Divine disruption
The sermon and children’s sermon are posted below. Scroll to the bottom for sermon notes.
DIVINE DISRUPTION - Pastor Cress delivers a message for the week of Sunday May 31st
Stay home, stay healthy and let’s flatten the curve! Sermon videos will be posted online for 10:30 a.m. on Sundays as we worship together from home.
A sermon discussion will be posted on Tuesday and we would love for you to join the conversation. Yes, we really want you to ask questions!
Children's Sermon with Sarah and Abigail Craven
SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, May 31, 2020
Dear Friends in Christ –
This weekend is most often one of celebration for many people and many reasons.
The Jewish community celebrates the festival of the harvest – Pentecost – fifty days after Passover.
The Christian community celebrates the wholescale appearance of God’s Spirit.
Across the nation school is out and camp is in.
Here in Charleston, the Spoleto Festival is in full swing and
"Seconds Please" Tea Room has just wrapped up! But this year is different…
A deadly virus has invaded our world, has disrupted our lives. Our work, our relationships, our leisure, our worship has all changed… and will never be the same. I cannot imagine that these times are random.
2,000 years ago at a particular moment in time, the Spirit swept in and transformed the world. Theologian/Journalist, Phylis Tickle (yes, Tickle) posits that every 500 years since Jesus walked the earth the church has undergone massive transformation. It’s been 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his theses to the church door at Wittenberg.
Tune in!
In anticipation and excitement for the Spirit’s leading –
Interested in becoming a member of Second Presbyterian? Email Cress for more information.
While we missed coming together to host the community for Tea Room this year, we remembered this special event throughout the week. Photos and a video clip from Tea Room 2019 were shared on Facebook and we wanted to extend a bit of the Tea Room hospitality as best we could this year and the Darwins kindly shared a family recipe with all of us. We hope you enjoy the Pastor's (Daughter's) Sour Cream Apple Pie recipe.
Pentecost Offering May 31st
Nurturing the faith of those who are the church to come
A gift to the Pentecost Offering helps the church encourage, develop, and support its young people, and also address the needs of at-risk children. 40% of the Pentecost offering can be retained by our congregation to make an impact in the lives of young people within our own community. The remaining 60% is used to support children-at-risk, youth, and young adults through ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
Find out more about this special offering here.
As we move into the weekend we begin to prepare our hearts for Pentecost and the anniversary of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon His people. Here is a coloring page that can be colored and cut out. You do not need to be a child to participate. Please either send me a picture of your drawing (sarah.craven@2ndpc.org) or tag us in a Facebook post! I can’t wait to see your tongues of fire!
MUSC's Psychiatry Unit has reached out offering ways to help pregnant women and new moms right here in Charleston. They are collecting donations for the women in our community to help with mental health care, child care and provide support for young child education.
Find out specific ways to help here. →
One80 Place is in need of volunteers! If you are healthy and able, please sign up and help serve those who need us most right now!
Sign up here: one80place.volunteerhub.com/
Or donate to meet their "need of the week".
Wish list: one80place.org/wish-list/
Find it on Amazon: bit.ly/Wish-List-One80
Find it at Walmart: bit.ly/2NSDx7O
CHURCH-WIDE TAG SALE
The church is going to have a tag sale in mid-August, so now is a good time- you might even say a great time- to purge, clean out, get rid of, or to just empty out some of the things around your house and yard. If you have a storage unit you haven’t visited in a while, now might be the time to clean it out too. You can start getting your stuff together and we'll let you know when collection begins. Clean out those closets, basements, attics, and garages. We will need lots of volunteers when the time comes but more info will be coming soon. Any questions please contact Dawn McCready by email or at 203-921-7819.
Please text the number 81010 with the message '@2pcchurch' to sign up for church text messages so that you are made aware of pertinent announcements and church-related news. If you didn't receive a text this week regarding the fire, then you aren't yet signed up! Please take a moment to sign up right now so that you're connected in the future. Please contact Jordyn or Sarah if you need help signing up.
In consultation with the Stated Clerk of Presbytery and in light of the current mandated guidelines, we are unable to hold a congregational meeting at this time. The Session has postponed the Congregational Meeting as we determine how to make the meeting as accessible as possible.
SUPPORT YOUR CHURCH WHILE YOU PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING! Many of us are ordering online right now and you can support Second Pres any time you shop on Amazon! Choose to support “Second Presbyterian Church” at smile.amazon.com and Amazon will automatically donate to Second Presbyterian with each purchase you make. Remember to check out and place your final order via smile.amazon.com (and not the app) each time you shop to activate the donations.
The bell tower was struck by lightning the afternoon of Sunday, April 19, 2020. The Steeple Fund campaign for the current renovation continues and, considering the damage from the fire, the need to raise money is now even greater.
Help us bring the Second Church tower back to its former glory, so it can continue to be a beacon for Charleston. Donate today to the Steeple Fund.
Bell tower progress updates (and lots of photos) can be found here.