March 31, 2023

Don't Miss the Final Fish Fry of the Year!

Today is the final Lenten Fish Fry of the season! Join us in the Family Life Center from 4-7 p.m. for delicious food and a time for fellowship.

Fish Fry Week 5

We had a busy fifth Fish Fry Dinner on Friday, March 24! That night:

• 572 meals served
• $344.18 dollars in tips donated to Steelbridge/The Rock
• 10 neighborhood residents attended
• A total of 138 volunteers worked on both Thursday and Friday
• 8 Boy Scouts from Troop 285 worked
• 4 St. John's Youth and parents
• 4 interns from Mandy's Farm worked

Holy Week Services

Worship with us during Holy Week as we follow Jesus' journey to the cross. We will have additional services, as well as a time for prayer:

Maundy Thursday – 7:30 p.m. in the sanctuary

Experience the story of the last supper and the betrayal in the garden, featuring reflective music by Gil Flores, Jim Ahrend, and Therese Macali. Communion will be served.

Good Friday – 7:30 p.m. in the sanctuary

Join us for a beautiful and somber Tenebrae service, with music by the St. John’s Chancel Choir with strings and organ.

Holy Saturday Prayer Vigil - 7:00 p.m. in the sanctuary

The Prayer Vigil on Holy Saturday will be available to the church from 7-8:30 p.m. in the sanctuary. This is a self-guided prayer experience to help you spend these hours keeping watch with Christ.     

Easter Sunday Traditional Worship– 8:15 and 11:00 a.m. in the sanctuary

Experience the joy of the resurrection, featuring the Sonrise and Chancel Choirs with the UNM Faculty Brass Quintet, organist Jim Ahrend, and percussionist Micah Harrow.

Easter Sunday Contemporary Worship - 9:30 a.m. in the Family Life Center

Celebrate the empty tomb with Gil Flores and the Abide Praise Band.

Jazz Vespers This Saturday

Join us this Saturday at 5 p.m. (live or by livestream) for Jazz Vespers, our monthly informal worship service that features some of New Mexico’s best professional jazz musicians. This Saturday will feature vocalist Therese Macali, pianist Robert Lah, guitarist Michael Anthony, bassist Colin Deuble, and drummer Cal Haines. The message will be brought by Rev. Dr. Scott Sharp. Join us!

Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday, April 2

The Easter Egg Hunt party will be Sunday, April 2 from 4-6 p.m. Join us for fun Easter egg hunts, games, food (fruit and cookies), prizes and, of course, the Easter Bunny! Invite your friends!

Mountain Cathedrals Palm Sunday Sunrise Hike, April 2, Travertine Falls

The next Mountain Cathedrals Sunrise Hike will be on Palm Sunday, April 2, at Travertine Falls. Logistics: Meet at 6:00 a.m. at St. John’s east parking lot or 6:30 a.m. at the Grand Enchantment Trailhead just outside of Tijeras (Google Maps: "Canyon Estates - Grand Enchantment Trailhead"); please RSVP in either case. Plan to be back to the cars by 8:30 a.m. and the church before 9:00 a.m. One mile round trip, elevation gain 300 feet, rocky trail, so moderate. Bring water, lights, and trekking poles if desired. For questions and to RSVP contact Mike Furnish at 505-440-7292 or mdfurnish@comcast.net. 

Palm Sunday is a critical juncture in the story of Jesus' journey in this world, his continued quest to save us, and the conflicts generated. Let us start our journey together through Holy Week contemplating this while a new day dawns in the mountains. 

Save the dates for other upcoming hikes: 

• May 20: Paliza Canyon Goblin Colony (Jemez Mountains)? 
• June 2? Moonlight walk 
• June 17: East Fork Jemez River?

