This Sunday we will celebrate communion at home, so please prepare bread- or bagels or muffins- and juice or wine so that you are ready to take part in communion. Scroll to the bottom for sermon notes.
Click here to listen to sermon as a podcast. Click here to view all Second Presbyterian Church videos.
Click here to listen to Sara Groves’ song “Why It Matters” that Cress refers to in the sermon.
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, July 5, 2020
Dear Friends in Christ –
It's been said that this moment of cultural and civil disruption is a pivot, a moment where what was is no longer acceptable or viable. It’s been said that it is no longer about reconciliation, but about economics and justice. I remembered another moment as I retreated from the headlines from which we all recoil.
There is a song by Sarah Groves, a Christian singer/songwriter. She is an activist as well with International Justice Mission. IJM fights to eradicate slavery– there are more people enslaved today than at any other time in history. Second Presbyterian has presented and been part of a consortium that has presented Sarah three times over the last 15 years. She wrote a song- "Why it Matters". It was sparked in a dark time for her when she heard of a fellow during the Bosnian War who played his cello in the middle of a recently bombed out area. Many say that his playing, the attention that he drew, the protest of beauty in the middle of all the chaos, drew attention to the region and really hastened the end of the war. But for her, it called her to an integrated life. She wrote, “If it matters, it matters at every level and everywhere I go and in every part of myself.” She wanted her music to reflect that. I hope that you’ll listen to it.
Men and women, on this day, on this weekend, as we celebrate the audacity of the American experiment, may we join hands and hearts. May we be bold and unafraid as we proclaim what we believe: that God is in the midst of our lives. And in God’s service we will find rest– rest for our souls. Amen.
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.
You can still donate to the Special Offering for Hands of Christ online by designating '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
We have decided to delay our tag sale (yard, garage sale), till the end of September or October because of the virus. I now go around my house picking up nicknacks, and saying "bye- bye" I am decluttering. I look in closets and drawers and say to my clothes, "I haven't worn you in a year, so I guess I don't need you "bye-bye". Now I have a few piles and bags for the tag sale. So go around your house, garage, basement, and attic before time goes by and it's too late. I will need volunteers at the beginning of September to help me organize and price things. I will also need volunteers to spread the word, make posters/flyers to post at the college, stores, and churches and to put an ad in the paper. Please call and let me know if you can help out.
Thanks so much,
Dawn McCready
293-921-7819
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.