St. John’s Episcopal Church
207 Albany Avenue, Kingston, NY 12401

The Good News of St. John’s

  1. December 31, 2022

    Coming Events at St. John’s

    Jan 1: Come as You Are Sunday. It’s New Years’ Day so come as you are for a relaxed worship service in the Parish Hall. Coffee will be ready when you arrive at 10. Bring your extra holiday treats to share with everyone.
    Jan 6, Feast of Epiphany: Epiphany Celebration 7:00 pm. Come for a Friday evening celebration of light and love. Firepit, hot chocolate, singing, and storytelling – activities for all ages!
    Jan 8: The Baptism of Jesus: At the beginning of the year, we renew our Baptismal Vows as we tell the story of Jesus’ baptism by St. John the Baptist (our patron saint!).
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    Consider MaskingWhile masking remains optional at St. John’s, you are encouraged to consider wearing a mask during worship to help keep down the transmission of covid, flu, and other illnesses. Masks are available at both entrances.

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    The Coming of the Light


    I heard someone say the other day that they always talk about the Winter Solstice as the first day of summer. It’s an interesting thing to think about, really. We know, of course, that the Winter Solstice is the official beginning of winter – cold, snow, ice – all happen in the 3 months after the winter solstice. But what this person was referring to, is the slow movement of the earth as the Northern Hemisphere begins to tilt toward the sun again.

    As we know, the movement of the earth was happening long before Jesus was born, and long before the birth of Christianity after he died. The observation of the solstices, the celebration of the return of food sources in plant and animal life, the marking of time throughout the year… these have all been happening for eons in different parts of the world. They have always been ways of recognizing God is with us and our response of gratitude for this is deeply important to our humanity and, therefore, to our personal salvation.

    As Christians, we have come to associate these seasonal shifts with Christ in the celebration of Christmas and Easter, among others. There was, of course, some political reasons for this back when these holidays were set into the current calendar. Nonetheless, we are still celebrating the fact that God is with us. And Christ – the Incarnate God – is what has been with us throughout all time. Jesus gave to us a profound way of understanding this truth that he found in the core of Jewish teaching – we are here for one another and, therefore, systems of oppression must be overturned. This is also deeply important to our humanity and to our personal salvation.

    We have come to see this knowledge as Christ’s light. Jesus’ gift to the world. That the incarnation is not here just for our consumption, something for which we “ought to be” grateful. We are a part of the incarnation and, therefore, responsible for its care so that our gratitude then manifests as a kind of custody and safe-keeping. We are one another’s keepers.

    The light we receive at this time of year, the good-will and the love birthed among us… this light is what begins to grow in us… if we let it. And as this light grows, so does our understanding of how to tend to this life within us and around us. Moving from consumers of God’s abundance to inheritors of God’s abundance, fostering true growth of God’s Love and Light.

    This is God’s promise for each of us. May this year be one of Love and Light for each of you.

    Emmanuel: God is with us.

    In God’s love and mine,
    Rev. Michelle

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    Announcements for the Christmas Season
    December 25 – January 6

    This Friday: All Ages Epiphany Celebration January 6 at 7:00 pm. Join us for a Friday evening celebration of light and love. Firepit, hot chocolate, singing, and storytelling – activities for all ages!

    Now Forming! Adult Inquirer’s Class: Beginning in mid-February, Rev. Michelle will start an Adult Inquirer’s Class (6-8 sessions). All members of St. John’s are welcome to attend. We will cover topics like: How do Episcopalians read the Bible? How did the Episcopal Church get started? What do Episcopalians believe? Please reach out to Rev. Michelle via email if you are interested and we will determine the best class times based on the availability of those interested. Childcare will be made available for in-person sessions.

    Save the Date: St. John’s Annual Meeting: On Sunday, January 29 we will have a combined worship and Annual Meeting beginning at 10:00 am. Stay tuned for more information and plan to be there!

     Acolytes, Ushers, and Lectors… Oh, my! Attention all people of St. John’s! Rev. Michelle will offer a forum after worship on February 26. During this forum, you will learn more about different liturgical duties and be invited to register for training. We’ll talk about Lectors, Sacristans, Acolytes, and Ushers – all of whom are important to our common worship at St. John’s. People from age 6 to adult are welcome to consider these ministries.

    Page Turners Book Club Meetings are on the first Thursday of the month at 2 p.m., in the parish hall. Here’s what we selected for the next few months: January 5:  Trust, by Hernan Diaz; February 2: The Plot, by Jean Hanff Korelitz; March 2: Inside the O’Briens, by Lisa Genova. If we have bad weather during the winter, we will switch to a Zoom meeting. Interested in joining? Talk with Lynn Dennison.

