We were delighted to welcome The Rev’d Dr. Peter Moore at St. Andrew’s this morning as our guest preacher and continued with our sermon series on the 39 Articles.

You can see all of our sermons on the 39 articles either on WeAreStAndrews.com or at Vimeo.com.

As a part of of our ongoing series on the 39 Articles, we welcome this week The Rev’d Dr. Peter Moore. Peter will be addressing Articles 6 & 7 in a sermon entitled, “Scripture: God Speaks.”

The sermon audio and video will be available on our site by Sunday afternoon.

You can also keep up with our sermons via our mobile app or as a podcast available from the iTunes store.

Thank you for your support (your phone calls, your emails and the many who turned out to the Town Council meeting tonight) on our behalf regarding our zoning change request.  Your communication and advocacy were critical.  And, to those who turned out tonight for the Council meeting, thank you for your patience (the “big box” store debate was the first agenda item on the docket – a 2 hour discussion!) and your support.  The visible show of support was powerful.

The result was that Town Council approved the first reading of our zoning change 9-0!

Thank you, also, to our Mayor and our Town Council members for their efforts, input, and their favorable decision.

I was particularly moved by the advocacy of some our neighbors who spoke about the generous ministry of St. Andrew’s in the neighborhood.  If you ever wonder the power of simple good neighborliness and Christian kindness, it was brought home in a fresh way tonight.

Thanks, especially, to the Lord who has called us at this time and in this place to give witness to Him and, who, in His kindness has given us favor with man.

SAMP is a scheduled to appear before the Town Council tonight to have our request for our zoning change considered (see previous post for more details).

Our Town Council meets tonight at 6.00 p.m. at the Town offices on Houston Northcutt Blvd.   Town Council has the final responsibility for deciding this matter.  You can help in the following ways:

1. You can pray.
2. You can attend the Town Council meeting this coming Tuesday (Town offices are on Houston Northcutt Blvd).  In fact, we would welcome your presence at the Town Council meeting.  Having Mt. Pleasant residents present and participating in Town Council meetings is always beneficial for our elected officials.
3. You can call, or email, our Mayor and Town Council members and express your support.  This, in fact, is an exceptionally helpful way you can participate in this process.  In your communication, you should be courteous, you should note that you are a Mt. Pleasant resident and you should ask the Town Council to support our rezoning classification from Residential to Public Institutional.

Please note that there is one – and the same – phone number and email address for both the Mayor and all Town Council Members.  The phone number is, 843.884.8517, and the email address is, councilclk@tompsc.com

Mayor
Billy Swails

Town Council Members
John Burn
Elton Carrier
Ken Glasson
Chris Nickels
Chris O’Neal
Linda Page
Craig Rhyne
Thomasena Stokes-Marshall

Terrell will be at St. Andrew’s for our confirmation service tonight.  In addition to confirming 51 young adults he will also assume the slot in the preaching rotation and pick up Articles 3 & 4, “God Proves His Love: Death and Resurrection,” in our series on the 39 Articles.

The service is at 6.00 pm and has been moved from the Old Church into the Ministry Center.

Dear Friends,

As you receive this month’s Congregational Letter our Neighborhood Meetings will be underway. Several have taken place (Old Village, Summerville/North Charleston, Belle Hall, Brickyard, Creekside, Old Church) and all have been very well received.

Over these past 11 years we have grown into a large church (3300 members), for which we can give thanks as it opens to us unique mission and ministry opportunities.  However, I always welcome the chance to create environments where we can gather in smaller groups to talk through the life and ministry of our parish.  The Neighborhood Meetings do just that: they provide us the opportunity to meet in a more relaxed and intimate atmosphere as we look at what the Lord is doing and may be calling us to do in the future.

My hope in hosting this series of Neighborhood Meetings is fourfold:

• First, I want to re-present the Mission, Vision and Values of St. Andrew’s and how these work together to give shape and substance to the manner in which we live our common life.
• Secondly, I want to introduce you to the work of our Campus Planning Team and share with you the way in which our Mission, Vision and Values are shaping our campus planning and development.
• Thirdly, I am excited to show you drawings and floor plans of our redesigned campus and new buildings.
• Finally, I want your feedback.  Your prayers and your participation in this process are critical.

A 2-Year Process

Under the leadership of Bill Maddux, our Jr. Warden, our Campus Planning Team (comprised of George Brewer, Chris Biggers, Mitchell Bohannon, Blake & Laura Middleton, Steve Middour, Howard Rambo, and Martha Senf) has met every two weeks, for the past two years for the purpose of evaluating the mission and ministry currently taking place at St. Andrew’s. A part of their evaluative work has been to meet with various ministry leaders to discern current and future space needs. The culmination of their work was a recommendation to the Vestry that we contract the good people at Building God’s Way to develop a master plan for the development of the physical campus of St. Andrew’s.

