News

There are 2 services: 8:30 am Traditional in the Sanctuary and 11:00 am AWE (Contemporary) in the Light House. This arrangement allows us to use the facility once a week, since it would be impossible to sanitize the Sanctuary and AWE Auditorium for a subsequent service.

To keep participants safe, social distancing, masks and use of hand sanitizer are required. The pews and chairs are staggered and set-up for social distancing, and family units are asked to sit together. To keep everyone safe, we will not be doing any congregational singing at any of the services. Also, we are not offering nursery or children’s church In addition, please note that during services to help make sure that the speakers can be heard, masks will not be worn by those speaking or singing on stage, but 3 times the recommended spacing is utilized as a precaution. 

Everybody loves a good story and Jesus was a fantastic storyteller! This summer we will be studying the parables of Jesus. We, of course, will not be covering all of the 40+ parables that Jesus told, but we will be studying 12 of them. A simple definition of a parable is that it is an earthly story about spiritual things. Consequentially, these stories matter -- they have eternal significance! So, please plan to join us as we listen to our Master Storyteller tell us stories that can transform our lives.  

Beginning Sunday, September 13

Characters gives us a glimpse into the lives of people of faith. During the next year, we will be challenged as we dig deeper into the context and setting of each person’s life – gaining new insights into the world in which they lived and connecting their world with ours. Along the way, truths that impact our lives today will be discovered as we see the challenges, struggles and opportunities faced by people seeking to follow God. In many of these stories, we will find ourselves and our need for a Savior. We pray that through these studies, we will be transformed and better equipped to fulfill God’s purposes in our world today.

Wednesday Nights at 6:30 pm,

Beginning September 9 

(We plan to gather in the gym from 5:30 – 6:30 pm to eat a picnic-style supper that attendees will bring, and then the Adults will move to the Sanctuary, the Kids will be outside and the Students will move to the Light House Auditorium for the Worship Service/Lesson at 6:30 pm followed by small group break out time.)

WorshipLife: This 6-week campaign is designed to lead you on an exciting journey of discovering how to honor God in the everyday!

The goals of the WorshipLife campaign are:

To disciple believers about true, biblical praise.

To encourage believers to praise God in their private devotional times and lives.

To challenge believers to fall more in love with God, the object of true worship.

To foster common respect and appreciation for the various tastes in worship styles and songs.

To develop sensitivity in believers to God’s leadership both in their private worship and within a corporate worship gathering.

Please let us know that you plan to attend by emailing HH at hhham@saxegotha.org.

We plan to live stream our 8:30 am Traditional Service and our 11:00 am AWE Contemporary Service. If you prefer to view the Traditional Service at 11:00, you can re-play the 8:30 service at that time or any other time.

To view the Saxe Gotha Services and other resources, please go to: https://www.youtube.com/user/SaxeGothaPres.

Throughout South Sudan, the people are suffering. The eastern half of the country is reeling from flooding caused by the unseasonably heavy rains. Because the leadership is encouraging conflict and providing no law and order, people are dying every day from inter- and intra-communal fighting, using weapons supplied by the government. Flooding and conflict are causing poor crops. People are starving. Among the Murle, one of our partner groups, six weeks of fighting has caused immense destruction, kidnapping of women and children, massive displacement as people fled to the bush and an unknown, but large, number of casualties. Airstrips are flooded and roads are impassable so getting relief to the needy is very difficult.

Please pray, pray and pray.

·        Pray that relief agencies may find the displaced and provide them with food and temporary shelter.

·        Pray that the leadership will turn from its sinful greed and turn toward God and the people.

·        Pray that the youth of the nation will recognize that they are being used by their leaders in ways that harm theirs and other families

·        Pray that the South Sudanese will recognize that their hope is in God and His peace.

Are you or someone you know dealing with the loss of a loved one? If so, GriefShare is available both online and in person. If you are looking for a group, you can go to their website at www.GriefShare.org and search for a current meeting list. Below are some nearby places that are offering the group weekly meetings to help deal with a loss.

Saxe Gotha will be partnering with Lexington School District One to support the Backpack Program. As a partner, we will help fill backpacks and send them to schools for weekly distribution to children who have great need.

Each child identified as having need will receive a backpack filled with child-friendly, nutritious, easy-to-open food to last over the weekend. 

Items Needed for Backpacks:

 juice boxes

cereal/granola bars

snack crackers

single serving cereal boxes / bowls

mac and cheese / Chef Boyardee

peanut butter

fruit cups/pouches, raisins (please no applesauce cups)

pudding cups

oatmeal packets

Please contact Holly Waldrip if you can't come to the food drive, please call or email her for a pick-up: 803-931-6218 or waldrip@sc.rr.com.

