St. John's Episcopal Church

Announcements

• Sunday Service on August 14th

  Please join us for our Eucharist service on Sunday, August 14th at 9 am.  This is the eigth Sunday after Pentecost. We welcome back our guest preacher and celebrant the Rev. Barb Schmitz. Please consider participating in our Lecto Divina gospel response (see announcement below). We will continue our fellowship at coffee hour after the service.

  Masks are optional but we will continue distancing by sitting in the pews marked with a green ribbon. We are coming to the altar rail for communion with options for sharing the cup, intincting, or, receiving only the host. As always, if you are most comfortable staying in your pew, communion can be brought to you.

  Not everyone is ready to come back to church and no one should come if they are unwell or have been with someone who has tested positive for the corona virus. We will continue to make the service available Facebook Live. Click to access our page.  You do not need a Facebook account to view the service.

• "God's Word, Our Foundation" Sunday Gospel Reading

  This summer, our gospel readings are taken from the Gospel of Luke. As a focus for the sermon reflections on the gospel, we invite all parishioners to participate in a preparatory exercise based on the Lecto Divina -- an approach we have followed during our Bible Study sessions through the spring. 

  Reading through the gospel, consider what word or phrase stands out for you, what question you would ask the text, what emotion does the reading evoke.

  Link here to the Lectionary to find the gospel reading for the coming Sunday.

  Link here to find a form that you can fill in (anonymously, if you wish) with your response to the gospel.  
• 

  Vacation Bible School - Mark your calendars!!

  Our Vacation Bible School will be held Monday through Friday, August 15th to 19th with the theme Food Truck Party - on a roll with God! We will celebrate with fun songs, exciting games, incredible crafts and amazing stories. If you would like more information, please call the church office, Monday-Thursday between 9 and noon at 315-393-5470. You may submit a registration form online here.
• 

  Summer Book Club

  Take some time this summer to soak up the sun and read our summer book club novel selection, The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons. We will gather for a discussion over a light supper on Wednesday, August 31st at 5 pm in the Parish Hall. Enjoy this book that considers how loneliness is impacted by friendship -- both in its giving and receiving.

  The book is available from the usual book sellers and is also available to borrow in hard copy and electronic print and audio formats through the libraries in the North Country. 

• Bible Study on summer recess

  Our Thursday bible study is on recess until after Rally Sunday when we will pick up reading the Gospel of Luke with Chapter 10. 

  We are focusing on Luke because in the 3 year cycle of Sunday readings, we are in year C with gospel readings drawn from Luke.

  As a framework for our study discussion, we try to prepare by reading the chapter three times. After the first reading we note what word or phrase stood out to us.  After the second, we consider what question we would ask of the text. After the third we examine what emotions the reading evokes. 

  Through the summer, all are invited to consider the gospel reading using these steps -- link here to the lectionary for the text of our Sunday readings.

• Food Pantry Distribution

  St. John's Food Pantry is held on the last Tuesday of each month from 9:30 am to 11:30 am. Come to the parking lot off Franklin Street and enter the Parish Hall via the deck.  Please wear a mask and maintain social distancing during distribution.

  Note:  Next distribution is Tuesday,  August 30th.

  Non-perishable food or monetary donations in support of this mission are always welcome.

• Sunday School is Cool!

  We celebrated the conclusion of our Sunday School year on June 12th with acknowledgements and a picnic.  We have had a fantastic year following a new curriculum model with 5 week, themed series that follow a VBS-like structure with craft, story, drama, music and kitchen activities -- something different each week.  We wrapped up with a series on "The Beatitudes" and completed another five series: "What is Worship: Teaching Children about the Book of Common Prayer", "What Makes My Church Special", our Advent series -- "Emanuel-God with Us" focusing on preparation and gifts,"Pray without Ceasing" and, "The Mystery of Easter". 

  See you in September with a new series -- what might it be???

• Online Giving

  We offer the option to make your giving donation online.  Link here to make a donation.  Donations are made using PayPal but you do not need a PayPal account.  You can use any debit or credit card to complete the form.

  This is a convenient way to maintain your giving to St. John's especially during the summer when vacations take you away.

  If you would like to make a pledge to give during the remainder of the year and/or would like envelopes, please use this form.

• Web Site Issue

  The host site vendor for our website company catastrophically lost most of the content of over 3000 church sites -- including St. John's.  We are in the process of restoring and rebuilding the site.  Please be patient as we continue this work.  If you see something that needs to be corrected, please use the "Email Web Admin" link in the left panel.

• Prayer Request

  If you would like St. John's Prayer Team to pray for you, please submit your request using this form.