Saints Alive Book & Gift Store

Bookstore Volunteer Appreciation Slideshow

Volunteer Appreciation Coffee Hour

Please come and join us in the Kinlock Room after the 10:30am service on February 21st, to help us recognize and celebrate our faithful Saints Alive volunteers. We are so blessed to have such an active church family, who without you, would be impossible to achieve all that we do here at St. Michael’s to minister to the Holy City, Hungering World and Hurting Coast. So come by and enjoy food and fellowship as we say thank you to: David Brinson, Lisa and Frank Farmer, Caroline DeVlaming-Farrior, Gretchen Hauser, Susannah Hubble, Tip Jennings, Noel Kunes, Ann Marion, Crandall Meredith and Vicki Vázquez.

Lent and Easter Wisdom from Henri J. M. Nouwen. Each daily reflection –from Ash Wednesday through the Second Sunday of Easter-begins with thoughts from Father Nouwen on an appropriate theme, supported by Scripture, a prayer, and a suggested activity for spiritual growth.

Saints: A Year in Faith and Art – A unique volume of its kind, illustrating for the first time all the saints of the liturgical calendar and popular tradition. 380 images, ranging from world-famous works of art to more rcent depictions, present outstanding figures from the history of the Church.

From the Messenger February 7 & 14, 2010

Saints Alive offers many books on the topic of Marriage, here are just a few available.

The First Five Years of Marriage
“All of us want a ‘happily ever after’ ending to our own journey through marriage. But once the initial glow of romance turns into the daily grind, we need help! Whether you are a newlywed or a Christian in ministry leadership, you need this book. Written by an extraordinary team of counselors, The Complete Guide to the First Five Years of Marriage is filled with practical, biblical advice. You have questions? They have answers!

Four Seasons of Marriage
Dr. Gary Chapman, author of the perennial best seller The Five Love Languages, provides an easy-to-grasp framework to help couples understand their marriage and seven practical strategies for strengthening or improving their marriage relationship. A valuable resource for couples regardless of how long they’ve been married, this biblically based book is a reference tool to help couples through every season of marriage.

Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence
“This book is a treasure in an era when the common perspective on marriage has been more shaped by sitcoms and self-help books than by Scripture. Dr. Piper lifts our hearts and minds to God’s vision for marriage. Embracing God’s design and purposes for marriage can make our homes tastes of heaven.”

—Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Author; Radio Host, Revive Our Hearts radio program

For your special Valentine, we have a
wonderful selection of the genuine
church gate jewelry available.

From the Messenger January 24 & 31, 2010

Alleluiah!
Inventory is over and our accounting is complete, Saints Alive is now open. We have a terrific sale going on right now so come on in for great savings on Christmas merchandise, there is a little bit of it left, and also many other gift items and books at great prices. Our wonderful little store is only 240 sq. ft. so it is necessary for us to make room for our spring merchandise. We are expecting shipments of new baby items, wedding items, baptism and confirmation, along with new and exciting books. Our merchandise changes on a regular basis so stop by often to see what’s new. We have a wonderful selection of church Gate Jewelry including St. Philip’s new piece, also, available is the book Lost to the West. It is recommended reading by Peter Moore in this messenger issue. Also available is Bishop Allison’s book, Trust in an Age of Arrogance.

Support Mission Outreach, Shop Saints Alive.

A St. Michael’s Christmas Story
December 5, 2009

This is a true story that happened to me, Lee McVay, as I managed the St. Michael’s Episcopal Christian Book & Gift Store on a cold, dreary Saturday, entering the Christmas Season in downtown Charleston, S.C. right in the heart of the fashionable center of town.

Picture the gift store at the busiest two corners of down town Charleston, an antebellum, historic, civil war town decorated with Christmas wreaths hanging from the gas lanterns and horse & carriages strolling by with tourists. The store was stocked with Christmas gifts and Josh Groban was singing his latest Christmas album on the store speaker system. It’s a high end store geared towards a more prosperous clientele with money to spend on high quality gifts & books. At that very moment, for me, it was a Currier & Ives feeling, full of cheer & peace.

The store door opened and in walked a weary, sad looking man with raggedy clothes on and two front teeth missing, and hair that, maybe, hadn’t been washed in a week. I was on the telephone finishing a call and as I looked over this man, I surmised he was a homeless man looking for directions or wanting to use our restroom.

