A Wonderful Evening in the Churchyard

June 18 - a warm night of cool jazz, water ice, and Philly pretzels. June 18 was the launch of a three-concert series in the St. Peter's churchyard. Well over a hundred parishioners and neighbors shared an evening of entertainment, listening to classic jazz performed by the Alan Segal Jazz Quintet, catching up with friends new and old, enjoying the water ice and pretzels, and watching our neighborhood children dancing and improvising percussion accompaniment with picked up tree branches. My overwhelming reaction was - why didn't we do this before? I have my portable picnic table, armchairs, and picnic basket lined up in the hallway ready for the next concert, with rock band What’s the Frequency, Kevin? on July 23 at 7. Hope to see you and your friends and neighbors there!!
- Elaine Markezin

Upcoming Concerts:

• July 23 featuring rock band “What’s the Frequency, Kevin?” with parishioner Kevin Chu. Donations will be collected to benefit Seeing Youth Succeed, a program of Episcopal Community Services that provides individualized employment preparation programming for youth ages 14-23.
• August 13 featuring folk-rock singer-songwriter and parishioner Phillip Bennett.

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During each concert, St. Peter’s Church will be open for free tours. Check our website for rain date information.

Presiding Bishop to Visit St. Peter's on July 27

Our Presiding Bishop, the Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts-Schori, will join us for worship at St. Peter's on July 27. We will all gather for one service at 10 a.m. that Sunday. Bishop Jefferts-Schori is coming to Philadelphia for a special celebration the day before - the 40th Anniversary of the Ordination of Women.

It is hard to believe now that there was a time when women were not permitted by Canon Law to be priests in the Episcopal Church in the United States. However, on July 29, 1974, eleven fierce women were ordained in Philadelphia.

On July 26, the Diocese of Pennsylvania will host a celebration of the 40th anniversary of that event. The day-long celebration includes a morning symposium, a mid-afternoon Eucharist, followed by late afternoon/early evening refreshment and poster session. Click here for more information and to register.

Lesser Known Women of the Bible

Mary, the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Delilah and Bathsheba tend to hog the limelight when it comes to women of the Bible. So this summer we will spend some time with a few of the lesser known women: Rahab, the woman of Samaria, Abigail, Phoebe, Deborah (pictured at right) and more!

This 50 Minutes Summer Series will be held on Sundays at 10 a.m. from June 22 through August 17 in the parlor of 313 Pine Street. Watch the website for information about background readings and then join Claire and Jay Newlin for a conversation on Sunday morning.

Register for Congregational Conversations

Congregational Conversations continue this month. If you haven't yet, please click here to register for a session. At each meeting, Ledlie and Claire will explain the first steps the church and vestry have taken in anticipation of the construction of a new building on St. Peter’s campus and the opportunities this will provide.

Thank you to everyone who has already attended. We have appreciated hearing your hopes, concerns and dreams about our plans to prepare for the future to better fulfill the needs of our parishioners and community.

For more information or to register by phone, please contact Kate Randall at 215-925-5968 or randall@stpetersphila.org.