St. John's Enews
March 1, 2020
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St. John's 50th Celebration Weekend
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St. John’s will be hosting a
50
th
Celebration Weekend March 21 & 22. Please note the following:
*The two services will be Saturday 5 pm and Sunday 10 am.
*Both services will have our Choir and guest speakers.
*We encourage current Saturday and some Sunday attendees, as well as those with mobility issues, to attend the Saturday service. Your benefit in doing so is earlier seating at the Sunday buffet (11 am)
*If St. John’s parking lot is full when you arrive on Sunday, you’ll be directed to valet parking at Northern Trust
(Corner of Park Shore & 41). Two valet vans will be running throughout our celebration!
*Thanks for your consideration about equalizing the attendance between the Saturday and Sunday services.
This will greatly enhance our celebration!
God Bless You!
Fr. Joseph
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March 22 Celebration Plans!
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If you made a reservation for the March 22 Golden Anniversary Service and luncheon, we know you are excited to know about the details. And here they are!
Because of the need to have a tent in the northeast parking lot to accommodate the luncheon overflow, additional off-site parking has been provided. In addition to the south and west parking lots, you can use the Northern Trust Bank parking lot at US41 and Park Shore Drive. There will be two shuttle vans providing transportation between that lot and the church, so transfer between the two will be fast and convenient. The vans will begin running at 9:00AM for the 10AM service and leave passengers off at the Church's front door where they will pick them up after the service or lunch. We urge able bodied attendees to use this alternative parking so that our mobility impaired and disabled members can park at the church.
The Anniversary service with Bishop Dabney will begin at 10AM and feature our choir, instrumental soloists, special guests and features including reminiscences of St John's Golden Years. The service will last to about 11:30 at which point the Bishop will ask the meal blessing and the congregation will be directed to file out by pew to expedite passage through the lunch buffet line. It will feature a Wynn's Catering menu of tossed garden greens with Italian dressing, Chicken Picatta with lemon caper cream sauce and/or Ziti Pasta and meatless Marinera sauce, vegetables and a special Anniversary dessert. There will be open seating both in Sugden Hall and under the tent and children should join their parents for the meal. The buffet line will open at 11:00 for the convenience of those coming to lunch but not the service. No program is planned for the luncheon. Child care will be available in the Sunday School rooms beginning at 9:30.
One highlight of the year long Jubilee celebration will be distributed after the luncheon as everyone leaves. Call it a dessert “special”! It is a documentary pictorial history of St Johns – “The Golden Years”, authored by retired Parish Historian Bob Geroy and Parish Librarian Colleen Spangler. You can pick up your copy in the Patio. Wait 'til you see it … a marvelous memento of this Golden Anniversary and memorial of the Parish.
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The Sunday School class have learned about all nine Fruits of the Spirits through reading Bible stories, doing hands on activities or art projects like making musical instruments, using gentle words, painting rainbows for God and stamping with fruits. We are continuously talking about the fruits of the spirit attributes and remembering to follow in Jesus’ footsteps in our daily lives.
The following is a small glimpse of what we have learned about each Fruit of the Spirit.
Love
is to be patient, kind, and rejoices over truth. We love God and others.
Joy
comes from being with God and we can be joyful even in an unhappy moment. We are filled with joy when we spend time with God.
Peace
is freedom from being afraid or worried because God is in control of the whole world. We can have true peace by trusting God.
Patience
is waiting with a cheerful and calm heart. We can be patient and wait cheerfully with God’s help.
Kindness
is love lived out. It is valuing others above ourselves by being friendly, loving, thoughtful and considerate. We can be kind and value others above ourselves because God shows me how.
Goodness
models Christ’s actions of love, humility, and forgiveness. It shows integrity, honesty, and compassion towards others. God is good and loving to me all the time. Only His power working in me can create goodness in my heart.
Faithfulness
is being dependable, trustworthy, and loyal in my relationship with God and with other people. God will never stop loving me or break His promises.
