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Today is September 4, 2026Welcome to Saint Francis Episcopal Church!
The lectionary readings for this Sunday are from the revised common lectionary (RCL) Proper 18, Track B (Click the link to be directed to the readings for the upcoming Sunday.) |
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Important Calendar Dates
September 7 - No Bible Study
September 10 - Glockenspiel intro gathering, 5:00 pm September 11 - Artist Fellowship Organizational Meeting, 10:30 am September 22 - First Sacred Grounds Class of the season, 1:00 pm September 30 - What it means to be an Episcopalian Class, 11:00 am October 28 - Trick-or-Treat at the Creek, 5:30-7:00 PM November 21 - Feeding the Multitude 12:00 -2:00 pm
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| Joy, Ekklesia, and the Power of a Single Word |
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I love to look at words and where they come from, and this love is quite helpful in preaching. Whenever I preach, the study of words is critical as I develop the ideas in my sermon. As one who more often than not preaches on the New Testament in general and the Gospel in particular, there are some basic realities I can’t get around if I’m going to be faithful to the text. The scripture I’m looking at was originally written in Koine Greek, in a particular time, in a particular context, for a particular reason. And every Bible translation out there, whether King James, NRSV, NIV, the New Jerusalem, or even my own sermons, has to wrestle with the fact that an ancient word written in Koine Greek may carry a different emphasis than it does for a 21st‑century Christian trying to make sense of sacred scripture.  This week in Matthew’s Gospel, the word “church” is that word. To complicate matters, we use and understand the word “church” in a very specific way. Most of us know it as buildings, denominations, vestries, budgets, ministries or even Saint Francis. But when Jesus spoke those words, our understanding of church did not even exist. When Matthew wrote that word, the church as we know it was only beginning to take shape.
The Greek word is ekklesia, which in its Hellenistic context simply meant a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into a public assembly. In Jesus’ context it likely meant an assembly of Israelites; in Matthew’s context it likely meant one of those small house gatherings of Jews who believed Jesus was the Messiah. In each case, the emphasis se ems to be on working together as a group of people navigating differences and disagreements. The idea conveyed is not punitive like is the result so often today, but rather the idea is to be inclusive. And that’s the theme of all our scripture today, including the Old Testament: how do we put aside our transgressions against God and neighbor long enough to be reconciled with our group of people, our church? And while it’s not ancient Greek, we need only look at our own mission statement to see how the meaning of words shapes our life together. Anyone who walks into Saint Francis can feel that we are happy to be in church and  with one another. There is a palpable sense of joy and thanksgiving that visitors often comment on. A few years ago, when Helen Scotch led our vestry through exercises to articulate who we were, we came up with: “Saint Francis Episcopal Church is a happy, inclusive faith community that honors our heritage through worship, fellowship, and service.” Most of our time was spent on the word happy. The clear alternative, and the one we discussed at length, was joyful. The argument against “joyful,” and what won the day then, was probably led by me and my aversion to what I call “church words.” Church words are words that churches and denominations use often and toss around as if everyone knows what they mean. They are theologically charged words that few people dare ask about. Love, grace, faith, justification, sanctification, reconciliation, and our old friend joy are just a few. Since those initial conversations, I’ve been converted. I’ve come to believe that happiness is fleeting, and joy, like Saint Francis, is here to stay. |
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 Some of us, who took watercolor classes from Robin Smith, have decided to continue painting together. Robin has agreed to be our leader. He even wants to prepare Lunch!
We are having an organizational meeting on Friday, September 11, at 10:30 am in the BayCreek room. Please come if you are interested in participating with ANY art project of your own. We hope for this to be a time of creativity and fellowship. 
Please RSVP to be included for lunch. Harriet 843-906-8606 |
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Learn to play the glockenspiel! The glockenspiel is like a small metal xylophone. If you have always wanted to play an instrument but haven’t tried before, or if you have learned some music before and want to try something new, join us for a small group learning the glockenspiel. You do not need to know how to read music or have any prior music experience. Lessons will be tailored to students’ experience levels. You can purchase your own instrument or borrow one from the church. We will meet for an introductory gathering on September 10 at 5 PM. For more information, connect with Elizabeth Galaida. |
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 I have been invited to join a cohort working with something called the Church Ecology Project, developed by the Rev. Roger Speer, Director of the Small Church Center at the School of Theology at Sewanee. And, so as not to bury the lead, my yes also means I need help from all of you. As part of this work, I am asking as many parishioners as are willing to complete a brief survey about how you understand our worship at Saint Francis. The more data we have the more useful our results will be. Follow this link to take the survey.
I said yes to this project because I knew its first task would be to help us understand the context of Saint Francis in a quantitative way. I also knew that good data would help us tell the truth about our parish, truth that is often more hopeful than the stories small churches are told about themselves. In trying to understand the project better, I went searching online. Their description says that the Church Ecology Project is an emerging research and practice initiative focused on helping congregations, especially small, rural, and context bound churches, understand their ministry not through abstract growth metrics but through the ecological realities of their local community. Watch this video to see in Roger Speer’s won words. 
