Christmas Pageant Signups
It's that time again, to sign you child up for the Christmas Pageant. The pageant will be held on Sunday, December 17 at 9:00 am. Rehearsal are after church on Sundays December 3 & 10. Please use the QR code below to sign up your child.
DEADLINE TO SIGN UP IS NOVEMBER 20.
Thanksgiving Service
Thursday, November 23 10:00 am
Give thanks with your church family at this Holy Communion service on Thanksgiving Day.
Advent Lessons & Carols
Sunday, December 3
We will have Advent Lessons & Carols at our 9:00 am and 11:00 am services this Sunday. The 8:00 am service will be Holy Communioin as usual.
Advent Wreath Workshop
Sunday, December 3, 2023. 10:00 am
Parents Night Out
Friday, December 8, 2023 5:30 - 8:30 pm
Have a date night, or do a little Christmas shopping, as your children enjoy have a kids night at the church. Dinner for all, movie and games for K-5th grades, nursery for 6 weeks to 4 years. RSVP to Dee Goehring at dee@stmichaelschurch.net.
Rectory Open House
Sunday, December 10, 2023 after the 11:00 am service
A St. Michael's Christmastide tradition! Walk over to the Rectory after the 11:00 0ams ervice for some punch, nibbles, and fellowship!
Caroling in the Neighborhood
Sunday, December 10 6:30 pm
Meet us in the Kinloch Room as we gather to head out into our St Michael's neighborhood to sing carols to our neighbors! All singers, skilled or unskilled, are welcome!
Advent Concert
Monday, December 18, 2023 6:30 pm
Christmas Pageant
Sunday, December 17 9:00 am
This year's Christmas Pageant will be at 9:00 am on December 17. We will have our regular 8:00 am and 11:00 am services that Sunday, but there will be no Sunday School. You are welcome to join the cast after the pageant in the Kinloch Room for some fellowship and nibbles.
Anglican Relief and Development Fund (ARDF)
Israel War Relief
On October 7, 2023, Hamas breached Israel’s border with Gaza, killing more than 1,500 people, injuring over 2,500, and taking over 100 hostages. Our hearts are heavy as we watch and pray. Anglican Relief and Development is partnering with CMJ-USA (Christian’s Amongst the Jews) to bring aid and support to survivors of the conflict. You can support their work with a donation to ARDF. Use the QR code to learn more and donate now.
Job Opening: Sexton
Please read the job description and requirements on our website at stmichaelschurch.net/job-openings
Pray for Maine
Dear St. Michaelites, Lewiston Maine, was the site for a mass shooting - today 22 are reported decesased. Lewiston is a neighboring community of our Mission Partners in Portland, Maine: the Rev. Dan Wolf. Hurting Coast Chair, Sherrie Driver, contacted Dan asking how St. Michael's might pray for his church family and community. Below is a response from Dan. Please share the prayers. Blessings, Jean Corbett
Thank you for your prayers. It's been a very heavy last 24 hours. We learned a few hours ago that our friend Ron, who came to Alpha last year and had his life transformed by the Holy Spirit and now serves as a leader, had three friends killed last night. The Director of a non-profit Ron works closely with was at the bowling alley and used his body as a human shield to protect 20-30 teenagers to get them to safety. He is in critical condition at the hospital. Pray for his healing. And pray they arrest the shooter who is still at large as of now. Finally, pray for the comforting, powerful, gentle presence of the Holy Spirit. We have our Alpha weekend this weekend and for sweet worship on Sunday as we lament and pray for our friends and state. Thanks for praying, it means so much. Dan
PRAYER REQUEST FROM THE REV. DAN WOLF, IN FALMOUTH, MAINE
Father, Today as a church we lament and pray for all those who have died and are wounded by the gunman in our neighboring community of Lewiston. Father God, be with all the families and friends who are in shock and mourning the death of one of your beloved creations. Jesus, have mercy on our state and all the towns and cities within Maine. Execute swift justice for this man who has killed those made in your image. Holy Spirit, our great counselor and comforter, help us. Give our church and all churches and Christians throughout Maine wisdom and discernment on how to bless and love those in our communities who are grieving. Help us be bold to give an account for the hope that is within us. Jesus, fill all government officials, law enforcement, paramedics, doctors, nurses, churches, teachers, parents, volunteers to be instruments of your justice, peace, healing, and mercy. Jesus, please return soon to wipe every tear from our eyes and make all things new. Amen.