I approached him and asked if I could help him. He was holding a small plastic Piggly Wiggly bag, like you get at the store for your groceries, with something heavy inside. He looked me straight in the eye and proceeded to tell me “ he was a homeless man living in a cardboard box up the street in one of the city parks, and since he didn’t have any warm shoes to protect his feet from the cold wintry nights, he was given 3 pair of brand new tennis shoes as a gift.” He told me “I only needed one pair” and when he said that, he glanced down at his feet and, I , too, looked at his feet, to see the most beautiful brand new white tennis shoes on his feet. As I looked down at his shoes, I gasped, feeling the air being sucked out of my lungs as I held back tears with great sorrow in my heart.

He then said: “I figured I only needed one pair of shoes, what with living in a cardboard box and all, so I saw your Christian store sign out front and came in to give you the other two pair of shoes, so that maybe two other men could have shoes as well. As tears welled up in my eyes, I said to myself” Thank you Lord for visiting me today… I needed to hear your voice and this message”. As I chokingly tried to tell the homeless man that I would make sure the shoes got to the right person in St. Michael’s, he disappeared as quickly as he had arrived and when I turned around he was gone.

I asked myself what was God telling me to pass on with this tale of great servitude and sacrifice?

Maybe, HE was telling us to write to a soldier who is serving our country, lonely and afraid and let him know we love him or her.
Maybe, He was telling us to write to the President and tell him we were praying for him and his family.

Maybe, HE was telling us to support a Missionary who was telling the Good News in a far away land.

Maybe, HE was telling us to support the Salvation Army with some change the next time we pass by their pot.

Maybe, HE was telling us to smile at the retail attendant who was having a hard day and just getting by.

Maybe, HE was telling us to go to someone who hurt us and tell them we forgive them!

OR…maybe, HE was simply telling us to act as Christians over Christmas so HE could love us all… through us.

Maybe all we have to do… is DO what HE tells us…and HE will take care of the rest!

Maybe HE was telling us… most of all…HE LOVES US!

Maybe……..

~ Lee McVay

Jesus is the reason we do what we do….Thank you to all who attended the Saints Alive two year anniversary celebration on Sunday November 8th. Your support made it a great success; you are the body of Christ. It was a wonderful event filled with amazing food, fun and great fellowship. A special thank you to Liz Lipscomb and Charlotte David for the incredibly delicious food they prepared from recipes out of the Come to the Table cookbook, and for the long hours of preparation they gave to make this event such a success, the Lord’s face shines through you. Without volunteers it would be impossible to pull all this together so thank you to Charlene Allen, Sharon Wood, Margaret Bryant, Molly Hull, Crandall Meredith, and Joe Nicholson and to all who I did not mention for pitching in to help out behind the scenes, you are the hands of the body. How blessed we are to have such talented children illustrators, and they were all here with Jeanne Lyles to sign her book Spiritual Vision, Father Bob’s Glasses. The children were so excited to be here and we were so excited to have them here. Jeanne thank you for taking part in this very special anniversary celebration and for all you do to support Saints Alive ministry, you are the heart of Jesus. MaryAnn, and Janet, Jamie’s Change of Heart, Book 1 A St. Michael’s Tale, were pleased to have been invited to share in our celebration since they are from off (St. Andrew’s in M.P) and we were pleased to have them, you are the feet of the body. 1 Corinthians 12:12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they for one body. So it is with Christ.

On Sunday November 29th Saints Alive will host a very special event. So if you were not here to attend the anniversary celebration on the 8th here is your chance to come and join in on the fun, food and fellowship by supporting our youth. Some of our own youth group elves will help us to kick off our holiday shopping season by offering free gift wrapping for tips. These tips will be donated by our youth to benefit Missions. So come out and help to support our elves and missions by shopping Saints Alive.

Christmas is just around the corner, yikes! Saints Alive will be featuring the beautiful licensed gate jewelry designed by B-Gould and Company Jewelers, located right here in Charleston. This line will consist of St. Michael’s, St. Philip’s, First Scott’s, and other church gate designs. There have been many new pieces added to this collection, so come by and see what’s new for that special someone.

~ Christine Meredith

St. Michael's Christmas Ornament St. Michael's Window Christmas Ornament