The Regathering Task Force of St. John’s is hard at work preparing for us to enter a new phase for worship. We will include various ways for people to gather physically, as safely as possible, while also continuing to offer continuing high-quality online worship. Communion will be coming back as well! Read more about it on our new Regathering webpage here.
Join Us on YouTube this Sunday for a Service of Morning Prayer
Sunday, August 23
Facebook live at 9:00 a.m. and on YouTube anytime
Worship with us on Sunday, virtually! Click on the YouTube image above to participate. There will be music, prayer and preaching.

Watch it together "live" with others at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time on our Facebook page or you may choose to participate at your usual service time (7:45 a.m., 9:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m.), or any other time you like.

Feel free to share the link with others.
You Are Invited to Join Our "Sacred Ground" Dialogue on Race and Faith
Sunday, August 23 at 9:30 a.m. (in place of the coffee hour) | Online via Zoom
St. John's is embarking upon a year-long journey to explore issues of race and faith,
and what these mean for us as a gathered community. Using as our base the 
Sacred Ground program designed by the Episcopal Church, small dialogue circles will study together a wide range of materials designed to make us consider our response as individuals and as a community to issues of race in our lives, in our country, and in
our church. 

The program will start in September and is open to any interested adult member of
St. John’s. The Rev. Will Morris, with members of the planning group, will host an introductory meeting to explain Sacred Ground, review the materials, and answer questions at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, August 23 (in place of the coffee hour).
You can view the Sacred Ground materials here and here.
We hope you will join us on this journey.
St. John's Speaker Series
Sunday, August 23, 11:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. | Online via Zoom | Register Below
Join us Sunday, August 23, from 11:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., for a discussion led by Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, the nation's largest historic civil rights and urban advocacy organization, and former mayor (1994-2002) of New Orleans. Following the discussion, there will be opportunity for Q&A. 
You will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link for the meeting. 
Speaker Series Schedule
Online via Zoom
September 13: John Barry, author of The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History. He will speak on that pandemic and Lessons Learned and Not Learned--and Where We Are Now.

September 20: Christian Appy, Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He will speak about the Vietnam War.

September 27: Elaine Pagels, American religious historian and Professor of Religion at Princeton University. She will speak on her book, Why Religion, A Personal Story.

October 4: Jim Tankersley covers economic and tax policy for The New York Times. 
He will speak on his upcoming book, The Riches of This Land: The Untold, True Story of America's Middle Class.
Service of Compline
Monday to Friday, 8:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. | Online via Zoom
Compline is a service for the completion of the day or Night Prayer. Join us at 8:00 p.m. Monday through Friday for this peaceful liturgy as our day ends. 

Summer Christian Formation for Children
Sundays | Online via Zoom
Summer Christian Formation for children will take place as pre-recorded video sessions emailed to parents each Sunday morning by 7:00 a.m.

Centering Prayer
Wednesdays at 7:00 a.m. | Online via Zoom
Interested in joining a Centering Prayer Zoom gathering on Wednesdays at 7:00 a.m.? Experience a few moments of peace and comfort through the contemplative practice of centering prayer. Newcomers welcome! Contact Thom Sinclair for more information.
St. John's Youth
Monday, August 24 at 6:30 p.m. | Online via Zoom
The youth will meet this Monday, August 24 at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. Please contact the Rev. Savannah Ponder for the links to participate.
The 2020 Fall Adult Inquirers' Class
Saturdays, September 19, September 26, and October 3
10:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon | Online via Zoom
If you would like to be baptized, confirmed, or received into membership in the Episcopal Church at St. John’s, join the Adult Inquirers’ Class. The class will meet online via Zoom for three Saturdays for 90 minutes each day. The sessions will include breakout groups to provide a relaxing, engaging way for participants to get to know each other. The Rev. Rob Fisher, Rector of St. John’s, will lead the class. Anyone interested in learning more about our Christian faith and life, the Episcopal tradition, and the ministry of St. John’s Church, is encouraged to attend. 

For information or to register, please contact Kaye Edwards. Those who participate in the class may attend a Service of Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation of Baptismal Vows at a date to be determined.
Baptism at St. John's
If you are interested in having a child baptized, or in baptism for yourself, please contact Kaye Edwards. 
Please note that the parents or grandparents of children being baptized must be active, pledging members of St. John’s. Adults interested in baptism for themselves must attend the Rector’s Adult Inquirers’ Class and be active, pledging participants in the life of the parish. 

To help give families options during this extraordinary time, and until St. John's is open for full Sunday services, the Rector will discuss options to a church service with families, including baptisms at home (and preferably outdoors) or a private baptism at the church. All baptisms must comply
with health and safety guidelines.
Pastoral Care
The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting our St. John's community in many ways. St. John's parishioners have expressed the desire to help their neighbors during this difficult time. Please use this form to let us know if you:

  • Can provide support for someone in need or
  • Are in need of support.

We will do our best to connect those in need with those who are able to help. If you are not comfortable using this form, please send us an email at help@stjohns-dc.org with your name, contact information and details of the type of support you can give or the support you need.

In addition to this direct support from parishioners, our Rector, the Rev. Rob Fisher, has an emergency fund for those who may be in need of financial assistance. If you are in need of financial assistance or would like to contribute to the emergency fund, please reach out directly to the Rev. Rob Fisher.
Prayer List
Our prayers are requested for the special needs and concerns of this congregation, especially:

Those who are sick or recovering:

From our parish: Eve Atkeson, Bill Brownlee, Bobbie Falk, Susan Herrington, Nelda Johnson, Bob Patchell, Dace Vidins, and Jeff White.

