News & Announcements | Spring Hill Presbyterian Church

Lent 2021

Clear the Cluttered Heart: The Lord’s Prayer

In Lent our worship services on Sundays and Wednesdays (noon) will walk through Lord’s Prayer.

Wednesday, February 17
ASH WEDNESDAY

Sunday, February 21
“Our Father, Who Art in Heaven”

Wednesday, February
24 “Hallowed Be Thy name”

Sunday, February 28
“Thy Kingdom Come”

Wednesday, March 3
“Thy Will Be Done”

Sunday, March 7
“Give Us This Day”

Wednesday, March 10
“Our Daily Bread”

Sunday, March 14
“Forgive Us Our Debts”

Wednesday, March 17
“As We Forgive Our Debtors”

Sunday, March 21
“Lead Us Not into Temptation”

Wednesday, March 24
“Deliver Us from Evil”

PALM SUNDAY, March 28
“Thine Is the Kingdom & the Power”

Thursday, April 1: MAUNDY THURSDAY

Friday, April 2: GOOD FRIDAY

Sunday, April 4: EASTER SUNDAY

Dear Spring Hill Presbyterian Church Family,

I want to update you on the plans for my sabbatical this summer. My final sermon before the sabbatical will be on Ascension Sunday, May 16, and then I will be back in the pulpit on Back-to-School Sunday, August 15. During these weeks that I am away, our church will be led by Dr. Anna Fulmer Duke and our outstanding church staff and officers. A special Sabbatical Committee has been put together consisting of Norma Baymiller (Clerk of Session), Lawrence Hughey (Stephen’s Ministry & Facilities Committee), Lewis Shreve (Church Treasurer), Leslie Sweeney (Worship Committee & Coronavirus Commission), and Judy Weaver (Religions Arts & Personnel Committees). During this time, Anna will increase her preaching pattern to twice per month, and on other Sundays we will welcome nationally known Presbyterian writer and preacher Rev. Eugenia Gamble as our Sabbatical Summer Stated Supply preacher. In the event that pastoral care needs arise at times when Anna is out of town (for example, with our Youth on their two Montreat trips) our Stephen Ministers will make pastoral visits and retired pastors in our presbytery will be on call to conduct funerals.

I am deeply grateful for this gift and look forward to this time of rest and spiritual recharging. I’ll come back ready to launch into the next chapter of our life together as a congregation.

For more information on what I’ll be doing on the sabbatical, click the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHn5O7a9ipc.

Buz Wilcoxon

SHPC CHRISTMAS EVE WORSHIP SCHEDULE
Four Different Services to Choose From

-Online Communion Service (YouTube & Facebook)
-3:00 PM Children’s Service (outdoors)
-5:00 PM Candlelight Service (outdoors)
-9:00 PM Candlelight Service (outdoors)

Inclement Weather Plan
In the event of rain, any or all of our outdoor services may not be able to occur in-person. If that happens, we invite you to join the online service using the link above. We plan to send out a final email on the morning of December 24 with a weather update.

Christmas Eve Worship Details
The “holy night” on which we celebrate Jesus’ birth is the central focus of the season of Advent, and worshipping together as a church family with singing and candlelight on Christmas Eve is such an important tradition. We often welcome neighbors, visitors, and extended family to these services as well. However, during this time of COVID-19, we find ourselves at alarmingly increased risk by large crowds, shared indoor ventilation, singing, and other critical factors. So, in order to keep our church family safe and keep the essential core of these traditions intact, the church staff and worship committee have been hard at work planning and expanding our Christmas Eve worship opportunities. This year there will be FOUR SERVICES for you to choose from as you prayerfully and safely discern how to join in worship.

Online Communion Service
There will be an entirely online option with a full Christmas Eve worship service. This service will include a children’s message, homily, and the sacrament of communion. The service will “premier” as a video on our YouTube and Facebook pages beginning at noon on December 24. This is the safest option and the service that includes worship components for all ages worshipping together. Before you join the service please prepare the communion elements of bread and wine/juice to share at home, and have a candle ready to join in the candle lighting. The video and the bulletin for this service can be accessed by clicking the buttons included in church-wide emails.

3:00 PM Children’s Service
This service (along with the other in-person options later in the day) will be planned to occur entirely outside and will be led from the front steps of the sanctuary similar to the evening vespers services we have become used to. This service is designed specifically for children and their families. Thus, it will include an extended children’s message but no homily for adults. Also, our Children’s Choirs will sing an anthem. Because the service is entirely outside, with social distancing and masks, we will include singing of special Christmas carols.

