St. John's Episcopal Church, Youngstown
All are welcome!
Love God.  Love your neighbor.  Change the world.

Like us on Facebook
This week @ St. John's   
February 23 - March 2

FROM GAYLE
Happy Mardi Gras!
We have a few festive days left before we put away our Allelujahs and settle into the discipline of Lent, You will choose ways to be mindful of the season that are meaningful to you, giving up and taking on.  And I hope you make whatever you do practical.

We have been talking a lot about making sure everyone is welcome, everyone is listened to, stretching ourselves a bit past our comfort zones.  And we have another opportunity to do that in our Lenten study.  We are reading a book by an upcoming speaker at St John's, Lutheran pastor Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber.  I have mentioned that she might not be your typical minister.  She has tattoos. She swears a lot,  She is unapologetically who she is. She shares her brokenness and her healing with a genuine honesty that is courageous. 

So, will you listen to her?  Will you look beyond the tats and the swear words and embrace her message of the belovedness we all have in God? Will you engage your curiosity to see why she might appeal to young people or those on the margins?.  Not to become like her, not to embrace her way.  But to open our hearts a little wider as we find our way.  I hope you will read her book and participate in our online discussion.  Tell us what you like and what you don't like. There is no right answer if there is also no judgement. 

See you for a lively and wonderful  Sunday!  Gayle+

This week!!
Please join me in welcoming our new sexton, Anttwon Dent.  Anttwon brings experience with maintenance and working with a wide variety of people to his work here at St John's.  He is learning his way around and how we do things.  Please be patient and helpful, and welcome him to our staff. 

Thursday, February 23 
6 pm: Thursday potluck &  worship @ Gary & Nesha's

Friday, February 24
7 pm Walker/ Howells Recital

UPCOMING!
Saturday, February 25:
9:30 am EfM
11- 12 pm  Mindfulness Dance (Full Spectrum) -  note change to Saturday from Sunday
11- 1 pm  YSU Math Luncheon
12 - 2 pm Community Game Afternoon (Full Spectrum)
7:30 pm,   Church Basement Ladies...The Second  Helping,   Salem Community Theatre, 490 East State St., Salem 44460, Tickets $15 adults, $11 ages 62+, $9 students.

SUNDAY, February 26: 
8, 9:30 & 10:30 am Holy Eucharist
ADULT FORUM IS BACK!!
9:15 am, Adult Forum Spirituality & Prayer with Guest Speaker - Sally Goodall, Praying with Theresa of Avila and John of the Cross.
10:30 am, Choral Eucharist, Epiphany Last 
 St. John's Choir will present the Missa Brevis St. Joannis de Deo by Franz Joseph Haydn.  This is also known as the "Little Organ Mass" where Haydn gave the organ a more important role than was usual with most settings of the Mass. 
2 pm,  Middle School Poetry Slam
 
 
WEDNESDAY, March 1
12 & 7 pm, Ash Wednesday Services

Fri., March 3:
7:30 pm, Fidelio Trio

NEW!!!!  
Saturday, March 11  9:30 am 
Eucharistic Visitor Training. 

NEW!!!
Tuesday, March 14  7 - 8:30 pm
John Kiriakou, Ethics in the Intelligence Operations
Sponsored by the Dale Ethics Center
The YSU James Dale Ethics Center is sponsoring a talk by former CIA agent, noted author, & commentator John Kiriakou, on Tuesday, March 14, at 7:00 pm, at St. John's Episcopal Church, on Wick Avenue, in Youngstown.  The theme of Kiriakou's lecture is Ethics in the Intelligence Operations. The event is free and open to the public. Reservations are requested, and can be made at church office at 330-743-3175.  The lecture is also sponsored by St. John's Episcopal Church and WYSU-FM.

NEW!!
Wednesday, March 15
Rev. Gayle will be celebrating Evensong at Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland, 6pm
As an added bonus, the Cathedral has scheduled Illuminare to sing the music the same evening. They made it a true Youngstown event. 

What's your 200?
February - 200 Random Acts of Kindness!! 
Hearts are available for you to write your Random Acts of Kindness to post on the bulletin board or put them in the collection plate to be put up on the bulletin board. 
We also have blue hearts which are completed for those followers on Facebook who are  joining in the challenge. 
 
PARKING
Please plan to park in back of the church accessible from Walnut Street - in the YSU lot up from the MVR.
 

PLEASE REMEMBER THE RED DOOR PANTRY
when you are out and about grocery shopping. 
Items especially needed are soap, dish soap, cereal, and toilet paper. 
Thank you!