.
Bible Study at Bishop Gadsden
Wednesdays at 10:00 am
Announcing a new St Michael's Bible Study at Bishop Gadsden. Starting on Wednesday, October 4 at 10am, The Rev. Al Zadig, Jr. and the Rev. Charlie Baldwin will be leading a Bible study at the Bishop Gadsden Retirement Community on James Island. This course will meet in the Mappus Card room for one hour each Wednesday through the middle of December. Using his recent book, Turbo Bible for Men, our Rector will look at how the Old Testament books fit together, highlighting the main points and characters of each book, and even how long each book takes to read! However, this course is not just for men, all are welcomed, even if you don’t live at Bishop Gadsden!
Sunday School for All!
Sunday, September 10, 2023
Sunday School starts back on Sunday, September 10, at 10:00 am. There is something for everyone, so bring the whole family!
Nursery (8:45 am - 12:15 pm)
6 weeks - 23 months Noah's Nursery
2 - 4 years The Gospel Corner
Children (10:00 - 10:45 am)
5K - 1st grade The Gospel Corner
2nd - 3rd grade Room 203
4th - 5th grade Room 204
Youth (10:00 - 10:45 am)
6th - 12th grade Room 201
Adults (10:00 - 10:45 am)
Bill Hyer class Kinloch Room Lord, Teach Us To Pray
Parents class The Chapel The Gospel Project
Super Wednesday Returns
Wednesdays, September 13 - November 15
We will have classes for children, youth, and adults, including Alpha, Children's and Adult Choirs, and a study of David. There will also be a church family supper in the Kinloch Room, 5:45 pm - 6:30 pm. Please check out our Super Wednesday webpage for more info.
David: A Legacy that Echos (Where Ancient Faith Meets Modern Struggles)
You can sign up for the Study of David at stmichaelschurch.net/signup.
You can purchase a study guide here: Amazon Link
What is this study about? Let Greg Smith tell you...
I am fascinated by David. When I look at a leader, both spiritually and physically, I am encouraged and challenged by this “man after God’s own heart”. In him we see the thrill of victory and the true agony of defeat. He is an intriguing case study of what it means to follow God and how to return to the Lord when you’ve blown it. But David is more than just an example to follow – much more. Indeed, one would be wise NOT to follow David’s example at many points along the journey. Indeed, the main point of David’s life isn’t actually David at all. As a King of Israel, David points us to another King who will come and embody all the greatness we see in David without any of the flaws. The people at “Love God Greatly” (the Bible Study group we have liberally borrowed from) remind us that David is a “Type” of Christ:
“Throughout the Old Testament we come across what theologians call “types of Christ.” It was God’s intent that certain people, events, and even objects in the Old Testament would point to Jesus and His work on behalf of His people. For example, the manna that God provided the people of Israel was a “type,” pointing to Jesus who is the true bread from heaven that satisfies souls (John 6:32). Other types include the temple, Boaz, Jonah, and the cleansing with hyssop, just to name a few. David is considered to be a type of Christ, meaning that his life prefigures that of Jesus. A number of times in Matthew Jesus is referred to as “the Son of David.” David was God’s anointed and unrecognized king just as Jesus was God’s anointed yet unrecognized King when He walked this earth. David and Jesus were both born in Bethlehem and both were rejected by their own people. David was a shepherd and Jesus calls himself the Great Shepherd. The comparisons between David and Jesus are extensive.
