Holy Week and Easter Notes
Easter Outreach Donations
Each year, the Outreach Committee determines a recipient for donations given at Easter time. And this year, we have all been so deeply distressed by the plight of the Ukrainian people as they face unfathomable horrors in the face of the Russian invasion. We ask you to give generously this year. Monies collected in the plate during all the services will go towards the Episcopal Relief and Development’s Ukraine Emergency Fund. You can learn more here about this fund.
Paschal (Easter) Triduum
This 3-day liturgy begins with Maundy Thursday (Apr 14 at 6:00 pm), continues with Good Friday (Apr 15 at 1:00 pm), and ends with the Great Vigil of Easter (Apr 16 at 8:00 pm). Join us for any or all of these deeply enriching and powerful services and dive into the deeper meaning of these holy days. And be prepared for a special addition to our Great Vigil Eucharist!
Stations of the Cross
On Friday, April 15 at 7:00 pm, come for a seated and prayerful Stations of the Cross where we will use our beloved images that adorn our walls in the St. John’s Sanctuary as a lens through which we see the pain and suffering of the world today.
The Rite of Reconciliation
This rite is sometimes referred to as the Episcopal Church version of individual confession can be an incredibly healing experience and is available during Holy Week. You can still schedule an appointment by contacting Rev. Michelle at michelle.stjohnskingston@gmail.com. If you’d like to learn more about this rite, you can find it on page 447 in the Book of Common Prayer.
Easter Community Brunch
Liz Moeller and Don Hughes have done the heavy lifting to make sure we have an incredible Easter Day Community Brunch. Please know that your additions to brunch are welcomed and needed! Specifically – drinks and desserts. Or bring a favorite dish and we’ll make sure it gets on the table. Thank you, Don and Liz!
Easter Egg Hunt
Leah Siuta has been hard at work preparing for this year’s Easter Egg Hunt and thank you to Adam and Rebekah Hendricks for hiding them all! Bring a basket, if you’d like, but we’ll have bags for all the young people to use for collecting eggs. After worship has finished, gather in the Parish Hall with Leah and she will give instructions for the egg hunt. Thank you, Leah!
Thank you!
And thank you to all those who came for our workday this past Saturday to prepare for Holy Week: Lynn Dennison, Wes Dangler, Laura Ricci, Paula Wisneski, Don Hughes, Liz Moeller, Jeannette Baggot, and Ana Hernández.
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Trusting in One Another and Trusting in God
Every year on Holy Tuesday, the clergy of the diocese are invited to renew our ordination vows in a special service at St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York City. It’s one of my favorite services of the year. Bishop Andy is quite a preacher and this year, his was a particularly meaningful sermon.
But even more than, his words to us as we were coming together for Eucharist, were deeply powerful. He said something like this: “To be with one another, to touch one another, to breathe the same air with each other… that has never been safe. We have only given it new language over the past 2 years. We have to trust one another and trust in God.”
I remember, in those first days of isolation and fear of March 2020, I felt so bereft about not being able to be with you all in person. And I remember saying: “We will be back at the Table to celebrate together. And what a celebration that will be!”
I had no idea then, what we would go through and how long it would be before that would come to fruition. And, of course, we have been back together at our Table many times since. Beginning on the Feast of Pentecost in May 2021, we started continuous in-person worship, interrupted only by a surge of the virus over the winter.
Yet, for whatever reason, this Easter feels like a truly special celebration of Easter. It feels like this is the moment that I was talking about over 2 years ago when I said: “What a celebration that will be!” We will return to gluten-free bread for Eucharist, flowers will again adorn the altar, and the choir is back to lead us in our praise of God.
But it is not the same as it was. We have been changed. We are not the same people we were and we are not the same congregation. God has worked in us and through us during these 2 years through our own grief, anxiety, and hope. And the pandemic has not gone away. The difference is, we understand so much more about how to manage it now.
So, I do think this is quite a special Easter celebration this year. Not everything is “good” but we have learned the deeper meaning of trust – trusting one another and trusting in God.
And what a celebration we now have!
In God’s love and mine,
Rev. Michelle
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Announcements for
Easter Sunday: April 17, 2022
Return to the Common Cup: In March, our bishop Andy Dietsche announced that he has allowed us to return to the Common Cup so that we are once again able to share Eucharist in two kinds – the bread and the wine. Please drink directly from the chalice. Do not intinct (dip your wafer into the wine) as this transfers germs from your hand into the cup. You may also receive only the bread. If you have any questions or concerns, please speak directly to Rev. Michelle.
Social Hour Hosting: You are invited to sign up on the bulletin board in the Vestibule to be a social hour host! Talk with our Hospitality Coordinator, Barbara Johnston for more information.
New “club” starting! – St. John’s Walking Club
Well, we don’t know the actual name yet, but we’re working on it. Come and walk with us! Talk to Ana Hernández for more information.
Page Turners Book Club: The next books are: May 3rd: The Murmur of Bees, by Sofia Segovia, June 7th: The Book of Hope, by Jane Goodall, July 5th (date might be changed): The Cold Millions, by Jess Walter. Currently the book club is considering the idea of meeting in person again but, as no decision has been reached, the May meeting will be on Zoom. Please contact Lynn Dennison for more information if you’d like to join!
Welcome Suzanne Campise!
We welcome Suzanne Campise to St. John’s as our Acting Rental Manager. Suzanne has an extensive background in church work and is doing her final preparation to become an ordained Presbyterian minister. She has agreed to work for us temporarily (until her first baby is born in June) to help us to expand our rental program and get the word out about our space here at St. John’s. Please be sure to introduce yourself to her when you see her here on campus!
St. John’s Upcoming Schedule
May 19-21: Contemplative Retreat – Sofia: Thomas Merton and the Wisdom of God, co-led by the Rev. Matthew Wright and the Rev. Michelle Meech. More information forthcoming!