Ecological realities, I discovered, is simply academic language for our context, the actual conditions that shape what Saint Francis can reasonably expect in terms of worship attendance, ministry reach, and congregational vitality. In other words, it is a way of asking what this place makes possible. Once I understood what was meant by ecological realities, that opened the door for the importance of this work.  What appealed to me most is that this project shifts us away from decline based narratives, the old anxiety that says we should be growing or we must grow to survive. I call that a theology of scarcity. The Church Ecology Project invites us instead to see Saint Francis through a theology of abundance, to ask what God is already doing here, and what would be missing from Edisto Island if Saint Francis did not exist.
Scarcity says a small church is a failing church. Abundance says a small church can be a faithful, vibrant, deeply rooted church, living fully into its calling, just as each of us chooses many different ways to live fully into our baptismal covenant. To begin telling the truth about our context, we first need data. Which is why the first part of our work is demographic. Speer has developed an interactive tool called the Worship Ecology Index. It draws on census data, parochial reports, Pew Research worship trends, and even the number of churches on Edisto, all of us drawing from the same finite pool of worshipers.  The early truth is encouraging. Saint Francis overachieves even on our lowest Sundays. But numbers alone never tell the whole story. This project will help us dig deeper into who we are, whom we serve, and how our ministry fits the ecology of this island we love.
Please help us begin this work by completing the survey. Your answers are anonymous, but they will be uniquely ours, and they will help us see Saint Francis more clearly and more truthfully. Thank you for helping us see Saint Francis more clearly. God’s Peace, Joseph+ |
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1) Lectionary Bible Study
Mondays at 8:00am in the Bay Creek Room, Breakfast provided 2) Sacred Grounds
Grief, Repentance, Hope: Whose Journey? All classes are on Tuesdays and begin at 1:00 in the Bay Creek Room
September 22
October 6
October 20
November 3
3) What it means to be an Episcopalian
The Episcopal Way: Stories of Worship, Identity, and How We Do Church
All classes are on Wednesdays and begin at 11:00am in the Bay Creek Room
September 30
October 7
October 14
October 21
October 28
November 4
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| Rising Together Diocesan Capital Campaign |
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Diocesan Capital Campaign Begins With More Than $2.4M in Advanced Giving People of the Diocese of South Carolina gathered together for the official kickoff of the diocesan-wide capital campaign on Saturday, August 29, 2026. The events began with worship at St. Mark's, Charleston before the group traveled for lunch together at St. Peter's, Charleston in West Ashley (both churches have projects that would benefit from the capital campaign). The day culminated with the announcement that advanced giving efforts have brought the campaign to 75% of the goal (so far raising $2,489,083!).
View an album of photos from the first event on our Facebook page at this link. Donations to the campaign (or pledges) are now being accepted at the link below.
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| | |  Hearts and Hands
What is our Hearts and Hands Ministry? Hearts and Hands is a meals ministry that supports our church family during times of need. Think of it like the "take a penny, leave a penny" tray at a cash register—if you're able to give, we welcome your help; if you're in need, we're here for you.
If you're willing to cook a meal, please reach out to Fr. Joseph to be added to the contact list for when the meal chain is activated. And if you’ve been ill, hospitalized, or could simply use a helping hand, contact Fr. Joseph to receive support through this ministry. |
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| Hunger Never Takes A Vacation |
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Summer is in full swing and the Saint Francis faithful are often away seeing family or going on exciting trips. But as this title indicates, hunger never takes a vacation. Please make sure you bring food by the church even if you will not be present on a Sunday. The need is great! There is gratitude expressed often from people using the box. We often encounter people who stop to thank us as we are resupplying the box. In one encounter, a grandmother said with tears and a prayer that without our generosity she would never have anything to give her grandchildren when they visited! So thank you to the congregation for your continued support. All donations are appreciated and welcome whenever they can be made!
Supplements to the library summer lunch program: Lunches for school age children on Edisto are given out through the Edisto Library by Charleston County. Our proposal to supplement these lunches was accepted with great enthusiasm by the library directors. So we are supplying items like protein bars, packages of cookies, crackers, dried fruit, etc. This is our first year of trying this so no doubt we will determine how best to make this most useful with time. Hungry children are certainly a need that we would all like to address! |
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| | Keep up with what is going on around our diocese and enjoy the weekly newsletter. Simply click anywhere on the image below and link to the latest diocesan news.
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| | Birthdays and Anniversaries Blessings |
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| | The latest anniversary and birthday blessings. |
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September Birthdays Susanne Nash 9/11, Mickey Van Meter 9/26, Alison Hunter 9/28, and George Hayworth 9/29 Please email any errors and omissions for September birthdays by clicking HERE
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Trisha Anderson Debra Burnell Gene Gentry Chaselynn Grubbs Brenda Haynes Bob Hild Janet Kozlowski Jessica Lee Stacy McCloghry Dennis McGrew Laura Melfi Chuck Mims Tom Nash |
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Pat Neumann Jason Purkey Mila Santucci Bobby Smith Rob Smith Bob Spratlin Rick Stall Carrie Stepp Lynne Tennyson Liz Tucker Bud Tyson Gailya Walter George Walter |
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Faithfully Departed
Chuck Mims Jean Murray Oradell “Okie” Murray Billy Sheorn |
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You may also follow this Link to give, or contributors can text ECOEGIVE to the number 73256, followed by their gift amount, to give online through text. The 73256 is used instead of a phone number.
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Vestry
Fr. Joseph Smith - Rector
Jean Murray - Senior Warden Wayne Lindsay - Junior Warden Kathy Kuntz
Steve Powers
Gretchen Smith
Carla Cantrell
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