Over the course of a week this past February the folks at Building God’s Way came to St. Andrew’s to meet with our staff, Vestry, ministry leaders and all of our past Senior Wardens (dating back to 1989). Together we talked about what the next 20 years of ministry might look like and what kind of space and facility needs we anticipate. It was a great week and I look forward to sharing with you the outcomes of that week.

Where We Are

Quite a bit of work awaits us, though.  As you are presented with the material at our Neighborhood Meetings we will be asking you to join the current and past leadership of the parish in prayer and discernment.  We will be asking for your thoughts and feedback concerning the material you receive.  We will be doing a financial analysis of the giving patterns/records and projected capabilities of the parish.  The Vestry will then collect this input, and, working with the folks at Building God’s Way, we will report back to you the collected discernment of this process and any recommendations that have emerged.

Please Join Me

I hope every member will attend a Neighborhood Meeting (listed below), preferably with your LifeGroup. All of the meetings are 7-8 pm and light hors d’oeuvres will provided.

In the family,
Steve

Upcoming Neighborhood Meetings

Tuesday, May 8 – Mount Pleasant, Mathis Ferry Road
Home of Jan Hipp
154 Hobcaw Drive

Wednesday, May 9 – James Island, West Ashley, Johns Island
Country Club of Charleston
1 Country Club Drive

Monday, May 14 – Mount Pleasant, Hwy 41
Dunes West Athletic Club
(Tell the gate guard that you are attending a party at the pool.)
3003 Dunes West Boulevard

Tuesday, May 15 – Daniel Island
Home of Mike and Linda Hughes
171 Beresford Creek

Wednesday, May 16 – City Church
Music Farm

Thursday, May 17 – Snee Farm
Home of Robin and Eddie Gordon
1150 Deleisseline Boulevard

Sunday, May 20 – 12:15 pm
St. Andrew’s Ministry Center
Light hors d’oerves for adults
Childcare offered. Pizza for children

Dear Friends,

St. Andrew’s needs your help – again (specific action steps are noted at the bottom of this post).

In 2009 the Town of Mt. Pleasant ratified a “Comprehensive Plan” that has since served as the blueprint for growth and development for our community.  As a part of that plan, a new category of zoning was created.  This category, known as Public Institutional (PI 1), identifies all those buildings that serve the public good as eligible for inclusion. This includes government buildings, schools, hospitals and churches, which were specifically identified by the Town of Mt. Pleasant as those entities eligible for rezoning.  Not only were these entities eligible but the Town Planning Commission specifically recommended that such entities, including churches, pursue PI 1 status for the benefit of the wider community.

In a recent meeting with the Town planners they suggested that St. Andrew’s apply to change our zoning from Residential to Public Institutional (PI 1).  Their rationale for this suggestion is that a zoning designation of PI 1 allows St. Andrew’s, and every other public institution, to work directly with Town officials as we explore solutions to the problems created by our limited and antiquated building space (i.e., we need to rebuild the Day School, children’s and youth areas, etc).  Under our current zoning classification we have to apply for a zoning variance for each and every alteration we may wish to make.  Recognizing the protracted, expensive and difficult process imposed on public institutions to make changes to their facilities due to being zoned as Residential, the Town created the new PI 1 Zoning status and, as stated above, recommended that we apply.  St. Andrew’s was happy to comply with the Town’s request.  As a part of that process public input was sought.  At our hearing last month with the Town Planning Commission we received a favorable vote by  a 6-3 margin.

The next step was to appear before the Planning Committee of the Town Council, which we also did last month.  Though we enjoyed much local support from our kind neighbors, one family did attend to speak against our request.  They cited a concern over growing traffic problems as well as the desire to have public input in future building projects that St. Andrew’s may undertake.  As to the first concern, the matter of traffic is not an issue in a rezoning request.  As to the second concern, not only out of neighborly courtesy but also as a legal requirement there will always be public input in any future building projects that St. Andrew’s may undertake.  First, we must submit a traffic impact assessment and secondly we will have to appear before the Old Village Historic District Commission.  Both of those steps require public input.

Considering the above, we were surprised and disappointed when the Town Council Planning Committee voted to deny our request 3 -1.  After all, we did pursue the rezoning of our property at the Town’s suggestion.  We fear that the precedent set by this decision will have a negative impact not just on St. Andrew’s, but on every church in Mount Pleasant.  This concern is also shared by other local churches who sent representatives to speak on our behalf.

What can you do?

