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The Bridge
August 12, 2020

The Mission of St. John’s is to be a community of God’s people who heal brokenness, build bridges, and exemplify borderless kindness.
From Our Interim Rector

I would like to open with a prayer that is special for today and spot-on for the world we live in right now. This is the collect in Holy Women Holy Men for August 12, commemorating Florence Nightingale:

“Life-giving God, you alone have power over life and death, over health and sickness: Give power, wisdom, and gentleness to those who follow the lead of Florence Nightingale, that they, bearing with them your presence, may not only heal but bless, and shine as lanterns of hope in the darkest hours of pain and fear; through Jesus Christ, the healer of body and soul, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen”

Florence Nightingale: nurse, social reformer, Anglican. Born in 1820 in Florence, Italy, she died August 13, 1910 with a reputation as a healer and holy person of mythical proportions. Throughout the world, she was honored as the founder of the modern profession of nursing. She did indeed set the stage for a profession that exists to this day with an innate ability to “shine as lanterns of hope in the darkest hours of pain and fear.”

Last night I was watching an old movie, Shadowlands, the story of C.S. Lewis and his wife, Joy. I think most of us are familiar with the author C.S. Lewis from his Narnia books trilogy for children to the Screwtape Letters! This movie, with Anthony Hopkins playing Clive Staples Lewis, is about lanterns of hope in the darkest hours of pain and fear. I offer this film which is familiar to Episcopalians; but, more so than that, we see the setting, the soil for his great writings. Few recall when he died; as it was the same day that President Kennedy was assassinated, November 22, 1963. (C.S. Lewis is commemorated on November 22.)

Florence Nightingale and C.S. “Jack” Lewis – what weaves them together? They have given us models of whom to follow, and how to follow here on this earth. They have been called not only to heal (with actions and words) but also to bless. We all need blessings.

Be a blessing this week. Our blessings do not always come from the logical source; and often, they come from those that are most unlikely to offer us such a gift. Your blessing could very well be the shining lantern of hope while someone is experiencing the darkest hour of pain and fear. Think about that in terms of our second baptismal promise, to be featured this week at Wednesday night’s class: Proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ. May you be blessed to be a blessing by word and example!

Ann+
Our Baptismal Covenant and Reaffirmation of Faith

In preparation for Bishop Ryan’s visit to St. John's on August 30, please join us on August 12, 19, 26 at 7 pm. Each week, we will study one of the Baptismal Promises and look at how these promises are lived out in our daily life. The class will also include a special discussion of how these promises can help us confront racism.

We will continue to utilize Zoom for these meetings. The link will be sent out with the regular Tuesday Christian Formation emails, and can be found on our website.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Fay Jones by email (fay@austinstjohns.org).
Generosity Changes Everything

When we hear the word “Stewardship” it usually triggers a wide variety of thoughts as well as feelings. Many of us understand Stewardship as pertaining only to our church financial contributions. This is just a small part of stewardship, it is not the whole picture. Stewardship is three-fold: Time, Talent, and Treasure.

Striving to make stewardship a way of life, we of St. John's are committed to furthering both the 'Word' and the work of Christ by caring for each other, for the poor, and for all of God’s creation. In gratitude for all the gifts we receive through God’s generosity, we joyfully give back a portion of our gifts of Time, Talent, and Treasure, acknowledging that God is the gracious Source of everything we have.

Stewardship is one of the most important ways in which our parish experiences a closer relationship with God and to each other. It is the journey we take to meet our spiritual and physical goals and needs.

What is Stewardship then? Stewardship can best be defined as a way of life, as an attitude of gratitude. Recognizing that all we have is God’s gift to us, we must then cherish and tend these gifts in a responsible and accountable manner. We share these gifts then with love for others. Doing this, we are returning them with increase to the Lord. Through our care for others and through living the mission of our Church and community, the Kingdom of God is built up on earth.

Embracing the gift of life as a Christian steward takes effort and prayer as we make this life-long journey.

St. John’s Stewardship Team  
Building Bridges and Healing Brokenness

Creating Beauty in the midst of a pandemic
by Steve Kriechbaum

Hello friends, my name is Steve Kriechbaum and I have been a member of St. John’s since 1986. I have a wonderful bride Deborah and two sons Daniel and Nathan. Both our boys attended St. John’s. I’m currently active as a vestry member, choir member, and stewardship team member. I love St. John’s Episcopal Church and the community of St. John’s.

