Parish Clean-up Day!
We’ve brought winter to a close and are looking forward as spring opens us up to being outdoors once again. It’s particularly poignant this spring after this past year of pandemic distancing. So, it’s the perfect time to gather outside and help clean things up around the parish grounds. This means YOU!
Please join us this Saturday between 9 am and 12:00 noon for Parish Clean-up Day. The weather looks to be perfect for outdoors work – a little cool and partly sunny. If you need a ride, contact Rev. Michelle and we’ll make arrangements to get you here and get you home.
We will be raking leaves, clearing pine cones, cleaning up the Memorial Garden, sweeping the parking lot, and more. Jobs for everyone, including a few indoors! Whatever time you can give is greatly appreciated. Bring work gloves, a rake, and water. And please remember to wear a mask.
See you Saturday morning!
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On Hope and Justice
Dear Ones: The entire country has been glued to the trial in which a Minneapolis police officer was charged with murder in the death of George Floyd. As I write this, of course, the verdict has already come back – guilty on all counts.
It’s hard to call this a celebratory moment. There is nothing to celebrate in someone’s death and the conviction of another. But I think there is something in this moment that we can point to as hopeful.
Hope is found in the shift that this conviction points to, the larger movement called Black Lives Matter. People all across this nation have been working hard to push for change and call attention to the evil perpetrated on People of Color in the name of “justice.” This shift is monumental and this conviction is not the end. It’s a marker, a signpost, that tells us all that systemic change is possible.
With every cell of my being, I believe that Christ lives in the Black Lives Matter movement and that, if we stay true to this course, actual and real justice will “roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24). For justice is not about revenge and punishment. Rather, “justice is what love looks like in public.” (Cornel West, theologian).
Let us pray that God continues to give us the strength and the wisdom to continue this work and the courage to move even more deeply into the call for God’s justice.
In God’s love and mine, Rev. Michelle
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Announcements for April 25, 2021
Forward Day by Day The new devotional books are here to support your daily prayer and reflection for the months of May, June, and July. Available in both pocket-sized and large print. Email Rev. Michelle to claim a copy at michelle.stjohnskingston@gmail.com
Flower Memorial Dates Available! The dates are April 25th, July 18th, September 6th and October 31. If you’d like to have a date to honor someone, you can contact Elaine Lawrence at 845-532-6585 or by email at eslawrenc@aol.com.
The Page Turners is the St. John’s book club who meet every first Tuesday evening of the month for good discussion and good company. All are welcome to attend. For May 4, we are reading ‘American Dirt’, by Jeanine Cummins. For June 8, the book is, ‘The Midnight Library’, by Matthew Haig. Email or call Lynn Dennison for more information.
Have an announcement for the bulletin?
Please send by Wednesday at noon to stjohnskingston@aol.com.