St. Philip Lutheran Church
When roads are too dangerous to travel, announcements about worship services will be made on WDBJ7 and WSLS Newschannel 10, the church website, social media, and our robo-call service. Please check these media outlets for cancellation or time change information. As always, use your good judgment.
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. Several of you have asked if there is a list of things that might be helpful as Church Council continues to discern next steps for staffing. There are a number of quiet ways you might make an impact in the ministry. 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 in one or more of these ministries:
Altar Guild – Each Sunday we, as a congregation, experiences the living Christ at the altar. The altar guild serves to make sure the table is ready. This ministry is wonderfully rewarding and truly as easy as getting ready to host a dinner.
Miss You Cards – The church office is looking for someone who would send cards to folks who have not been to St. Philip to worship for a while.
Children’s Table and Busy Bags – As school starts, this is a great time to re-supply busy bags that are provided to help children participate in worship in ways that make sense for younger ones. Additionally, there is a table just for little ones in the gathering space that needs freshening.
Property Care and Clean-up – A group clean up day planned is for September 22nd, but you do not need to wait until then to help out around the church. (see page 4) St. Philip has a wonderful facility that truly serves the whole community. It should be care for with pride.
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.
Prayer Chain Coordinator – This longtime ministry of St. Philip needs someone to check in with the links in the chain. The prayer chain is made of praying volunteers who pray for special congregational needs. See Laura Latham if you might serve in this way.
Social Ministry “Sharer” – If you have a Facebook account, you can help share ministry of St. Philip with your family, friends, and community. Anything you see on the St. Philip Facebook page can be shared to your page and newsfeed. The social ministry task force is working to create more and more Facebook events about upcoming activities and ministries here at St. Philip. These events are open to all people, so please share and invite folks even outside of the congregation.
There is a change in venue! This year the 17th Annual Youth Golf Tournament will be at Hunting Hills Country Club on Saturday, September 29, 1:00pm. Register by September 15 for the early bird fee of $260 per team/$65 per golfer.
The tournament serves as the primary fundraiser for our youth ministries so please consider putting together a team of golfers or inviting golfers you know to play. If you don’t play, please consider sponsoring a hole, asking your employer to sponsor a hole, or donating a prize to go to tournament participants.
Registration forms and sponsorship information are in the gathering space (narthex) or by calling the church office at 540-366-7046.
From Pastor David
We have returned safe and sound from Houston and the ELCA National Youth Gathering. It was a fabulous week that combined great fun, wonderful fellowship, and growing faith. The theme “This Changes Everything” constantly focused our attention on how God’s call, grace, and hope shapes everything we do.
Please take time over the next several weeks to ask our youth (Jacob Schult, Griffin Horacek, Bradley Craig, Clara Johnston, Reece Derrick, Justin Craig, Nick Muir, and Drew Derrick) about their experience. We will try to have a presentation for the congregation later in the summer.
For me just a few of the nuggets from a fantastic week:
Thank you St. Philip for your support, your prayers, and for our shared proclamation of Jesus promises.
From Reece Derrick, Justin Craig, and Chas Downs
Today was our service we served at the Houston food bank, which serves thousands of meals every day. We worked with many people from around the country mostly from Minnesota to package food that would amount to over 21000 meals for the Houston community. At the mass gathering we learned how good keeps us moving forward no matter what. We also learned that G od will always be there for us in the darkest of times. Just the presence of 30,000 Lutherans gave hope to Houston, and filled the locals with joy and thanksgiving for the work and energy we brought to the city.