Gentleness
is being loving, tender, calm and humble in the things you say and do. When I am gentle with someone I speak the truth in love.
Self – Control
is saying no to things that are not good for me and yes to what is good for me. I can choose to control my actions, words and responses.
The children have been implementing and practicing their fruits of their spirits every week!
This year, some of the Sunday School children will be making their First Holy Communion in May. This month we will be starting our Communion classes during Sunday School. For those families interested and wanting more information, please contact me. I will be happy to talk about the details with you!
Dayna Sottosanti
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St. John's Shoppe An Upscale Thrift
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Christian Healing Center of Naples - A Testimony
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Imani Milele Children's Choir
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The month of February is dedicated to love. We at St. Johns were certainly blessed by the love of children. Children of God.
The Imani Milele children's choir came on February 16 and presented a wonderful concert of African dance and storytelling, plus beautiful spirit filled songs of worship. The energy in the sanctuary was felt by all of the 200 attendees. The 21 children and their 9 sponsors traveled from Uganda and will be spending the next 10 months traveling across the United States spreading their love of our Lord.
After the concert, the "Sisters" from St. Johns held a dinner for the home sponsors and children. A big thank you to those who participated in serving the delicious meal.
Then it was off to spend the night at 10 different homes. The experience was a "first" for many of the children, such as seeing the Gulf of Mexico, riding in an elevator, swimming in a pool after dark and walking on the sand on the beach. There was lively conversation, laughter, and games until the late hours of the evening.
Learning about different cultures and getting to personally know our neighbors from Uganda was enlightening and fulfilling for all. It was sad to see them go on Monday morning as they boarded their bus with "IMANI" on the side. We wish them well and hope their musical journey with the Lord is successful.
Vickie Bauch
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ParishLife & Enews Deadlines
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Every month during our 50
th Anniversary, we would like to take you back in history…a Blast from the Past, per se of St. John’s.
This month, I will share with you a few snippets from the March 1995 (25th Anniversary - 1970-1995) ParishLife.
The work of the parish begins
Historical parish “firsts”
Holy Eucharist: April 26, 1970 at Citizens National Bank
Baptism: September 30, 1970 – Michael Wilson
Confirmation: (Communicants Received) June 12, 1970
Marriage: May 28, 1970 – Charles Moore and Charlotte Spackman
Burial: September 6, 1970 – John Peacock
Church Service: November 1, 1971 (first in new sanctuary)
Annual Meeting: January 11, 1971 at the Hilton Inn
ECW Meeting: February 27, 1971
ECW Bazaar: November 11, 1972
Men’s Meeting: October 18, 1984 (Guest: Congressman Connie Mack)
Ordination: December 22, 1984 – John Stonesifer
A few other firsts were held during the 25th Anniversary year!
St. John's first Golf Tournament was held Friday, February 3, 1995 at the Country Club of Naples.
Another first....St. John's "first-ever" Parish Retreat at beautiful DaySpring was held on April 23 - 23, 1995. It was a weekend of "parish family" fellowship.
DID YOU KNOW?
Did you know... Reunion Sunday for the 25th Anniversary year was held on April 30, 1995 and as of that date, sixty-five families who appeared in the 1977 Pictorial Directory were still on the rolls of the parish?
Did you know that the Silver Anniversary Dinner was held on Saturday evening, March 11, 1995 at 6pm in Sugden Hall? The Rt. Rev. Roger J. White, Bishop of Milwaukee was the keynote speaker.
Did you also know that apparently parishioners of St. John's really enjoyed getting together and celebrating as the ECW group also sponsored the Silver Anniversary Jubilee on Friday, April 28, 1995 at The Glades Country Club? (Were any of you there???) They had a wonderful dinner and special entertainment as they celebrated twenty-five years of Christian outreach.
We are so blessed as a parish to have had many beautiful beginnings and blessed that we are trailblazers and will have many more 'firsts' in our future.
Ann Witmer
Parish Secretary
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Join 40DAYS4HIM
and Lou Engle in a season of prayer and fasting for revival from Ash Wednesday (2/26)-Monday (4/6).
