Sunday Bulletin - June 19

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

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


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LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - 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.

WORSHIP CONTACT CARD

INFORMATION & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Are you looking for a church home where you can make a difference for the God we serve? Where you belong and you will be known, nurtured, challenged?  We welcome you and invite you to spend some time with us.

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.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PRAYER LIST & UPCOMING BIRTHDAYS
 
 
 

Watch Second Presbyterian services and videos on YouTube, like Second on Facebook, and stay connected by signing up for our emails which offer a snapshot of upcoming church and missions events and announcements.

Prodigality

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m. in-person, following CDC guidelines, and live streamed here.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, June 19, 2022

Dear Friends in Christ –

This Sunday we celebrate Father’s Day.

This Sunday we recognize the end of slavery in the United States with the delivery of the news to Texas.

This Sunday we revisit a beloved parable sometimes known as the prodigal son, or the prodigal father, or the bitter brother.

But I think each of these "takes" seen through the lens of Jesus’ love and compassion arrives at the nature of our God, a God of prodigality. (really?) yep! God’s excess…sive love!

See you Sunday!

 

Please worship from home if you are exhibiting any COVID-like symptoms, are aware of an exposure, or have been asked by a school or other institution to quarantine or isolate.

Interested in becoming a member of Second Presbyterian? Email Cress for more information and dates for upcoming new members classes.

give online
Upcoming events


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

Source: sermons

An Evening Honoring the Legacy of Denmark Vesey

An Evening Honoring the Legacy of Denmark Vesey

June 25 at 6:00 p.m. in the sanctuary

Presented by Second Presbyterian Church in partnership with the Charleston Gospel Choir

Second Presbyterian Church and Charleston Gospel Choir will honor the legacy of Denmark Vesey with an event featuring special narration and music provided by the Charleston Gospel Choir on June 25th at 6:00 p.m. in the sanctuary.

This event is free and open to the public and will pay homage to the extraordinary 200-year legacy and life of Denmark Vesey, a self-educated Black man who planned the most extensive slave rebellion in U.S. history in Charleston, 1822. The Charleston Gospel Choir will perform moving spirituals and gospel standards including “Lawd, How Come Me Heah,” “Heaven Help Us All,” and “To Be Young Gifted and Black.”

In a city-wide collaboration, Second Presbyterian Church, IAAM, the Gaillard, and Mother Emanuel A.M.E. are engaging the narrative of Denmark Vesey with events throughout June and July.

Sunday Bulletin - June 12

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

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


Download this week's bulletin

LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - 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.

WORSHIP CONTACT CARD

INFORMATION & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Are you looking for a church home where you can make a difference for the God we serve? Where you belong and you will be known, nurtured, challenged?  We welcome you and invite you to spend some time with us.

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.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PRAYER LIST & UPCOMING BIRTHDAYS
 
 
 

Watch Second Presbyterian services and videos on YouTube, like Second on Facebook, and stay connected by signing up for our emails which offer a snapshot of upcoming church and missions events and announcements.

It Takes What It Takes

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m. in-person, following CDC guidelines, and live streamed here.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, June 12, 2022

Dear Friends in Christ –

Trinity Sunday – here we are! Christ is risen. The Spirit has blown in (again) on creation and before the lectionary turns to an extended season of ‘ordinary time’ we are given the chance to engage a bit of doctrine. We have the wonderful and welcome opportunity to move beyond 4th century metaphysics and consider the reality of our God experienced at Pentecost, and each day we live in grace and justification. Creator. Incarnate redeemer. Breath of life. All facets of the one God we know, proclaim, and experience.

This Sunday we marvel at the diversity and completeness of the God who loves us in so many ways.

Anna and Walt will be baptized.

Alex Treyz will be received in membership.

We will experience God in wonder.

 

Please worship from home if you are exhibiting any COVID-like symptoms, are aware of an exposure, or have been asked by a school or other institution to quarantine or isolate.

Interested in becoming a member of Second Presbyterian? Email Cress for more information and dates for upcoming new members classes.

give online
Upcoming events


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

Source: sermons

Sunday Bulletin - June 5

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

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


Download this week's bulletin

LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - 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.

WORSHIP CONTACT CARD

INFORMATION & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Are you looking for a church home where you can make a difference for the God we serve? Where you belong and you will be known, nurtured, challenged?  We welcome you and invite you to spend some time with us.

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. 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.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PRAYER LIST & UPCOMING BIRTHDAYS
 
 
 

Watch Second Presbyterian services and videos on YouTube, like Second on Facebook, and stay connected by signing up for our emails which offer a snapshot of upcoming church and missions events and announcements.

The Rush

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m. in-person, following CDC guidelines, and live streamed here.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, June 5, 2022

Dear Friends in Christ –

This weekend is usually 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

  • Our "Seconds Please" Tea Room has just wrapped up! But this year is different…

It’s been two years since a deadly virus assaulted our world and has disrupted our lives. Our work, our relationships, our leisure, our worship has all changed, and will never be the same. And it seems that every other day there is a mass shooting at a school, a grocery store, a synagogue, a sanctuary, a hospital….

2,000 years ago, at a particular moment in time, we are told the Holy Spirit of God swept in and transformed the world. Theologian and journalist Phylis 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.

Hold on!

In anticipation and excitement for the Spirit’s leading –

 

Please worship from home if you are exhibiting any COVID-like symptoms, are aware of an exposure, or have been asked by a school or other institution to quarantine or isolate.

Interested in becoming a member of Second Presbyterian? Email Cress for more information and dates for upcoming new members classes.

give online
Upcoming events


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

Source: sermons

Sunday Bulletin - May 29

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

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


Download this week's bulletin

LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - 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.

