St. John's Episcopal Church - Centreville, VA
|
|
Parish News - December 8, 2021
|
|
Dear St. John's Parishioners and Friends:
In the midst of this Advent season, it seems appropriate to share this "Bidding Prayer" for Advent, which reminds us of our responsibilities, from the "Book of Occasional Services" of the Episcopal Church:
Dear People of God:
In the season of Advent, it is our responsibility and joy to prepare ourselves to hear once more the message of the Angels, to go to Bethlehem and see the Son of God lying in a manger.
Let us hear and heed in Holy Scripture the story of God’s loving purpose from the time of our rebellion against him until the glorious redemption brought to us by his holy Child Jesus, and let us look forward to the yearly remembrance of his birth with hymns and songs of praise.
But first, let us pray for the needs of his whole world, for peace and justice on earth, for the unity and mission of the Church for which he died, and especially for his Church in our country and in this city.
And because he particularly loves them, let us remember in his name the poor and helpless, the cold, the hungry and the oppressed, the sick and those who mourn, the lonely and unloved, the aged and little children, as well as all those who do not know and love the Lord Jesus Christ.
Finally, let us remember before God his pure and lowly Mother, and that whole multitude which no one can number, whose hope was in the Word made flesh, and with whom, in Jesus, we are one for evermore.
The Almighty God bless us with his grace; Christ give us the joys of everlasting life; and to the fellowship of the citizens above may the King of Angels bring us all. Amen.
|
|
You can sign up to receive daily meditations throughout Advent from "The Living Compass" by clicking on this link: Living Well Through Advent — Living Compass , then scroll down to sign up to receive the daily emails.
You can also sign up to receive daily meditations from "AdventWord", by clicking on this link:
The Rev. Carol Hancock
Rector
|
|
OUR NEIGHBOR'S CHILD
Many thanks go to those who provided Christmas gifts for Our Neighbor's Child. We were able to collect more gifts than we were asked to provide. Thanks to Denise McCarthy who delivered the gifts last Sunday.
|
|
PARISH NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
|
|
We are searching for a new non-profit group to use the parish hall during the week. If you know of any group looking for space, please tell them to contact David Thompson at St. John's (703-803-7500). We need to spread the word as widely and as quickly as possible. There are flyers on the back table in the church if you know of someone to send it to or a public bulletin board to post it. We have put an ad on Craigs List. If you know other websites, social media, or other places where we could advertise (preferably for free), please let Carol know. Without this income from a group using the parish hall during the week, we will have financial difficulties down the road.
|
|
Volunteer needed - We need a volunteer to organize and shelve the books in our library. It shouldn't take more than an hour or two. Several people have donated books and they are sitting on the counter in the library. If you can help, please let Carol know.
Another volunteer opportunity - We need someone to staff the nursery during the 4:00 PM service on Christmas Eve. If you can help, please let Carol know.
Save the date! We will have a "Cleaning and Greening" of the church on Saturday, December 18 from 9-11 AM to get ready for the Christmas services. Please bring gloves. Rags and cleaning supplies will be provided.
And another Save the Date - Put Friday, January 7 on your calendar now for a potluck dinner at the church and a time to socialize with one another. More details will follow closer to the date.
St John's Christmas ornaments for sale - If you need additional ornaments for your Christmas tree, or need a gift for a friend, a St. John's Christmas ornament might be the perfect gift. Ornaments are available in the church office for $10 each.
And we also have St. John's tee shirts for sale for $15. Most sizes available.
Vestry Candidates Needed - In February, we will have our Annual Parish Meeting where we will be electing new members of the Vestry. Three of our current Vestry members will be completing their three year terms. Six people will remain on the Vestry so we can elect up to six additional members. If you would like to have more information about the work of the Vestry, please feel free to talk with a member of the Vestry (listed on the back of the bulletin each Sunday) or to attend one of our meetings on Zoom. Just let Carol know ahead of time so she can send you the link. The Vestry currently meets on Zoom on the third Sunday of the month at 7:00 PM. Vestry members must be confirmed communicants in good standing.
The Diocese of Virginia Search Committee has recently completed its diocesan profile as it continues its process of discernment for the next diocesan bishop. The profile can be found on the diocesan website at www.virginiabishopsearch.org
The Bishop's Learning Series: My Story; Our Story; The Story
How fiction and poetry can take us deeper into our faith
Clergy: Thursdays at 4 p.m., January 12 - March 16.
Lay: Wednesdays at 3 p.m. January 12 - March 16 OR Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. January 13 - March 17.
