St. John's Church
parable of the barren fig tree , , grimmer
You Can Still Sign Up
to Volunteer
at Our Irish Festival Booth

We still need to fill a few more shifts at our stand at the Church Hill Irish Festival this weekend, where we will sell cookies and toffee, and have face-painting. 

Please contact Joni McKeen if you can fill a slot during one of the following two-hour shifts:

Saturday
3:00-5:00 p.m.
5:00-7:00 p.m.
 
Sunday
1:00-3:00 p.m.
5:00-7:00 p.m.
 
Please note that the streets around the church will be closed to traffic Saturday and Sunday (including Sunday morning), and there will be many visitors in the neighborhood, making parking extremely limited.  Consider carpooling or alternative transportation options on Sunday morning.   You are welcome to park in the lot on 17 th Street and take the shuttle up to the church.
 This Sunday, March 24, 2019
The Third Sunday in Lent

                                              8:15 a.m.            Holy Eucharist (no music)
                                              9:15 a.m.            Adult Formation, Parish Hall
                                              10:30 a.m.          Holy Eucharist
                                                                             Children’s Chapel, Keeper’s Cottage
                                              11:45 a.m.          Coffee Hour & Kairos Placemat Workshop, Parish Hall
          Nursery is available in the Parish Hall from 8:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.




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From Amelie with Love

Dear Friends:

In our Gospel reading today Jesus tells a parable about a man who had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So, he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Nothing is going to happen here. No need to keep wasting soil.’” But the gardener’s reply to this assessment is to let the tree alone for one more year, until he can dig around it and put manure on it. “If it bears fruit next year,” he says, “well and good; but if not, you can cut it down then.”
 
Isn’t this the way things can often go? One situation, two equally valid reactions. Because you could easily say there is not a shred of evidence that anything has grown or will ever grow on that fig tree. Why bother let it waste soil? And then some wild-eyed dreamer comes along, willing to save the fruitless tree. A person full of promise and optimism - the very kind of people we tend to ridicule when they fail but might even envy for the risks they are willing to take.
 
If you have ever been the fig tree in all this, you know what it is like when some wild-eyed optimist reaches out to you, believes in you - or in someone close to you. 

Are there people in your life who are exasperating to you right now? Is there a relationship or other situation that simply isn’t bearing fruit? Perhaps you have an impulse to give up on the situation, to cut it down, so to speak. But perhaps there also might be a quiet nudge from God to wait, to exercise patience and give it some more time. What are the costs and benefits of giving up? What are the costs and benefits of giving it more time?

We can’t make another person bear fruit, just as the gardener cannot make the fig tree produce figs. But the gardener can work to provide the optimal conditions for the tree to produce, and so can we. Are we willing to discern what these optimal conditions might be - for God to do God’s work in our own lives and in the lives of others? And then, to leave the rest to God?

As we move through this second week of Lent, I invite you think about this. And to consider all the gardeners in your life, who by their examples and their words invited you to live in the abundance of the second chance, people who dug in around you and stayed with you, and fertilized you with their love and encouragement and hope, so that you too might live another day.

In Christ,

Amelie
Adult Forum’s
Parables and Prodigals:
Luke's Lenten Lectionary
Continues Sunday with
"The God of Second Chances"

During Lent, Adult Forum sessions consider the journey of Lent through the lens of the gospel passages that our weekly lectionary gives us each Sunday. 

This year, we have some compelling themes that our clergy and lay leaders will engage through an interactive dialog that relates the ancient story to our current lives.

Sunday, the Rev. Bill Pickering will present “The God of Second Chances.”

 
Sunday, March 24
9:15 a.m.
The Parish Hall
Nursery is available.
Lenten Supper Series
Becoming Beloved Community

The Civil Rights Movement in the United States, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., began in the Church. Biblical imperatives lived by people of faith gave the movement its foundation, fire, and perseverance to not turn back. There is still much work to be done to achieve this dream of Beloved Community.

This Lent you are invited to reflect on how you embody God’s agape love in your life and in your community of faith in meaningful and steadfast ways to help a challenged world. Join us each Wednesday during Lent.


Wednesdays, March 27-April 10
6:00 p.m. Potluck Supper
6:40 p.m. - 8:15 Presentation and Discussion
The Parish Hall
Join Andrea Bleck-Smith for Gentle Yoga

Each Thursday, Andrea Bleck-Smith offers a yoga class meant for those who enjoy moving a little more slowly and who are looking to maintain or increase strength and flexibility. We focus on moving all joints and muscle groups, alignment, and breath awareness to maintain and restore balanced body function.

Students receive personal alignment suggestions and assistance as needed. Each class ends with a brief relaxation to balance the body.

$54 for the 6-week session or $10 drop-in per class.

