A Place Where Doubts Are Welcome

Online Church is posted on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. Watch here.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

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SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, April 11, 2021

Dear Friends in Christ – 

With each liturgical year, with each high point of Easter there comes afterward what is known in many circles as ‘Low Sunday.’ I’ve searched to find if there were some theological warrant; turns out, it’s just as you would expect – low energy, low attendance. It's as if there was only so much joy we could conjure. Time to pull back and catch a breath. I don’t buy it. This past Sunday was so exciting – a full church (properly spaced, of course) singing, communion, smiling eyes above the masks – the joy was palpable! So will there be a full church this Sunday? Maybe, maybe not, but the Sanctuary will be filled with joy, not ‘let down.’ 

He is still risen and appearing to his disciples, appearing in his resurrected body through walls and breathing the Spirit of life into his chosen. And loving Thomas, though he doubted. So what? We do too. Besides, I heard this week that the opposite of faith is not doubt, it's unbelief. Doubt is a tool, a bridge, a blessing. 

Come this week to Low Sunday/high praise. Come to Second Church "where doubts are welcome."

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Interested in becoming a member of Second Presbyterian? Email Cress for more information.

Listen to sermon podcasts here. Click here to view all Second Presbyterian Church videos. Find upcoming events and announcements here.

Our Condolences

We are devastated by the tragedy in Rock Hill this week. Our hearts break as gun violence continues to affect people’s lives and our deepest sympathies go out to the Lesslie family as they experience unimaginable loss, the grief of which extends to our own SPK family. Please keep all of the families affected by this tragedy lifted in prayer.

On Sunday, we can all wear brightly colored clothing as requested in honor of their children — who “were the brightest lights imaginable.” If you’re in the Rock Hill area, there is a prayer vigil Sunday, April 11. Members of the Lesslie Family and close friends have organized the community memorial for a public remembrance and celebration of the lives of Robert, Barbara, Adah and Noah. Members of the community who wish to attend are asked to dress in bright colors and come in a spirit of joy and hope in the grace and peace we have in Jesus Christ. The outdoor service will include music, prayer and words of remembrance and hope.

The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to your local food pantry, like Sea Island Hunger Awareness Foundation, or Camp Joy, 918 S. Pleasantburg Drive, Suite 106, Greenville, S.C. 29607.

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Please sign up to provide a meal for the Lesslie family.

Food can nourish the soul and the heart. The Lesslies are extremely grateful for your continued prayers and other offerings as they grieve their beloved niece, nephew, and grandparents.

Lenten Devotional: Easter

Christ has risen, he has risen indeed!

We have made it through the Lenten season and have come to an empty tomb and the good news: Christ has risen, he has risen indeed. I hope that you have found some time in the Lenten season and during Holy Week to slow down, breathe deeply, and draw nearer to God. Although Lent and Holy Week are more somber occasions in our liturgical year, they are ones we need. We need a season that urges us to slow down, to reconnect with God, and to remind us that if we allow ourselves to sit in the darkness, in the suffering and grief we can be more present in the celebration and to trust that we never sit in either suffering or celebration alone. 

I hope and pray at the end of this Lenten season you are able to lean fully into the joy and celebration that Easter brings. May you feel the presence of our Risen Lord and Savior near to you now and always.    

Christ has risen! He has risen indeed! Thanks be to God!

—Margaret Fleming

About the author

Margaret Fleming has been a member of Second Presbyterian Church since 2017. A native of Mt. Pleasant, she found herself back home after graduating from Columbia Theological Seminary in May 2020. She resides in Mt. Pleasant with her husband Will, a fourth-year medical student at MUSC. She is a candidate for ordination in the PCUSA and is currently serving as a Chaplain Resident at Roper Hospital.

Margaret's ordination service will be held on April 18, 2021 in the sanctuary.

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“Meeting people at their point of need and inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Christ.”

Easter Sunday 2021

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EASTER SUNDAY

Festival Communion Service Sunday, April 4 at 10:30 a.m.

Easter is a time when we have enjoyed record participation in our Sunday service as well as our highest giving during the offering. Please consider giving cheerfully and generously this joyous season, whether in person, online, or by mail. Download the service bulletin here.

Easter Sermon:

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Easter is a time when we have enjoyed record participation in our Sunday service as well as our highest giving during the offering. Please consider giving cheerfully and generously this joyous season, whether in person, online, or by mail.

