Congratulations to Sarah Bricklemyer, Alvie Casey, Laura Cruse, and Lockwood Gray for being elected to the Vestry at our Annual Meeting of the Parish on Sunday, February 14. Also appointed were Brett Divers as Senior Warden, Suzy Lopez as Junior Warden, Laura Hobby as Clerk, and Carleton Compton as Treasurer. We look forward to a wonderful year under their leadership.

We are extremely grateful for the work of those members whose term has expired: Greg Hearing, our Senior Warden, Dennis Carr, Junior Warden, Kim French, and Bob Yelverton. Particular appreciation is due to Greg, who took over as the Church’s leader after Fr. Connelly’s retirement in October, and did a wonderful job in a difficult year.

The Pastoral Care Ministries have opportunities that require a minimal time commitment but lots of blessings in return. If you can help, contact Fr. Michael Cannon or Sharon Stoll or one of the Team Leaders directly.

Take a meal to a fellow parishioner who is returning from the hospital or in a family crisis. Team Leaders are Beth Arthur and Cindy Hadlow.

Deliver the altar flowers from Sunday services to parishioners who are sick or bereaved. (when the COVID-19 situation permits) The Team Leader is Miriam Faircloth.

 

Visit (when the COVID-19 situation permits) or call someone who is unable to attend church to provide fellowship and an on-going connection to St. John’s. The Team Leader is Sharon Stoll.

Visit our YouTube channel for more information about Pastoral Care Ministries at St. John's Church.

The Invite-Welcome-Connect team would love your help spreading the word about our wonderful parish! Yard signs and invite cards are available in the parish office, or download and email our digital invitation by clicking on the image to the left. For more information or to have a sign or notecards delivered, contact Donna Gem.

The Ash Wednesday Liturgy and Holy Eucharist will take place at 7:00 p.m. today in the Church and streamed on Facebook Live and our website. This service will include music from the choral quartet and will be available on Facebook after 7:00 p.m. The bulletin is here. The School's service is also available on YouTube.

For more information about Ash Wednesday and our traditions, including about ash imposition at home, click here.

To assist you in your observance of a holy Lent, St John’s as usual offers a variety of resources:

We are excited to announce that parishioner Laura Cruse will be leading the next Sacred Ground, the film-based dialogue series on race and faith. The series will be held in a small group limited to 15 people and conducted on Zoom in 10 sessions, meeting every other week.

The small group will be invited to walk through chapters of America’s history of race and racism, while weaving in threads of family story, economic class, and political and regional identity. The series is built around a powerful online curriculum of documentary films and readings that focus on Indigenous, Black, Latino, and Asian/Pacific American histories as they intersect with European American histories. Sacred Ground is part of Becoming Beloved Community, The Episcopal Church’s long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in our personal lives, our ministries, and our society. For more information, visit https://episcopalchurch.org/sacred-ground.

Contact Laura Cruse or Fr. Michael to join.

The Women’s Mid Morning Bible Study continues a study of the Book of Job, which biblical scholars include in the genre known as "wisdom literature." They are using Interpretation Bible Studies /Job by David C. Hester as their study guide. They welcome new members joining them at any point in the series. The next meeting is Tuesday, February 23 and Sally Olsson lead the discussion of Job, Chapters 9 and 10.

This is a Zoom study on alternate Tuesdays, 10:00 to 11:15 a.m. To receive an invitation to log in

email Joan McKay at mckayjhm@aol.com. Pat Wilson can also provide more information or

answer questions, contact her at patwilson68@tampabay.rr.com or 245.9562.

Our Lenten series On Forgiveness will be presented by the clergy and staff of St. John’s each Wednesday from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. These conversational sessions will feature stories from a documentary entitled “The Power of Forgiveness,” explore the meaning of the parable of The Prodigal Son using Henri Nouwen’s Return of the Prodigal Son, and provide practical resources for approaching and processing forgiveness as found in the Book of Common Prayer and in tradition. If you plan to attend, you would benefit by the acquisition and reading of Nouwen’s book, though it is certainly not required.

February 24 – Deacon Moore on “The Power of Forgiveness”

March 3 – Fr. Cannon on “The Younger Son”

March 10 – Ayana Grady on “The Elder Son”

March 17 – Fr. Goodheart on “The Father”

March 2 - Fr. Reho on resources and tools for forgiveness

The Way of the Cross liturgy will be performed in the church each Wednesday of Lent at 5:00 p.m. and broadcast online. The schedule of leaders is as follows: February 24 - Fr. Cannon, March 3 - Ayana Grady, March 10 - Fr. Goodheart, March 17 - Fr. Reho, March 24 - Deacon Moore.

On Wednesday, February 24, the Wednesday Afternoon adult formation group will begin a six-week, online Lent program from St George’s College in Jerusalem. For those who have visited the Holy Land, the program will recall its beauty, wonder and inspiration--a wonderful reminder of those times which undoubtedly will have left an indelible mark. For those who have not yet been able to make their pilgrimage, we hope it will serve as a taste to inspire you to find your way there in the future. The program topics are:

Week 1 - The Desert

Week 2 - The Water Well

Week 3 - The Mountain

Week 4 - The Sea

Week 5 - The Road

Week 6 - The Garden

All are invited. We will meet on Zoom on Wednesdays from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; there will be videos to watch at home. For more information contact Deacon Kathleen at kmoore@stjohnstampa.org or 785.9400.