Donation Day for St. John’s
Shoppe on Wed (3/4) 10AM–12NOON at St. John’s Episcopal Church. Slightly used clothing, household items, accessories and jewelry. For free pick-up of furniture call 239.597.9518. Donations also accepted at St. John’s Shoppe Mon.-Sat. 10AM-3PM
Youth Mental Health First Aid Training
,
led by David Lawrence Center, will be held at St. Williams on Friday (3/6) from 8 am-5 pm. Registration is required by calling 239.304.3505 and the cost is $25.
New Member Welcome
will be Sunday (3/15) at the 9 am service. If you've received an email invitation, please respond to Ann. If you would like to join St. John's, please see Fr. Joe.
Sacred Music Concert
.
Members of the Naples Philharmonic will present Haydn’s String Quartet ‘The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross’ with readings, Sunday (3/29) at 4:00pm. A love offering will be taken.
If you are interested
in knowing more about traveling to the Holy Land in November 2020, please contact Cathy Latimer at 239-262-1693.
First Communion (5/3/20)
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New Members:
Pyllis Dayton Lohrum; Carol V.C. Schaller; Sally "Penny" & John Kramer; Martha Lee and Clive Kileff.
Parishioner Deaths:
Marjorie Baitis (02.09.20); Tucker Johnson (02.10.20); Sylvia Coppens (02.17.20); Gene Brown (02.19.20); Janet Gravelec Eddy (02.20.20)
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Click on the "Click Here" button below to see log in instructions.
If you need a refresher course on how to upload the Instant Church Directory, simply click on the Download Document button below and you will see three different pages on how to load the directory. One is for iPhone, iPad and any iOS device. The second is for Android & Kindle devices. The third is for logging in from a computer.
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Ella, Darren, Doug, Richard, Scott, Chris,
Cindy, Jackie, Tamara, Todd, Ralph,
Medea, Chloe, Paul, Gary, Becky,
St. John’s Parishioners and Families
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Praise Report
"Strive to Please God"
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“Your own ears will hear Him. Right behind you a voice will say, ‘This is the way you should go,’ whether to the right or to the left.”
Isaiah 30:21 (NLT)
I figured I was an adequate, if conventional, Christian. Church on Sunday. Pledged annually. Ate pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. (Even helped cook them!) No spiritual fireworks, but also no thunderous warnings.
I had a satisfactory career in management ending up in the banking business. When the rector heard I was a “banker,” his eyes lit up, and I was recruited into parish leadership. (Little did he know, the bank never let me near the money… I was in operations and marketing!) But I was soon on the Finance Committee, Treasurer, indeed Stewardship Chairman. Even got on the Diocesan Finance Committee. I found myself hearing more about, and being asked to preach about
tithing
, and that started to worry me.
I thought I was contributing appropriately. But wasn't I being hypocritical in preaching tithing and not doing it? And ten percent off the top? That's a scary commitment. My conscience (read “LORD,” I'm sure) kept pestering, so I decided I needed to give
tithing
a try. If the family faced starvation, I could always back off.
After a while, it dawned on me that I was meeting all the bills with plenty left over. And after that rather pedestrian revelation, I began seeing that there were other unexpected good things happening. Coincidences?
I finally put it together.
There are no coincidences
. What we call “coincidences” are actually God's surprises to encourage us in our choice of direction. As I
tried
to get more in communication with Him and
chose
to follow His lead, I found I received one Godly surprise after another!
A wonderful prayer in
Thoughts in Solitude,
by American Trappist monk, author, theologian and poet Thomas Merton, says:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going…But I believe that the desire
to please you does in fact please you… And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it… Therefore I will trust you always… for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
Merton's insight and all those “coincidences” have convinced me that every time we
strive
to please God, He is pleased and, in response, He sends us surprises to encourage us to continue to choose the paths that bring us closer to Home, closer to Him.
Praise the Lord!
David Pfaff
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