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Category Archives: Adult Education & Spiritual Formation

SPC July Studies Focus on Understanding Racial Equity

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It is difficult to know how to respond to the current racial turmoil in our country, yet it is important to be aware of the complexity of issues. That is why our church is committing the month of July to “Racial Equity Understanding.” Our E-blasts during the week will include links to activities, articles, videos, audio clips and observations.

These brief activities will help deepen our community connections and understanding. Each day there will be choices for ways of engagement. We recommend keeping a journal to reflect personal observations. Journaling is an important part of this work to reflect on what you are learning and how you are feeling. Keeping a journal will help you track what you have read, seen, thought, etc. Another reason for keeping a journal is that we will be gathering via Zoom on July 15 at 6:30 pm to discuss what we have read, seen, heard and learned so far. We want to remember our thoughts, learning and feelings in order to share them with one another. All are invited to this conversation. Church members have been sent login information. Others who are interested in participating can call the church office for login information – (910) 457-6811. Our hope is that this initiative is easily doable for everyone, and will assist our entire congregation to listen to different voices. We hope you will join us.

The resources we draw from come from the work of Dr. Eddie Moore Jr. In 1996, Dr. Eddie Moore started America & MOORE, LLC to provide comprehensive diversity and leadership training and workshops.
Read:
“Caught Up In God,” by Willie James Jennings in The Christian Century.
Watch:
Test Your Awareness

Vigil of Remembrance & Hope Scheduled for 7:30, June 5

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On Friday evening at 7:30 pm, our church hosts a “Vigil of Remembrance and Hope.” As Americans, and as Christians, we still believe in what is best in humankind. We look for goodness in one another and our neighbors. We know that we can stand on the side of justice and we can answer Jesus’ call to be peacemakers. For everything there is a season. This is the season to respond.

Painfully, we are reminded that some immigrants came enslaved. The Emancipation Proclamation did not eradicate bigotry. The Civil Rights Act did not remove prejudice. Sanctioned violence against people of color, especially black men, is real. And this week our country erupted. Crisis upon crisis upon crisis is tearing us down. We watch and pray while America bleeds. We cannot look away from the division and suffering that torment our land and people.

In the hymn that Jennie Bryan sang so beautifully on Sunday morning, we hear the refrain: Through all the tumult and the strife, I hear that music ringing. It finds an echo in my soul. How can I keep from singing?+ Through all the tumult and strife, can you hear a song in your soul? Is there a deep current of love to sustain you and give you hope and courage? We will listen and pray, and we will ask for God’s mercy and help.

+from My Life Flows On, music and text by Robert Lowry

Copies of Barrie Shepherd’s “A Pandemic Portfolio” Now Available

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A Gift of Poetry – Grant Grissom, a friend of Marv and Dorothy Gelb, who has appreciated our Zoom worship services, has donated 30 copies of J. Barrie Shepherd’s recent booklet, A Pandemic Portfolio. Barrie, a Presbyterian pastor, poet, and social activist, was our Theologian-in-Residence in October of 2019. If you would like a copy please contact Dorothy at dorothygelb@gmail.com Look for one of Barrie’s poems, “De-facing?” in next Monday’s daily reflection.

Reading Race Begins New Book Discussion May 5

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We invite you to join us May 5 at 1:00pm via Zoom to discuss The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates. New members and friends are welcome! Following the discussion of The Water Dancer, we will begin Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman. Please contact Pastor Joanna if you are interested, for the Zoom link.
Reviews on Amazon:
1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • From the National Book Award–winning author of Between the World and Me, a boldly conjured debut novel about a magical gift, a devastating loss, and an underground war for freedom.

“This potent book about America’s most disgraceful sin establishes [Ta-Nehisi Coates] as a first-rate novelist.”—San Francisco Chronicle

NOMINATED FOR THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD • NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST NOVELS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time • NPR • The Washington Post • Chicago Tribune • Vanity Fair • Esquire • Good 16Housekeeping • Paste • Town & Country • The New York Public Library • Kirkus Reviews • Library Journal

“Nearly every paragraph is laced through with dense, gorgeously evocative descriptions of a vanished world and steeped in its own vivid vocabulary.”—Entertainment Weekly

Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her—but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known.

So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia’s proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the Deep South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North. Even as he’s enlisted in the underground war between slavers and the enslaved, Hiram’s resolve to rescue the family he left behind endures.

