PARISH NEWS
for Wednesday, August 28, 2019
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The Tolling of the Bell at St. John's for the 400
th
Anniversary of the Arrival of the First Enslaved Africans was held last Sunday afternoon, August 25
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At 3 pm St. John's bell was rung, and the group present said prayers and reflected on the arrival of the first African slaves to Virginia in the year 1619.
God our Governor, great is your name in all the world, great is your presence in this land. You were here when Native peoples first lived and loved and governed themselves. You were here when the first Englishmen immigrated to these shores, and when they held their first Legislative Assembly 400 years ago. You were here that same year when the first English women chose to come and join the men in establishing settled communities, and when the first African people were brought here, in harrowing circumstances, against their will. You were with our ancestors, men and women of diverse races and cultures, through triumph and adversity, though hope and fear. In the same way that you were with your people then, be with us now as we remember the relationships and legacies that have shaped us as Americans today. Forgive us the ways that we have hurt and exploited one another. Give us the courage to do the hard work of real reconciliation. And bless our continued efforts for justice, freedom and peace for everyone in this land - everyone, without exception. For you are a God who does wonders, and in your name we see wonders. May it be so. And may we be partners with you in making it so. Amen.
(Prayer sent by Bishop Goff. Her letter may be found below.)
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Bob Faithful, Parishioner at St. John's
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The Rev. Carol Hancock, Rector
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The Gravel Project of 2019
Many thanks to all who worked
on the gravel project! Dick Griffith did a lot of research to find a source for the gravel, to get it delivered, and to find a contractor to spread it in the parking lots. There was a lot of communication going on! David Thompson rented cones, signs were made and posted, and Ministry Partners alerted! Volunteers came out on Friday and Sunday to assist. David Weir took a video for the archives. Thanks also go to Andrew Wade, Sam Cameron, and Monti Zimmerman. It was a great team project.
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It was good to get away......but it's good to be back!
Vacation was wonderful, a time to see family and friends, and a time to relax at the beach. But it's also good to be back with all of you at St. John's! Many thanks go to The Rev. Samuel Reddimalla for leading the two Sunday and one Wednesday services, and to Val Tucker for leading Evening Prayer on two Wednesday evenings. Carol Hancock
Coffee Hour - As this Sunday is the first Sunday of the month, St. John's parishioners, whose last names begin with A - N, will provide the Coffee Hour snacks this Sunday.
The church office will be closed on Monday, September 2 in observance of Labor Day.
Our Sunday School class for children ages 2 - 4 starts on Sunday, September 8. This year, the children will attend the first part of the service with their parents in the church. After the reading of the gospel, the teacher and children will process out the side door and to their class in room 215. The class will end by 10:45 and the children will join their parents at coffee hour. Parents are welcome to attend the class with their children, if they would like. After September, the class will meet on the first Sunday of each month. The curriculum is provided. If you would be interested in helping with this class, please let Carol know.
Many thanks go to Monti and Gluay Zimmerman, Susie Pike, and Sam Cameron for cutting down some small trees and shrubs last Sunday.
Mandy Hull, our organist
, is offering a FREE trial period of three piano lessons during the month August to anyone available between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM on a weekday, Monday through Friday. Mandy teaches using the Simply Music Piano method, which emphasizes playing for enjoyment and recreation. Open to beginners and former pianists. Learn a variety of styles, including classical, blues and pop, and learn to accompany the singing of songs like Amazing Grace, Auld Lang Syne and Danny Boy within a couple of months. To set up a trial, please contact Mandy at
amandahull101@gmail.com
or text to 931-808-2789.
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Make an Online Pledge Offering!
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The new way to send your pledge offering! You can download the app to your phone, or you can click the link below, and use your credit card!
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We can prepare our hearts & minds by reading ahead
for the Sunday Service lessons.
The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost
September 1, 2019
9:30 AM
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The First Reading: Ecclesiasticus 10:12- 18
Though pride can become a comfortable retreat, indeed, for a person of any stripe, Sirach assures us in the words of God that pride is not the best-fitting condition or the lightest burden that any person might carry.
The Psalm:
112, page 755, BCP
The Second Lesson: Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
The love of God never ends and is unconditional. It is reflected in human relationships through marriage and sacrificial giving.
The Gospel:
Luke 14:1, 7-14
True hospitality is not meant to be a round robin among friends, but sacrificial love and generous provision in humble acts of service to those who cannot pay you back in kind.
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CHILD CARE IS PROVIDED IN THE NURSERY
(Rm. 205)
During the Service
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JOINT SUNDAY SCHOOL: 10:30 - 11:30 AM
Each week, St. John's children join with our Ministry Partners:
Wellspring UCC & Grace Baptist Church
Room 207/208
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St. John's Sunday School
class for ages 2-4, Room 215
Meets the first Sunday of each month from 9:50 - 10:45 AM
(will not meet in June, July or August)
Our first class in September will meet on September 8 to avoid the Labor Day weekend.