WORSHIP CONTACT CARD

INFORMATION & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Are you looking for a church home where you can make a difference for the God we serve? Where you belong and you will be known, nurtured, challenged?  We welcome you and invite you to spend some time with us.

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. 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.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PRAYER LIST & UPCOMING BIRTHDAYS
 
 
 

Watch Second Presbyterian services and videos on YouTube, like Second on Facebook, and stay connected by signing up for our emails which offer a snapshot of upcoming church and missions events and announcements.

How Long?

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m. in-person, following CDC guidelines, and live streamed here.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, May 29, 2022

Dear Friends in Christ –

For 154 years a day has been set aside to honor those who have fallen in defense of our nation. This year is no exception. But this year for the first time in decades our nation is not engaged in an overt war though across the globe women and men serve in advisory positions and train national forces to care for themselves.

How strange and how tragic to find ourselves in deadly domestic battles of ideology that play out in destructive ways resulting in death of innocents. When seeds of hate find fertile ground on media platforms that don’t demand responsibility nor truth and evade culpability, life itself and our way of living is compromised.

The prophet Habakkuk asked, “How long, Lord, must I call for help but you do not listen?”

It may feel like that now. Feelings are real, but not necessarily based on what we know be true. Our watchful God is present each moment and attentive to our needs.

On this Memorial Day, let us honor those who have fallen in defense of our nation, and those who have fallen through no fault of their own trusting that the God of the cosmos is the God of each moment and the lover of each of us.

As we look through a dimly lit mirror, let us access the clarity of God’s illimitable grace together.

 

Please worship from home if you are exhibiting any COVID-like symptoms, are aware of an exposure, or have been asked by a school or other institution to quarantine or isolate.

Interested in becoming a member of Second Presbyterian? Email Cress for more information and dates for upcoming new members classes.

give online
Upcoming events


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

Source: sermons

Keeping the word after Uvalde

A vigil this week at the Princeton Theological Seminary reunion.

“Lord, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you, “Violence!” and will you not save?" – Habakkuk 1:2

The words of the prophet Habakkuk resonate throughout our communities and our country. As I write, my mind defaults to us/them – no matter which side… and I’m sick of it.

Why is it that we aren’t willing to act? We’re in paralysis. We’re concretized in our self-righteousness. We’re stuck in a stalemate. They see it. We do too. Yet neither is willing to blink… and children die.

Pointing fingers won’t break the impasse. Thoughts and prayers offer little comfort. Jesus said “If you keep my words, you love me. If you don’t keep my words, you don’t love me.”

Just because we don’t know the answer doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Love is a verb. Let us keep the word. May we be fierce, resolute, and unafraid.

 

Here are some direct links to resources from the PC(USA) Office of Christian Formation shared by the presbytery that might be helpful.

Source: sermons

Sunday Bulletin - May 22

THIS IS GOD'S HOUSE - ALL ARE WELCOME

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


Download this week's bulletin

LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - 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.

WORSHIP CONTACT CARD

INFORMATION & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Are you looking for a church home where you can make a difference for the God we serve? Where you belong and you will be known, nurtured, challenged?  We welcome you and invite you to spend some time with us.

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. 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.

CLICK HERE FOR THE PRAYER LIST & UPCOMING BIRTHDAYS
 
 
 

Watch Second Presbyterian services and videos on YouTube, like Second on Facebook, and stay connected by signing up for our emails which offer a snapshot of upcoming church and missions events and announcements.

Jesus' Words Matter

Sunday morning worship at 10:30 a.m. in-person, following CDC guidelines, and live streamed here.

Find upcoming events and announcements here.

SERMON SNAPSHOT: Sunday, May 22, 2022

Dear Friends in Christ –

These last few weeks we’ve engaged stories punctuated with visions and trances. Saul, Ananias, Cornelius, Peter – the gamut of folks in an early church narrative who are directed by the voice of God to do extraordinary things. Of them all, I think Peter’s vision was the most bizarre. A blanket descending with animals forbidden to be eaten by observant Jews, and a voice saying, “Get up! Kill and eat!” Peter protested, "Ain’t nothing non Kosher passed these lips!" The voice of God says, "What God has made clean, you must not call profane." Enough said!

This Sunday we reach back to the ‘farewell discourse’ where Jesus makes the most of his last chance with them, his last hours with them. He uses every moment in every way to imprint on them his love, his method, his humility. He tells them the one thing above all others that they must know and practice for life without him. He says, “Keep my word.” What does that mean? It may sound simple, but it isn’t easy.

Let’s look at this together this Sunday as we baptize Margaret Craw, welcome Alex Treyz (update: postponed due to illness) into membership and point to Jesus –

In great anticipation,

 

Please worship from home if you are exhibiting any COVID-like symptoms, are aware of an exposure, or have been asked by a school or other institution to quarantine or isolate.

Interested in becoming a member of Second Presbyterian? Email Cress for more information and dates for upcoming new members classes.

give online
Upcoming events


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

Source: sermons

We have work to do.

Dear Friends in Christ –
 
I received this from Father Kennedy, the Chaplain at Porter Gaud, the school my daughter attends, and I wanted to share it with you.

“[... We] are rooted in the belief that all people are creatures made in the image of God. Each and every one of us - without exception - is a product, recipient, and reflection of Divine love. We are all therefore persons with innate and immeasurable dignity and worth, persons of one human family, whose lives are intricately interwoven with one another. 
 
The acts of white supremacy and violence experienced in the city of Buffalo over the weekend - and all forms of racism and hatred - are anathema to this vision of the human person. Such events fracture the human family and remind its members that things are not as they should be, that we are not as we should be.”
 
We have work to do!
 
Best love,

 
Source: sermons