This is the dramatic story of an atrocity inflicted on generations of women, men, and children—the violent and capricious separation of families—and the war they waged to simply make lives with the people they loved. Written by one of today’s most exciting thinkers and writers, The Water Dancer is a propulsive, transcendent work that restores the humanity of those from whom everything was stolen.

The Way of Blessedness Study Begins Feb. 26

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This 11-week study, facilitated by the Rev. Ann Jahnes, is based on the eight beatitudes found in Matthew 5:3-10. The study explores the depth of each beatitude, engaging the scriptures with our minds and hearts, drawing upon prayer, meditation and reflection. The group will meet 6:30-8:00 p.m. Call the church office to sign up, and call Pastor Ann if you have questions.

This is a seven-week study on the New York Times Bestseller, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. (New York: The New Press, 2012). The book’s introduction will be discussed at the first meeting. After completion of this book, the group will choose another book and will evaluate meeting day, time, and place. If you have a conflict with Tuesday evenings, but are interested, let us know and we will hopefully be able to include you in the discussion of the next book.

We have moved our meeting day and time to Tuesday evenings in the hope that people who have day jobs may be able to join us. When we have finished this book, we will choose another book and we will evaluate our meeting day, time, and place. If you have a conflict with Tuesday evening, but are interested, let us know and we will hopefully be able to include you in the discussion of the next book.

Because driving at night is difficult for many of us, we have decided to meet in St. James, rather than the church, so we encourage people to car pool. If you are new to our group, please contact Carol Snyder at 910 253-4536 or Sandra Griffith at 910 253-7376 for address location as well as having your name added to the list for entrance to St. James.

Friday Night at the Movies Jan. 17, 7 p.m.

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Join us to watch the “The Forgiven,” a 2017 drama that takes place after the end of Apartheid when Archbishop Desmond Tutu meets with a brutal murderer seeking redemption. The movie tells the story of the beginning of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa.

The commission was created in 1995 by Nelson Mandela and his Government of National Unity, in which Tutu was asked to be the chairman. Its purpose was:
To investigate violations of human rights that took place between 1960 and 1994.
To provide support and reparation to victims and their families
To compile a full and objective record of the effects of apartheid on South African society.

At its start, no one was certain that such a Commission could work. The film shows Desmond Tutu’s struggle and faith and the power of forgiveness. It also raises hope that we, the people of the United States, may find healing, forgiveness, and transformation from the effects of racism on our society.

Invite your friends and neighbors to join us as we begin the weekend honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Light Refreshments will be served. Please note: Our church is a peanut and tree-nut free zone.

Childcare in the Church Nursery will be available if requested at (910) 457-6811.

Advent & Christmas Events

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Southport Presbyterian Church (SPC) Celebrates Advent as
“A Season of Promise and Hope”


Sundays, Nov. 24 – Dec. 22, 9:30 a.m. – During the season of Advent the church is offering a study on The Journey: Walking the Road to Bethlehem, based on the writings of author Adam Hamilton. Participants are invited to explore historical and archaeological findings as they follow the footsteps of Mary and Joseph who traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus Christ.

Advent & Christmas Worship Schedule

Worship Services for Advent and Christmas
Each Sunday in December worship services will include Lighting of the Advent Candles, singing songs of the season, and hearing lessons of promise and hope from the Prophet Isaiah and the Gospel of Matthew. The Rev. Dr. Ann B. Jahnes, Associate Pastor Joanna Hipp and Director of Music Laurie Russ will lead the services.

Sunday Dec. 8, 11:00 a.m. – The children of Southport Presbyterian and the Girls’ Choir of Wilmington will present A Christmas Story from Isaiah 11:2 and Matthew 3.
Sunday Dec. 15, 11:00 a.m. – The SPC Chancel Choir will perform Lessons and Music with scripture from Isaiah 35:4 and Matthew 11.
Tues., Dec. 24, 4:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m. – Christmas Eve Candlelight Services
Southport Presbyterian Church, a member of Presbyterian Church USA, is located at 1025 East Moore Street. All are welcome. For more information, contact the church office at 910-457-6811.

Movie Night Friday, Nov. 1, 6:00 p.m.

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Join us to watch “The Martian,” starring Matt Damon. This exciting and inspirational movie is set in the not-so-distant future, an astronaut marooned on Mars, struggles tos survive. This will conclude the 2019 movie series. The committee welcomes movie suggestions for the 2020 Popcorn and Movie  series. Contact Jim Kessel or Kate de Barros.

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