St. John's Episcopal Church - Centreville, VA |
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Parish News - January 13, 2021 |
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Dear St. John's Parishioners and Friends: |
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I don’t know about you, but I am exhausted – not physically, but emotionally. The events of the past week in our country have been devastating. Each news report I watch paints a more dire picture of what happened, what else could have happened, and what we might see in the coming week. There is so much hatred and violence and threats of more to come. It’s like being on pins and needles and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Will there be more violence before or at the inauguration? When? Where? Will there be more loss of life? And all of this is happening in the midst of a pandemic, with numbers skyrocketing every day.
Our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, in an address shortly after Wednesday’s attack on the US Capitol, said we need to choose between community and chaos. If we cannot figure out how to work together for the good of all, then we will dissolve into chaos. We have got to listen to those we don’t agree with and try to understand why they think as they do. That doesn’t mean we all have to agree with each other, but we all have to respect each other as children of God. But violence is not acceptable.
Bishop Curry asks what kind of people do we want to be – as Americans, as citizens, as children of God. That question has been going around in my mind. What kind of people do we want to be? Bishop Curry calls for love to prevail. That’s the only way we can learn to live together. Love is the way, he repeats over and over again. Not a sentimental, emotional, feel good love. But a sacrificial love that seeks the good of the other as well as of the self. It’s a confrontation with reality that brings healing. Sacrificial love leads us to do what is right, not what is easy or makes us look good. Sacrificial love leads us beyond chaos to community. And that is the only way that we can survive.
I ask for your prayers, particularly during the coming week, for our nation, for peace, and for justice. (Some prayers can be found on pages 820-824 in the Book of Common Prayer). I ask your prayers for those in positions of leadership in our government. I ask for your continued prayers for those infected by COVID, and out health care workers.
We are all going through a difficult time right now. But our faith and trust and hope is in God, and God will never let us go. May God give each of us strength, courage, and guidance during this difficult time.
The Rev. Carol Hancock
(If you have not seen Bishop Curry's 14 minute video, here is the link:)
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The Rev. Carol Hancock
Rector
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Annual Parish Meeting - Our Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Sunday, February 7 at 10:00 AM on Zoom. There will be a way to sign in so we know we have a quorum and a way to do voting, should we need to do that. More details will be forthcoming closer to that date. (The Diocese of Virginia held their Annual Diocesan Convention online in November and they have given us suggestions of how to run a meeting with voting online.)
Lenten Book Study - This year, Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent, is February 17. For our Lenten book study, we will discuss Presiding Bishop Michael Curry's most recent book, "Love is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times." If you are interested in joining this book discussion, which will be held on Zoom, please let Carol know what day and time works best for you. You will need to order the book ahead of time.
Sunday readers - We are in need of people to sign up to be readers for our Sunday services for the rest of January and February. Below is the link to sign up for the date(s) when you would like to read. You can sign up to read the three scripture readings, or the psalm and the Prayers of the People, or both. You can do the recordings at home and send them electronically to David Weir by the preceding Thursday.
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Be a Sunday service reader, from anywhere!
During this time of covid, St. John's holds a Sunday morning prayer service which is "aired" on Sunday mornings at 9 AM. The readings are
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...pre-recorded, and several parishioners have been doing a great job doing them, from different venues - no matter where they are! We welcome, need, and value your help! If you would like more information on how to do this, click here for the info page on SignUp Genius. Please sign up a week before the Sunday you would like to read, so we can get the readings to you and you can get your recording to David Weir by Thursday.
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Every Wednesday, St. John's has a Service of Evening Prayer at 6 PM. It is a peaceful way to end the day, and it's now being held virtually. Here is the link to this evening's service:
January 13, 2021
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Free COVID Testing
COVID Testing is done at the Centreville Regional Library for those who have symptoms or who have been in contact with someone who has COVID. For more information, call 703-267-3511 for hours and other restrictions.
COVID Vaccines - It has recently been announced that those who are in the "1B" category for receiving COVID vaccines can now do so. That groups includes those who are 75 or older. You can call your health care provider to see if they have the shots, or go to the Fairfax County Health Department website to schedule an appointment.
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Many thanks go to all who have made a pledge to St. John's for 2021. We have received $211,140 from 44 pledging units, a few more pledges than last year. If you have not yet returned your pledge card, please do so as soon as possible. |
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The link to the Sunday service is sent out each Saturday as usual. Then join us for the coffee hour from 10:00 - 10:30 and the Adult Lectionary Class at 10:30 AM on Zoom. The links will be sent out in Saturday's email to all.
Six Days of Prayer - The diocese has put together 6 days of prayer from January 15 to the day of the presendential inauguration on January 20. Please click the following link:
Forward Day by Day is a daily devotional booklet that is published every three months. Different writers contribute for a month at a time and reflect on the daily readings. Those daily devotions are now online. Go to www.forwarddaybyday.org to see the daily devotion. Because we are not having in-person worship, we have stopped our subscription of the printed booklets. If you would like the printed booklets, you can order a personal copy on their website that can be mailed to your home.
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If you or someone you know is in need of a male caregiver with excellent references, please contact Carol for more details. |
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If no one is around to receive your money for the firewood, you may put it into the secure black mailbox adjacent to the firewood stack. |
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SUNDAY WORSHIP & EDUCATION |
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The Adult Lectionary Forum
Now being held virtually via Zoom. All are invited to join in, following the virtual Sunday service. The links to the Forum and the service are sent out in a separate email on Saturdays.