As human beings we make meaning through story. Stories are how we connect with one another. When you are introduced to a stranger, you begin with your story: “Where I am from; what I do; what are my passions” and so on. In addition, the deeper truth can often only be reached through story. We know this from reading the gospels. People asked Jesus a complicated question, and he answered with a story: “Once there was a man who had two sons…”
This online series of classes is intended to deepen our awareness and our reservoir of story and image. We will read short stories and poems and use them as the way to go deeper into the Good News and how we encounter it in our lives. The class is not an English class but a Theology class that uses fiction and poetry as the doorway into the mysteries of our faith. If you wish to join the class, please email Anita Lisk and indicate if you are clergy or lay. Read the full class description
St Georges College in Jerusalem - St. George's College, where many parishioners went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, has announced they will reopen in January, following their closure for COVID. (This announcement was made before the Omicron virus and the current closing of the Israeli border to visitors). The staff is putting together 5 short videos about some of the sacred places in and around Jerusalem. Please click on this link for more information. SGC Open for Pilgrims; New Offerings
For those of you who may have missed it.... Carol mailed out a letter to the congregation last week announcing her retirement. Her last Sunday at St. John's will be Easter, April 17. In case, you missed it, the letter is attached.
|
|
*Wood Bundles Now For Sale*
The price is still nominal at $5 per bundle and the bundles are located outside the breezeway. Donations can be put in the envelopes provided and put in the secure adjacent mailbox.
Andrew Wade
|
|
WFCM Christmas Holiday Food Collection
"As a reminder, St John’s will participate in the WFCM Christmas Holiday Food collection program. We will provide boxes and lists of items on Sunday Dec 5th. St John’s committed to providing 12 boxes. Boxes with food items should be delivered to St John’s between Dec 12 and not later than Dec 15th. " Monetary donations also accepted which WFCM will use to buy the perishable food for these families. Make Checks to St Johns with WFCM Christmas on the memo line.
|
|
Western Fairfax Christian Ministries has put out their list of the foods that they need the most. You can bring your non-perishable items to the church on Sunday mornings, or drop them off in the box outside the door by the breezeway during the week and they will be delivered to WFCM.
· Canned garbanzo beans (low salt preferred)
· Canned kidney beans, red beans, and black beans (low salt preferred)
· Canned pasta
· Pasta Sauce (low salt preferred)
· Canned Tuna and Canned Chicken
· Flavored pasta/rice
· Mashed Potatoes
· Oatmeal (Quaker Oats Healthy Old Fashioned Oatmeal)
· Canned vegetables (corn, carrots, spinach, beets) (low salt preferred)
· Canned Pineapple (no sugar added preferred)
· Tomato Paste (low salt preferred)
· Toiletries: Toilet paper, shampoo, conditioner, feminine pads, deodorant, baby wipes, shaving cream, mouth wash (NOTE: we are not currently in need of diapers due to our partnership with Greater DC Diaper Bank. Please only donate larger size pull ups or wipes if you want to donate items for babies.)
Outreach Opportunity to Help Our “Neighbors”
The Western Fairfax Shepherd Center is still accepting volunteer drivers to support clients who need help getting to appointments, shopping trips (for food), and to deliver food from WFCM to clients. Please contact the Shepherd Center at 703-246-5920 or email [email protected] and copy Deacon Steve at [email protected].
|
|
|
Sign Up: Sunday service reader or usher We welcome, need, and value your help! The lector will read the 2 lessons and the psalm. The usher will hand out bulletins and bring the elements and offering to the altar. If you would like to do either of these, CLICK HERE.
|
|
|
|
|
Sign Up: Altar Flowers
Please indicate how you wish your flower donation to appear in the Sunday bulletin. (Wedding anniversary, in memory of someone - something special you want to remember by providing flowers.) CLICK HERE
|
|
|
|
|
Service of Evening Prayer - Virtually
Every Wednesday, St. John's has a Service of Evening Prayer. 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:
Wednesday, December 8
|
|
|
|
|
THE ADULT LECTIONARY FORUM - IN PERSON & ON ZOOM
All are invited to join in, following the Sunday service. Here is the link to the Lectionary Forum via Zoom, in case you cannot attend in person:
PLEASE NOTE LINK updated
|
|
|
|
|
Last Sunday's recorded service: December 5
|
|
|
|
SUNDAY WORSHIP & EDUCATION
|
|
THE ADULT LECTIONARY FORUM - HELD EACH SUNDAY
All are invited to join in, following the Sunday service, in the library. Or use the link to the Lectionary Forum via Zoom, in case you cannot attend in person, found above.
|
|
We can prepare our hearts & minds by reading ahead
for the Sunday Service lesson
The Third Sunday of Advent
December 12, 2021
The First Reading: Zephaniah 3:14-20
Though you may be exhausted and feel discarded forever, there is nothing too great for God and his saving grace.
The Psalm: Canticle 9, p. 9, BCP
The Second Reading: Philippians 4:4-7
The prayers and blessings of our forebears continue to guide the church.
The Gospel: Luke 3:7-18
John the Baptist speaks the truth from God to the people, which draws people to repentance and redemption.
|
|
Online Contributions
to St. John's
|
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.
|
|
|
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)
|
|
The Facility Campaign button may be used only for any contribution for the facility's buildings and grounds, or special facility campaigns.
|
|
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].
|
|
Meditation for the Second Week in Advent
Windows and Chimneys
Houses need air. They need to breathe somehow, in ways that let the scents of spring and snow in and let the heaviness of dust and smoke out. I’m not a big fan of ultra-modern hermetically sealed “residential units” with windows that don’t open and electronic fireplaces, however efficient they claim to be. I think we need windows, and chimneys when we can get them.