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THE ADULT LECTIONARY FORUM
MEETS EACH SUNDAY IN THE LIBRARY, FOLLOWING THE SERVICE
FROM 10:50 - 11:50 AM
The Saint of the Week for Forum Discussion:
O-
kuh-Ha-tah,
the second of three sons, was born
Nok-So-Wist (Bear Going Straight) in the 1840s in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) to
Sleeping Wolf
(father) and
Wah Nach
(mother). Raised as a traditional Cheyenne, he is alleged to have been the youngest man to complete the sun dance ritual (ergo his Cheyenne name, O-kuh ha-tuh ~
sun dancer
). Participating in his first war party at age 14 against the Otoe and Missouri tribes, he was inducted into the Bowstring Society (one of his tribe’s five warrior groups). A veteran of actions against U.S. federal and state militia forces, his first engagement with white settlers was at the 2
nd
battle of Adobe Walls, in which 300 warriors from various tribes, reacting to settlers' poaching buffalo, cattle grazing, and stealing horses, attacked a trading village the poachers used. The attack triggered the Red River War of 1874-75, during which U.S. forces pacified native warriors on the Southern Plains through a series of skirmishes that wore the militants down through lack of food and supplies. After Oakenhater and the other warriors surrendered at Fort Sill, he was among 73 Indians transported by wagon, train & steamboat to prison in Castillo de San Marcos (Fort Marion) near St. Augustine. Installation commander, CPT Richard H Pratt, was considered a progressive in his day, and advocated mainstreaming the Indians into American society. He arranged for them to develop skills he deemed necessary to survive in America's dominant white culture: English, wage work, Christianity, reading, Western education, etc. He also improved conditions, gave them army uniforms, removed their shackles, helped them build better living quarters, and procured decent bedding. Trust improved on both sides. Pratt convinced his superiors to allow the Indians to carry nonoperational rifles, perform guard duty, obtain outside employment, attend church in town on Sundays, and camp unsupervised on nearby Anastasia Island. One of Pratt's experiments was to encourage the detainees to draw tribal art in ledger books. Oakenhater’s work was among the best; it was through this that he gained the attention of Mrs. Alice Key Pendleton, the wife of New York Senator George H. Pendleton. In 1877, Episcopal deaconess Mary Douglass Burnham arranged Oakerhater and other prisoners to serve as church sextons and continue their education. When the prisoners were released in April 1878, the Pendletons relocated Oakerhater and his first wife to St. Paul's Church in Paris Hill, NY to study for the ministry. Ordained a deacon in 1881, he returned to Oklahoma. There he remained, founding schools, missions, and continuing to minister to his people until he died on 31 August 1931. In 1985 the Episcopal Church designated him as a saint; the following year, the Washington National Cathedral clergy hosted the first feast day service in his honor!
God bless
Walt Cooner
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Remembering our Past, Committing Ourselves to God’s Intended Future
8/22/2019
Bishop Susan Goff Offers Prayers on the 400th Anniversary of Arrival of First Africans in Virginia
This summer history is alive in Virginia as we remember events of 400 years ago. The Englishmen who inhabited Jamestown and nearby settlements held their first representative legislative assembly on July 30, 1619. In August of the same year, the first English women arrived to join the men. Late in the month, Jamestown colonist John Rolfe recorded the arrival of “20 and odd” African men and women. Historians tells us that these persons were captured by English pirates from a Portuguese slave ship and brought to Point Comfort, now Fort Monroe National Monument in Hampton, on a vessel called the White Lion. They were traded to the colonists for food and supplies.
As we remember those 20 African people who were stolen from their homes, brought to and sold on the shores of Virginia, let us lament the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade that still haunts us today. Let us pray for descendants of slaves and of slave owners alike, for all people of our Commonwealth and nation, and for all enslaved persons in our world today. And let us commit ourselves to working for justice, freedom and peace for all people.
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VOLUNTEERING AT ST. JOHN'S
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Sign Up Here
to be an altar server
*,
or to donate flowers for a Sunday service, or to bring refreshments for Coffee Hour after the service.
*
(if you're not an altar server, and would like to be a Lay Eucharistic Minister (LEM), a Lector, or a Crucifer, please see Carol).
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WESTERN FAIRFAX
CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES
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"We know that food can be one of the most expensive items on a household budget list. Our hope is that in allowing our clients to visit once per month they will save enough money to pay for other expenses such as rent or utility bills."
I
tems are collected weekly in the baskets at the front door of St. John's Church. For food list:
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Reminder
Every Wednesday evening, we have a service of Holy Eucharist and healing at 6:00 PM. The service is about 30 minutes. It is a perfect alternative for those who cannot come to church on Sunday mornings, as well as a good spiritual boost in the middle of the week. Come join us!
Healing
Everywhere we look, we can see the ills of injustice: violence, war, addiction, abuse, racism, neglect, indifference. Many of us bear the oozing wounds from these ills, carrying around burdens that have been unfairly placed on us with no help in sight. In God’s economy, healing is on the way. When we put our trust in Jesus, holding out our hands and giving our burdens to Him, we will in turn be fed, salved, and nurtured back to the fullness that God has always intended for us.
-Br. Jim Woodrum
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My email address is stjohnscvpriest@gmail.com,
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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ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH | 5649 MT. GILEAD RD. , CENTREVILLE, VA | 703-803-7500
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