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Welcome to the E-Notes!
July 12, 2017
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Baby Animals at The Farm!
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SPECIAL EVENT
Parents of Young Children!
This Saturday, July 15, parents and their children are invited to come to
Frying
Pan Park at 3:30 PM for fun and fellowship. Bring a picnic snack or supper, if you'd like. We will meet at the small playground by the front gate. This is a good opportunity to get to know each other better while the children enjoy the
baby animals.
And its free! Anyone else is welcome to join us as well.
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PARISH
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We now have a
RED door!
Many thanks go to the Men's Group for painting the front door of the historic church red! It really catches your eye as you turn onto Mt. Gilead from Braddock Road. With the red sign and the red door, we are more visible to those driving by. Thank you, Men's Group!
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The St. John's parish has embarked on a renovation project. We are refurbishing the wood and painting the exterior of the breezeway and the back side of the main building.
Scraping off the old, loose paint has started!
We need some more evening volunteers to scrape the old flaking paint. We have the supplies and two ladders.
Please call Andrew Wade if you're able to help with the scraping. Next, in the very near future, after some of the old wood has been replaced, and all is primed, we'll add the final coat of paint. We are soliciting all willing and able volunteers and parishioners to show off their painting skills on this day.
Watch this space for the painting date! Many thanks go to all who have been giving of their time and talent during the day as well as in the evenings.
If you have any questions, please call Andrew Wade @
703-477-8980.
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A regional youth group is forming!
Clergy and youth from several Episcopal churches in our region gathered last Thursday at St. Peter's in the Woods to begin making plans for a combined youth group. Several of the churches, including St. John's, do not have enough junior and senior high youth to have our own youth group. By joining together, we will have enough youth to plan activities, service projects and discussions, probably meeting once a month.
Our first event will be a "kick-off" fun event at St. Peter's in the Woods in Fairfax Station on Saturday, September 16 from 5-7 PM. More details will be forthcoming. Many thanks go to Cecelia and Diane Sellars, who joined Carol, for representing St. John's.
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Did you know.........
.......that we have beautiful
RED tee shirts for sale? The shirts say "St. John's, Centreville" with a drawing of the historic church and parish hall addition. As you travel about this summer, be a walking advertisement for St. John's! The shirts are $15 each. See Penny Parker or Carol Hancock to purchase one....or more!!!
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Education for Ministry - still looking for a few more people
EfM is a program for adult Christian formation through theological education and reflection written by the School of Theology at the University of the South, Sewanee, TN. All that's needed is a desire to learn and grow in your faith. There is a good amount of reading to be done each week, but no tests. The topics of study are Old Testament, New Testament, Church History, and Theology. The entire program is 4 years, but each participant signs up for a year at a time. Interested? Please speak with Carol as soon as possible as the group is forming now. The group will be starting in September and we have 7 people so far......want to join us?
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Reminder
If you are an LEM, lector, usher, crucifer, or torch bearer, please sign up for the dates this summer that you can assist. With many people away, it is sometimes hard to fill all the slots. Please sign up online on the Altar Servers link below.
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We need YOU!!
We need more Lay Eucharistic Ministers, lectors, ushers, crucifers, and torch bearers to serve on Sunday mornings.
If you would like to serve in one of these roles, please see Carol. Training will be provided.
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IT'S WAY TOO EARLY TO SAY THE WORDS "BACK TO SCHOOL" YET...
BUT IT IS TIME TO COLLECT THE BACKPACKS!
Each year, St. John's participates in a program run by Western Fairfax Christian Ministries to collect backpacks for children in need. This year, we have been asked to provide 25 LARGE backpacks for students at Centreville High School. The color doesn't matter but the size does. We will collect the backpacks through the month of July. (WFCM has said that High Sierra backpacks are available at Costco and will be on sale for $16 through July 23, though you do not have to buy them there.) You can bring them to church on Sunday or to the church office during the week.
Many thanks to those who have donated backpacks. We have 9 so far!
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Sower went out to sow, courtesy of Vanderbilt Lectionary Project
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We can prepare our hearts
by
reading ahead for the Sunday Service lessons
Sunday
July 16, 2017
The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
The First Reading:
Isaac and Rebekah welcome their sons, Esau and Jacob; like many siblings, their relationship is a struggle. Jacob lives up to his "trickster" title as a young man.
The Epistle:
God has transformed, and lives within, our bodies - empowering us for his service to do the good and the right, rather than sin and evil.
The Gospel:
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Jesus tells and explains the parable of the sower; we see how God's created world can teach us truths about how God has formed the world to function.
