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April 5, 2024

On Sunday, April 7, we welcome the Rev. Dr. Judith Davis to preach at our Sunday morning services. Please join Elizabeth in welcoming Judith!

• Sunday at 8:00 a.m. – From Palm Sunday through the summer, we will enjoy sharing the same Holy Eucharist, Rite II liturgy in our Sunday morning 8:00 a.m. spoken service as the 10:30 a.m. service.
• Coffee & Conversation at 9:15 a.m. – Coffee & Conversation and Adult Forum will combine on Sunday, April 7, in Miller Hall. Coffee & Conversation meets in Miller Hall, our large upstairs meeting room. The presentation begins at 9:15 a.m.
• Godly Play at 9:15 a.m. – Children ages 4 through 5th grade will be engaged in Godly Play. The Godly Play approach helps them to explore their faith through story, to gain religious language and to enhance their spiritual experience through wonder and play. Godly Play meets in the education wing downstairs.
• Children’s Church at 10:30 a.m. – On Sunday, April 7, we will have Children’s Church during the Liturgy of the Word in the 10:30 a.m. service. Children in K - 5th grade may be dropped off in the Sunday School room across from the Godly Play room (the youth classroom) before parents/grandparents go to church. Children will be brought to the church during the Peace and should join their family for communion.
• Sunday at 10:30 a.m. – Join us for Holy Eucharist, Rite II (with music) at our 10:30 a.m. service.
• Coffee Hour after the 10:30 a.m. service – All are invited and always welcome to join us in Miller Hall (our upstairs fellowship hall) after the 10:30 a.m. service for juice or coffee and fellowship. This is a great chance to mingle, meet new people, or just relax with friends.

This Sunday, April 7, at both services there will be two people available to pray with you during the Eucharist for your concerns and needs. Simply come to the chapel after you receive the Eucharist. Let an usher know if you’d like someone to come to you. This prayer time is quiet, private, and absolutely confidential. No details about this prayer time are revealed to anyone. Sometimes the prayers are offered in silence. Anointing with oil and laying on of hands can be part of this time, if desired.

The St. Philip’s Caregiver Support Group will meet on Sunday, April 7, at 4:00 p.m. in Sunday School room 117. The group is open to those in the St. Philip’s family who are caregivers for a loved one on a daily basis. The group has two facilitators and will provide an opportunity for caregivers to share concerns, experiences, support, and resources. For questions about the group call Susan Andresen at 570-220-4589 or Liz Cozart at 828-884-4795.

The Shop of St. Philip’s is looking like Spring! New donations in every department, with clothes that will amaze you with beauty and affordable prices.

The Diocese of Western North Carolina is excited to offer the following Building Beloved Community workshops to fulfill the Dismantling Racism requirements for vestry members, lay leaders, and staff.

• Anti-Bias Workshop (April 13-14, Morganton, NC) - This program invites us to look at the bias we all carry around any number of things, including gender, physical mobility, people’s size, shape, their age. It’s taking a look at a lot of things that get in our way of welcoming everyone into our communities in a deeply genuine way.
• Building Beloved Community Workshop (April 27-28, Zoom and Black Mountain, NC) – Dismantling Racism training.
• Sacred Ground Circles (10 weeks beginning May 7, 2024 on Zoom) - Sacred Ground is a sensitive, prayerful resource that creates space for difficult but respectful and transformative dialogue on race and racism. It invites participants to walk back through history in order to peel away the layers that brought us to today, reflecting on family histories and stories, as well as important narratives that shape the collective American story. It holds as a guiding star the vision of beloved community – where all people are honored and protected and nurtured as beloved children of God, where we weep at one another’s pain and seek one another’s flourishing.

You are invited to join other young adults as we study the Gospels, beginning with Matthew. Starting April 9th, we will meet every Tuesday from 6:30-7:30 p.m. We will meet at Abby's house. Please contact her (goodphilipyouthfamily@gmail.com) for the address. We look forward to you joining us as we grow in faith and fellowship together!