Friends and family of our parish: Niels Beck (Michelle Mangrum), Diane Bender (Peter Odom), Buckley (Chrystal Martin), Tom Burkart (Pamela Venzke), John Frew Carter (Margo Arnold), Bill Clark (Clark Ervin), Brian Cohen (Jane Hague), Harry Davis (Mary and Carl Raether), Karl Dornemann (Deb Dornemann), Bobby Doyle (Alex Pappas), Ruth B. Ginsburg (Riley Temple), Courtney Jordan Hillman (Erika Northcutt), Lucas Hunt (Matthew Taylor), Tom Kiernan (Joanne Hutton), Amy Lowenthal (Andrew Tomlinson), William Markiewicz (Matthew Taylor), Tammy McCleaf (Matthew Taylor), Kevin Milstead (Andrew Tomlinson), Timothy Mullins (Jim Mullins), Zach Newton (Andrew Tomlinson), Judy Nicola (Cynthia Walker), Jose Obregon (Victor Obregon), Ginger Parra (Leila Taaffe), Charles Pope (John More), Lloyd Poplin (Joy and Dick Nathan), Cawley Scott (Robyne Johnston), Zoe Taaffe (Leila Taaffe), Garland Treadway (Karen Zachary), and Gabriel Van Oyen (Carolyn Crouch).

Those who are in rehabilitative care: 

From our parish: Max Hudgins and Marcella Odom.

Those who are in the hospital: 

Friends and family of our parish: Keili Geller (Kaye Edwards), James Hodges (Matthew Taylor), Julie Howell (Cynthia Walker), Vera Hyncik (Holly Sukenik), Phyllis Lambert (Will Morris), Chase Madar (Rob Fisher), Gina Robinson (Matthew Taylor), Travis Rogers (Robert Carroll), and Mary Seidman (Nora and Hap Rigby).

Those who died: 

Friends and family of our parish: Steve Heidenberger who died August 13 and Judy Adams who died August 17.

Those in our parish celebrating a birthday this week: Hugh Agnew, Leslie
Arriaga, Sarah Baker, Reed Barnes, Debra Fine, Michael Grealy, Richard Greene, Lucy Herzog, Quinn Lyerly, Max Hudgins, Bayne Johnston, Suzanne McIntire, Thomas Nuzum, Marcella Odom, Gigi Rasmussen, Jason Rossbach, Ann Tierney, Thomas Traxler, and Alexander Wilkins.

Those in our parish celebrating an anniversary this week: Nancy and Frank Klotz, Susan and Sandy Sierck, Holly and John Sukenik, and Ella-May and Edwin U.

For those on the frontlines in the coronavirus pandemic, especially:

Friends and family of our parish: Janie Abernethy (Elizabeth Lewis and David Abernethy), Sandra Brown (Becca Brown), Nathan Cobb (Livy and John More), Chris Gardner (Ann Gardner), Yee Houston (Quin Woodward Pu), and Marta Kochanska (Livy and John More).
Email Whaling/Phishing Scams Persist
Be Aware and Don't Be A Victim!
Again, community members have received messages purporting to be from the Rev. Rob Fisher, asking for favors and gift card purchases. These emails are not from Rob!
 
Rob and the rest of the staff at St. John's Church will never email anyone asking for gift card purchases. Treat this as a red flag and report it to staff immediately.
 
Any email from clergy or staff will have an address that ends with stjohns-dc.org. Common phishing/whaling attempts use very similar looking email addresses from free services like Gmail or Yahoo. 

Please do not open any suspicious emails that may come from any account. Delete them immediately. To learn more about whaling/phishing attempts, visit the Diocese of Newark's blog post on the subject.
St. John’s Mask Project Number Two Now Helps Needy Hispanic Immigrants
Since early Spring, the St. John’s Refugee Committee, in an effort to serve both those suffering with Covid-19 and those on the medical team at George Washington Hospital fighting Covid-19, commissioned an Afghan refugee family to sew surgery masks to supplement the hospital’s supply of N-95 masks. The refugee, a former translator for the U. S. Military, was furloughed due to the pandemic. Sewing masks gave the family some income and kept the masks flowing.

We were able to provide George Washington Hospital with 521 Surgery Masks through the hard work of our refugee friends and the generosity of St. John’s. The supply of N-95 is now adequate at most hospitals, so the project organizers, Gay and Bob Pasley, are seeking donations from St. John’s parishioners who would like to help keep the refugee family employed and see that quality masks can be donated to needy members of our community.

Around July 4th, a request came to us from the Outreach Committee of Christ Church in Alexandria, VA. Volunteers there had been delivering groceries to Hispanic immigrants in dire need. Volunteers discovered there was a severe shortage of adult and children masks. St. John’s has been asked to supply as many masks as it can. This community of Arlandria has been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, with the most recent test results indicating that these residents represent 50% of Alexandria’s Covid-19 cases. We appreciate your support for the project and ask that you continue to donate by clicking on the button below and choosing “Refugee Project” from the Fund drop-down menu. For more information, contact the Pasleys here.
Episcopal Diocese of Washington Covid-19 Emergency Relief Appeal
Many of us are asking how we can help during this pandemic. In our Diocese, we are seeing members of our churches suffering from food insecurity and other hardships. Congregations in low-income communities are an essential part of an increasingly fragile safety net for their most vulnerable neighbors.

To support the most vulnerable parishes, the diocese has suspended the Annual Bishop’s Appeal for the diocesan budget and has replaced it with a Covid-19 Emergency Relief Appeal. 

St. John’s parishioners have shown a desire to support others through this crisis. If you would like to help, supporting this relief fund would be an excellent way. You can make a gift on the diocesan website at this link: https://www.edow.org/about/giving.
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St. John's Church, Lafayette Square
1525 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005