The life God chose for David truly was a life of adventure rooted in faith, and we are blessed to be able to learn so much about him in God’s Word. For those in Christ, we too have the potential to exhibit unwavering loyalty and faith in our God because we have the Spirit of God in us. Through the power of Christ, we too can become men and women after God’s own heart.
Our Beloved Rick Belser
August 12, 2023
Dear St. Michaelites and Friends:
Early this morning our beloved Rector Emeritus, the Rev. Richard I.H. Belser went to his heavenly home. Rick died after a long battle with Parkinson’s. Rick served St. Michael’s Church faithfully as Rector for twenty-two years. In fact, many of you reading this news today could share story after story of being ministered to by Rick. For still others, you may never have met this wonderful man, but his ministry and Gospel fingerprints remain in every wonderful way all over St. Michael’s Church.
I met Rick as a young seminarian while attending St. Luke’s School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. I became his assistant at St. Michael’s in 1997, and thus began a Gospel partnership that would change the course of my life. To that point, I had never known a priest like Rick. Here was a guy who wrote many a sermon from a deer stand, and while crouching in the woods turkey hunting. He taught me to shrimp, hunt, and fish! He was a master teacher of all things outdoors and within the Sanctuary. He taught me how to baptize, marry, and bury. He taught he how to craft a sermon, and teach Scripture. I do believe I learned more from Rick in my years as his assistant than I did in seminary. In those wonderful years, I also recount the date nights Elizabeth and I would have with Annie and Rick, where we could share more deeply our lives, dreams, and even heartbreaks.
Yet, if I were to sum Rick up in one word, it would have to be the word beloved. I can’t remember a sermon Rick ever preached where he didn’t call out to us as the ‘beloved.’ Rick’s typical sermon had three major parts. He would begin with an engaging story, make a turn into teaching the context of the Gospel passage, then would finish by applying that message to our daily lives, always always introducing that 3rd section with the word…beloved. Rick used that beautiful word tenderly to say you are loved by our Lord more than you can ever know. In the Old Testament books of Deuteronomy and Jeremiah, Israel was often called “beloved of God” to mean God calling Israel to be set apart for His divine plan to save the world. New Testament writers used the word beloved to mean “friends dearly loved by God.” The New Testament understanding of beloved “suggests an esteem for others that comes from recognizing their worth as children of God. That’s certainly how each of Rick’s sermons left me; challenged by the Gospel and extraordinarily loved and valued as a son.
This love created within Rick a deep desire to see renewal sweep St. Michael’s church. To that end, he introduced renewal music to our congregation, adding the Parish “Praise and Thanksgiving Songbook” into every pew. As an innovator in renewal, his legacy moved much beyond St. Michael’s Church as he helped introduce the Cursillo movement and the Alpha Course to the Diocese of South Carolina.
Well, tomorrow, and as the beloved, we will once again fill those wonderful pew boxes for Sunday Worship. Do me a favor before you leave church, take a stroll through the Belser building, and as you enter the loggia (glass hallway), you will see a plaque on the wall that truly sums up the heart of Rick Belser. On that tribute to Rick is quoted First Corinthians 2:2: Paul writing: “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” This is what undergirded Rick’s heart and faith. May it also continue to undergird ours as well.
Blessings in Christ,
The Rev. Al zadig, Jr.
Rector
Lemonade for Missions
Sunday, July 23, 2023
Don't forget to bring cash this Sunday! After our services on Sunday, July 23, the children will be serving lemonade in the loggia. Donations will be accepted, with the proceeds going to support St. Michael's Missions.
Children are needed to help serve lemonade and welcome people to the Lemonade for Missions
If you are interested, please contact Dee Goehring, dee@
Family Movie Night
Wednesday, July 26 5:30 - 8:30 pm Kinloch Room
Bring the whole family! Enjoy snacks and a movie in the Kinloch Room.
