We Aren't Told Her Name
The Sunday service is posted below. Scroll to the bottom for sermon notes.
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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!
SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, June 28, 2020
Dear Friends in Christ –
This past week! Need I say more? Calhoun comes down, COVID-19 goes up. Mandated mask wearing begins July 1 and uncertainty becomes the only normal.
I pored over the lectionary offerings from the story of Abraham and Isaac to the weeping prophet Jeremiah, Paul exhorting us to “not let sin exercise dominion in (y)our mortal bodies” to Matthew reminding us of the ‘grace notes’ of life – remembering to offer “even a cup of cold water”.
Yet none of these spoke to me in a way that seemed to address this Kairos moment.
But I was moved by the implicit power, the realm enhancing gesture of kindness of offering – a cup of cold water. (A number of years ago some in a New York Church fought a water station in the heat during a Pride parade. Some things have changed.)
One story in particular came to mind that I think speaks to this moment. Jesus keeps an appointment with a woman at a well in the heat of the day in a land of strangers.
I took a fresh look at John 4:1-42. I realized there are many things I and others have assumed that are hurtful – unintentionally so.
We aren’t given her name, but Jesus saw her and she him. A story of recognition and identity clarified shows us a path through these times.
In Christ -
Interested in becoming a member of Second Presbyterian? Email Cress for more information.
The City has reached out asking for volunteer drivers to help care for our neighbors without housing right now. A volunteer driver is needed for each day of the week for both available options. Please consider volunteering. Contact Christopher Jardin at jardinc@charleston-sc.gov or 843.607.8570 for more information.
Send in your questions by Monday!
A sermon discussion will be posted each week and we would love for you to join the conversation. Yes, we really want you to ask questions!
Did you know that the word "sermon" comes from a Latin word "sermo," which means "discourse" and "conversation"? You can ask questions here anonymously by Monday at 6pm and they will be answered in a sermon discussion post. Please send in any questions you have after you watch the sermon this week. Check out last week's response here →
Special Offering this Sunday for Hands of Christ
Thank you for your continued support of our effort as a Church to support the incredible Hands of Christ ministry in the Charleston community. This year may be even more important than ever. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are modifying our distribution to safeguard both our members and the children we serve.
Find out more about how children will be served and how you can volunteer this year.
Thank you for your support of the special offering this Sunday, June 28th. You may send a check to the church or use the online donation tool and designate 'Hands of Christ'.
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
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is in contact with partners in Guatemala and El Salvador offering assistance after Tropical Storm Amanda. Please join us in praying for the affected communities.
To support PDA’s response, designate gifts to DR000139. bit.ly/DR000139
The Tywanza Sanders Legacy Foundation launches a new T-shirt design as a fundraiser each year to help support Camp Wanza, an entrepreneurship camp for ages 10-18, and fund scholarships. This year's design is special as it is an original by Tywanza himself.
The goal right now is to fund a $2000 scholarship. Order your shirts today!
PC(USA) General Assembly, June 19-27th, 2020, is virtual this year. Find out more here →
Watch Rev. Dr. J Herbert Nelson, Stated Clerk PCUSA opened the General Assembly on Friday with words of encouragement in this time of pandemic and unrest. Watch here →
Lee Pringle, founder of the Charleston Gospel Choir that makes its home here at Second Presbyterian and sings twice yearly in our services, is also the founder of the Colour of Music Festival. Based in Charleston and organized in 2013, the Colour of Music Festival has brought international, national, and regional classically trained black musicians of African descent to share their musical talents, knowledge, and inspiration to concert and performance halls across the U.S.
The Festival has decided to re-release the yellow 2017 poster as it has become a symbol of national solidarity and togetherness.
Resistance, solidarity, and togetherness is the context for the artist’s use of a five-string violin and a fist, a symbol of black resistance, that commemorated the Festival’s fifth anniversary.
Posters and new t-shirts are available in the shop at colourofmusic.org, where you can also view their George Floyd Memorial montage video.
Find more information about the poster and artists here →
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.
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.