St. John’s Events This Week and Next!
We hope you will come out and for these community-building events at St. John’s. Service work, Christian learning, celebration, and reflection opportunities for people of all ages.
Click here for a full list of upcoming St. John’s Events
Saturday, Sept 24: St. John’s Harvest Cooking Day
Last year, parishioners gathered in the St. John’s Kitchen during the fall to help prepare all kinds of canned goods as a way of having fun together and it turned into a successful fundraiser to help with our operating expenses Let’s do it again! All ages are welcome to help chop, stir, and peel, while we share in laughter and community. This Saturday in the St. John’s Kitchen between 10-5. Come for an hour or two, or the entire day. Rev. Michelle will make sure everyone has lunch.
Sunday, Sept 25: St. John’s Forum: When the Saints Come Marching In!
After worship on Sept 25, stay for our St. John’s Forum Series and learn more about how the saints of the Christian faith are celebrated in the Episcopal Church. Rev. Michelle will present history and offer insight into the lives of the saints, why we call them saints, what a saint’s feast day is, and how they can be a part of our spiritual lives. St. John’s Forum Series happens this fall on the last Sunday of the month.
Sunday, Oct 2: Celebrating St. Francis
We start the month of October off with All Ages Worship on Oct 2 at 10am – A specially designed worship service to help engage younger parishioners through story and other activities. All parishioners are asked to bring your pet mementos, photos, and stuffed animals to church where we will ask God’s blessing on our beloved animals. Sorry, no live-pet blessings this year!
Sunday, Oct 2: Parish-wide Workshop – The Impact of Gun Violence on Churches
The increase of gun violence in our culture often results in a political discussion about gun rights. But how does this very real phenomenon impact our willingness to attend public activities and functions, like Christian worship? As people who follow Jesus, one who tells us to welcome the stranger in our midst, it is incredibly important for us to spend time discussing the specter of gun violence in our culture and the emotional toll it takes on us as churchgoers. Rev. Michelle and Sara Hutton will lead this special parish-wide workshop after worship on October 2.
Click here to learn more about upcoming St. John’s Events so you can plan your time this fall.
________________________________________________________________
Silos – Security or Immobility?
I attended a meeting this past week in which many talented, smart, and earnest people were invited to consider working together because all of them had the same essential goal. And I observed how difficult it was for each of them to see beyond their own program in order to envision something else.
We call this being in a silo. Silos are those tall, round structures on farms where grain is stored. And they are good things. They keep food safe for long periods of time. But silos can also be places where we become stuck or stagnant. Immobile.
There is a phenomenon called “grain entrapment” or “grain engulfment.” It most frequently occurs in grain silos when grain shifts beneath someone’s feet. Entrapment describes when someone is partially submerged and cannot get out without assistance, and engulfment describes when someone has been completely submerged. Engulfment has a very high mortality rate.
Why am I talking about this? Because our tendency as humans is to confuse ourselves with the grain and stay within silos we have built. It makes some sense for us to do this. The world can be so overwhelming that, if we don’t focus ourselves and our own needs/wants/goals, we can get distracted, unfocused, and unable to effect any change or even maintain our own lives.
But I hope the description of grain entrapment helps us understand that the silo can also be a very dangerous place to stay. Grain will shift. It always does. Our lives cannot stay the same because the world around us is in almost constant motion. And we will always need assistance from someone else to be freed from our own silos. We cannot do life alone.
I think about the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures – especially Jeremiah, of whom we have been reading lately on Sundays – and I know that so many people really didn’t think of them as bringers of good news. They often pointed out the ways in which human beings become trapped in our own ideas of progress so that we forget what really matters. And they all reported being persecuted because people didn’t like what they said.
My point is that we can get so stuck in our own preferred habits that, not only do we refuse to accept help, but we even have the audacity to get angry when someone points out that we are stuck. And this extends to organizations, especially those who have missions to serve others. Places in which people have taken so much care in creating something which they believe will help others that they often cannot see beyond this “something” to see the ways in which God may be calling them to new life.
The silo is there to store the grain and keep it safe. It was never designed to support the ever-changing, vibrant life God has given us to live.
How is God calling you out of your silo?
How is God calling us out of our collective silos?
In God’s love and mine,
Rev. Michelle
____________________________________________________________
Announcements for the Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost
September 25, 2022
THIS SUNDAY: St. John’s Forum: When the Saints Come Marching In – Stay after worship for an exploration of how the saints are celebrated in the Episcopal Church with Rev. Michelle.
NEXT WEEK: Parish-wide Workshop: The Impact of Gun Violence on Churches This workshop is designed to help us all discuss the impact of gun violence on the culture and, especially, as it pertains to those of us who attend public worship. Join Rev. Michelle and Sara Hutton for this special parish-wide workshop after worship on October 2.
Celebrating St. Francis: On October 2, bring your stuffed animals or your pet mementos to church where we will perform a blessing on them. Sorry, no live-pet blessings this year!
Safe Church Training: Many ministries in the church require this training. See Rev. Michelle for more information. In-person workshops will be held on Saturday, Oct 22 at St. John’s.
St. John’s Harvest: Feeding people is our jam!
Join us in the kitchen to clean, chop, stir, and make cool stuff on the last Saturday of the month from 10-5. No experience necessary. Hands of all ages welcome. Show up for shifts of 2, 4, or 6 hours, and let’s have fun while we raise money for St. John’s! Remaining Cooking Days: Oct. 29. Sale dates: Nov 20 and Dec 11
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 At their recent meeting the book club decided to move their meetings to the first Thursday of the month at 2 p.m., in the parish hall. For the October 8th meeting, the book selection is, ‘A Slow Fire Burning’, by Paula Hawkins. Upcoming books are: Nov 3-‘The Sweetness of Water’, by Nathan Harris; Dec 1-‘Horse’, by Geraldine Brooks.
Have an announcement for the bulletin?
Please send by Wednesday at noon to stjohnskingston@aol.com