Please join us for a celebration of Harvey Miller's 90th birthday on April 13th! There will be a 3:00 p.m. performance of Mr. Miller's original compositions in the sanctuary followed by a reception in Miller Hall, our large upstairs meeting room. We would love to see you there!

We're on a mission for our Earth Day worship service and we need your help! We're talking LOTS of newspapers – the more, the better! You can join us in this project by donating your spare newspapers. Newspapers can be dropped off to Abby in her office any time before April 13th. And mark your calendars for our interdenominational Earth Day celebration on April 21! (See below!) Join us to see your recycled newspapers transformed into something extraordinary. Don't miss out! Stay tuned for more details about the worship service.

Our next Belonging Sunday is April 21st. This is a time when we recognize those who have chosen to worship at St. Philip’s. You can belong without being a formal member–you have chosen us, and we have chosen you! If you’re unsure what this is all about or have questions, stop by the Newcomer’s table at Coffee Hour after the 10:30 a.m. service on Sunday, April 7 or 14, 2024, and we will be happy to answer any questions! Coffee Hour meets in Miller Hall, our large upstairs meeting room.

We are so grateful to Abe and Pam Pallas for once again offering to host a Seder Dinner for our parish family and friends. The opportunity to experience this traditional feast is a great gift, whether it be in someone's home or in a group setting. Unfortunately, it seems best not to move forward with holding a Seder here at St. Philip's this year. For those of you who registered, our treasurer Bob Wesneski will be returning your payment by check.

Be a part of something big! Book a donation appointment at our Red Cross Blood Drive at St. Philip’s on April 29, 2024, in Miller Hall!

Your family is invited to join the families from Good Shepherd for a family retreat. The retreat will be May 3rd-5th at Camp Tekoa in Hendersonville. Our theme this year is "Rooted in Love." We will spend time looking at what it means to be surrounded by God's love and how we can share that love with others in our everyday lives. The cost of the retreat is $150 per family with scholarships available. For scholarship information, please contact Ken, Elizabeth, or Abby Glass. Click here to sign up (or use the code in the flyer). We hope you and your family are able to join the other families from Good Shepherd and St. Philip's in this weekend of fun, fellowship, and worship. Please let Abby know if you have any questions about the retreat or with the registration. We’re looking forward to this weekend together! 

On May 5, St. Philip's is pleased to host and participate in the second of a series of four sessions arranged by the Brevard Jewish Community. Dr. Geoffrey Levin from Emory University will speak on “Strangers in the Land of Egypt or Subjects of King David: Dilemmas of 20th Century American Jews" at 3:30 p.m. in Miller Hall.

Prior to the public event, a small group from both St. Philip's and from the Brevard Jewish Community (30 from each group) will gather at 2:00 p.m. to share a discussion on the current Israeli challenges and issues. If you desire to be one of the 30, please sign up in Realm or contact the parish office (office@stphilipsbrevardnc.org). The cut-off of 30 will be firmed adhered to, so sign up early!

We are excited to announce the leader of our retreat will be the Rev. Canon Augusta A. Anderson, Canon to the Ordinary and Chief of Staff for the Diocese of Western North Carolina. Canon Augusta will guide and inspire our time together with playfulness and prayer while deepening our relationship with the Holy Spirit.

The needs at Sharing House are real all year long. As you do your shopping, think about picking up an item or two and putting in the red wagon in the parish hall foyer. We'll make sure it gets to Sharing House for immediate distribution.

• Queen blankets and comforters
• Tarps and tents
• Canned Chicken
• Cereal
• Peanut butter
• Spaghetti Pasta
• Hearty Soups
• Individually packaged snacks
• Baby Wipes
• Toilet paper
• Paper towels
• Dish soap
• Household cleanser

Bridges have been the subject of several conversations recently. The one that grabbed everyone’s attention was, of course, the catastrophic collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore. Our collective compassion is felt for the workers who died on the bridge and for their families as well as for the workers and families impacted by the closure of the harbor.