    Ulster Immigrant Defense Network needs Food Sponsors. You can support an immigrant family for 1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks a month. The cost is $45/week. Sponsorship forms are available on the bulletin board in the vestibule. Or send a one-time donation to UIDN, 30 Pine Grove Ave, Kingston.

    Have an announcement for the bulletin?
    Please send by Wednesday at noon to
    stjohnskingston@aol.com.

  2. December 22, 2022

     

    Dec 25, Christmas Day: Morning Prayer, online at 10:00 am. Join us on Zoom for hymns and readings! Click here to join.
    Jan 1: Come as You Are Sunday. It’s New Years’ Day so come as you are for a relaxed worship service in the Parish Hall.
    Jan 6, Feast of Epiphany: Epiphany Celebration 7:00 pm. Come for a Friday evening celebration of light and love. Firepit, hot chocolate, singing, and storytelling – activities for all ages!
    Jan 8: The Baptism of Jesus: At the beginning of the year, we renew our Baptismal Vows as we tell the story of Jesus’ baptism by St. John the Baptist (our patron saint!).

    _____________________________________________________

    Consider MaskingWhile masking remains optional at St. John’s, you are encouraged to consider wearing a mask during worship to help keep down the transmission of covid, flu, and other illnesses. Masks are available at both entrances.

    ________________________________________

    Thin Spaces


    Ana and I watched a movie called Summerland last night on Netflix. It’s a beautiful story that will likely make you cry so, you know, bring the tissues. The title comes from the name of the afterlife, according to Theosophy (an American spiritualist movement in the 19th century). In a book by Andrew Jackson Davis called The Great Harmonia, he calls “Summerland” the highest level of the afterlife a human can hope to enter. It’s an in-between place where souls go between their incarnations. As Christians, whether or not we believe in “Summerland” is not the point of my post today.

    My point is that it seems to me that “Summerland” is like “thin space,” when our everyday experience seems to take on a new character that seems to be closer to the non-physical world. Some call this heaven, some call this nirvana. It’s an experience of, perhaps, feeling a bit closer to God, or a bit more emotionally vulnerable, or even an experience of lightness.

    Even before I started following a Christian path in my 30’s, I thought of Christmas as one such “thin space.” Perhaps it comes from staying up on Christmas Even to watch the old Alastair Sim version of A Christmas Carol or It’s a Wonderful Life… that I would come to think of Christmas as a magical time – not about presents but about an other-worldly sweetness that comes to be embodied in this reality.

    It’s as if something shifts in our consciousness and, dare I say, in the consciousness of people across the world, enough so that reality itself is imbued with a kind of luminous presence. We become more aware of the beautiful and powerful fragility and connectedness of all life. What has been so solid and impenetrable, seems to become tender and more real, more immediate.

    I believe that people who are sensitive to this shift in energy can sometimes cause people to act out even more during the Christmas season. We have proof that “the holidays” can be stressful for people. But I think, if we slow down just enough… if we quiet ourselves just a bit… we start to see the shifting towards light in our lives and in the world around us.

    My sincere prayer for each of you this Christmas is to find this “thin space” to be restorative for you. A respite for your soul. An experience of God’s Love that comes with the magic of true belief: Christ is born among us again. God’s promise becomes incarnate.

    Emmanuel: God is with us.

    In God’s love and mine,
    Rev. Michelle

    ____________________________________________

    Announcements for the Christmas Season
    December 25 – January 6

    Now Forming! Adult Inquirer’s Class: Beginning in mid-February, Rev. Michelle will start an Adult Inquirer’s Class (6-8 sessions). All members of St. John’s are welcome to attend. We will cover topics like: How do Episcopalians read the Bible? How did the Episcopal Church get started? What do Episcopalians believe? Please reach out to Rev. Michelle via email if you are interested and we will determine the best class times based on the availability of those interested. Childcare will be made available for in-person sessions.Save the Date: St. John’s Annual Meeting: On Sunday, January 29 we will have a combined worship and Annual Meeting beginning at 10:00 am. Stay tuned for more information and plan to be there!

    Acolytes, Ushers, and Lectors… Oh, my! Attention all people of St. John’s! Rev. Michelle will offer a forum after worship on February 26. During this forum, you will learn more about different liturgical duties and be invited to register for training. We’ll talk about Lectors, Sacristans, Acolytes, and Ushers – all of whom are important to our common worship at St. John’s. People from age 6 to adult are welcome to consider these ministries.