Alta Mira Parenting Classes Start April 4

Alta Mira Specialized Family Services, Inc. Parenting Classes is offering a 6-week training on Parenting with Love and Logic. Parenting with Love and Logic ® is a way of working with children that puts parents back in control, teaches children to be responsible, and prepares young people to live in the real world, with its many choices and consequences. Classes are held virtually every Tuesday from 6 – 8 p.m. and go from April 4 through May 9. The cost is $45 per person or $65 per couple. Parenting with Love and Logic workbook included. Additional workbooks are available for an additional fee of $10. Click here to visit the Alta Mira website. Click the Training tab at the top of the page and then Parenting Classes. Select the Special Courses tab to register. Please email Ann W. Fenton at afenton@altamiranm.org or call (505)366-2163 if you have questions. The class has availability for 20 people. 

Do You Know About Locker #505?

 Come Learn on April 6

Do you know what a valuable asset it is to our community? And, it's located just around the corner from our church, on Menaul. On Thursday, April 6, at 10 a.m. in Room 245, Kim Kerschen, of Locker #505, will be our guest speaker for our United Women in Faith meeting. Kim will share updates, exciting accomplishments, and maybe even some suggestions for "serving" at Locker #505. Bring your enthusiasm, and if you wish, bring donations of new socks for kids, and we'll have a "Locker #505 sock collection box" available at the meeting. (Note: the sock sizes most in demand are: girls' and boys' small, and women's.) Our meetings are always full of fun chatter, yummy snacks, and inspiring information. All ladies of the church are invited, and visitors are always welcome.    

Women's Bible Study Signs and Wonders

Starts on April 11

The next Women's Bible Study will be on the book Signs and Wonders, a Beginner's Guide to the Miracles of Jesus by Amy-Jill Levine. Class details:

• April 11 - May 16 (6 weeks), Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., IN-PERSON
• Facilitator: Dara Bell
• Register by emailing Susan Perry at teachersusan@comcast.net, signing up at the Hospitality Center on Sundays or calling the Church Office (505-883-9717)
• Participants will purchase their own books



In Signs and Wonders: A Beginner’s Guide to the Miracles of Jesus, Amy-Jill Levine explores selected miracles of Jesus in historical and theological context. For each miracle, she discusses not only how past witnesses would have understood the events, but also how today’s readers can draw meaning from Jesus’s words and actions.

Sunday Lunch: Thanksgiving in April Turkey Feast on April 16

Let us continue to give thanks for our Risen Lord! The St. John’s Food Ministry is inviting everyone to a Thanksgiving in April Turkey Feast on Sunday, April 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Family Life Center. No reservation required. Just $12 for adults, $6 for ages 12-17, $3 for ages 5-11, and under 5 is free. Give thanks for Food, Fellowship and Fun. A donation basket will be out if you would like to buy a meal for a person experiencing homelessness—we will be taking 180 meals to feed 180 food insecure people at HopeWorks at the end of the month.

We need volunteers to help put on the lunch. If you are available, please sign up using the button below. If you have questions, text or call Nancy Douglas de Baca at 505-238-5895.

Orientation Class: Learning About St. John's Starts April 16

“What is special about being a Methodist?” “What is going on at St. John’s?” “Where do I fit in?” These are key questions that newcomers ask about our church and we are having a class to discuss the answers. Visitors and new members are the primary focus for the class, but those who have been around awhile may want to reorient and re-energize themselves by entering the discussion. It's a great place to get to know others at St. John's as well.

The class will take place on four consecutive Sunday evenings in April and May. The first class will start Sunday, April 16 and we’ll end on Sunday, May 7. We will meet in Rooms 149/151 from 6-7:30 p.m., get to know each other and discuss the topics (our Christian faith, Methodism, St. John’s, my place.)

To register for the class, sign up in the Hospitality Center or contact Jack and Carol Nuzum at 265-5241 or jcnuzum@juno.com. 

Sweet Jazz Fundraiser on April 30

The Sweet Jazz fundraiser benefitting Family Promise is Sunday April 30. Tickets are available for purchase ($25) from Family Promise or from Jenn Shields here at St. John's. Enjoy an afternoon of live jazz, sweet treats, and a Silent Auction in comfortable seats with great acoustics. See the attached flyer for more details. For questions or tickets, contact Jenn Shields at jennshields200@yahoo.com or 505-450-9978. 