5:00 PM Candlelight Service
As with our other in-person options, this service will occur entirely outdoors with mask-wearing and social-distancing required of all worshipers. These safety precautions will allow us to sing some beloved carols in addition to music led by soloists. At the conclusion of the service we will continue the candlelight tradition but with an adjustment for safety and outdoor weather requirements. This year we will use battery operated electronic candles that will not blow out from the wind and will not require a large group of people exhaling at the same time to extinguish. Because the service will occur outdoors after dark we encourage all in attendance to dress accordingly for the cold and to bring a flashlight or electric lantern. You will also be guided by luminaries on the church grounds.

9:00 PM Candlelight Service
Our final service on Christmas Eve will follow the exact same pattern and details as the 5:00 service.

We hope that you will carefully consider all the options and risks as you decide which service to attend on Christmas Eve.

Covid-19 Announcements

Update: March 17, 2020

Dear Spring Hill Presbyterian Church Family,

In the gospel of John, Jesus proclaims, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” These powerful words remind us that even as we are separated from one another, we are still connected to the life-giving love of the Triune God. In other words, though we are apart, we are still a part of the body of Christ.
At the end of last week, Governor Kay Ivey updated her “Safer at Home” orders easing some of the restrictions on work and other gatherings. Included in that update was a change allowing churches to return to worshipping in person under certain restrictions. While many in our state are joyful for this change and hoping to return to some normalcy, others are worried about the scientific data, especially in Mobile, that shows the disease is still on the rise. As Presbyterians, we seek to respond to the needs of our community in self-giving ways that care for “the least of these,” and we try to act “decently and in order” as we discern God’s wisdom.

With that in mind, the Coronavirus Commission that the Session appointed has decided to continue the Session’s ban on all in person gatherings at the church for an additional two weeks (the longest time they are authorized to extend it). During this time, the Commission will examine up-to-date recommendations from local, state, national, and international bodies on what precautions are necessary to return to in person worship and other church gatherings and to assess whether we are currently able to meet these expectations or not. We will be informed by the guidance of our national Presbyterian Church (USA), and we will be in dialogue with all outside groups that regularly meet at the church to determine their needs and whether they are able to adjust to necessary precautions. At the end of this two-week period (May 25) we will have developed and presented to the Session a multi-step plan for phased return that will be implemented only when it is safe to do.

So, for the time being, know that our worship services will continue to be online only (Sundays and Wednesdays), we will continue meeting for our Tuesday morning Zoom Bible Study, and will continue to avoid in person gatherings at the church. Other changes that have already occurred are also worth noting: this year’s Vacation Bible School has been redesigned as a Virtual Bible School and will take place June 1-4 with a video curriculum lead by our own talented members. The Middle School and High School Montreat Youth Conferences have been cancelled to protect our youth and chaperones. This summer’s Faith and the Arts Summer Sunday School series is being designed to occur through ZOOM to allow all in our church family to hear from the wonderful slate of speakers that the Religious Arts Committee has organized. Other changes and adjustments will surely be made as the weeks go on. Rest assured that we will keep you informed all along the way.

Please keep our whole church family in your prayers and pray for the Coronavirus Commission as it continues this important work.
Grace and Peace,

Dr. Buz Wilcoxon, Senior Pastor

Upcoming Events

2020 Festival of Faith

March 8 @ 9:00 AM –Aimee Risser
CEO & President of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of South Alabama

March 15 @ 9:00 AM –Rev. Eugenia Gamble
PC(USA) minister and author of 2019-2020 Horizon’s Bible Study, Love Carved in Stone: A Fresh Look at the Ten Commandments

March 15 @ 5:00 PM—Rev. Christopher Williams
Retired Alabama State Trooper and Pastor of Yorktown Missionary Baptist Church in Africatown

March 19 @ 7:00 PM & March 20 @ 10:15 AM–Dr. Bill Brown
Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary (These Lectures are held in partnership with the Christus Theological Institute at Spring Hill College and will occur on the college’s campus in Byrne Hall.)

March 22 @ 9:00 AM—Sallie Hunter
Member of South Alabama Presbytery’s international mission partnership with chiséc Presbytery in Guatemala

*All events will be held in the Fellowship Hall of Spring Hill Presbyterian Church (except for Dr. Bill Brown’s lectures at Spring Hill College)

Lent 2020
Release to the Captives

There is so much in our world that seeks to imprison us in fear and bind us in systems of brokenness. Yet, the core of our Christian faith is the affirmation that in Jesus Christ, God brings “release to the captives” and sets us free from the powers of sin, evil, and death. This Lent, as we prepare to hear the stories of Jesus’ arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection, we will be guided by the witness of those in scripture who endured their own imprisonment for their faith. Each Sunday we will connect these biblical prison stories with firsthand accounts of imprisonment from historical heroes and martyrs. Each Wednesday in Lent we will have a mid-week worship service at 12:15 in the chapel with music for meditation beginning at noon. Journey with us to the cross as we wrestle with our own needs for release and for the liberation of our world today.