    St. John’s Pledge Campaign continues! If you haven’t made a financial pledge for 2022 yet, the Stewardship Team is still receiving pledges. If you’re new to pledging, you’ll find blank forms on the bookcase near the lectern.

    Page Turners Book Club Meetings are on the first Thursday of the month at 2 p.m., in the parish hall. Here’s what we selected for the next few months: January 5:  Trust, by Hernan Diaz; February 2: The Plot, by Jean Hanff Korelitz; March 2: Inside the O’Briens, by Lisa Genova. If we have bad weather during the winter, we will switch to a Zoom meeting. Interested in joining? Talk with Lynn Dennison.

    Ulster Immigrant Defense Network needs Food Sponsors. You can support an immigrant family for 1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks a month. The cost is $45/week. Sponsorship forms are available on the bulletin board in the vestibule. Or send a one-time donation to UIDN, 30 Pine Grove Ave, Kingston.

    Have an announcement for the bulletin?
    Please send by Wednesday at noon to
    stjohnskingston@aol.com

  3. December 16, 2022

    This Sunday!
    Another Feast of Activities

    For the fourth Sunday of Advent we have another day of abundance!

    Godly Play will be offered for younger people in our upstairs classroom. Parents, please come a bit early so you have time to get kids upstairs and take a moment or two to relax before worship begins.

    After worship this week, we have the following events:
    Greening the Sanctuary – It’s all hands on deck to help with greening the sanctuary – banners, candles, greens – all for our Christmas Feast next weekend!
    Cookie Exchange – bring 2 dozen (or more!) of your favorite cookie, candy, cupcake, or other goodie and take home a variety from all there is on offer!
    St. John’s Harvest Fundraiser – We still have plenty on offer so you can buy your last minute Christmas presents or restock your own cupboard! We take credit/debit cards, checks, cash, and paypal.

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    Plenty of fun and meaningful activities are planned for the seasons of Advent and Christmas. Come and join in the celebration. Sundays are in bold.

    Dec 18, Advent IV: Godly Play offered for kids during worship and the Greening of the Sanctuary after worship – Plus: Cookie Exchange! Bring 2 dozen of your favorite cookie and take home a variety plate of cookies.
    Dec 20: Longest Night Service 7:00 pm A space for grief, sorrow, and woundedness. Join us in person or online for a service of quiet prayer, readings, music, and healing.
    Dec 24, Christmas Eve: Family Worship, 3:00 pm; Choral Festival Worship, 8:00 pm
    Dec 25, Christmas Day: Morning Prayer, online at 10:00 am
    Jan 1: Come as You Are Sunday. It’s New Years’ Day so come as you are for a relaxed worship service.
    Jan 6, Feast of Epiphany: Epiphany Celebration 7:00 pm. Come for a Friday evening celebration of light and love. Firepit, hot chocolate, singing, and storytelling – activities for all ages!

    ___________________________________________________

    Consider Masking

    While masking remains optional at St. John’s, you are encouraged to consider wearing a mask during worship to help keep down the transmission of covid, flu, and other illnesses. Masks are available at both entrances.

    _____________________________________

    Joy and Sorrow – Both Are a Part of Christmas


    I remember the first time I went to a Longest Night Prayer Service. It was the year I graduated seminary in May, there was a sudden and violent death in my family in September, I was ordained to the priesthood in October, and during Advent I was invited to preside at Eucharist for the Christmas service. There were so many emotions running through me: Excitement. Anger. Joy. Anxiety. Grief.

    One of the Episcopal Churches in the area offered this quiet service where the lights were dimmed and we were invited in to just be and offer space to whatever was coming up. There were readings and music and quiet. And it felt a world away from the busyness of the consumer-oriented Christmas season. I could listen to the readings, or not. I could sing along with the music, or not. Mostly, it was just a space to give myself permission to feel all my emotions and then find my self in the midst of them. Emotions can trip us up when we least expect if we are unwilling to experience them so giving ourselves the space to do so, is important to our mental, physical, and spiritual health.

    Christmas is a powerful time when we remember so many beautiful and heavy things from our lives. And, if we are going through grief or disappointment, it’s very difficult to celebrate Christmas with others who are having fun. We are also in the process of looking forward into the new year in December, taking stock of who we have been and who we want to become. Something is being formed in the darkness of the womb and it is so important to spend time with this part of ourselves.