Today is the Feast of Saint Nicholas, which is what got me thinking about all this. Bishop Nicholas of Myra was in many ways like other bishops, going to meetings and caring for his people. An ancient legend maintains that he saved three girls from spinsterhood - or worse - by tossing through their windows gold coins for their dowries, which landed in their shoes. This was the start of the tradition that Saint Nicholas (as he is now known) leaves treats in shoes and socks of children around the world, via windows or chimneys - in some places on his feast day, December 6, and in other places on Christmas Eve. Without windows or chimneys, there’s no route for Saint Nicholas!
Windows let fresh air in. Windows give us views of the world outside. Windows allow the light inside to be seen in the world. There are so many parallels to the things that we need in our metaphorical diocesan house. We need the breath of God, the wind of the spirit, and we need it to disturb our equilibrium and sense of control. We need to be always interacting with God’s world, even when we are about what seems like mundane inside-church business, so that we don’t end up suffocating in a stale and airless space.
And in fact, the Episcopal Church is a great place to be if you like windows and the circulation of fresh air. We can get stuck in traditions whose meaning we have forgotten, for sure, but in important matters, we are very reluctant to seal things too tightly. Unlike some branches of the larger tree, we are generally not keen on promulgating detailed doctrine that closes down discernment. There are boundaries, for sure, but deciding who’s in and who’s out is not really our sport. We like a strong foundation, and we have important and solid structures, and we know there are some things we need to fix and retrofit, but most of us don’t walk around with theological caulking guns, looking to seal out new ideas or new voices. We’re getting better at hearing the new voices, though there’s much more work to do, especially in matters of race and culture.
Even when it comes to worship and our sense of connection through the Book of Common Prayer, we leave a lot of room, with many more approved Eucharistic liturgies than most of us ever use, with all kinds of allowances for creativity in prayer, and with an expectation of the General Convention that new forms are emerging alongside the old ones. And that brings in the fresh air of all kinds of shared richness of music, language, emotion, and thought.
Windows have other benefits, too. To my mother’s dismay, I discovered early on that windows were a great way for my sister and me to escape the incarceration of naptime and head out to the backyard to play. More recently, while we all were stuck in our Covid bubbles, the Holy Spirit threw open a window into the world of the internet, expanding our reach and connecting us in a time of profound disconnection. Opening that window opened our kitchen doors to one another, and our front door to people all over the planet. Sharing bit of our home background through the flat window of a screen brought us close in subtle but important ways.
We need ways to see beyond our own surroundings, even as we are gathered. Windows are best when they are big enough to flood the house with light, and to shine like a beacon for when the world gets dark. Jesus told us to let our light shine, so that others can see our good works and give all the glory to God. If our fellowship doesn’t have windows so that we can see out and others can see in, how will we reveal the Kingdom? So much of evangelism is about giving people a window into the ways our hearts and our lives are different, and better, because we live them in the shadow of the cross – a shadow cast by the Light of Christ.
Sometimes we’re lucky enough to have a fireplace, which necessarily comes with a chimney. Chimneys seem to have all kinds of magical properties. Not only can Santa get up and down them, never mind all the cookies he’s eaten, he can do it with a sack of goodies, without knocking down the stockings.
In the Harry Potter novels, the wizards use fireplaces as a somewhat unpredictable transportation system, throwing pinches of green “floo powder” into the fire and announcing the location of the fireplace to which they wish to be teleported. Without a flue, a fire would make our place uninhabitable. Air has to come and go; the inside has to be connected to the outside, or you just can’t breathe.
When the winter weather has us shutting the windows and drawing the curtains early, there’s still that passageway for the numinous, the otherworldly. Maybe it’s the smoke, like the smoke of incense, rising with our prayers into the cloud of God’s presence. Prayers can be like floo powder, taking us unexpected places, and sometimes bringing gifts beyond what we can imagine. It’s all about keeping the connection open between this reality and the greater reality of God. A chimney works like a window for the invisible, the ineffable, and the incredible.
Like the whole season of Advent, the windows and chimneys in our diocesan house remind us that we don’t have things all sealed up, and that is a very good thing. They keep us from focusing in on ourselves, bringing our attention outward into the world and upward into the realm of spirit. They let the Spirit blow into places that have become closed and stale, and they provide hatches into unconventional exploration and discovery. And they carry our prayers, day and night, like the incense of the evening offering.
May Saint Nicholas fill your shoes or your socks with the gold of God’s love, may your chimney draw well, and may your windows be just a little bit drafty.
Blessings!
Bishop Jennifer Brooke-Davidson
|
|
Darkness
The next few weeks are some of the darkest weeks of the year. Jesus promises us that what is said in the dark will be heard in the light. So grab hold of God in the darkness and tell him everything. Don’t hold back. Let it all out.
-Br. Jack Crowley
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
|
Please note: If you choose to unsubscribe below, please be aware that you will no longer receive either St. John's sermons or E-Notes, which are sent weekly. If you do unsubscribe and later want to be added back in, that needs to be done through the provider, Constant Contact. Please email St. John's office with the request: [email protected].
|
|
|
|
|
|
|