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The St. Philip's Church Crest was designed
in 1996 by Canon Eckford J. deKay, author of The Heraldry of the Episcopal
Church (Acorn Press, 1994). Each of the elements has a particular
meaning for the history and ministry of the church, representing the story
of St. Philip, Deacon and Evangelist.
In the somewhat obscure language of heraldry, the crest is defined in
this way:
BLAZON: Azure, the Roman
numeral VII Or on a bend sinister gules fimbriated Or between a chariot
in the chief and an escallop shell in the base of the same, all within
a belt bearing the wording, "St. Philip's Episcopal Church- San Jose."
Translated, this means: "DESCRIPTION OF ARMS:
Blue, with the Roman numeral VII in gold on a red diagonal (top right
to bottom left) with gold edges; between a chariot above and a scallop
shell below, both in gold, surrounded by a belt reading "St. Philip's
Episcopal Church- San Jose"
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The Shield
The red diagonal stripe edged in gold
on a blue field symbolizes the Deacon's stole. |
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 The Figure VII A reference to the first seven deacons of
the Christian Church, of whom Philip was one. |
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The chariot and shell
These refer to the encounter between Philip the Deacon and the Ethiopian
eunuch, whom Philip baptizes. The shell is a common symbol for
baptism |
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 The
Belt
The belt is a distinctive feature of Scottish clan badges. While
coats of arms belong to one individual only, members of the
clan are entitled to wear the shield encircled by a buckled strap.
The oldest cultural festival at St. Philip's, dating from 1973,
is the Kirking of the Tartans. |
| Bible texts referring to Philip, the Deacon: |
Appointment of the Seven Deacons
Acts
6:1-6 Now
during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number,
the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows
were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. And the twelve
called together the whole community of the disciples and said, "It
is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait
on tables. Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven
men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may
appoint to this task, while we, for our part, will devote ourselves
to prayer and to serving the word." What they said pleased the whole
community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy
Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor,
Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. They had these
men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on
them. |
Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch
Acts 8:27-39 (portions) Philip got
up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official
of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire
treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home;
seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the
Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it."
So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah.
He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He replied, "How
can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get
in and sit beside him. Then Philip began to speak, and starting
with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus.
As
they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the
eunuch said, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from
being baptized?" He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them,
Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized
him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched
Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
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| Other stories of Philip can be found
in Acts 8:5-13 and Acts 21:8-9. |
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