    Please, I invite you to take the time and the space for the practice of giving space and time to yourself. Come to the Longest Night Prayer Service on Tuesday, December 20 at 7:00 pm. We offer it online for those who cannot drive after dark but please come to the Sanctuary, if you can. You don’t have to do anything but come and be. Through music, silent meditation, scripture, and healing prayer, we reach out to acknowledge sadness with comfort and quiet remembrance, to reflect on the losses we have experienced and to remember together the real reason for the season: God is with us.

    In God’s love and mine,
    Rev. Michelle

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    Announcements for Advent IV
    December 18, 2022

    TODAY: Cookie Exchange. The cookies are here, come and fill a container from all the choices people brought to share. Cookies, fudge, candy… all welcome! And The Greening of the Sanctuary. All hands on deck to help decorate the Sanctuary for our Christmas Celebration.

    Christmas Memorials All memorials and thanksgivings will be listed in the Christmas Eve bulletin. Fill out the slip and place in the envelope enclosed in the bulletin with your check or money inside and place it in the collection plate today or bring it next week. All memorials must be in to Rev. Michelle by noon on Friday, December 23. You can choose how you’d like to give: 1) Poinsettias Help to decorate the sanctuary for Christmas by helping to purchase poinsettias, After our Christmas Eve celebration, they will be given out to people by the Pastoral Care Team. 2) Outreach Your Outreach memorial donations will all go to our feeding ministry, Angel Food East.

    Longest Night Healing Service is a time of quiet and prayer set aside on the darkest night of the year to offer space for the difficulties we face during the holidays – memories, grief, loneliness.  Tuesday, December 20 at 7:00 pm.

    St. John’s Pledge Campaign continues! If you haven’t made a financial pledge for 2022 yet, the Stewardship Team is still receiving pledges. They would love to have them on or before December 18 to help the Vestry plan the budget for next year. If you’re new to pledging, you’ll find blank forms on the bookcase near the lectern.

    Page Turners Book Club Meetings are on the first Thursday of the month at 2 p.m., in the parish hall. Here’s what we selected for the next few months: January 5:  Trust, by Hernan Diaz; February 2: The Plot, by Jean Hanff Korelitz; March 2: Inside the O’Briens, by Lisa Genova. If we have bad weather during the winter, we will switch to a Zoom meeting. Interested in joining? Talk with Lynn Dennison.

    Ulster Immigrant Defense Network needs Food Sponsors. You can support an immigrant family for 1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks a month. The cost is $45/week. Sponsorship forms are available on the bulletin board in the vestibule. Or send a one-time donation to UIDN, 30 Pine Grove Ave, Kingston.

  4. December 2, 2022

    This Sunday: Socks, Shoes, and Songs!

     

    This Sunday we will be blessing all the socks we’ve collected to support the People’s Place Project Santa Sock Drive. But you can still contribute! If you don’t want to do the shopping, give your money to Deacon Sue and she will be happy to purchase socks on your behalf. Or, bring the socks by the Rectory on or before December 9. Let’s help keep our neighbors warm this winter!

    We will also be celebrating St. Nicholas during our All Ages Worship. Rev. Michelle will tell a story about St. Nicholas that involves shoes. Yes, shoes! So EVERYONE, please bring an extra shoe or boot to leave at the door on the way into the church building… or leave your shoes or boots at the door and wear your socks to worship.


    After worship, we will have hot chocolate ready so Terry can lead us in a carol sing in the Parish Hall. Bring your voices and your festive spirit. Also, all are welcome to help the Pastoral Care Team write Christmas cards. Cards, pens, stamps, and labels are all set and ready to go!

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    Plenty of fun and meaningful activities are planned for the seasons of Advent and Christmas. Come and join in the celebration. Sundays are in bold.

    Dec 4, Advent II: All Ages Worship celebrating St. Nicholas, Carol Sing with hot chocolate and Pastoral Care Meeting after worship
    Dec 11, Advent III: St. John’s Harvest Sale after worship, Rock Academy Concert from 3-5 and Youth Project from 5-7 pm
    Dec 18, Advent IV: Godly Play offered for kids during worship and the Greening of the Sanctuary after worship – Plus: Cookie Exchange! Bring 2 dozen of your favorite cookie and take home a variety plate of cookies.
    Dec 20: Longest Night Service 7:00 pm A space for grief, sorrow, and woundedness. Join us in person or online for a service of quiet prayer, readings, music, and healing.
    Dec 24, Christmas Eve: Family Worship, 3:00 pm; Choral Festival Worship, 8:00 pm
    Dec 25, Christmas Day: Morning Prayer, online at 10:00 am
    Jan 1: Come as You Are Sunday. It’s New Years’ Day so come as you are for a relaxed worship service.
    Jan 6, Feast of Epiphany: Epiphany Celebration 7:00 pm. Come for a Friday evening celebration of light and love. Firepit, hot chocolate, singing, and storytelling – activities for all ages!
    _______________________________________________________

    Tomorrow! The Bishop Coadjutor Election


    Tomorrow on December 3, all eyes will be on the Diocese of New York as we elect our next Bishop Diocesan. Maybe not “all eyes,” but many eyes will indeed be watching from across the Episcopal Church and the larger Anglican Communion. The Diocese of New York is well known, and the election of a new bishop always creates a flurry of interest. You can watch the event here: Special Convention to Elect the Bishop Coadjutor.