“Bridges” also came up in a recent conversation I had with a friend whose child is graduating from high school in a few months. When I asked how things were going, he replied that his student was still in the process of “burning bridges.” It seems that his child had reached that stage of development where parents were like an appendix—an unimportant and needless vestige in an otherwise happy existence. While too many years have passed for me to recall my own “bridge-burning” days, I do still remember my own children regarding me as a cultural tolerance, but a practical irrelevance. Fortunately, for most of us this is merely a transitory phase which is softened by time and experience.

However, the conversation did get me to thinking. The unsettled times in which we live lend themselves to “bridge-burning” opportunities. I am often tempted, even desirous, of burning bridges with those whose worldview is so at variance with mine that conversation is hardly possible. And, if truth be told, they would be just as happy to burn bridges with me. There are those who have caused emotional hurt, intentionally or not, whom we might wish to consign to the far side of an untraversable chasm. And there are those, perhaps, whose devaluation of us and our experiences push us to a “bridge-burning” mentality, if only for psychological well-being.

But as I try to come to terms with the Gospel, it seems to me that “bridge-burning” should not be our first or default option. Rather, we are called to an attitude of consistent and persistent love. Loving even when loving is hard; loving even when love is not reciprocated; loving even when everything else within us rebels against that option. To be sure, there may come a time when “bridge-burning” becomes necessary, but it should always be a last-resort necessity, and even then, not be devoid of love.

In a few years my friend’s child with likely see things differently—most of us have been there, it will get better. In the interim, he and I and we must employ the power of love as a “hook and ladder” operation to a world being consumed by “burning bridges.”

David Yeager,

Sr. Warden

St. Philip’s Prayer Chain requests may be submitted directly to stp.prayers@gmail.com. Prayer for/from our parish members may be requested by full name, first name only, or anonymously. These prayers are confidential and are NOT put in the bulletin nor on the Sunday list. Please use this email ONLY for prayer requests and if you have an emergency; you may also call Daphne's cell (828-989-7877) and leave a confidential message.

Thank you for practicing gratitude during the two weeks of our United Thank Offering. As of today, your offerings of $1,576.51 will support the Episcopal Church mission and ministry close to home and around the world. Your gratitude might help transitional programs for women getting out of prison; it might teach adolescent girls how to sew and enable them to generate income for essential family needs; or it might teach families skills for economic empowerment. 

In addition to those benefits, being grateful increases self-esteem and creativity. It deepens spirituality and promotes positive emotions. Generosity is an example of God’s grace, and the writer Anne Lamont says, “Gratitude is peace.” Thank you for being thankful!

“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth.”

Thank you for investing your treasure in the work and mission of St. Philip’s. Your gift supports our Connection in Community – creating bonds of affection through play, shared meals, and study in our welcoming space within our buildings and on our grounds. Visit https://www.stphilipsbrevardnc.org/donate to explore donating. To make a gift now use Realm or text STP to 73256.