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THE ADULT LECTIONARY FORUM
MEETS EACH SUNDAY IN THE LIBRARY,
FOLLOWING THE SERVICE,
FROM 10:50 - 11:50 am
___________________
CHILD CARE IS
PROVIDED IN THE NURSERY
Each week, St. John's children join
with three of our Ministry Partners:
Fairfax Chinese Christian Church,
Wellspring United Church of Christ
& Grace Baptist Church
for Sunday School
10:50 - 11:45 AM
.
We offer 3 classes:
PreK- 2nd grade: Rm. 205;
3rd - 8th grade: Rm. 215;
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DIOCESE
Shrine Mont Campaign reaches its stretch goal
Shrine Mont Camps Capital Campaign Surpasses
Stretch Goal of $2.5 Million
The Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, announced
Saturday that the "Shout it from the Mountain" Capital Campaign for Shrine Mont Camps has exceeded its stretch goal of $2.5 million.
The Bishop made the announcement at the annual Bishop's Jubilee at Shrine Mont, where he also talked about "some very special people whose memory helped us achieve success."
"I knew we could do it - and we did," said Bishop Johnston of the campaign. "We have so much to be thankful for. Half of the money raised will go to scholarships that will help our camps to become a more accurate reflection of the diversity of our Diocese. The other half is going to facility improvements now and in the future."
More than 700 donors, including 97 churches of the Diocese, donated a total of $2,546,545.
Already, the campaign has helped to provide scholarship assistance for 126 campers who otherwise might not have been able to experience Shrine Mont camps.
Several major gifts were key to the campaign's success.
A portion of a memorial gift made in honor of the late Rev. Ed Merrow will establish a scholarship fund to broaden the diversity of participants in Shrine Mont Camps. As the rector of Grace Church, Alexandria, in the 1960s, Ed Merrow was a pioneer for civil rights and racial inclusion in Virginia. His son, the Rev. Andrew Merrow, rector of St. Mary's Church, Arlington, co-chaired the Shout It from the Mountain campaign.
Together with the Merrow gift, a major gift in memory of Russ Palmore supported the improvement of the camp facilities and the scholarship fund. Mr. Palmore served as Chancellor of the Diocese from 1987-2011 and was elected as a deputy to nine General Conventions of The Episcopal Church.
Gifts were also given in memory of Chris Horne and Jordan Johnson. Mr. Horne was a former camper and counselor from Alexandria. Mr. Jordan was a former camper from Vienna. Both were beloved members of the Shrine Mont community.
More than $70,000 will go to Camp Christ the King in South Africa. "This is a wonderful way for us to help our sister Diocese of Christ the King to grow its camp activities in a part of the world that desperately needs such programs," said Bishop Johnston.
The Shout It from the Mountain Campaign represents the largest and most successful capital campaign in the 92- year history of Shrine Mont.
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The Triangle of Hope
A statement from the Bishops of Kumasi (in Ghana), Virginia and Liverpool
Nairobi, Kenya; June 2017
As Diocesan bishops meeting in conference, we thank God for the friendship and mutual support we enjoy in Christ as colleagues within the Anglican Communion. We warmly welcome and commend the "Triangle of Hope" initiative in our three Dioceses.
Each one of our Dioceses was directly involved in the dreadful Slave Triangle. We remember and acknowledge with sorrow that human beings were captured and enslaved for financial gain with no regard for their dignity and humanity. We view this history with great pain and in penitence before God, the God who wills in Christ to bring freedom and justice for all.
We stand together, determined that the horror of slavery, and its memories of inhumanity, oppression and anguish, must not and will not be forgotten. We commit ourselves to learn from these memories and to ensure that the lessons are shared and embedded in our lives and in our Dioceses. We also stand together in opposing all forms of slavery today, and we are wholeheartedly committed to doing all we can to help those caught in its chains, and to advocate for justice and freedom and for an end to all modern slavery and human trafficking.
We are grateful to our colleagues in each Diocese whose hard work has laid the foundation for this new partnership of freedom and justice. We pray for those who will meet in Virginia in October to carry the work forward. We are particularly excited by the opportunities for developing our relationship through the engagement of young people as well as adults. For example, we would rejoice at the involvement of our Mothers' Union/Episcopal Church Women members, and of our many young people's groups and their leaders whose commitment to this work gives us hope for an ever-richer community of learning, justice and love across the world Church.
Specifically, we welcome and support the current emphases and initiatives of the Triangle of Hope as our colleagues have shaped them. These include:
- A commitment to sustained teaching and preaching in the Dioceses on the freedom and dignity of all human beings in Christ. (Our meditation and teaching will begin with a deep consideration of the story of Joseph, sold into slavery by his brothers, as found in the book Genesis, and, in particular, the narrative of forgiveness found in Genesis 50:15-21.)
