St. Mary's Episcopal Church

09/02/2026

Join us this Sunday!!

08/23/2026

We don’t lift Mary up because she solves our troubles for us. We lift her up because she shows us what it looks like to say yes to God even when the road ahead is uncertain — and then to keep walking it. Her life is the example; her prayer is the invitation.

Love God. Love Neighbor. Love the Midlands.

08/16/2026

We are so honored to have been donated this icon by the Reverends Susan and Bill Wight. This icon is of Our Lady of Kazan, patroness of the Russian city Kazan and of all Russia. This icon is an original and was written by Brother Simeon from an Orthodox type religious community begun in Oklahoma City. Bill met Brother Simeon and purchased this icon in 1979 while Bill was serving at an Episcopal School in Oklahoma City. Later Brother Simeon’s icons became Monastery Icons.

The icon was consecrated by Bishop Burgreen in 1982 at a Chaplains’ Conference at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Bill carried this icon with him during his military career as a US Army Chaplain in the United States, Belgium, Germany and Panama.

Venerating an icon is called “gazing.” Gazing at an icon allows the icon to be a window into the holy. We both ask that when you gaze at this particular icon you recall the sacrifices of our military men and women stationed all over the world and their families. No one prays for peace more fervently than a soldier because the soldier offers his or her very life to the cause of peace in the world. No one understands the price of peace more intimately than the Blessed Mother of the Prince of Peace. We also pray for your own peace each time you take time to gaze into her face. Thank you for giving this icon an honored place in your community.

08/14/2026

Come join us and the Bishop this Sunday.

08/11/2026

This was sent out as part of the Messenger but I wanted to drop it here as well.

To the Saint Mary's Family,

This year, we wanted to set aside a Sunday to celebrate two things that mean so much to us: our namesake, Saint Mary, and the wonderful community God has given us here.

Saint Mary’s is blessed to be a genuinely loving place, filled with kind and faithful people who gather here week after week. That is something worth celebrating. This Sunday, we want to give thanks for the life we share together and for all the people who make Saint Mary’s such a special community.

We especially hope you will bring your families, extended families, and friends to join us. As an added blessing, our celebration falls on the same Sunday as Bishop Daniel Richards’ visitation. It gives us the wonderful opportunity to celebrate our parish family with our Bishop and to share with him some of the joy and renewed life we are experiencing at Saint Mary’s.

We will also receive a beautiful icon from the Rev. Susan and William Wight, to celebrate our namesake, worship together with Bishop Richards, and then continue the celebration as a parish family afterward.

So come and be part of it. Bring the people you love, welcome someone who has not been with us in a while, or invite someone who might simply enjoy experiencing Saint Mary’s.

I am grateful for this community and for each of you who makes it what it is. I look forward to celebrating with you this Sunday.

Father Christopher “CJ” Johnson

07/23/2026

Found this pinned to a bulletin board and haven’t stopped thinking about it.
No one should need a decoder ring to figure out who you belong to. Not a clever argument. Not a bumper sticker. Just a life so plainly kind and so steadily loving that people start wondering where it comes from.
Embrace who you are this week.
Sundays at 9:30 • 170 St. Andrews Road

07/23/2026

Spring (Summer) cleaning at St Mary’s Columbia!!

07/23/2026

A mustard seed. A pinch of yeast. A treasure buried in a field. A pearl so beautiful you’d sell everything to hold it.

Jesus keeps telling us the Kingdom of Heaven shows up in the smallest, most hidden places, and it’s worth more than we can imagine.

This Sunday we’re sitting with Matthew 13, and these parables have a way of reframing what we think we’re looking for.

Join us at 9:30 AM.
📍 170 St. Andrews Road · Irmo/Harbison/Lake Murray
🌐 stmaryscolumbia.org

07/08/2026

07/07/2026

If you got two emails from the Messanger it's because I (rev. CJ) sent it to the wrong list the first time. Sorry about that.