The Good News of St. John’s

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St. John’s Vestry Notes

• The Vestry voted unanimously to:
  • elect Kathy Burdick as the Clerk of the Vestry. Kathy already serves as a member of Vestry.
  • appoint Keith Ferber to the open slot on Vestry. Keith already serves as Treasurer.
  • obtain a credit card, naming Keith Ferber (Treasurer) and Michelle Meech (Rector) as those authorized to use it.
• The Vestry discussed the following:
  • The new Rector schedule and the addition of Morning Prayer to the worship life of St. John’s.
  • Issues, concerns, and income from the Rental Program.
  • The proposed Events Schedule, discussion to-be-continued at the June meeting.
  • Scheduling a Mutual Ministry Review that will help to define ministerial responsibilities of Rev. Michelle, Officers, Vestry, and Staff. This is in response to the reduction in Rev. Michelle’s hours and responsibilities.

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Living Into

Dear Ones,The Season After Pentecost is the longest liturgical season we have in the church year. From the Feast of Pentecost (this year, May 28) through the beginning of Advent (this year, Dec 3), this season spans late spring, all of summer, and most of the autumn. We see all sorts of changes during this liturgical season. And the color we use for all of this change is green. Green is, of course, the color of growth.

During this year’s Season After Pentecost, St. John’s is living into a change of pattern for our common life. Change is not always embraced, as we know. We are all designed to find patterns of life and behavior that suit us and keep us comfortable. Change can be stressful, which is perhaps the main reason we do our best to avoid it. But it’s an inherent aspect of growth, integral not only to our survival, but to our flourishing. We are called by God to discern how to mindfully move through the changes and chances of life so that we care for ourselves and care for one another.

Some of the ways St. John’s is changing: We are re-establishing Bible Study, we are growing our Family Ministries, we are creating new relationships with people and organizations through the regular rental of our facility, there are new faces at St. John’s nearly every week… and all of this asks us to be adaptable, open to possibility, and willing to actively engaged in the process of becoming. In other words, it all asks us to be willing to change.

A few weeks ago, I spoke about specific changes to my schedule as the Rector of St. John’s and to our worship life. This week, I want to let you know how the St. John’s leadership team is responding to the shift in how we accomplish the tasks that support our common life. There are 2 ways the leadership is addressing this:

1. The Staff and Officers of St. John’s will meet later this month to discuss how to develop new workflow patterns so that what we do relies less on the position of the Rector to act as coordinator.
2. Later this year, the Vestry will be asking the Rev. Allison Moore to come and perform a Mutual Ministry Review, a tool that will help us look at our patterns of leadership and prayerfully determine how to best live into a new way of leading St. John’s.

The Vestry is moving into a new “season” of leadership themselves. For the last 18 months, the Vestry has been in the process of making difficult and emotional decisions about the financial sustainability of St. John’s. They have been faithful to this task and have done excellent work. With the change in the Rector’s hours, this process comes to an end and the Vestry is now free to more fully lead other aspects of our common life – like stewardship, events, and mission.

I also hope you’ll note in the Vestry Notes (above) that the Vestry has voted Kathy Burdick in as the new Clerk of the Vestry and Keith Ferber into the open Vestry seat. Both now have dual responsibilities so please offer your thanks to both Kathy and Keith for their faith, commitment, and leadership.

• As Clerk, Kathy’s main tasks are administrative, making sure the Vestry is attending to its responsibilities to the larger church and tracking/communicating the business of the Vestry and congregation. Kathy is also serving as a Vestry Member, which is not required for the position of Clerk.
• Occasionally, the Vestry has an open seat either because someone has stepped down from their responsibilities or there were not enough candidates at the time of Vestry elections in January. When this happens, the Vesty is empowered to appoint someone into that seat for the remainder of the year until the next election. Keith is already functioning as Treasurer of St. John’s and now he is also a full member of Vestry with voice and vote.

Finally, I promise that not all of my missives to you this summer will be about this change (nor will they be as lengthy!). But I also know that clear communication during times of change is vitally important. My door remains open to you. And if you’d like to speak with anyone on the Vestry, please do. We all want this process to be as transparent as possible so that we can grow into this change together.

In God’s love and mine,
Rev. Michelle

St. John’s Office Hours
Wednesdays 10:00-12:00 noon,
Thursdays 1:00-4:00 pm
Phone: 845-331-2252
Email: stjohnskingston@aol.com

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

THIS SUNDAY: Stay for a special Forum with the Rev. Richard Witt of Rural and Migrant Ministries to learn more about the work they do across the state of New York.

NEXT SUNDAY: Pastoral Care Meeting The Pastoral Care Team meets after worship on Sunday, June 18. All are welcome.

Summer Book Read: Join us for the St. John’s Summer Book Read. We will meet over Zoom so you don’t have to worry about missing a meeting due to travel! The book is No Act of Love Is Ever Wasted by Thibault and Morgan. It’s a non-fiction read that focuses on caring for people with dementia but is also a good reflection for all who provide pastoral care or are caretakers of friends or family. Discussion dates announced soon, in the meantime, go ahead and buy the book. Want to learn more? Talk to Lynn Dennison, Sue Bonsteel, or Rev. Michelle.

Bible Study: Come and join in Bible Study with Rev. Michelle. Beginning June 18, we will have two opportunities to join in a weekly Bible Study – Sundays at 8:30 am (in person) or Wednesdays at 12:00 noon (via Zoom). We begin our study with the Gospel of Matthew. Email Rev. Michelle to let her know your interest.

Grief Support Group: Hudson Valley Hospice comes to St. John’s for the summer to offer a Family Grief Support Group, Monday afternoons 2x a month, June 5 through Sept 25. Prior registration is required – call 845-240-7579 for more information and to register.

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 June 1,  These Precious Days by Anne Patchett. Our next meeting after that will be September 7 when we will discuss Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. No meetings in July or August. All are welcome! Interested? Talk with Lynn Dennison.

St. John’s Outreach Project – People’s Place: When you go to the store, pick up a few extra non-perishable food items for People’s Place food pantry (tuna, soup, pasta, sauce, etc.). We are also taking donations of birthday napkins/plates, candles, and gift bags in various sizes. Bring them to church and place them in the appropriate baskets near the Font.

St. John’s Upcoming Schedule
June 9:       St. John’s Game Night! Begins at 6:00 pm
June 11:     Guest Preacher – The Rev. Richard Witt and Special Forum after worship about Rural and Migrant Ministries
June 17:     Ulster Deanery Meeting, 9-12:30 at Ascension in West Park
June 18:     Sunday Bible Study begins in person at 8:30 am, Godly Play for kids, Healing Sunday, Pastoral Care meeting after worship
June 21:     Wednesday Bible Study begins on Zoom at 12:00 noon
June 25:     Instructed Eucharist and Liturgical Forum
July 2:        Summer Worship begins in the Parish Hall
July 29:      Mid-Hudson Regional Gathering at Christ Church in Poughkeepsie