RSVP to Dee Goehring, dee@stmichaelschurch.net
July Mission: School Supply Drive
July 1 - July 31, 2023
Our Mission Task Force focus this month is collecting SCHOOL SUPPLIES for Charleston Classical School (K-4th grades) and Hope Scholars Academy (high school). Please drop off your donations on the table by the alley door.
Click for a Supply List for Charleston Classical School
Operation Christmas Child - Family Opportunity
Operation Christmas Child is just around the corner and now is the time to say a prayer that YOUR heart will be filled with the need to pack some boxes and that God will give you guidance. Watch sales for toiletries. Every child needs a tooth brush, tooth brush holder, floss, soap & wash cloth or scrubbies, and combs/brushes. No liquids or toothpaste please.
Is God tugging on YOUR heart to get involved in something? YOU can answer His call by offering your time and talents to Operation Christmas Child. We need families who will volunteer to handout boxes and information Sundays during September and October. YOU won’t have to do it every Sunday and your family only has to volunteer for the service you normally attend. Get involved! Ask another family to join you! We promise you a rewarding experience!
Soul in the City
July 16 - 20, 2023
Soul in the City is a multi-church, youth mission to mission partners in the Charleston area. For youth in seventh through twelfth grades. Contact Taylor Daniel for more information, taylor@stmichaelschurch.net
Youth Beach Day
Friday, July 7
Contact Taylor Daniel for more info: taylor@stmichaelschurch.net
Parents Night Out
Wednesday, August 9
5:30 - 8:30 pm in the Kinloch Room
Parents! Drop your kids off in the Kinloch Room, and have a date night!
RSVP to Dee Goehring, dee@stmichaelschurch.net
Youth Sunday School with Sherif Yacoub
Sundays, 10:00 am June 11 - August 27 Room 201
During the summer, we will learn Biblical answers to modern questions confronting teenagers and young adults today, in an interactive, discussion-based format. Each episode will be a stand-alone session rather than a series, so it is perfectly OK to miss episodes if you are traveling.
The topic of each lesson will be communicated by text message to parents beforehand.
Examples of topics:
+ Faith and Science: enemies or friends?
+ The Biblical guide to starting and maintaining friendships
+ How does the Bible help us in our relationship with our parents?
+ Spiderman super powers and the gifts of the Holy Spirit: similarities and differences
+ What does the Bible say about self-esteem?
+ The Christian answer to the identity crisis
+ Money, career and the Spirit of God.
And much more..
About the Sunday School teacher:
Dr. Sherif Yacoub is a Christian, American-of-Egyptian-origin Medical Doctor, a scientist with published articles in cell biology, a Bible teacher with a Diploma in Christian Ministry from Trinity School for Ministry, a missionary with an international ministry "The Way" that reached 10 million people in the Middle-East, a CEO of a Technology consulting company "Azenour". He has a heart for mentoring and teaching teenagers and young adults who seek Jesus. When he is not working, Dr. Yacoub enjoys spending time with his family, reading and learning about theology, history, economy and technology, playing the guitar or practicing martial arts."
Have questions? Contact Sherif Yacoub by emailing szyacoub@gmail.com !
Annual Meeting Results
Sunday, May 21, 2023 10:00 am in the Sanctuary
We had a wonderful, brief An nual Meeting followed by a scrumptious hot dog lunch in the Kinloch Room. Our new three-year term vestry members are Robert Burnett, Heidi Ravenel, and Mitch Watford. Mikell Scarborough will serve for one year, completing the term of Linda Prince, who is moving back to Virginia.
Our Diocesan Convention Delegates are Laura Gruber, Hal Frampton, Tim Driver, and Gary DiCamillo. The alternates are Jay Seibels, Reeves Howard, Joe Good, and Eileen Williams.