 
LENT 2017
Beginning March 1- Lent, 2017
Prayer...Leading  To Action

DAILY PRACTICE:
Please pray this prayer at 8:00 am every morning.  We will join our voices in prayer together.
10 minutes of prayer per day (200 total minutes per person)
Congregation's Daily Prayer :
Almighty Creator, Loving God, we lift our voices unified in prayer for this new day. Grant us strength and courage to see love in all we meet. Help us to be Ambassadors of Christ in all we do. Guide us to seek light over darkness.  Take our hearts and tune them to your will. Thank you for every blessing and the opportunity to offer you our lives. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
AND Written by our EfM class: 
Lord God, you have called us to be salt and light in our community. We are grateful for your call to be a beacon of hope, safety and love for all people. Let us go forth with gusto to proclaim Your Word, serve You by serving others, and lovingly care for your creation. Illumine us so we love others to display Your grace and love for us. Amen.

To sign up to receive daily Lenten Meditations on line go to 
 
We also have the booklets available in the church. 

LEARNING:

We will have an online discussion of the book , Accidental Saints by Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber (she is coming to St John's in October!)
It will be on Facebook. 
WARNING:
We are excited to welcome Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber to St John's in October, 2017. Her books and public engagements speak in a compelling and generous way to people on the margins, to young people, to people who feel like church is not a place they will be accepted and welcome. Rev. Bolz-Weber is able to connect because she is willing to speak about the difficult and broken places she has been in her own life. Her willingness to be open and her down to earth style reach those who need to hear that God loves them. However, her tattoos and language may be a barrier for those who are more conventional or mainstream. Be warned that her books are honest and that her language can be "colorful." If you can look past that, you will be deeply moved and hopefully challenged by her message. 
f you don't have a Facebook account, you can create one in a few steps:


 

A quick tutorial: 
  1. Tap/click Create New Account
  2. Enter your name and email or mobile phone number 
  3. Fill out your gender, date of birth and password
  4. Tap Sign Up
  5. To finish creating your account, you'll need to confirm your email or mobile phone number.
Then find and follow the church page... 
To follow St. John's: copy and paste the link into the search block at the top of the page.  https://facebook.com/stjohnohio/

Once you are on our Facebook page tap/click like. You will then be automatically following our page. 

Please notify the office if you would like us to order a book for you. 
Send us an email! or call, 330-743-3175. 

  

SUNDAY OPPORTUNITIES:
Sermons On Prayer
Week 1: Why we pray
Week 2: Answers to prayer
Week 3: Healing prayer
Week 4: Prayers of the people
Week 5: Types or styles of prayer
Palm Sunday: Praying with Holy Week

Adult Forum, Sundays @ 9:15, Parlor: Lenten Bible Study with Rev. David Hill
Adult Forum Lenten Study
 
            Our Lenten study, Christ Is for Us, will explore God's saving and redeeming love through a seven-week study of the Scripture readings for Lent and Easter.  Based on the Revised Common Lectionary, key Bible readings call us to embrace God's salvation and the new life offered to us through Christ.
 
            All are welcome to join us in the Parlor at 9:15 a.m., March 5 through 
April 9 and April 23.   Study books (suggested donation $ 5) will be available in the office and provide a wonderful way of preparing our hearts and minds for Sunday worship.  The study will be led by David Hill.

Prayer Walk: new booklet to help you pray with the beauty of St. John's
 
SPECIAL EVENT: There will be a labyrinth to walk with special times of prayer available March 6-9. 
 
DAILY OPPORTUNITIES
Volunteer (leading to action):
Food Pantry, Upward Bound Lunches, Women's Coffee, Student Vets Cooking , Taft Mobile Food Pantry
Give (leading to action):
Robinson Fund, Outreach Efforts, Rector's Discretionary Fund, Capital Campaign Fund, Red Door Cafe.
 
SPIRITUAL READING
 Some suggestions to start:
"The Irresistible Revolution", Shane Claiborne
"Homebrewed Christianity", Tripp Fuller
"Practicing Resurrection", Nora Gallagher
"Love Wins", Rob Bell
"Rising Strong", Brene Brown
See Gayle+ if you would like additional titles.

EASY!! 

OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE!

 

AMAZON SMILE Please make sure you've signed up! 

 

Please  "LIKE"  us on Facebook 
to help us boost our Facebook page presence.  The button is at the top of this page. Thank you!!