The youth are planning to pack food bags for the backpack ministry. We are accepting food or monetary donations for this event. Food items should be left in the narthex, atrium or outside of the main office in the box labeled "backpack ministry." Monetary donations can be made to SGPC with “backpack ministry” in the memo line.

The First Impressions Team is in need of Ushers and CREW members. Please call or email Carl Hammond at 803-767-0864 or hammondcb@yahoo.com if you are interested. All volunteers assist once every 6 weeks.

Saxe Gotha has a new group just for Moms...we will connect you with other moms who are going through the same challenges you face. This is a place to share your concerns, be encouraged by God's Word, and enjoy fellowship with moms.

Please like and follow this group on Facebook at SG Moms in Ministry or on Instagram.

DayONE 2020 Latest Update!

A WOMEN’S PRAYER EVENT FOR ALL LEXINGTON ONE MOMS

(Sunday, August 23rd at 7:00 pm)

Please join us as we gather and pray for our students, teachers, staff and community along with other mothers and female caregivers from your student’s same school(s).

DayONE 2020 will be on-site and outside at each of the five Lexington ONE High Schools. Please make plans to pray at the high school your student’s school feeds into.

To maintain local safety recommendations, we ask that DayONE attendants wear masks and maintain social distancing.

If you LOVE caring for little ones, and pointing families to Christ, please contact Sara McCarter at smccarter@saxgotha.org or 803.622.5248.

Position does require some weekend and evening hours. Must be available Tuesday-Thursday from 8:30 am-1:30 pm. Must be CPR certified or willing to obtain certification.

We are collecting non-perishable food items to be used for the Sistercare Ministry. There are 3 boxes for donations: 1 outside the main office during the week, 1 in the Narthex and 1 in the Auditorium on Sundays. Also, stay tuned - there will be a food drive for Sistercare by Missions in August.

The Sistercare Ministry provides dinner for 20-25 women and their children to the West Columbia shelter. Contact: Stacey Rowlette, 803-312-5570, srowlette@sc.rr.com.

Our scheduled week of VBS might be over, but the materials will be available all summer. Please invite friends and family members to participate online.

For those of you who would like still to participate, we have uploaded downloadable files at SaxeGotha.org/GodatWork to follow along with our daily episodes from this week on our YouTube channel. The files take the place of what was in the tool kit, so this VBS can last all summer no matter where you are or where you go. So if you find yourself surrounded by kids at any point—we’ve got you covered!

Meet at 8:00 am (the 2nd Saturday of the month) at the church outdoor patio in front of the Light House and bring a sack breakfast to eat, then leave from there to assist individuals in need. Contact Keith Hall with questions: Nailbenders.sg@gmail.com.

During our Friday devotion, HH will be discussing the practice of prayerwalking. Prayerwalking involves taking our prayers out into our community where we desire to see God’s presence manifested and our prayers answered. We welcome you and your family to join us in praying for our community during this difficult time. Download the brochure below to get ready for this exciting message and to join with us across the midlands. To get your own copy of the Prayerwalking guide, please visit: saxegotha.org/ministries/adult-ministries.

(usually the 3rd Tuesday of the month) 7:15-8:15 am, SGPC Parking Lot. Join together as we love and support community members in need of prayer. We will need prayer warriors, enthusiastic sign holders and traffic directors. 

To Volunteer, contact Loretta Gobbel at 319-4608 or Pete Eckert at 608-9835 or email missions@saxegotha.org.  

On July 21, we had 10 volunteers who served four cars and 2 pedestrians stopping in for prayer. Lots of positive feedback from our newest sign, “pray for America.”

In addition to the classes mentioned below, we have a vibrant Men's Bible Study meeting on Monday morning at 8:30 am taught by Scott Welborn.

If you are interested in participating in one of these classes, please contact our Associate Pastor Helen Harrison Ham at hhham@saxegotha.org, and she will provide you the information needed to sign-in to the class of your choice.

Devotionals: If you have missed one of our daily devotionals, you can go to the Saxe Gotha Devotional Playlist. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLea6ndHzArf_GGgSnTna8lW6cUZHQlCew.