Fay asked me if I would write about my business and my teaching during these pandemic times. I agreed and so here we go. I started Steve Kriechbaum Originals in 1972 in El Paso TX. I moved to Austin in 1976; my business name is now "Steve Kriechbaum Designer-Goldsmith". I make pieces one at a time for my clients. I proud to say I have many repeat clients and my best advertising is my pieces and the referrals I receive from my clients. As you can imagine things have gotten a little crazy since the COVID-19 hit. I work out of an office building and the building is locked down. My clients call me when they arrive and I go and let them in the building. We have all agreed to wear masks and there is a touchless sanitizer in the lobby. We meet in my office in the studio and discuss the pieces to be made. None of my clients has ever questioned the protocol necessary to keep us safe.

I mentioned that I also teach. I’m a professor in the Jewelry Department at Austin Community College and have been teaching there for about 15 years. I also teach at Creative Side Jewelry Academy in south Austin. When it was time for spring break this past spring semester the COVID-19 reared its ugly head. The students could no longer come back to the labs for classes. I am not a tech wiz but managed to learn a program, Blackboard, which the school supports. At this point on Tuesdays and Thursdays I upload material content and video about jewelry making. This has been a challenge for both the students and me but we managed. I have had several teaching sessions since the COVID-19 pandemic began and we follow all the safety protocols. I taught for two weeks during July and each morning I would take the temperature of each student. We all wore masks; I will say wearing a mask for 7-8 hours is no fun. However, we all survived, and the students made amazing pieces. Now it is time to teach the fall semester and we will meet on Thursday in in the lab and on Tuesday I will be on Zoom. We have all had to learn to adapt quickly to these weird times.

Oh, and I play harmonica for Sunday services at St. John's!

I will continue with my business and my teaching as long as I can as I love both jobs. God bless you all and may the peace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Be safe and wear your mask. Steve
Sunday Services at St. John's
We are finding different ways to worship.
Our Sunday services are being live streamed from our Chapel:
  • 10:00 a.m. Morning Prayer in English
  • 12:00 noon Morning Prayer in Spanish

There are two ways for you to participate in our Sunday services:
  • Go to Facebook Live. No login is required to attend the service, but you must log into your Facebook account to comment or to view other comments. Click this button to attend the service using Facebook:
  • Call 1-888-958-7272 and, when prompted, enter an access code to listen to the service on your telephone. For the English language service on August 16, the access code is 708205880#

In both cases, the live stream for each service will begin approximately 5 minutes before the start of the service.
 
Recorded video from both services will be posted on the
St. John's YouTube channel later in the day so that you can replay a service at your convenience. Links to the YouTube recordings will be posted on our website (www.austinstjohns.org).
Virtual Coffee and Fellowship:
Bring your own beverage and treat of choice

Join us for our Virtual Coffee and Fellowship on Sunday after the 10 am service! This 30 minute opportunity to visit with friends you haven't seen in a while will be a separate Zoom meeting so you will need to use this link to join:
Note that the Waiting Room is enabled for this meeting, so somebody logged into the St. John’s account must be present to admit people into the meeting. This is to protect the meeting participants from any possible "trolls" who might try to interrupt our fellowship. The meeting facilitator will admit you to the meeting as quickly as possible.
Giving at St. John's

People have asked how to continue their giving as the ministry of the Church continues.

There are several ways you can continue to give:

Mail your check to the Church: St. John's Episcopal Church, 
P. O. Box 81493, Austin, TX 78708-1493

Go to your bank's website and set up direct payment - the bank will send a check directly to St. John's using this address: 
St. John's Episcopal Church, P. O. Box 81493, Austin, TX 78708-1493

Use this link to learn more about online giving: Click here

Use this button to go directly to our online giving portal:
Caring for Each Other

If you, or someone you know, need prayer or would like to be contacted by the church, please contact the Reverend Ann McLemore at 769-257-2377 or RevAnn@austinstjohns.org to add names to the Prayer List.
Need Help?

If you find that your situation is causing financial, spiritual, or emotional difficulties, or if you are in need of food, do not hesitate to call Deacon Victoria (512-297-5953) or Rev. Ann (769-257-2377).

We are a church family; when a family member needs assistance we want to try and help that member.


Only Rev. Ann and essential support staff will be in the Chapel for the streaming of services as we continue to follow the direction of government officials and the guidance of our Bishop.

All meetings and activities at St. John's are temporarily suspended.

Ministry continues. All St. John's meetings will be held virtually (via Zoom).

We will post a notification here, on Facebook, and on our website when this restriction has been lifted.
St. John's Episcopal Church
P. O. Box 81493, Austin, TX 78708-1493

Virtual Sunday Services
10:00 am in English (Facebook and website)
Mediodía en español (Facebook y sitio web)
For more information about events at St. John’s,
please visit our website at www.austinstjohns.org