Thursdays at 4:00 p.m.
The Parish Hall  
No class April 4. 
Evening Prayer, Thursdays at 5:30 p.m.

All are welcome to join us for a casual service of Evening Prayer, Rite II in the Parish House on Thursday evenings. Hannah Mawyer, who served as a prayer leader in the campus ministry at William and Mary, leads the service.

Following the service, participants are invited to gather for dinner at a local restaurant.

For questions, please contact Hannah.

Thursdays
5:30 p.m.
Parish House Library
Another Opportunity for Asset Mapping

Members of St. John's who have not yet attended an Asset Mapping Workshop are invited to attend a workshop led by Diana Vasquez of Re:Work Richmond at 1st Presbyterian Church on March 26.

The workshop helps to determine the strengths, skills, and resources we are able to share as we support community initiatives. Another workshop will also be offered at St. John’s later in the spring.

If you are interested, please contact Diana Vasquez.

Tuesday, March 26
“ Safe Church” Training,

For those members of our congregation who serve on the vestry, work with children, or minister to members in their homes, including those interested in serving as a Lay Eucharistic Visitor, the Rev. Deacon David Curtis will offer an abuse prevention training program on Saturday, Mar. 30 from 1:00-3:00 pm. 

Lunch will be served for those who wish to arrive at noon.

If you are interested, please contact David.

Saturday, March 30
1:00 -3:00 p.m.
Parish Hall
Spring Parish Work Day

Now that spring has arrived, we need to spiff up the grounds and property. We would love your help with this, and we’ll trade you your help for a day of fellowship, fulfilling labor, and fresh air. 

Please contact Jamie Isaacs if you’d like to help.

Saturday, April 6
9:00 a.m.
Parish House Garden 
RE:work Richmond Partner Training

RE:work RICHMOND will host a Good Neighbor Update and Training session at Challenge Discovery Projects on Tuesday, April 9.

If you would like to hear the latest news about and receive initial training on how Good Neighbors (program volunteers) can prepare to support RE:work’s Parent Members, come on out! Supper will be provided. 

If you’d like to attend, email Diana Vasquez.

Tuesday, April 9
6:00-7:30 p.m.
Second Saturday Contemplative Service

St. John's offers evening services the second Saturday of each month. Each service includes Holy Eucharist, contemplative music, a quiet, candlelit atmosphere, and the rite of healing.

 We hope you find this service to be a relaxing supplement to your Sunday morning worship. 

Please consider inviting friends who prefer a more contemplative form of worship in the early evening. Also, please consider serving at this service when you sign up for your service slots each month. 

Next Service:
Saturday, April 13
5:30 p.m.
Holy Week at St. John's Church

                               Palm Sunday                                       April 14, 10:00 a.m.
                               Maundy Thursday Eucharist         April 18, 7:00 p.m.
                               Good Friday Liturgy                         April 19, 7:00 p.m.
                               The Great Vigil of Easter                April 20, 7:30 p.m.
                               Easter Day Holy Baptism &
                              Holy Eucharist                                     Sunday, April 21, 8:15 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.   
Annual Easter Egg Hunt Has Moved to Easter Day

Enjoy our lively Easter Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday. Tell all the kids you know to grab their baskets and head to the churchyard.

Lots of hands are needed to help set up and help the little hunters. Please contact Anne Lane Witt .

Sunday, April 21
12:00 p.m.
Churchyard
Honor Loved Ones
with Easter Lilies

Purchase Easter lilies at $15 each to decorate the church on Easter Sunday. Please place your order in the offering plate, deliver it to the church office by April 14. (Checks payable to St. John’s Church.)

Or, p rovide the details of your tribute here, then click the link below to pay.
Spotlight on Outreach

St. John's is committed to living our Baptismal Covenant
to seek and serve Christ in all persons,
loving our neighbor as ourselves
and respecting the dignity of every human being.
 

One-time Opportunities
 
Rebuilding Together Richmond, 2019: Rebuilding Together Richmond’s 2019 workday is April 27. Although St. John’s and St. Mary’s will not sponsor a house this year, there are opportunities for a team from St. John’s to work that day. Plans are in progress for “community” projects, and we can sign up to help with those. We might work in a community garden, a school, or other areas where help is needed. It is always a great day! If you are interested in participating, please contact Rita Drisc ol l.  

