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Virtually all the ministries in which we are involved are coordinated and served by volunteers among our members. St. Philip’s has a number of ministries related to Worship and Study such as: |
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* Bible Study -- An adult Bible study is held each Sunday morning between the worship services, led by a lay person. This attracts a small and dedicated group of people. Another Bible study has been held at a local retirement home at noon on Mondays, led by the priest. * Ecumenical Women’s Bible Studies * Alpha -- The Alpha Program has been held twice in the past five years. * Compline -- A small group has gathered for the past several years on Wednesday night for Compline and centering prayer. * Altar Guild -- St. Philip’s has a faithful Altar Guild who do the loving task of preparing the altar for Sunday worship services and all special services. * Altar Flowers -- The flowers are donated each week by one of the families of the congregation in an expression of celebration, thanksgiving or remembrance. While some families provide the flowers from their own gardens, many take advantage of church office’s arrangement to employ the excellent services of the florist located next door to the church. * Greeters welcome the arriving congregants, identifying visitors and new members in order to introduce them to other members and help them find nametags and service bulletins. |
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* Ushers --The ushers are there to assure that the service runs smoothly. * Lectors -- The Lessons are read by lay members at all worship services. On Palm Sunday, a number of these, together with some members who do not regularly serve as lectors, participate in a dramatic reading of the Passion that all find tremendously moving. * Acolytes -- There is currently a team of fifteen young members who serve two or three at a time during the 10:00 a.m. worship service. |
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* Servers – The server leads the congregation in prayers, and assists the priest at communion. * Coffee Hour-- After the 10:00 a.m. service, refreshments are served in the Parish Hall to encourage the congregants to socialize and meet visitors. These refreshments - sometimes simple, sometimes elaborate, but always appreciated - are provided by volunteers, who also clean up afterwards. * Liturgical Arts -- This group of artistic people change the hangings when the seasons of the church year change. They plan, design and construct new paraments and fabric wall hangings on an ongoing basis. |
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* Worship — The 8:00 a.m. worship service is a spoken liturgy, but at the 10:00 a.m. service, music is an important component. Our cantor provides vocal leadership. The music selected is fairly eclectic, from traditional hymns to praise music, with a sprinkling of Gospel, Taize, Shaker and other influences from time to time. Our accompaniment is usually provided by a piano or occasionally by one or more guitars. Now and then we have been blessed by additional accompaniment or instrumental anthems provided by our musically talented members, including flute, viola, harp, tambourine, recorder and cello. We especially enjoy when young members of the congregation play an anthem during the Offertory or Communion. We recently received the donation of an electronic organ. * Choir — Our choir is small and informal, being without a director, and varies widely in number because of the frequency of travel of several of its members. The choir provides special music at Christmas and Easter and at other services from time to time. |
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* Youth — Recently, one of our members began a special music ministry with our Sunday School and youth groups and they have now treated us to two delightful recitals following Sunday services. * Special Events — A special highlight of music at St. Philip’s has been the performance during two Christmas seasons of Menotti’s charming “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” On both occasions the lead was sung by a young member of our congregation ( a different boy each time) and the first year the majority of the cast were members of the congregation. |
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Music |