- An explicit ownership and commitment by our Synods and Councils to the aims and tasks of the Triangle of Hope.
- Supporting and developing a number of specific projects, including the following:
- Expanding the existing Youth Pilgrimage, which currently involves Virginia and Liverpool, into a tri-partite Pilgrimage involving all our three Dioceses.
- Building an online presence so that the work, teaching and fruit of the Triangle of Hope may be readily available to all.
- Establishing a relationship of ongoing prayer, undergirded by shared resources and common liturgical and devotional texts.
- Exploring a number of exchange programs, for example, between parishes or theological education institutions.
As bishops united in faith within the worldwide Communion, we are delighted and proud to support and encourage all this. For us, it is an expression of the Christian hope for a future where all are saved and all are free -- free from slavery and from all oppression. We commend this work to the grace of God and we pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, confident that, by God's grace, the work will prosper.
+Daniel Yinka Sarfo
Bishop of Kumasi and Archbishop Primate (The Church of the Province of West Africa)
+Shannon S. Johnston
Bishop of Virginia (The Episcopal Church)
+Paul Bayes
Bishop of Liverpool (The Church of England)
The Triangle of Hope is a covenantal community dedicated to transforming the long history, ongoing effects, and continuing presence of slavery in our world through repentance, reconciliation, and mission.
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COMMUNITY
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Sacred Threads
"Sacred Threads" is an international juried exhibition of art quilts expressing life's journeys of joy, inspiration, spirituality, healing, grief and peace. The exhibit provides a venue for the artwork of quilters of all faiths who use their work as a connection to deep life-experiences or as an expression of their spiritual journey. These powerful stories-in-fabric from all over the US and Canada offer an inspiring source of encouragement, healing, strength and connection. The quilts will be on display
until July 23 at Floris Methodist Church, 13600 Frying Pan Road, Herndon. Admission is $8.00 and they are open Monday through Saturday from 11:00 - 5:00 and Sundays 1:00 - 4:00. You can visit their website at
www.SacredThreadsQuilts.org
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Western Fairfax Christian Ministries
WFCM reminds us that their shelves can become almost empty during the summer months. Please remember those who are hungry when you do your grocery shopping and
donate nonperishable food items
to WFCM when you come to St. John's on Sundays.
You may put your donations in the baskets by the front door of the church.
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Currently Needed Items
Food & Beverages
Fruit Juice (individual size appreciated)
Pasta Sauce
Cold cereal
Oil
Canned pasta
Pancake Mix/Syrup
Canned fruit
Canned chili
Coffee
Sugar
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Toiletries
(NOTE: Toiletry items cannot be purchased
by our clients with their food stamps, so they are greatly appreciated.)
Body wash
Shampoo
Diapers size 4, 5 or 6
Baby Wipes
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OTHER NEWS
Please remember in your prayers all those who have been injured or killed or live in fear due to acts of terrorism; those who live in war-torn parts of this world and all who are on our prayer list.
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SIGN UP HERE TO
SERVE
as LEM, Crucifer, Lector, Usher, Verger, Torch Bearer at a Sunday Service.
You will receive an automatic reminder a few days in advance. (
If you would like to become an altar server, please see the Rev. Carol Hancock.)
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SIGN UP HERE TO
BRING SNACKS
for coffee hour after the Sunday Service in the Breezeway.
click here:
You will receive an automatic reminder a few days in advance. Coffee hour is an important part of fellowship - staying connected with each other and welcoming newcomers.
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SIGN UP HERE TO
SUPPLY FLOWERS
for a Sunday service throughout 2017.
click here:
You may sign up here to donate the flowers to be used on the altar for each of the Sundays in 2017. Click to read additional info before signing up.
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Reminder
Every Wednesday evening, we have a service of Holy Eucharist and healing at 6:00 PM. The service is about 30 minutes. It is a perfect alternative for those who cannot come to church on Sunday mornings, as well as a good spiritual boost in the middle of the week. Come join us!
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Love
Be caught by the love God has for you... and for everyone else. It's real, and it's forever, and it's for now. Who you are, what you are, however it is that you've gotten to be the way you are, God knows, God desires, God loves. God does love you.
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and the office number is 703-803-7500.
May our ministry together spread God's love to all whom we encounter.
- Carol
The Rev. Carol Hancock
Priest-in-Charge
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Copyright © 2017. All Rights Reserved.
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