Diaper Drive for Lowcountry Pregnancy Center
June 4 - July 30, 2023
Our Diaper Drive in support of Lowcountry Pregnancy Center will be held during June and July. We are accepting donations of diapers (all sizes), wipes, and Gerber formula. Please drop off donations on the table by the alley door in the Belser Building or on Sundays in the narthex.
You can also scan the QR code below and have diapers sent directly to St MIchael's.
Join us on Sunday, June 4 after the 11 am service for our drive-thru diaper drop-off under the portico!
More info: Dee Goehring, dee@stmichaelschurch.net
May Mission Partner: Star Gospel Mission
May 1 - 31, 2023
The Mission Task Force is shining a spotlight on a different Holy City Mission Partner each month. Suggestions for donations will be given, as well as suggested opportunities to serve. This month we are lifting up Star Gospel Mission.
Please help us collect items for Star Gospel Mission. Place the items on
the table by the St. Michael’s Alley door during the month of May. Go to the
Amazon Star Gospel Mission Wishlist at this link or see the list below:
Amazon Link for Star Gospel Mission Wish List
Coffee, ground and whole bean
Disposable coffee cups
Creamer
Sugar packets
Liquid laundry detergent
Fabric softener
Dryer sheets
Pine-Sol All Purpose Cleaner
Men’s new socks
Men’s new Tshirts
Thank you for supporting our Holy City Mission Partners!
We've had GIC. What now?
You've been inspired by our mission partners this week. So now is the time to commit to helping in our mission to spread the Good News.
Do you want to make a Mission Offering? Please remember that ALL financial support for missions and our mission partners is generated through the GIC Mission Offering. None of this offering is used for operating expenses, and none of the operating budget is used for mission. Download this card to make a mission offering! Please return the card to the church office at 71 Broad Street, Charleston, SC 29401. Mission Offering Card
Ar you interested in volunteering with one of our mission partners? Want to go on a short-term mission? Do you want to help with next year's GIC? Then fill out our Interest in Mission card and return to the church office at 71 Broad Street, Charleston, SC 29401. A member of our Mission Task Force team will contact you to discuss further how you can make a difference. Interest in Mission Card
The Rev. Rick Belser named Rector Emeritus of St. Michael's
It is with great joy that today I announce that I am naming the Rev. Richard I.H. Belser, Jr., as Rector Emeritus of St. Michael’s Church. It goes without saying that Rick served faithfully as Rector of St. Michael’s Church as my immediate predecessor for more than two decades. Rick and his wife Annie brought in a renewed sense of mission, evangelism and renewal to the corner of Meeting and Broad streets.
I know you probably have two questions: first, what does Rector Emeritus mean and second, why now? The title, Rector Emeritus acknowledges an ongoing two-way relationship of love, affection, respect and honor as we pledge to hold Rick up in prayer. It also means Rick and Annie may choose more freely the ministry they would like to participate in as they feel called. As for the second question, here is a little secret. When Rick retired from St. Michaels, he and Annie actually didn’t! They moved to Egypt where Rick taught for several years at an Anglican Seminary. Upon their return, Rick stepped in to offer leadership to churches that were between Rectors, including Christ Church, Mt. Pleasant and wrote his first book called: Son and Heir.
For the last several years, Rick has been dealing with the effects of Parkinson’s, and is not as mobile. He and Annie have felt called back to their beloved St. Michael’s and so it is only right, true and good to thank God for their transformational and faithful ministry by bestowing this honor upon them.
More personally, Elizabeth and I are overjoyed the Belsers are back at St. Michael’s Church. I served for five years as Rick’s assistant before moving to Washington, and in those five “mentoring” years, I believe I learned more about ministry than I did in seminary. This Yankee also received tremendous training in the art of shrimping and hunting!!!
So, please join me in praying daily for Rick and Annie as they begin a new season at St. Michael’s Church!
Many Summer Blessings in Christ,
The Rev. Alfred T.K. Zadig, Jr.
21st Rector of St. Michael’s Church