We are in need of Sandwich Sunday Hosts for the upcoming year. Available dates are March 21, April 18, May 16, June 20, July 18, August 22, November 21, and December 19.

Hosts can assemble lunches at their own homes, and deliver them to Faith Cafe the next day. Costs are reimbursed by the parish. Contact Cindy Martin if you can help.

During this Lenten season, now through Palm Sunday, St John's EYC will focus on the parable of the Prodigal Son through the movie Grace Unplugged! Join us for EYC, masked and socially distant, this Sunday, February 26. 6th through 8th graders will meet from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., and 9th through 12th graders will meet from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall!

Don’t forget to stay up to date on the latest pictures and videos from EYC on our Youth Group Instagram.

Parents of 7th graders (or older)! Has your child gone through Youth Confirmation? Confirmation is an exciting journey of questions and faith—learning more about the Episcopal Church, its doctrines, and our roles as disciples of Christ! If you are interested in your child participating in Youth Confirmation this year, please contact Youth Minister Ayana Grady or more information.

Please let us know if you'd like to receive our March at-home Sunday School packet by contacting Children's Minister Ayana Grady at agrady@stjohnstampa.org.

This week’s Sunday School curriculum for all classes can be accessed here, along with the weekly cartoon videos.

Contact Laurie Lawther at llawther@stjohnstampa.org to set up.

Go to www.stjohnstampa.org and click on "Give Now" on the right side of the top blue bar. The church now has the ability to accept credit and debit card payments, along with checking/savings account payments. To make a pledge or pay in some other way, click on "Stewardship" in the top website menu.

In the 'To' field of the text type 73256, then in the message, type SJE. You will receive a text back immediately with a link to complete the payment.

Laurie is available to walk you through any of these methods by email at llawther@stjohnstampa.org or call her at the parish offices at 259.1570. If you prefer, you may also call John Edgar in the parish offices and he will fill out a pledge card for you.

February 18, Liz Ackermann, Lynn Fluharty, Kate Shamblin, William Horan, Emily Ruas, Allison Grimard, Eloise Jennewein

February 19, Jessica Simmons

February 20, Jeannie Kenyon, Bettye Spoto, Markus Dangl, Patrick Kelly

February 21, Sue Cox, Paulette Lane, Carol Woodroffe, Bob Yelverton, Kent Malizia, Charlotte Graham, Drew Hunt

February 22, Christina Arcuri, Wiley Sharp, Sara Stone

February 23, Con Foley, Ruth Giordano, Karen Lassey, Lawson Lewis

February 24, Jeff Blume, Pamela Price, Mark Mellon, Isabella Blewitt

The Men's Interactive Bible Study meets every Thursday at 11:45 a.m. to study the readings for the coming week and for fellowship. Email John in the parish offices at jedgar@stjohnstampa.org for the link to join.

The Holy Eucharist (Rite II), 10:00 a.m., Church, on Facebook Live, and our website

Bulletins and other resources are available here. 

Click here for the readings, St. John's follows Track 2.

The Contemporary Women's Bible Study (CWBS) group is doing a weekly virtual study on Tuesday evenings from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. This is a Zoom meeting, so if you are interested in participating, you will need to register. Contact Deacon Kathleen at 785.9400 or kmoore@stjohnstampa.org; or Sally Thompson at tampasal@gmail.com or 254.3009.

On Forgiveness Lenten Program, 6:00 p.m., Zoom

St. John's continues to stream our 10:00 a.m. services on Facebook Live on Sundays. Access the stream at our page at https://www.facebook.com/stjohnstampa/. The stream is also live on our website.

The audio for sermons is here. New sermons are uploaded by Monday each week. Bulletins for Sundays are here, each week's bulletin is uploaded to this page by Saturday. Click here to find the readings for this coming Sunday (St. John's follows Track 2). You can also see Sunday services on our YouTube channel, they are uploaded each Sunday by mid-afternoon.

The parish offices have reopened. Regular hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, however most staff and clergy are still working from home, so please make an appointment with the staff or clergy member you wish to meet with to be sure they are available. Email us at parish@stjohnstampa.org or call 259.1570 to speak with John Edgar if you have questions.

Fr. Reho invites you to join the School for daily chapel services on the School's YouTube channel. For safety, students will have chapel in their homeroom via video for the time being. A reminder that the sermon is geared to children, but is no less enjoyable for that fact. The link is the same every day: www.stjohnseagles.org/daily-chapel, the services become live each morning at 6:00 a.m., Monday through Friday. You can also access the Chapel Book here if you would like to follow along.

Our clergy and staff stream evening prayer daily Monday through Saturday at 4:00 p.m. on Facebook Live. Intercessory prayers are invited in the comments during the feed or email us.

Nightly compline is offered by the brothers of the Society of St John the Evangelist on their web site at www.ssje.org.

If you have any questions or trouble using the online services noted above, please contact Lee Lowry by replying to this email, or John Edgar at jedgar@stjohnstampa.org. You can also contact the clergy member or parishioner who is the contact for each ministry. 

If you are someone who is able to help your fellow parishioners with errands and other means of support, please contact Fr. MIchael at mcannon@stjohnstampa.org. Conversely, if you are a parishioner who needs help, please also contact Fr. Michael at email at mcannon@stjohnstampa.org or by phone at 864.320.7116. He will match needs with resources so we are able to help one another in Christ's name.