This Week's Update!


Welcome to Saint Francis Episcopal Church!

The twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost,  Proper 28, Year C
Click the link to be directed to the readings for the upcoming Sunday. (We use Track 2)



November 14, 2025
 
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Table of Contents
Stewardship 2026
Faithful Goals
Advent, MMR Taizé
5th Sunday
Outreach
Photographs for the Week
Birthdays
Server Schedule
Prayer List
Donate Here
Diocese of South Carolina News
 
Mark Your Calendar

November 16, Stewardship Ingathering
     10:00 am this Sunday at church.

November 30, Fifth Sunday
     The loose offering and designated checks go towards
     Supporting Clean Water on Edisto (See Article)

December 13, Edisto Christmas Parade
     600 block to 100 block of Palmetto Blvd.
     Starting at 2:00 pm

Stewardship Ingathering – Sunday, November 16

This Sunday we gather for the Ingathering of our Stewardship program. Over the past weeks, we’ve lifted up ministries that inspire passion and commitment, because pledging your time, talent, and treasure is ultimately about ministry.

Your pledge is more than numbers on a card, it represents your hopes and dreams for Saint Francis. While no single pledge fulfills every individual vision, together we place our trust in the leadership and the process, building something greater than ourselves.

For more than a decade, we have journeyed from the dream of a new Episcopal community on Edisto Island to the living reality of Saint Francis Episcopal Church. That journey has been sustained by faith, generosity, and trust.

Thank you for your pledge of support. Thank you for sharing in the excitement. Thank you for following the dream.



             

Faithful Goals for a Faithful Future
Goals are always good to have. They give direction and help us dream. Our budget, where the church allocates its money reflects those goals. In small congregations like Saint Francis, however, the non‑negotiables make up most of the budget. Mortgage, rent, electricity, salaries, health insurance, and in our case, 10% of pledged giving to the diocese as well as outreach. Just like our home budgets, we pay these first, off the top, and then divide the rest among mission priorities. The more that is pledged, the more we can expand our reach in the community and strengthen our mission as a church.

Just as you are called to be good stewards of what God entrusts to you, Saint Francis must do the same. That means looking beyond today, next week, and even next year. Our recent evaluation was shaped by our Mutual Ministry Review (MMR) and by our long‑term vision for a new church campus. Out of that reflection, the finance committee and vestry identified two goals to guide us forward.

The first is planned giving. While we will make an educational push beginning in 2026, we invite you to consider Saint Francis now. If you have end‑of‑year IRA distributions and are seeking a benefactor, either the Saint Francis Building Fund or the Saint Francis Fund would be a wonderful option.

The second is an audit review. This is not a CPA audit, but rather a review of best practices in our internal systems as well as our finances. For 2024, our reviewer, Debbie Kirby of DAK Bookkeeping Services, LLC, has selected a random sampling of contributions to confirm that our records match yours. If you are part of this selection, please respond to the letter sent by Steve Powers, with the stamped envelope provided, no later than December 1.

While these checks and balances are required by The Episcopal Church’s Manual of Business Methods of Affairs, and though the Diocese does not yet require them, your vestry and finance committee believe they are essential. With a capital campaign in our future, donors must have confidence in our systems. This is a significant amount of work for Steve Powers, on top of his many other volunteer efforts. Please take a moment to thank him.

At the end of the day, after achieving these two goals, our hope is that you will find not only the mission and ministry of Saint Francis compelling, but also trust that our internal systems are sound. When you give, your gift is held in trust and directed where it is meant to go.
Advent, MMR, and Taizé Music
This year, as part of a check-in on our life together as a church, your vestry undertook a Mutual Ministry Review (MMR), led by The Rev. Bill Coyne. We looked honestly at what we do well, where we might grow, and how to chart a faithful roadmap for 2025 and beyond.

Naturally, our property, our dreamers and doers showed up in both our short-term and mid-range goals. But another theme emerged too, something we called Episcopal Traditions. Most of those goals fall under what we often call Christian Formation, or simply, education.

Our recent class, Why We Do What We Do as Episcopalians, was a direct response to that goal. So is our ongoing commitment to the denominational program Sacred Ground. We’re currently working to adapt Sacred Ground into smaller modules, so that its length and weekly workload feel less intimidating. Look for the first of those modules in the new year.

At the same time, we must be realistic: for most of us, our deepest formation in Episcopal tradition comes not from classes, but from our weekly liturgy and the rhythm of the liturgical calendar. You might not notice it at first glance, but our Sunday worship already reflects the flexibility built into our Eucharistic tradition. For example, you may have noticed that we’ve begun using Prayers of the People from a supplement outside the Book of Common Prayer.

The next area we’re exploring is music.

There is a tradition within the Episcopal Church, and many others, of prayer and song rooted in a small town and monastery in Taizé, France. We’ll begin slowly, but we’ll begin soon. Starting on Advent I, November 30, all of our service music will shift into the Taizé style.