“Meeting people at their point of need and inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Christ.”

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Bulletin- April 4

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

 “Meeting people at their point of need, Inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Christ”

LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - Please fill out a contact card to assist with COVID-19 contact tracing and to let us know you worshiped with us in person today even if you are a member. If you’re a visitor, online or in person, and would like more information please feel free to fill out a card or email Pastor Cress.

INFORMATION & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Second Presbyterian is a church community where you will be known and nurtured. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here. Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member here.

And get connected! Join a small group here. While we may be practicing social distancing these days, there are still ways to be involved and to offer your time, talents, and resources in service to others. Please reach out to our Director of Community and Communications Jordyn Pritchard to get connected.

Good Friday 2021

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GOOD FRIDAY

Service of Tenebrae: Seven Last Words

Friday, April 2 at 7:00 p.m.

Download service bulletin

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Easter is a time when we have enjoyed record participation in our Sunday service as well as our highest giving during the offering. Please consider giving cheerfully and generously this joyous season, whether in person, online, or by mail.

“Meeting people at their point of need and inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Christ.”

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Greetings

Online Church is posted on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. Watch here.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

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SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, April 4, 2021

Dear Friends in Christ – 

We have taken this Lenten season to accompany Jesus in his final days. 

What have we learned? 

That Jesus in his humanity is far more interesting, more competent, more radical, more intentional than we may have thought. Would the forces he opposed have killed him eventually? Probably, but we have seen Jesus leverage relationships and time to fulfill ancient prophecy, and to insure that this disruption in time would accomplish what needed to be done. 

The longed-for Messiah arrives in the Holy City at Passover to liberate God’s people from navel gazing to radical inclusivity. We employ the Gospel of Matthew. The earth quakes. Roman guards are stunned. An angelic presence reminds us that Jesus has plans and we’ll find his resurrected self in Galilee, just as he said. 

This Easter we’re open – to worship together, masked up and safely spaced. Invite your friends and let’s worship our God of righteousness, paradox and love.  

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Interested in becoming a member of Second Presbyterian? Email Cress for more information.

Listen to sermon podcasts here. Click here to view all Second Presbyterian Church videos. Find upcoming events and announcements here.

Maundy Thursday 2021

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MAUNDY THURSDAY

Communion Service Thursday, April 1 at 7:00 p.m.

“What Love Looks Like -Bellies Full & Feet Clean”

John 13:33-35

Download service bulletin

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Easter is a time when we have enjoyed record participation in our Sunday service as well as our highest giving during the offering. Please consider giving cheerfully and generously this joyous season, whether in person, online, or by mail.

“Meeting people at their point of need and inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Christ.”

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Volunteer Opportunities - April 2021

CLICK ON VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES BELOW TO FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION

Lenten Devotional: To Be Patient and Wait for the Lord

To Be Patient and Wait for the Lord

It is hard to believe that we have already made it to Holy Week. Easter is coming upon us quickly, and yet, there is still so much that must happen before we celebrate a tomb empty and our Lord risen. The seasons of the liturgical year teach us a rhythm in which we can live our lives. Most of the seasons, I have found, urge us to slow down, sit still, be patient and wait for the Lord. I believe Holy Week is a special invitation to sit and wait for the Lord.

There is something powerful about sitting in the discomfort of Holy Week. Throughout the Lenten season, Rev. Darwin’s sermon series has guided us through Jesus’ final days and we have been practicing sitting with and learning from that journey alongside our Savior. I often think about the disciples and how scary, jarring, and heartbreaking the last few days must have been. Especially when Jesus dies.

For the past few years, it has become an important practice for me, personally, to try and sit in that discomfort of grief and darkness of Good Friday and the uncomfortable unknown of Saturday. Because I have learned time and time again that when I sit in the grief, suffering, and darkness of my pain or others’ I can more truly and fully join in the celebration, the brightness, and the joy. Let us accept the invitation to be with Jesus on this journey this week so we might be able to truly celebrate when Easter Sunday arrives.

—Margaret Fleming

About the author

Margaret Fleming has been a member of Second Presbyterian Church since 2017. A native of Mt. Pleasant, she found herself back home after graduating from Columbia Theological Seminary in May 2020. She resides in Mt. Pleasant with her husband Will, a fourth-year medical student at MUSC. She is a candidate for ordination in the PCUSA and is currently serving as a Chaplain Resident at Roper Hospital.