    Eucharist begins at 9:00 am. This is followed by some reports and instructions (I’ll be making a brief report as the Secretary of the Committer to Elect a Bishop!) and then we start voting. Vestryperson Paula Wisneski was elected by the Vestry to be the lay delegate for St. John’s at convention and, because I am clergy, I am required to vote. The election may be quick or it may take a long time because we go through as many ballots as it takes to elect someone to be our Bishop Coadjutor. (Now, what does “coadjutor” mean? It simply means that this person will assist the current Bishop Diocesan until he retires at which point they will become his successor as the 17th Bishop.)

    What slips the minds of many people is that the Episcopal Church is so named because another word for the office of the bishop is the “episcopate.” Why does the Episcopal Church name itself after this office? The bishop is, essentially, the epicenter of ministry for a particular region of the Episcopal Church. The bishop, along with advisement from others in the diocese, sets the vision and missional agenda for the region.

    In a diocese as diverse as New York (Staten Island, Manhattan, the Bronx, Sullivan, Rockland, Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, and Ulster), setting a singular vision can be quite a challenge because the issues we have here in the Hudson Valley are not the same as those in Manhattan, for example. We have more small churches than any other diocese in the Episcopal Church and we have the most well-resourced congregation in the entire Anglican Communion – Trinity on Wall St. It’s a diocese of extremes and, therefore, a diocese of great abundance. Being a bishop in any diocese is a big job, but in the Diocese of New York, it is also quite challenging.

    Advent is a time of beginnings and endings. A transitional time. A liminal time. So, as we begin this second week of Advent it is fitting that, as a diocese, have this before us – a beginning and an ending happening simultaneously. The final year of Bp. Andy being our bishop begins just as the first year of episcopal ministry for another person begins. The season of Advent brings this aspect of our human experience into focus for us because the truth is that things are always ending and always beginning.

    I ask your prayers upon our 5 candidates for bishop – Matt Heyd, Stephanie Johnson, Matt Mead, Steven Paulikas, and Jemonde Taylor. And I ask your prayers for Bp. Andy Dietsche and the rest of the electing convention tomorrow.

    In God’s love and mine,
    Rev. Michelle

    __________________________________________

    Announcements for Advent II
    December 4, 2022

    THIS SUNDAY: After worship, Terry will lead us in a carol sing in the parish hall. Hot chocolate will be served! And Pastoral Care Meeting – Join the Pastoral Care Team today as they gather after worship to sign and address Christmas cards.

    Sock Drive! Today is the FINAL SUNDAY. Let’s help People’s Place with their Project Santa this year by buying all the socks! We need socks for ages infant through 16 years (adult)… all ages, all genders! If you still want to contribute, give money to Deacon Sue or bring socks by the Rectory on or before Friday, Dec. 9.

    Become a UIDN Food Sponsor: The Ulster Immigrant Defense Network needs help in providing food to the most vulnerable in our midst. They are asking people to adopt a family for one, two, three, or four weeks a month, as you are able. The need is $45.00 per week for 175 families with the goal of raising $37,500 during the coming year. Please seriously consider making the gift of food available thru donating $45, $90, $135, or $180 per month from now thru the end of 2023. You can send your tax-deductible gift to: UIDN, 30 Pine Grove Avenue, Kingston, 12401. Please write “FOOD SPONSOR” in the memo. Visit the St. John’s website to download a pledge form here: UIDN – Ulster Immigrant Defense Network.

    Page Turners Book Club Meetings are on the first Thursday of the month at 2 p.m., in the parish hall. Here’s what we selected for the next few months: January 5:  Trust, by Hernan Diaz; February 2: The Plot, by Jean Hanff Korelitz; March 2: Inside the O’Briens, by Lisa Genova. If we have bad weather during the winter, we will switch to a Zoom meeting. Interested in joining? Talk with Lynn Dennison.

    Have an announcement for the bulletin?
    Please send by Wednesday at noon to
    stjohnskingston@aol.com