Birthdays

01 Amy Kelton

01 Juan Vargas Mendez

01 Rebecca Peele

01 Rebeccah Rojas

02 Brandon Smith

02 Pat Whaley

03 Rob Field

03 Johnny Martinez

03 Mary Douglass Kimble

05 Steve Womble

05 Andy Schaefer

05 Mary McGinnis

06 Beth Burney

06 Joel Graham

06 Jennifer DiLemme

06 John Trudeau

07 June Coykendall

08 Layne Racht

09 Richard Mayberry

09 Richard Buckley

10 Garland Joseph

10 Linda White

11 Roland Dierauf

11 Betsy Anderson

12 Betty Cheatham

12 John McGinnis

12 Jeremy Maupin

12 Mia Maupin

13 Harvey Miller

13 Brittnee Siemon

16 Richard Keirstead

16 Will Trotter

18 Jeff Carter

18 Nathaniel Slaughter

19 Avery Nergart

20 Lila Stewart

20 Carol Marines

20 Mike Dunham

20 Elizabeth Roles

21 Jacquelyn Rogow

22 John Walter

22 Jo Buescher

22 Ann Smith

23 Gerry Smith

24 Clint Roberts

25 Nicole Essenberg

26 Hannah Field

26 Colin Fenner

26 Kathryn Zabala

26 Matt Workman

27 Stephen Patterson

28 Scott Elliott

28 Booth Powell

28 Todd Hall

29 Marty Wainwright

29 Robin McCain

30 Kristine Candler

30 Rose Coykendall

Anniversaries

04 Frank and Rosemary Duckworth

06 Joe Hamrick and Jean Woods

06 Dick and Pat Crull

07 Randy and Ginny Burgess

08 Bill and Jann Mellman

11 Sean and Nicole Boehrig

12 Bill and Michel Robertson

16 Risdon and Moonyean Wood

20 William and Billie Begg

21 Steve and Beth Womble

21 Brian and Monica Sheedy

22 Chappie and Shannon Powell

24 John and Mary McGinnis

25 Bill and Andrea Janzen

25 Peter and Felice St. John

30 Mark and Ameran Tooley

30 Mark and Page Lemel

The Season of Easter begins with the first Alleluia of Easter and ends 50 days later on the Day of Pentecost. During this season, the liturgical color is white and the liturgies are uplifting and joyful. From the ashes of Ash Wednesday, God has brought us into the fullness of life and joy!

CSW Director Rob Field will lead a two-day pilgrimage in Western North Carolina May 2-3 to explore the frescos of renowned artist Ben Long. We will tour multiple sites with Long’s frescoes, including Chapel of the Prodigal in Montreat, Sloop Chapel in Crossnor, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in West Jefferson (photo at left), Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Glendale Springs (photo below), and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Wilkesboro. We will also visit the Haywood Street Congregation in Asheville to see a new fresco painted by a student of Long’s. We will travel as a group, and spend the night of May 2nd at the Holiday Inn Express in West Jefferson. For more information, click here.

Join us each week at our services of Holy Eucharist!

• Sundays, 8:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II (spoken)
• Sundays, 10:30 a.m. – Holy Eucharist, Rite II (with music)
• Tuesdays, 2:00 p.m. – Holy Eucharist Rite II (College Walk Senior Living Community Chapel)
• Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. – Holy Eucharist with Prayers for Healing (Chapel)

Barbara Boerner (2024)

Craig Gralley (2024)

Mike Wallace (2024-Junior Warden)

Jo Buescher (2025)

Jann Mellman (2025)

David Yeager (2025-Senior Warden)

Peggy Bridges (2026)

Gordon Murray (2026)

Jen Silva (2026)

Pat Dunham (Clerk)

The Rev. Elizabeth Roles, Rector

Abby Glass, Children, Youth, and Family Minister

Dr. Brittnee Siemon, Director of Music Ministry

Edna Hensley, Facilities Manager

Angela Patane, Maintenance Supervisor

William Begg, Co-Treasurer, Receipts

Bob Wesneski, Co-Treasurer, Disbursements

Jill Stewart, Parish Administrator

A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA!

A Non-Episcopalian Learns about the Episcopal Church

Matt Whitman planned to be a Major League Baseball player and President but accidentally ended up being a pastor instead.

He also loves "trying to talk about [Bible, God, and the Church] in a way that makes sense to normal people who use normal words and ask normal questions and laugh at normal funny things." In this video, he visits the Rev.J. Barry Vaughn at Christ Episcopal Church in Las Vegas, Nevada to ask questions about the Episcopal Church. You might find some things you learn about St. Philip's as you watch!