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November 22 |
Thanksgiving
Day Eucharist
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On Thursday, November 23, St. John's will celebrate a Thanksgiving Day Eucharist at 10:00 a.m. Please plan to join us.
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November 20-23 | St. John's Church and Parish House Closed
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St. John's Church and Parish Office will close at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 20 and remain closed through Friday, November 23, in observance of Thanksgiving. The church will reopen only for the Thanksgiving Day Eucharist on Thursday, November 22 at 10:00 a.m.
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December Speaker Series Schedule
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The Speaker Series is held at 10:00 a.m. on the following Sundays in the Parish House Parlors:
The Sunday Speaker Series for December will concentrate on "Ethics in the Public Square."
December 2
Rabbi Jesse Paikin, Rabbinic Fellow, Sixth and I Synagogue
December 9
Danielle Brian, Executive Director, Project on Governmental Oversight
December 16
Dr. Timothy Sedgwick, Professor of Christian Ethics, Virginia Theological Seminary
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December 5 | First Wednesday Concert
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Music of the Season
Episcopal High School
12:10 p.m.-12:45 p.m.
Please consider joining us during your lunch break on the First Wednesdays of the month, through June, and bring a friend. Each concert is ticketless, free of charge, and held in the nave of our historic church.
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December 5 | Latrobe: Holiday Dinner and White Elephant Gift Exchange
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7:00 p.m. at St. John's Parish House
Celebrate the holiday season with your young adult family! Join us at 7:00 p.m. for a service of Holy Eucharist followed by a holiday feast! We will also have a white elephant exchange, so bring a fun or silly wrapped gift ($10 or less, please!). To RSVP or to get more information about the Latrobe Fellowship,
please contact the Rev. Andy Olivo
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December 6 | St. John's Book Group
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The St. John's Book Group will meet on December 6 at 6:45 p.m.
The next meeting dates and books are as follows
- December 6: Fire in the Lake:
The Vietnamese and The Americans in Vietnam by Frances FitzGerald
- January 3: News of the World by Paulette Jiles
- February 7: The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
If you like to read and meet with others who like to read and
talk about books, the Book Club is for you. The meeting will
be held in the Parish House Parlors.
If you have questions or would
like more information,
please contact Leila Taaffe
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December 9 | St. John's Advent Party
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Hark! Join St. John's for Advent Revelry on Sunday, December 9 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Parish House Parlors. There will be food, fun, and entertainment for all ages. Holiday music presented by the St. John's Choir Quartet and all carolers present. Nursery care will be available from 4:45 p.m. until 7:15 p.m.
YOUR RSVP IS REQUESTED BY DECEMBER 2.
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St. John's Refugee Committee
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Opportunities to be involved
Sunday, December 9
Following the 11:00 a.m. service, there will be a
meeting of St. John's Refugee Committee. Please attend
if you want to learn more about St. John's work in this
area.
If you have questions, please email Leila Taaffe.
Tuesday, November 27, 6:00-8:30 p.m.
Film Screening - Voices of the Sea
Please join the One Journey Festival for a free screening of PBS POV's Voices of the Sea. The film will be followed by a panel discussion on the global refugee crisis and a short Q&A session. Panelists will tell their stories and navigate the dizzying complexities of the refugee crisis. Please RSVP here.
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A Request for Help
For many years, Afghans who aided the American military - many as interpreters - were granted Special Immigrant Visas (SIV). The SIV program, which was enacted in 2009, "saves the lives of Afghan interpreters and support staff who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Americans in the field, putting themselves and their families at risk to help our soldiers and diplomats accomplish their mission and return home safely." Without the passage of new legislation, the program cannot continue to issue visas.
Sen. Jean Shaheen (N.H.) has introduced the "Afghan Allies Immigrant Act of 2018." This bill, which has bi-partisan support in the Senate, would allow 4,000 additional SIV visas to Afghan interpreters who are seeking refuge here. There is a similar bill in the House of Representatives.
Please contact Senators Orrin Hatch (Utah) (202) 224-5251 and Chuck Grassley (Iowa) (202) 224-3744 to communicate your support for the legislation.
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By December 12 | Annual Christmas Gift Drive
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The annual Christmas Gift Drive is here! As in past years, we are
partnering with Advocates for Justice and Education, Bishop Walker School, Southeast White House, and St. John's Community Services to bring joy to children in need this holiday season. Each child h
as provided a wish list of toys, books, or clothes that he or she is hoping to find underneath the Christmas tree this year. If you prefer to shop for your own gifts, please pick up an angel with a child's wish list from the tree in the Parish House. Alternatively, you can select from a number of preselected gifts on our Amazon Wish Lists and ship the gifts directly to the church.
