- We REALLY need your help!!!
In the past few weeks, I have been approached by the heads of several of our
ministries, such as the counters, the Altar Guild, the Lay Eucharistic Ministers and the lectors, saying they need more people. Most of this work is done on Sunday morning (the Altar Guild sometimes comes in on Saturday). Each of these groups only has about four members, and because many people travel, they end up serving several times a month. We need to have more people in each ministry. Training will be provided! If you are interested in being a counter, see Marie McDermott; for LEM or lector, see Monti Zimmerman or Carol; for Altar Guild, see Marcia Evans. We all enjoy coming to worship on Sundays. But we need YOUR help to make it all happen.
Our "St John's Episcopal Church Welcomes You" sign and post that has been on the corner of Route 29 and Braddock Road was taken sometime between November 18 - 20. Someone sawed off the post at the bottom, close to the ground. If you saw anything or know anything about what might have happened, please let Carol or David Weir know.
- Our Neighbor's Child Christmas Gifts - thanks to all who selected a paper ornament on the Christmas tree...
Please note: the
unwrapped gifts
need to be returned to the church by
this Sunday, December 9
.
Please
attach the paper ornament
securely to the outside of the gift.
Of the 49 pledges that we received last year, 38 have returned their completed pledge cards, 3 have moved away, and we have 3 new pledgers.
If you have not yet returned your completed pledge card, please do so as soon as possible
. The Finance Committee and the Vestry are working on the 2019 budget now. Pledge cards can be put in the offering bags on Sunday or mailed to the church office (5649 Mt. Gilead Road, Centreville, VA 20120). For those who have already returned their pledge cards, many thanks!
Advent, the four Sundays before Christmas, began last Sunday, December 2. We have easy-to-follow Advent calendar available with something specific to pray for or do each day. Copies are on the back table in the church.This free calendar and the "Journeying the Way of Love: Advent Curriculum" have been put together by the Episcopal Church as part of the "Way of Love: Practices for the Jesus-Centered Life", started by our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and endorsed by the General Convention. The Advent curriculum will be studied on the four Sundays of Advent at 10:50 AM in Carol's office. Join us this Sunday as we take a look at "Mary and Elizabeth: Journeying with Family and Friends".
Virginia Theological Seminary is offering daily meditations during Advent.
Go to
www.AdventWord.org to sign up.
- What changes will we see in Advent?
The season of Advent is the four weeks before Christmas. It is a time of spiritual preparation and waiting for the birth of the Christ child. Advent marks the beginning of a new church year. We will begin "Year C" of the lectionary cycle, we will have blue hangings rather than green, we will use Rite I rather than Rite II, we will use greens on the altar rather than flowers, and we will omit the "alleluia's". Advent is a penitential season, although not "as penitential" as Lent. These changes remind us that we are in a different season of the church year and that it is a time to prepare ourselves to receive the Christ child into our midst at Christmas. "O come, O come Emmanuel!"
- Save the date for The Cleaning and Greening!
On Saturday, December 15
, we will have the "
cleaning and greening
" of the church. We will clean the historic church from top to bottom and then decorate the church for Christmas. Bring your cleaning supplies and join us from 9-12. This would be a good activity for students who need community service hours!
We could certainly use the help of some of our "younger" men and women.
- Packing and delivering Christmas baskets
Also on Saturday, December 15, we will pack Christmas baskets for the families given to us by Western Fairfax Christian Ministries, starting at 9:00 AM in the library. We will need folks to deliver 10 baskets on Sunday, December 16, right after church. Please let Marie McDermott know if you can help. If you would like to make a donation to the Christmas basket fund, envelopes are on the back table in the church.
- We welcome another Ministry Partner!
Gamblers Anonymous now meets at St. John's on Saturdays from 2:30 - 4:30 PM in room 207/208.
We are happy to put on the prayer list the names of parishioners, family members or friends who are sick or are in need. However, when that person has sufficiently recovered, please let us know so we can take their name off the prayer list. Unless otherwise directed, if we don't hear from the person who has put the name on the prayer list after a few months, we may take that person's name off the prayer list in order to keep the list from becoming too long. That name can always be put back on.
- Our condolences and prayers go to Walt and Sara Cooner on the
death of his mother, Joanne Cooner, in Arkansas. May her soul and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
- The service tonight will be Evening Prayer, led by Val Tucker. Carol is at an overnight retreat with the Standing Committee in Richmond.