427 BATESVILLE RD., SIMPSONVILLE, SC

 (864) 281-0015

FAX (864) 281-0060

stgeorgeapa@bellsouth.net

An affiliate member of the American Anglican Council 

In essentials unity, in non essentials diversity, in all

things charity - St. Augustine

O Lord God of Hosts, stretch forth, we pray Thee, Thine almighty arm to strengthen and protect those who serve in the armed forces of our country.  Support them in the day of trouble, arm them with Thy defence, preserve them evermore from all perils, and in the time of peace keep them safe from all evil; endue them with courage and loyalty; and grant that in all things they may serve without reproach; remind us, who benefit from their many sacrifices, to honor them in thought, word and deed, and to remember them in our daily prayers; we ask for Thy special mercy to be upon their families and friends; grant them peace and comfort; and for Thy tender mercy's sake, hasten the day when all swords will be beaten into plowshares; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

A PRAYER FOR ARTISTS

Lord, remember your artists.
Have mercy upon them and remember with compassion all those that reflect the good, the ill, the strengths and the weaknesses of the human spirit.
Remember those who raise their voices in unending song,
those who pour their souls into music loud and soft.
Remember those who put pigment to surface,
carve wood and stone and marble,
who work base metals into beauty,
those building upwards from the earth toward heaven.
Remember those who put thought to paper by computer and by pen;
the poets who delve,
the playwrights who analyze and proclaim,
the dreamers-up of narrative,
all those who work with the light and shadows of film.
Remember the actors moved by Spirit and dancers moving through space.

Remember all these artists whom you have placed among us, for are they not, O Lord, the fellows of your inspiration?
Do they not, Lord God, bring to your people great proof of your divinity and our part in it?
Remember your artists and show them mercy and compassion that they may do the same and so uplift all your people.
That they may cry forth your praises, as we do here.
Amen! Amen! Amen!
 
Adapted from Herbert Whittaker's "Prayer for the Artists" (1987) by Bryan Brown.

Saint George's uses the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.

Art Exhibition:  AMERICA!

Through August 28, 2009

July

12 - 5 PM Missions Evening:  Viewing of Movie Gandhi

19 - 6 PM - Kimberley Tipton will share her experiences as a missionary in Kenya during our regular Prayer and Praise Service.

21-24 - DEUS Synod

25 - 9:30 St. James the Apostle Eucharist

August

6 - Transfiguration of our Lord noon Eucharist

9 - 6 PM Missions Evening:  Viewing of Docudrama Amy Carmichael and Buds and Blossoms

20 - September 5 - Fr. J. and Louise Missions Trip to India

September

6 - Ministry Fair

13 - Sunday School Resumes / Ministry Fair (2)

16 - 7 PM Study on Hinduism begins

21 - St. Matthew noon Eucharist

23 - 7 PM Hinduism

25 - 7 PM Art Reception:  INDIA!

27 - 6 PM Missions Evening:  Speaker Pastor Suhas Raiborde

29 - St. Michael and all Angels Noon Eucharist

30 - 7 PM Hinduism

October

4 - 6 PM Missions Evening:  Fr. J. and Louise report back on Missions trip to India

7 - 7 PM Hinduism

9 - 11 - Missions Conference - Visiting Speaker the Rev. Chip Kirk from Operation Mobilisation - for more information click on Missions Link.

17 - Deanery Meeting

19 - St. Luke noon Eucharist

28 - St. Simon and St. Jude noon Eucharist

“It was convention week in a hill station in India.  The afternoon meeting was just over.  A few Christian station-people, some English-speaking Indian friends and the sixty or seventy missionaries who had been listening to the Bible reading were hurrying out to get a cup of tea before the evening meeting.  An Indian lady lingered in the empty hall, and the writer, seeing her alone and thinking perhaps she had no friend at hand and might be feeling lonely, sat down beside her.  Conversation turned to the Bible reading.  The Indian lady’s face darkened and she said bitterly, ‘What is the use of such meetings?  You missionaries say one thing and do another!’  It was easy to see she had been wounded and soured, but not knowing her history, I could only urge that the meetings were held just because we recognized our need of being better than we were.

But this did not satisfy her, and in quick, eager sentences she began to explain herself.  She said that her people had noticed that when a missionary first came out, he was usually warm and loving and keen to win souls.  Then gradually, she said, it was noticed that he cooled.  ‘And who can say,’ she concluded, with an intensity that went through her hearer, ‘…who can say you missionaries lead specially holy lives?  We Indian Christians observe.  We observe you not only when you are at work but when you are off work too.  Is there anything remarkable about you?  Are you burning-hot people?  We look to you to show us patterns and you are showing us crooked patterns.’

The words scorched.  Discount what we may because of some inward hurt or warp; and granted, thank God, that the picture painted thus is not wholly true, there was enough truth left to lay at least the one who listened low down in the dust.” 

Amy Carmichael, God's Missionary, CLC Publications, Fort Washington, PA, 13-14.