Directions for accessing and using the Amazon Wish Lists are as follows:
- From the Amazon home page (www.amazon.com), select "Accounts & Lists" (top right of the screen) and then "Find a List or Registry"
- Search for "St. John's Church-DC"
- Click on an organization name (left side of the screen)
- To select the gift(s) you would like to purchase, select "Add to Cart"
- When you have finished shopping, select "Proceed to Checkout"
- During checkout, be sure to select the shipping address for the church.
Please ensure that your gifts are delivered by Wednesday, December 12. Gift distribution will begin on Monday, December 17, so it is important that all gifts are delivered in time. You can also help by joining us to wrap the gifts on the weekend of December 15 (details to follow). If you have questions, please contact Jeff and Katie Hantson. Thank you in advance for your generosity this holiday season! |
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December 16 | Festival of Lessons and Carols
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St. John's Choir will sing a selection of seasonal anthems, and the congregation will join in for traditional hymns and carols of the Advent and Christmas seasons at the 11:00 a.m. service on Sunday, December 16.
Invite your friends to join us for this annual St. John's tradition!
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December 24 |
SAVE THE DATE for the Christmas Pageant
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The annual Christmas Pageant will take place on Christmas Eve at 4:00 p.m. (NOTE NEW TIME)
The service prelude of
anthems and carols will begin at 3:30 p.m. Children ages three and up are invited to participate in the Pageant as an Angel, Shepherd, or Friendly Beast. All children who wish to participate must attend the rehearsal on Saturday, December 22 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Contact Savannah Ponder, Assistant for Children and Youth for more
information. Register for the Christmas Pageant here.
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Choral Jazz Pilgrimage to Cuba
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Twenty two singers from six states traveled to Havana, Cuba over Veterans Day weekend on a Choral Jazz Pilgrimage. The trip was half a relief mission, bringing in water filtration systems for rural Episcopal parishes, 150 water filters, Spanish language
Books of Common Prayer, and medicine; and half for musical bridge building. Cuban instrumentalists and singers joined the group for the Sunday morning service at the Episcopal Cathedral in Havana where we sang
Aplaudan, Pueblos Todos, commissioned by St. John's for the Rev. Dr. Luis León's retirement, and Will Todd's
Jazz Missa Brevis.
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Update from the Rector Search Committee
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The Rector Search Committee has completed its initial webcast interviews and has progressively narrowed the list of candidates in order to perform site visits across November and December; subsequent in-person interviews are expected to occur thereafter in order to recommend finalists to the Vestry for ultimate consideration. The progress of the committee can be followed on the Rector Transition page of our website. Please continue to pray that the Holy Spirit guides us throughout the Rector Search process.
Rector Search Committee
Hilary West (Chair), Krista Becker, Betsy Danello, Clark Ervin, Wendy Fibison, Andrew Hunt, Powell Hutton, Frank Klotz, Michelle Mangrum, Sara McGanity, Ralph Olson, and Lisa Russo. |
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Sunday Parish Lunches Return in January 2019!
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We know everyone is eager to continue our important Sunday
Parish Lunches. The Parish House renovation is almost finished, but the basement and kitchen are among the last parts to be completed. It is uncertain when the kitchen and dining room will be ready, and the holidays are almost here. To be safe we will plan to begin Parish Lunches with the new year beginning January 13, 2019. Please start thinking about hosting a parish lunch: be among the first to celebrate! Watch for our signup sheet.
In addition we will continue our popular potluck events in homes. Please contact Holly Sukenik if you want to reserve a date or have any questions.
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Stewards of Life Abundant: Transformative Generosity
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You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God.
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2 Corinthians 9:11
As Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann points out, the Bible starts out with a liturgy of abundance
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a song
of praise for God's generosity. It keeps saying, "It is good, it is good, it is good, it is very good." Filled with God's generosity, Jesus went around to people suffering from scarcity-
of health, of acceptance, of power, of understanding
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and replaced it with a gift of abundance. Jesus is well-schooled in the transformative generosity of God and in the conviction that if you share your bread with the neighbor, the world will be
made new. He knows that generosity isn't something you just think about, it's something you do.
Stewardship presumes blessing and abundance. Jesus sums up the purpose of his ministry this way: that we
"may have life, and have it abundantly." Our job is discernment of the ways in which all of us, including the church, already have "far more than all we can ask or imagine." Then the real work of stewa
rdship becomes embracing generosity
in the spirit of Jesus
as a way of life. How is this way of life transformative for you?