Margaret's ordination service will be held on April 18, 2021 in the sanctuary.

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“Meeting people at their point of need and inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Christ.”

Palm Sunday 2021

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PALM SUNDAY

Virtual Palm Processional

Palm Sunday sermon: “The Beginning of the End”

Livestreamed Worship Service from Palm Sunday, March 28 at 10:30 a.m.

Download service bulletin

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Easter is a time when we have enjoyed record participation in our Sunday service as well as our highest giving during the offering. Please consider giving cheerfully and generously this joyous season, whether in person, online, or by mail.

“Meeting people at their point of need and inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Christ.”

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Bulletin- March 28

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

 “Meeting people at their point of need, Inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Christ”

LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - Please fill out a contact card to assist with COVID-19 contact tracing and to let us know you worshiped with us in person today even if you are a member. If you’re a visitor, online or in person, and would like more information please feel free to fill out a card or email Pastor Cress.

INFORMATION & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Second Presbyterian is a church community where you will be known and nurtured. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here. Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member here.

And get connected! Join a small group here. While we may be practicing social distancing these days, there are still ways to be involved and to offer your time, talents, and resources in service to others. Please reach out to our Director of Community and Communications Jordyn Pritchard to get connected.

The Beginning of the End

Online Church is posted on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. Watch here.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

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SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, March 28, 2021

Dear Friends in Christ —

Throughout the season of Lent we’ve engaged Jesus’ Final Week, discovering a more complex man, intentional leader, and shaper of the narrative. We’ve discovered someone who kept the mission in sight and provoked authorities and created situations as necessary to accomplish the goal of defeating those forces that divide and separate us.

This Sunday we start at the beginning of the week. The Messiah enters the Holy City from the Mount of Olives on the back of a colt in fulfillment of prophecy. We’ll see that each parable, each turn, each visit, meal and conversation moves the needle to and through humiliation, ridicule, and torture to love’s triumph.

Don’t miss this chance to accompany the Lord of life through human horror to God’s defining moment.

Let us abide together with God in love —

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Interested in becoming a member of Second Presbyterian? Email Cress for more information.

Listen to sermon podcasts here. Click here to view all Second Presbyterian Church videos. Find upcoming events and announcements here.

CONGREGATIONAL MEETING - April 11, 2021

The Annual Meeting of the Congregation will be held this Sunday, April 11, 2021, following the 10:30 a.m. Worship Service to be followed by the Annual Meeting of the Church Corporation in compliance with the church’s by laws. The Nominating Committee will offer members to be elected for of the 2021 Nominating Committee and the 2021-2022 Corporation. The church budget will be presented having been approved by the Session and the Pastor’s Terms of Call will be offered for approval.

Slate of Nominees for the 2021 Nominating Team: Jessica Brock, Dominique German, Sarah Mitchell, Jordyn Pritchard, Nicole Schuerman, Debbie Smith, and Nathan Walker.

The 2021 Nominating Team is being put forward now by the 2020 Nominating Team based on the the officer recommendations forms submitted during the 2020 season. This election was postponed last spring by the Nominating Team considering the annual nature of these particular roles, unlike deacons and elders, in hopes that in-person meetings would be a safe option ahead of the 2021 nominating season. Officer recommendations for the Class of 2024 Deacons and Elders, and 2022 Nominating Team will open after the 2021 Nominating Team has been officially elected.

Holy Week 2021

Our usual Holy Week services will be offered in the sanctuary masked and socially distanced and also livestreamed. Join us as we journey to the cross together for services on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.

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Download service bulletin

Download service bulletin

PALM SUNDAY: Worship Service Sunday, March 28 at 10:30 a.m. Watch the virtual palm processional here. Thanks to everyone who sent in photos and videos.

MAUNDY THURSDAY: Communion Service Thursday, April 1 at 7:00 p.m.

Download service bulletin

Download service bulletin

GOOD FRIDAY: Service of Tenebrae Friday, April 2 at 7:00 p.m.

EASTER: Festival Communion Service Sunday, April 4 at 10:30 a.m.

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Easter is a time when we have enjoyed record participation in our Sunday service as well as our highest giving during the offering. Please consider giving cheerfully and generously this joyous season, whether in person, online, or by mail.

“Meeting people at their point of need and inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Christ.”

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