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We can prepare our hearts & minds by reading ahead
for the Sunday Service lesson
The Second Sunday after the Epiphany
January 17, 2020
The First Reading:
1 Samuel 3:1- 20
God calls Samuel to serve him and Samuel listens, despite the overarching habits of the contemporary culture to ignore the Word of God.
The Psalm: 139:1-5, 12-17
The Second Reading:
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Freedom is tempered by wisdom, humility, and devotion to God. Our freedom comes at great cost to God; in gratitude, we are to use our bodies for God’s glory.
The Gospel:
John 1:43- 51
Jesus calls his disciples Philip and Nathanael to follow him, preparing them for amazing sights and challenging experiences.
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Online Contributions
to St. John's
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St. John's now offers three buttons for online donations via Tithe.ly. You may use the buttons below to go directly to Tithe.ly, or you may download the Tithe.ly app on your phone or tablet. |
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The Pledge payment button may be used only to make your pledge payment (after signing up to be a pledger, which may be done at any time in the year. See Carol or Vestry)
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The Facility Campaign button may be used only for any contribution for the facility's buildings and grounds, or special facility campaigns.
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The Donation button may be used for any other type of donation to St. John's. To designate a special purpose (i.e. Organ Fund, Ministry Partner payments, etc.) please send a note to [email protected].
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Sermons from the Bishop's Online Chapel
Each week, one of our bishops or a member of the diocesan staff prepares and posts a sermon based on the Sunday's readings that can be used for online services. Here is the sermon posted for this past Sunday.
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Bishop Porter Taylor's Meditation for the First Monday After Epiphany
1/11/2021
Time to Begin Reconciliation
As I watched the events in the nation’s capital Wednesday, many emotions went through me: anger, anxiety, bewilderment, fear, despair. The next day the question that kept running through my brain was, “What can I do?” I am weary of lamenting what is wrong with our country and being in conversations that circle around, “If those people (fill in the blank) would only ….”
Let me try to be clear. All leaders need to be accountable and the more public your position, the greater scrutiny you rightfully experience. I am not for letting anyone off the hook. In addition, we must ask ourselves if the reaction of the security officers and police to this event as opposed to their reaction to Black Lives Matter protests -- regardless of the explanation -- is an example of the racism that infects our country.
My point is different. As disciples of Jesus, much less citizens, we are commissioned and equipped to be agents of change. For our own well-being and our community’s well-being, we must find ways to embrace our agency especially since our faith is that God does all the heavy lifting. I think of the feeding of the five thousand when Jesus said to the disciples, “You give them something to eat” in order to remind them that they have agency. Jesus is equipping them and us for the work of the ministry. We need to wear trifocals so that we can have three perspectives: what is in the distance; what is in front of us; and what we are ourselves. Too often when we think about complex issues, we limit our focus on those other people or the distant future for a solution and do not attend to what we can do here and now.
But this is the only life we have to live, and we are called to live it for God. This means embracing our discipleship and taking the first step.
I don’t know what that looks like in the current context. I haven’t lived into it. I do know a corollary that can empower us by example.
In 1976, Belfast Northern Ireland was deep into the “troubles.” The power struggle between the Catholics and Protestants had gone beyond arguments into violence. Betty Williams was an office worker. She was not very political because she was busy with her job and was married with children. Her days were full. One day in August of 1976 she was walking home from work, and a member of the IRA was driving a car in her street and as he was driving, he was shot dead by British troops. His car spun out of control and killed three children.
Betty Williams could have gone on Facebook (except there wasn’t Facebook in 1976); she could have gotten herself on a talk show; she could have done the Southern thing which is to ignore it; she could have come up with some explanation of why these persons behave this way and felt morally superior, and maybe these endeavors would have been good things to do. But would they have made anything change?
Instead, that night she began knocking on her neighbors’ doors and saying, “We cannot live like this anymore.” She kept knocking and found that conversation led to conversion led to communion. Together with Mairead Corrigan, an aunt of one of the children who died, she formed the Peace People. This organization set up local peace groups to bring people of opposing views into conversation with one another.
Betty Williams won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976. One woman on her way home from work changed her nation and moved it towards peace.
I do not know what can cure our nation’s deep-rooted problems. I do not know how to bridge the political gaps much less our nation’s embedded racism or the income inequality that perpetuates poverty. I do know this: I am tired of watching the news and coming away with anger, anxiety, or despair. The cure is not indifference, nor is it simply to find a quick solution to a complex problem. But in my bones, I know this is true for me: it’s time to begin and it’s time to begin where I am even if it’s like Betty Williams knocking on doors and saying, “We cannot live like this anymore.”
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Dignity
Although we may not share a common baptism with everyone, we do share our humanity with women and men the world over. To deny the goodness or the dignity of another is to deny the goodness and dignity of God, in whose image and likeness we have all been created. Such a denial of God’s goodness is nothing short of blasphemy.
-Br. James Koester
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and the office number is 703-803-7500.
May our ministry together spread God's love to all whom we encounter.
- Carol
The Rev. Carol Hancock, Rector
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