes to be with a soup/salad meal at 6:00pm and worship at 7:00pm (except for Ash Wednesday). See below for the location each week.
February 26, 2020, Ash Wednesday Worship, St. Philip Lutheran Church
March 4, 2020, Trinity Lutheran Church, Rev. James Davis
March 11, 2020, Glade Creek Lutheran Church, Rev. Laura Dunklin
March 18, 2020, St. Philip Lutheran Church, Rev. John McCandlish
March 25, 2020, St. Timothy Lutheran Church, Rev. James Armentrout
April 1, 2020, St. Mark Lutheran Church, Rev. Ken Lane