2021 Pledge Statements and 2022 Ministry Surveys
Pledge statements for 2021 are now printed and available. You can pick them up at church beginning this coming Sunday (February 13). So, please check with our Treasurer Wes Dangler and pick up your statement.
If you have any issues with your statement, please gather those details and get them to Rev. Michelle as soon as you’re able. She will work with our bookkeeper Pat Allen to clear up any concerns.
Ministry Surveys
Please be sure to get your blue Ministry Surveys back to Rev. Michelle either this week or next. You can place them into the collection plate or in her mailbox in the Vestibule.
The 80th General Convention of the Episcopal Church: Hearings begin this week!
Along with this postponement, comes something new – the meetings are beginning several months earlier and they are taking place over Zoom. This has never happened before. But the good part is that it makes the work of General Convention more available to all of us.
Rather than making a trip to the location where General Convention meets “in session,” you can join a Zoom meeting to watch the hearings and even sign up to testify in support of or to argue against any resolution begin considered by the 80th General Convention.
Resolutions are assigned to different Legislative Committees for reflection. Then the Legislative Committees will decide how to move each resolution forward for voting in July when General Convention meets.
How do I participate?
- Begin by going to the General Convention’s “virtual binder” where you can find all the information you need about what resolutions are being considered and when the hearings are taking place. Click this link to go to the virtual binder: General Convention Virtual Binder (vbinder.net)
- Once you’re on the website, go to “Legislative Committee Meetings” to view the schedule and the docket for that Committee. If you’d like to review the Resolutions themselves, click on “Resolutions” instead. It will tell you which Legislative Committee has been assigned to it.
- Decide which meetings you would like to attend and/or offer testimony in.
- Send a request to attend by clicking here: Legislative Committee Meetings — The General Convention of The Episcopal Church. Note: You must register at least 2 days before the committee is set to meet.
As you may recall, Rev. Michelle has been elected to be a deputy to General Convention from the Diocese of New York. She has been assigned to Legislative Committee 15 – Ministry. This committee is responsible for any resolutions that have to do with the training, education, and accountability of both lay and ordained ministers as well as the structures that support ministry. Her Legislative Committee is hosting a hearing on Wednesday, February 23 at 7:30 pm. If you want to join that meeting, click the link above under #4 and send a request.
The Beauty of Ash Wednesday
“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”
This is the phrase I utter when I impose ashes on someone’s forehead. It’s an honor to speak these words, offering them to another human being as a reminder of how invaluable and precious their life is. How exquisite and dear all life is. We come from this earth, this dust. And it is to this earth we shall return.
It’s humbling. It’s empowering. And it’s beautiful.
Each year since I’ve been at St. John’s, one of the most significant ways we have reached out to the wider Kingston community is through offering Ashes-to-go. So many people have left the church behind for so many different reasons. And, over these 7 years, I’ve found that Ashes-to-go not only reminds people about who we are, but it reminds them about who they are – beloved and precious children of God. If this is the only message that people ever hear from St. John’s, then I will have considered our ministry to be a true success.
I ask you to join me in offering this message to our neighbors. We will be out on Albany Ave during commute times – in the morning and the afternoon. We usually see between 150-200 people that day. We will have sign-ups at church starting on February 20 for those who want to help.
And, of course, our full in-person Ash Wednesday services will be at 12:00 noon and 7:00 pm. Please make it a priority to be at one of those 2 services.
In God’s love and mine,
Rev. Michelle
Announcements for
February 13, 2022
Announcing a new program at St. John’s!
Click here for more info!
Altar Flower Slots for 2022: The following Sundays are open for those who wish to make a dedication in the name of their loved ones with altar flowers. April 24, June 12, June 26, October 30. Please contact Elaine Lawrence via email to discuss: eslawrenc@aol.com
Page Turners Book Club: The books for the next several months have been announced: February 1- Oh, William, by Elizabeth Strout; March 1-The Rules of Magic, by Alice Hoffman; April 5- Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr; May 3- The Murmur of Bees, by Sofia Segova. Speak with Lynn Dennison for more information.
Undoing Racism Online Workshop ENJAN (End the New Jim Crow Action Network) has been working in the Kingston-Poughkeepsie area for over 10 years to end racism and mass incarceration. The roots of racial oppression are so deeply embedded in our social worlds and our personal lives that they narrow our minds and harden our hearts in ways we don’t even see. It takes intensive training and a supportive community to bring this to light. Undoing Racism Workshops have been offered by the Peoples’ Institute for Survival and Beyond to provide this training and create this community nationally and internationally for over 40 years. These powerful and inspiring workshops combine education on racism as a social and historical system with personal reflection on how this affects each of us. They provide a first glimpse of what it’s like to build an anti-racist culture and community. Racism will not end on its own!
The online workshop is scheduled for Friday-Sunday, February 25-27, 10am – 4pm each day. If you would like to register, there is a link on the St. John’s website: stjohnskingston.org/grow/racial-justice-and-reconciliation
Have an announcement for the bulletin?
Please send by Wednesday at noon to stjohnskingston@aol.com.
St. John’s Upcoming Schedule
Feb 27: All Ages: Building the Lent Ark, St. John’s 2-4 pm
Mar 1: Shrove Tuesday
Mar 2: Ash Wednesday
Mar 5: Vestry Retreat at Huntington House
Mar 27: Guest Preacher: The Rev. Dcn. Gene Bourquin, Pastoral Minister for Deaf and Disability Ministry – stay after worship for a conversation with Deacon Gene.
Apr 10: Palm Sunday
Apr 14: Maundy Thursday
Apr 15: Good Friday
Apr 16: Holy Saturday and Easter Vigil
Apr 17: Easter Sunday