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

The Good News of St. John’s

April 7, 2022

Parish Work Day:
Outside Work Postponed… Inside Work Continues

As you may be aware, we are scheduled to get plenty of rain through Friday and Saturday this week so we have postponed the outdoor portion of our Parish Work Day, otherwise known as the Lay Weeders. We’ll schedule another day later in the spring so stay tuned!

However, there is still much to do inside to prepare for Holy Week. As announced last week, the Sacristans will be coming together at 9:00 am to pray and meet to plan the week’s work. Then, at 10:00 am we begin the list of indoor work to prepare for Holy Week. We have polishing, cleaning, clearing… lots of work to do. Your help is needed and appreciated to make sure everything is ready for our most sacred liturgies. Come at 9:00 if you’d like to pray with the Sacristans but be sure to come at 10:00 to assist with the preparation.

Easter Outreach and Memorials
Due Wednesday, April 13

If you would like to have a memorial listed in this year’s Easter Sunday bulletin, please get this information to Rev. Michelle by Wednesday, April 13. You can either email her directly with the information and add your offering later, or fill out an offering envelope this Sunday!

This year our Easter Outreach donation and plate monies will be going to Episcopal Relief and Development specifically to support relief for Ukraine. Look for more efforts from the Social Concerns Committee regarding support for Ukraine.

Holy Week Schedule

Click here for information about Holy Week or review the schedule below.

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Grief, Anger, Lament, and the Gift of Holy Week


I think it’s a powerful witness that our siblings of Jewish faith have High Holy Days every fall and that they also call the Days of Awe or the Days of Repentance. These holidays Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, give people the space for bringing everything to God – the grief, the anger, and the lament – so that these may be released and atoned for. This enabled people to begin the Jewish new year with clear minds and unburdened hearts.

It is the same for us, as Christians. We have Holy Week as our space to bring everything to God – our grief, anger, and lament. Everything. In the acts of walking with Jesus from the false triumph of conceit on Palm Sunday, into the commitment to and the betrayal of community on Maundy Thursday, through death and the decent into despair and pain on Good Friday, and, finally, into a new and risen life on Easter… in these acts, we are not simply re-telling the story of Jesus. We are asked to bring ourselves into them so that we may walk with Christ in a risen life. Renewed in and for the world with clear minds and unburdened hearts. 

This is a particularly poignant Holy Week for us, as the community of St. John’s. We haven’t been able to share this Holy Week space together in our Sanctuary in 3 years. The last time we had Easter services as a community in our sanctuary was 2019. These are, indeed, days of awe for us.

Come worship during Holy Week. Allow the rhythm of these liturgies to carry you – all you are, all you have, and all you are carrying. And let us join Christ in the risen life to which we are called.

In God’s love and mine,
Rev. Michelle

 

 

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Announcements for
April 10, 2022

Easter Outreach and Memorials: This year our Easter Outreach donation and plate monies will be going to Episcopal Relief and Development specifically to support relief for Ukraine.
If you would like to donate a memorial gift… to the Easter Outreach and/or to support the cost of altar flowers this year, please fill out the form in the bulletin with your payment and either place it in the plate or get it to Rev. Michelle by Wednesday, April 13. All memorials will be printed in the Easter Sunday bulletin.

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.

Listen for St. John’s on Radio Kingston! Radio Kingston is our local community radio station and they have begun a wonderful new program – underwriting. We donate to their Community Fund (which helps people in need pay their utility and rent bills) and they mention St. John’s name as an underwriter of their programs. We get our name out there and (more importantly) the Community Fund receives a nice donation so that people get help with basic needs. A win-win-win for the Kingston community! Tune in and listen for a mention over this week.

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.

Page Turners Book Club: The book for May 3 is The Murmur of Bees, by Sofia Segova. Speak with Lynn Dennison for more information.

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
Apr 10-17: Holy Week – Please see schedule above
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!