Senior Adults:

Caring Connections Brotherhood Virtual Lunch: 
Tuesdays at noon

Kids:

Wednesday nights at 6:00 pm (contact Melinda Boyle for login info: mboyle@saxegotha.org)

Children:

Club 45 on Sunday evenings at 4:30 (contact Patricia Zeigler to get login info: pdmz@rocketmail.com)
Story Time on Facebook, Tuesdays at 7:00 pm (contact Melinda Boyle for info: mboyle@saxegotha.org)
Child Development Center Conference Call for Preschoolers: Wednesdays at 11:00 am with Hope Andrews (For login info, go to: www.saxegotha.org/ministries/cdc)

Youth:

Contact Justin Hall to get connected: jhall@saxegotha.org.

Our Back to School parking lot party has been rescheduled for Wednesday, August 26 from 6:00-8:00 pm in the Light House parking lot. Grab a bite to eat at the food trucks and then join us as we tie dye masks. Can't wait to see you there!

Please contact Melinda with questions: mboyle@saxegotha.org.

Students Movie Night:

Saxe Gotha StuMin invites all students in grades 6-12 to join us in the Light House parking lot for a movie night on August 19. We will have a food truck available for you to grab dinner and then we will get ready for the movie.

We will get started at 8:15!

Please contact Justin Hall with questions: jhall@saxegotha.org.

As you know the Hopi Reservation, in Hopi, AZ has been hit hard by the coronavirus. Patti Schmitz will be sending 3 of her Covered with God’s Love Blankets to the Hopi Nation for 4 children there affected by the coronavirus. What great news! This is an incredible outreach. Patti's hope is to begin sending blankets on a regular basis.

Would you like to send out a Welcome Message to your Saxe Gotha family?

If so, we would like you to record a 10-second video of you or your family saying "Hello" to fellow Saxe Gotha members. Please record in landscape orientation and send to mandrews@saxegotha.org. We think this will really help people feel more connected while we are all worshiping at home.

Join this Zoom small group on Wednesday nights at 7:00 pm. Contact Tim Kehoe at timkehoebuilds@gmail.com or 408-504-8800 for information on how to log on.

They will be connecting at 8:30 am next Monday for a brief lesson and to pray for each other and for other people. Contact Scott Welborn at bleedbabyblu@gmail.com for meeting information. This Bible study is open to men of all ages.

Our Missions Ministry has people standing by to help our congregation by running errands, picking up groceries or any essential items you may need.

Please contact Kathy Seymour at 4kathys@gmail.com or 803-920-7385 if you need this service.

Continuing to be mindful of the well-being of our members and staff, the Personnel Team and SGPC leadership have determined that the SGPC offices will continue to be closed to outside visitors until further notice. The Church Staff will be working remotely during this time.

Here is the specific link to it if you already have your account set up: https://www.rightnowmedia.org/CustomLibrary/8737. RightNow is like the Netflix of Christian media and Bible studies. And if you’re already tired of watching TV and scrolling the internet, then feed your mind and heart with good stuff! We have several different channels within Saxe Gotha’s custom library: Adults, Youth, Children, Worship and the Arts, Missions and Outreach, Marriage and Parenting. 

If you need help setting up your Right Now account, you can contact one of the following:

HH Ham: hhham@saxegotha.org

Patrick Cherry: pcherry@saxegotha.org

Justin Hall: jhall@saxegotha.org

Melinda Boyle: mboyle@saxegotha.org

Hal McIntosh: hmcintosh@saxegotha.org

The studies and videos inside Saxe Gotha’s library on RightNow are just suggestions from our staff. Please feel free to explore and enjoy the many wonderful videos on Right Now while you are at home!

Registration (2020-2021):
Preschool (2 - 4 year old), Afterschool and Summer Registration resumes June 8. Questions? handrews@saxegotha.org.

As part of Congregational Care, free soft blankets are available for any seriously ill child or a child who has lost a parent or sibling. Call Patti Schmitz at 467-6379 or Renee Starnes at 359-7770 ext. 37 or rstarnes@saxegotha.org.

Did you know that when shopping Amazon, they will make a donation to Saxe Gotha with no additional cost to you? The only requirement is to go through smile.amazon.com instead of Amazon.com and choose Saxe Gotha as your charity of choice. AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know. Same products, same prices, same service, but with each purchase you help reduce the debt.

NEW: AmazonSmile customers can now support Saxe Gotha Presbyterian Church in the Amazon shopping app on iOS and Android mobile phones! Simply follow these instructions to turn on AmazonSmile and start generating donations.

Open the Amazon Shopping app on your device

Go into the main menu of the Amazon Shopping app and tap into 'Settings'

Tap 'AmazonSmile' and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.

We are looking for new acolytes this fall. Any child that will be in 3rd grade

or above can by an acolyte. It is a great opportunity for your child to serve during worship. If you are interested, please contact Meredith Cully at mcully@saxegotha.org or sign up online via the link below.