And now, a quick refresher: What is service music? It’s not the three main hymns we sing, nor the communion hymns. It’s the Gloria, which follows the opening acclamation. It’s the Sanctus, which comes after the Sursum Corda and the Proper Preface, you may remember we explored that in two recent sermons. And finally, it’s the Agnus Dei, sung after the breaking of the bread. In Advent, each of these will be offered in the Taizé style.
To make this work, Elizabeth has chosen and retooled the Taizé style service music.  We’ll need to practice and like anything, it takes time before something becomes second nature. But we have to start somewhere, and Advent will be our beginning.

Our ultimate goal is to move toward a shared Lenten liturgy with another church on the island, shaped by the contemplative beauty of Taizé worship. In that context, we’ll embark on a prayer service that is deeply meditative, spacious, and grounded in silence, chant, and candlelight. We are in discussion already and looking towards Lent to begin.
So I invite you: bring your open hearts and open minds. Let’s explore together what it means to deepen our Episcopal identity, not just by remembering our traditions, but by living into them with grace and curiosity.
Photographs From the Week
More work on the house this week. Grateful to Bill Houston, Gary Cantrell, Dennis Bligen, and Frank Burnett, who built a pump house to protect the Bligens’ new water pump. A beautiful model for ministry: doing with, not for.
Thank you all to help feed the Citadel cadets on Monday evening. 
Here are a few photo's from the Edisto Island Feeding of the Multitude.  If you have any more photographs, please send them in to Fr. Joseph.
The first day of diocesan convention at Christ Church in Mt. Pleasant last week.  Thank you to Jean Murray, Ginny King, and Jim Gettys for representing Saint Francis at our convention.
Outreach - Fifth Sunday
Fifth Sunday, November 30
Outreach Committee Update: Supporting Clean Water on Edisto
Each year, Saint Francis designates 10% of its income to the outreach committee whose charge it is to give beyond ourselves to support the needs of our wider community. This year, that commitment totals approximately $22,000. Our giving focuses primarily on local needs, including monthly support for food programs, the free community clinic, and the senior center, along with periodic contributions to other local initiatives and broader humanitarian causes.

One of our most recent local partnerships this year is with the Edisto Island Open Land Trust (EIOLT), which has been working to improve water quality in our local waterways. Poorly functioning septic systems are a major contributor to contamination, and repairs are often financially out of reach for many Edisto homeowners. EIOLT is currently fundraising and applying for grants to launch “Wave 3” of its septic system repair initiative, with a goal of restoring 45 additional systems in 2026. If successful, this effort could prevent an estimated one trillion fecal coliform bacteria from entering our waterways each year.

Saint Francis recently contributed $2,000 to this effort and has also designated the 5th Sunday collection in November to support EIOLT’s work. The need is real: nearly 30 homeowners are currently on EIOLT’s list for financial assistance. Many of you have already been involved in this project since we began highlighting it in our July newsletter. Our recent work at the Bligen home where a septic repair was essential underscored just how transformative these repairs can be for families and for the health of our island. Even though the Bligens were not able to take advantage of this program because of their critical need, “Wave 3” should be in operation in 2026.

To learn more, follow this link for the article in Volume 2 of EIOLT's 2025 newsletter under News and Media.

         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 Jean Murray, 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 Jean or Fr. Joseph to receive support through this ministry. 
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.
 
 
Birthdays and Anniversaries


November Birthdays: Pat Hunter  11/2, Betsy Neal  11/2, Gary Cantrell 11/3, Billy Cox 11/6, Greg Galaida 11/9, Sharon Lindsay  11/18, Denny Jerwers  11/24, Cheryl Van Metre  11/24, and Rosalie Crouch 11/26

Please email any errors and omissions for November birthdays by clicking HERE.
Upcoming Service Schedule
Prayer List

Ralph Bailey
Janie Barnhill
Dee Boozer
Helen Clarkson
Evie Evans
Louis Gentry
Kelsey Gill
Frank Gibson
Bill Graham
Brenda Hanes
Greyson Hasselbacher
Dennis McGrew
Robert McCants
Lila Miller
Mila Santucci
Bobby Smith
Bob Spratlin
Lynne Tennyson
Liz Tucker
Cheryl Van Metre

Faithfully Departed List
Davies Merry
Billie Roop

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.
Saint Francis Episcopal Church
1650 Highway 174
Edisto Island, SC 29438
843-631-5040
www.saintfrancisedisto.org

 
Vestry
Fr. Joseph Smith - Rector
Jean Murray - Senior Warden
Bill Houston - Junior Warden
Kathy Kuntz 
Jean Murray
Steve Powers
Gretchen Smith
Steve Stemkowski 
 
Copyright © 2025. Saint Francis Episcopal Church, PO Box 239, Edisto Island, SC 29438. All rights reserved.

 






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Episcopal Church on Edisto · PO Box 239 · Edisto Island, SC 29438 · USA

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