Sundays

3/1 Joseph in Egypt (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
3/8 Psalm 107 (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
3/15 Parable of a Slave (Slave Narratives)
3/22 Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego (Youth Sunday)
3/29 Paul & Silas (Early Christian Martyrs)

Wednesdays

2/26 Jesus’ Temptation
3/4 Samson
3/11 Exiles
3/18 John the Baptist
3/25 Paul
4/1 John of Patmos

Holy Week

4/5 Jesus’ Arrest (Palm/Passion Sunday)
4/9 The Last Meal (Maundy Thursday)
1/10 The Prison of the Tomb (Good Friday)
4/12 Resurrection Release (Easter Sunday)

Take Home

Breaking the Chains: A Family-Friendly Lenten Devotional

The Hopes and Fears of All the Years
Advent 2019

Sunday, December 1

10:30 AM Worship: “Israel’s Ancient Hope”
5:00 PM : Young Adult Christmas Fellowship

Sunday December 8

9:00 AM: Celebration of Creches (Nativity Scenes)
10:30 AM: Worship-Cantata Sunday

Saturday December 14

9:00 AM: Adventfest—Intergenerational event
Crafts, Decorations, Food, Music by Instrumental Ensemble

Sunday, December 15

10:30 AM Worship: “The Hope of the Christ Child”
Music by Children’s Choirs, Youth Chorale, Spring Hill Ringers
TBA Youth Group Christmas Party – Campbell’s Farm

Wednesday, December 18

12:00 PM: Preschool School Christmas Program

Sunday, December 22

9:45 AM: Children’s Nativity Play (children arrive at 9:00)
10:30 AM: Worship – Service of Lessons and Carols

Tuesday, December 24

Christmas Eve Candlelight Services –Luke 2:1-20
5:00 PM: Family Service
9:00 PM: Communion Service

Journeying Through the Ages
2019 Worship Series

Throughout 2019, Spring Hill Presbyterian Church is celebrating its 75th anniversary as a congregation. During the summer, we will mark this milestone through a series of worship services drawn from the life of the Christian community in different eras. Each service in the Journeying Through the Ages series will include prayers, liturgy, hymns, and preaching themes based upon a particular time period in Christian history. As we worship, the witness and wisdom of the community of saints in ages past will guide us. Also, each week the scripture lesson and sermon will be based on a different figure from the Old Testament who serve as part of our “great cloud of witnesses.”

June 2—Old Testament Roots of Christian Worship (Sarah)
June 9—The Church in the New Testament (Joseph)
June 16—The Ancient/Patristic Church (Moses)
June 23—The Medieval Ideal (Rahab)
June 30—The Reformation in Europe (Joshua)
July 7—The Reformation in Scotland (Deborah)
July 14—English Westminster Standards (Ruth)
July 16—(Tuesday) Evening Anniversary Service
July 21—The Church in Colonial America (Samuel)
July 28— African-American Worship Traditions (Elijah)
August 4— The German Confessing Church (Josiah)
August 11—The South African Resistance (Daniel)
August 18—The Southern Presbyterian Church (Esther)
August 25—The Reunited Presbyterian Church(USA) (Ezra)

Join us each Sunday at 10:30 am in our sanctuary for these worship services. Our Faith & the Arts Sunday School series meets at 9:00 AM in the Fellowship Hall. All are welcome!

Guest Speakers

Sunday, February 10
Dr. Rodger Nishioka, Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, Kansas
Breakfast & Lecture at 9:00 AM (Bullard Building), Sermon at 10:30 AM (Sanctuary)

Sunday, February 17
Rabbi Steve Silberman, Ahavas Chesed Synagogue: Lecture at 9:00 AM (Fellowship Hall)

Sunday February 24
Father Greg Lucey, Spring Hill College: Lecture at 9:00 AM (Fellowship Hall)

Sunday February 24
Rev. Joe Johnson, Mt. Hebron Baptist Church: Lecture at 5:00 PM (Fellowship Hall

Acts of Hope (Mission Projects):

Sign-Up for all of these Acts of Hope and more in the main hallway of the church!

Blood Drive: Sunday, February 3 – Blood Mobile will be in the church parking
Preschool Pizza Parties: Friday, February 15 – for Goodwill/Easter Seals & Weekday School
Mission Trip to the Presbyterian Home for Children: Friday, February 15th – Sunday, February 17th – Talladega, AL
Municipal Park Clean-Up with Mobile Baykeeper: Saturday, February 16
McKemie Place: Sunday, February 17 -hosting women from the shelter
Mary B. Austin Work Day: Saturday, February 23