Over the past month we have had very productive conversations with the Mayor and various members of the Town Council.  I have been thankful for their time and the seemingly (hopefully) productive conversations we have had.  Our Town Council meets this coming Tuesday, May 8, at 6.00 p.m.  Town Council has the final responsibility for deciding this matter.  You can do at least four things to help us:

1. You can pray.
2. You can attend the Town Council meeting this coming Tuesday (Town offices are on Houston Northcutt Blvd).  In fact, we would welcome your presence at the Town Council meeting.  Having Mt. Pleasant residents present and participating in Town Council meetings is always beneficial for our elected officials.
3. You can call, or email, our Mayor and Town Council members and express your support.  This, in fact, is an exceptionally helpful way you can participate in this process.  In your communication, you should be courteous, you should note that you are a Mt. Pleasant resident and you should ask the Town Council to support our rezoning classification from Residential to Public Institutional.
4. Lastly, you can forward this information to all of your friends who attend a church in Mt. Pleasant and ask for their verbal support as well.  If the Town Council acts against their own recommendations, set forth in their own Comprehensive Plan, there will be negative ramifications for every church in Mt. Pleasant.  There is no reason that churches, having been specifically identified by the Town’s 2009 Comprehensive Plan as eligible for Public Institutional zoning, should now be denied.

Thank you for your prayerful consideration and your action on our behalf.  It is appreciated.

Yours in Christ,

Steve

Please note that there is one – and the same – phone number and email address for both the Mayor and all Town Council Members.  The phone number is, 843.884.8517, and the email address is, councilclk@tompsc.com

Mayor
Billy Swails

Town Council Members
John Burn
Elton Carrier
Ken Glasson
Chris Nickels
Chris O’Neal
Linda Page
Craig Rhyne
Thomasena Stokes-Marshall

Many have asked about keeping up with our 39 Articles Sermon Series. You can find all of the sermons on St. Andrew’s website. Each sermon article includes notes, scripture references, and application questions. From the homepage, you can click through to the last 3 sermons.

You can also keep up with our sermons via our mobile app or as a podcast available from the iTunes store.

Direct Sermon Links

Article 1: The Trinity: God is Love
Article 2: The Incarnation: God Manifests His Love

About the Artwork

The fun illustration we’ve displayed during the sermon series comes courtesy of member Dale Watson. He does architectural illustrations for clients both locally and nationally. You can find his work at DaleWatsonArt.com. In addition to being a talented illustration, Dale is also a painter. He generously donated prints of two paintings he did that were inspired by his time in mountains with the St. Andrew’s Men’s Hikes. The paintings may be bid on at our annual Fishin’ for a Mission banquet.

This Sunday we kick off a sermon series working our way through the Thirty-Nine Articles.  We’ve broken the sermons down into a series of mini-series that address the Articles thematically.  Of particular enjoyment will be some of the guest preachers we’ve arranged to take on a particular Article: Kendall Harmon, Peter Moore and Justyn Terry.  I’m sure a few more names will be added in the weeks ahead.

Here’s the schedule:

God is Love

April 22          The Trinity: God is Love     (Article I)

April 29          The Incarnation: God Manifests His Love     (Article II)

May 6             Death & Resurrection: God Proves His Love     (Articles III & IV)

May 13           The Holy Spirit: God Gives His Love      (Article V)

Can You Hear Me Now?

May 20           Scripture: God Speaks     (Articles VI & VII)

May 27           Tradition: The Redeemed Speak     (Article VIII)

Cause, Condition, and Remedy

June 3            Sin: A Treatable Disease     (Articles IX, X, XI)

June 10          Works: The Wrong Treatment     (Articles XII, XIII, XIV)

June 17          Christ: The Right Medicine     (Article XV)

June 24          Sanctification: Health Takes Time     (Article XVI)

July 1             Perseverance: Trust the Doctor, Not the Patient     (Article XVII)

The Church

July 8              The Church: Founded on the Name of Christ     (Article XVIII)

July 15            The Church: A Hospital for Sinners     (Article XIX, XX, XXI)

July 22            Pastors: Attending Physicians     (Article XXIII)

July 29            Baptism: A Badge of Health     (Article XXVII)

August 5         The Lord’s Supper: A Gospel Feast     (Article XXVIII)

August 12       The Perfect Prescription     (Article XXXI)

August 19        Discipline: A Last Chance     (Article XXXIII)

Christian Privilege/ Christian Responsibility

August 26      Faith and Politics     (Article XXXVII)

September 2   What’s Mine is Mine?     (Article XXXVIII)

September 9   No Fingers Crossed     (Article XXXIX)

What a glorious day!

Thank you to the 400 volunteers who served in the various ministries and helped make the day so wonderful!  The old church was beautiful, and packed.  We had to open the windows in the back of the nave so that those in the narthex could hear and participate in the service!  Boone Hall was amazing.  One of my favorite scenes is to see the thousands of people streaming up the corridor of greeters to the big tent – always brings tears to my eyes.  I don’t know if you noticed, but this year, with the high tide so high, we had a number of boats anchored in the creek behind the big tent (maybe next year we’ll need to send out kayakers with Communion) – a very pretty picture.

City Church and Goose Creek had a wonderful day as well.   John Mark McMillan showed up at City Church (he’s in concert tonight at The Music Farm) and helped lead worship.  The little church building in Goose Creek had folks jammed in, wall to wall.

At the end of the day we saw 4658 souls come through St. Andrew’s Mt. Pleasant, 198 at St. Andrew’s Goose Creek, and 617 at St. Andrew’s City Church.

Praise the Lord!