Cookies and Placements for Kairos Prison Ministry: Help bake dozens and dozens (!) of cookies to support Kairos Prison Ministry of Virginia Saturday, March 30, in the Parish Hall between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. We’ll have the cookie dough and lots of coffee to keep you going. (If you bring your own dough, make sure your recipe meets prison requirements--no raisins or other fruit, and no coatings on the cookies.) “Kairos” means the right time to do something or decide; the Kairos Prison Ministry conducts weekend retreats that encourage prisoners to live according to the teachings of Jesus, bringing Jesus’ message of love and forgiveness.  During one exercise prisoners ask forgiveness of someone they have wronged and give that person a bag of cookies (which we have helped provide) as a token of that forgiveness. The Rev. Deacon Karla Westfall Hunt, formerly of St. John’s, requests cookies for a retreat at the Chesterfield Correctional Unit.

We will also make placemats during coffee hour for Kairos on March 24 and March 31 . Supplies will be provided. Please bring your talent and your love. 

Ongoing Opportunities

Join the $5 Club : Pledge to spend at least $5 a month on non-perishable foods to feed others. Bring your donations on the first Sunday of each month, or deposit them in the basket at the rear of the church at any time.
 
First Fruits Sundays : First Sunday of every month. Bring non-perishable food items to church for donation to the Christ Ascension Food Pantry. Christ Ascension Food Pantry currently needs canned fruit and rice. They always need cereal, canned pasta, tuna, and peanut butter. Next First Fruits Sunday— Sunday, April 7

Laundry Love : This ministry takes place the third Saturday of every month from 11:45 a.m.-2:15 p.m., at Richmond Coin Laundry, 25 th & Nine Mile, and defrays our neighbors’ cost of doing laundry so that they can direct their income to other necessities. We would love your help dispensing coins and laundry supplies, helping to run the machines, entertaining children, and being a friendly presence.    Please contact David Curtis for more information. Next Laundry Love Day—Saturday, April 20

Laundry Love Activity Table : The Outreach Team needs new or gently used donations for the kids' activity table at Laundry Love, a place for safe play and learning while parents are busy with clothes. Possible donations include:
  • addition/subtraction flashcards
  • Play-doh
  • simple puzzles
  • picture books, coloring books
  • markers, crayons
  • small Lego sets
  • simple craft supplies (pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, glue, etc.). 

A box for your donations is in the Parish Hall. This is an ongoing collection. If you have any questions, please contact Liz Broda.
It is never too late for you to submit your pledge to support the ministries of St. John’s Church, either to the parish office, in the offering plate, or at our website .

Pledge cards are available in the back of the church.

Click here to read the 2018 St. John's Church Annual Report. You may pick up a hard copy of it in the back of the church or in the Parish Hall. If you have any questions about the report, please contact our Rector, Amelie Wilmer , or Senior Warden, Horace Dowdy .
Altar Flower Remembrances

We encourage everyone to remember or honor loved ones and special anniversaries and events by sponsoring the flowers at the altar for a specific Sunday. 

The cost is $35. You may pay via cash or check in the offering plate or in the church office, or through Paypal.  

Sign up for the Sunday when you want to sponsor flowers on the sign-up sheet in the Parish Hall foyer, and notify Patty Duffy in the parish office .
Next Vestry Meeting,
Thursday, April 11,
(this is a change)
at 5:30 p.m.
in the Parish Hall

All members of St. John’s Church are welcome to attend vestry meetings as observers. Minutes of recent meetings are posted on the bulletin board in the Parish Hall foyer. Please share your ideas or questions about the life of our parish with a vestry member.
Prayer Group & Sunday Prayers
 
Bring your prayers to the Wednesday morning prayer group. Pray with us silently or aloud as the Spirit leads you, and let us surround you with love and prayers. Find sacred silence and hear the still, small voice of God. Simply stop by the Keeper's Cottage any Wednesday at 10:00.

Prayer ministers also offer individual prayers Sundays during communion at the 10:30 a.m. service.

Wednesdays
10:00 a.m.
Keeper's Cottage (to the left of the church)
To learn more,   contact Carolyn Dallas
In the event of Inclement Weather

So that all our members will know what to expect during inclement weather, here are ways we will notify you of changes in the parish calendar:

  • We will send an email to you by the Saturday afternoon preceding Sunday services. For other changes, we will attempt to notify you at least 3-4 hours ahead of time.
  • We will post a message on our website’s home page
  • We will leave a message on the office voice mail: 804-649-7938.
  • We will announce our change in plans on the NBC closings scroll.

If you want to arrange for another way for us to notify you, please contact Patty Duffy at the church office, 804-649-7938.

Please note that, regardless of whether or not we decide to proceed with plans during severe weather, your safety is important, and we understand if you decide to stay home.

St. John's Church
2401 East Broad Street







Office: 2319 E. Broad Street RVA 23223
804-649-7938

The deadline for submitting copy for the weekly bulletin insert and parish-wide email is Wednesday morning , but earlier is always appreciated. Please send your content to  Patty Duffy . Please note that content may be edited to accommodate space limitations and style guidelines.