Have you prayerfully and carefully considered making a pledge to St. John's for 2019?
For those of you who have already pledged, our Committee and our Church thank you!
For a pledge card, please contact Evangeline Gravina (202-347-8766 ext. 301). |
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Our prayers are requested for the special needs and concerns of this congregation, especially:
Those sick or recovering:
From our parish: Jimmy Lowe and Bob Patchell.
Friends and family of our parish: Yvonne Allen (Nikki Allen), Bonni Ashburn (Kaye Edwards), Jim Bailey (Mike Becraft), Rachael Buckley (Chrystal Martin), John Frew Carter (Margo Arnold), Lane Carter, Ellen Cromwell-Cecrle (Carolyn Becraft), Bill Clark (Clark Ervin), William Frew Conderman (Margo Arnold), Dona Coultice (Betty van Iersel), Sambar Datta (Ashley Culbertson), Henry Farrington (Samuel Watson), Ted Fibison (Wendy Fibison), Elisabeth Fisher (Ellen Parke), Nancy Francisco (Ellen Parke), Allison Gardner (Elizabeth Gardner), Tyrone Gayle (Jessica Sanchez), Anne Harrington (Anne and Robert Harrington), Joe Heitzler (Mike Becraft), John Linton (Cay Buser), Linda Linton (Cay Buser), Rosemary Mariner (Carolyn Becraft), William Markiewicz (Matthew Taylor), Tammy McCleaf (Matthew Taylor), Hattie McDowell (Ellen Parke), Timothy Mullins (Jim Mullins), Judy Nicola (Cynthia Walker), Jerry O'Hagan (Lance Jensen), Jonathan A.I. Olowu (Elizabeth Leach), Susie Pappas (Alex Pappas), Lisa Pell (Mike Becraft), Moon Sa (Richard Metzger), Elizabeth Soyster (Debby Hailey), Jim Tatosian (Pat Dalby), Henry and Sandy Welles (Donna Welles), and Peter Winkler (Betty van Iersel).
Those who are in the hospital:
From our parish: Max Hudgins, Gordon Richmond, and Dace Vidins.
Friends and family of our parish: Robert Hohman (Wendy Fibison), Julie Howell (Cynthia Walker), Aiden Mylnikov (Lindsey Bowen), Conyers Thompson, Jr. (Joanne Hutton), and Larry Watson (Catherine Outten Olivo).
Those who have died:
Friends and family of our parish: Michael McBride, who died
November 16.
Those in our parish celebrating a birthday this week: McGowin Anderson, Diane Bitsberger, Barbara Brown, Julie Cellucci, Luciana Curtin, Megan Evans, Mac Finch, John Firestone, Ronald Fletcher, Matthew Gibson, Ursula Gunzel, Vivienne Harris, William Heaton, Robert Hoback, Virginia Johnson, Priya Lodico, Harry Marshall, Chrystal Martin, Michele Mullins, Chris Siddall, Elizabeth Sissman, Holly Smith, Aaron Sukenik, Megan Tierney, Philip Tierney, and Pamela Venzke
Those in our parish celebrating an anniversary this week: Meg and John Hauge, Ann and William Hughes, and Timothy
Beacom and Johannes Mueller.
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7:45 a.m.
Holy Eucharist with Homily - The Rev. W. Bruce McPherson
8:15 a.m.
St. John's Choir Rehearsal (4th Floor, Parish House)
8:30 a.m.
Nursery opens (Parish House Lower Level)
9:00 a.m.
Choral Holy Eucharist with Sermon - The Rev. W. Bruce McPherson
10:10 a.m.
St. John's Choir Rehearsal (Nave)
10:45 a.m.
One Room Church School - Advent Workshop (2nd Floor, Parish House)
11:00 a.m.
Choral Holy Eucharist with Sermon - The Rev. W. Bruce McPherson
12:30 p.m.
St. John's Choir Rehearsal (4th Floor, Parish House)
1:00 p.m.
Oraciόn Vespertina
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Vestry Nominations Now Accepted
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The next dates for
Holy Baptism are:
* December 9, 9:00 a.m.
* January 13, 9:00 a.m.
* February 17, 11:00 a.m.
* April 28, 11:00 a.m.
* June 9, 11:00 a.m.
If you are interested in having a child baptized, or in baptism for yourself,
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Listen now
to past Sunday Sermons and Speaker Series.
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