Caterpillar or Butterfly by Dee Billops

During Lent there is time for reflection, for prayer, and a time to reassess one’s life. Are we on the path chosen for us by God or just cruising along on one’s own? I think of the caterpillar, content to crawl along a branch, looking for tasty bits of leaves or berries, no cares in the world, no stresses. Life is sheltered, good, content to be in this small world in which it has been placed. But for the caterpillar to be transformed, to reach its full potential, it must spin a cocoon around itself, sleep, and wait for a new beginning. The caterpillar could resist its calling to become a butterfly and stay a caterpillar, secure in its little world on the branch. But if it did not give in to the cocoon, it never would see and feel the life of a butterfly.

 As a caterpillar, its life is circumscribed, but safe. As a butterfly, the individual gets to see the larger world, from up above, all its beauty and awesomeness. By becoming a butterfly and fulfilling its potential of spreading pollen from one flower to another, it helps the world renew itself and leave the world better than when it arrived on the earth. It also gets to taste the sweet nectar and aroma the flowers produced, something unthinkable to a lowly caterpillar. By allowing itself to fulfill God’s plan for it, the caterpillar is rewarded in unimaginable ways and gets to soar to the heavens... Click here to read the full article.

Ushers Needed for Maundy Thursday & Good Friday Services

Ushers are needed for Holy week’s Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services (both are at 7:30 p.m.). There is a sign-up sheet in the usher room if you are interested in volunteering as usher for either service, or you can speak to someone at the Hospitality Center on Sundays about how you can help.

Joie de Vivre Visual Arts Ministry Presents Visio Testimonium Passionis Christi

St. John's Visual Arts Ministry Presents Visio Testimonium Passionis Christi (a visual testimony of the Passion of Christ) for Lent 2023. Follow the passion of Christ and his journey to the cross from his return to Jerusalem, crucifixion, ressurection, and his ultimate victory. This exhibit (in St. John's Sanctuary lobby) offers the viewer an opportunity for meditative and prayerful reflection which brings the prophecies of the Old Testament to the good news of our redemption through his sufferings and sacrifices. Paintings in this exhibit are by Paul Chandler. For more information, click here to visit the Visual Arts Ministry webpage.

Ways to Submit a Prayer Request

If you have a prayer that you would like us to lift up, there are many ways to submit a prayer request at St. John’s:

1. Fill out a prayer card in the vestibule and drop it in the Prayer Request box after worship.
2. Fill out the Prayer Request section on the back of your check-in card during Sunday services.
3. Email a prayer request for the prayer chain to Ann Look, at mapalook@comcast.net.
4. Scan the QR code to check-in to worship or click the check-in link in the Sunday Livestream email. At the bottom of the check in form, you'll see a section where you can add your prayer request.
5. Use the St. John’s App. Click "More" on the menu, then “Care”, and “Send A Prayer Request”
6. Go to our website, and click the “Care” tab. Scroll to the bottom until you see “Prayer & Care” then fill out the fields and click submit.

Have a prayer that you would only like our pastors to see? Add the word "private" to your prayer request and it will only be seen by Pastor Randall and Pastor Tiffany.

Join Families of Faith

Families of Faith is nearing the end of our first year! We will meet the following Thursdays from 5:30-7:30 for dinner, NewSound Choir and Bible Club: 

• March 30 
• No Families of Faith on April 6 for Maundy Thursday service 
• April 13, 20, 27 
• May 4, 11, and 18 

Read "Word a Day" Lenten Series by Pastor Tiffany Hollums

Pastor Tiffany Hollums decided that each day during Lent, she would choose a word to prayerfully reflect upon.She is sharing her Lenten reflections here and hopes to inspire our readers to join in her journey. Click the button below to read the latest articles in this series.

DAY 31: PEOPLE

Readings: Psalm 143; Jeremiah 32:1-9, 36-41; Matthew 22:23-33

Reflection:  

God, we are your people. You have been with us through storm after storm. Even when we forget you or fail….you are there. Help us to be the people you need us to be-for the sake of this world. Let us be a people who live out your love for us. May we be a people of the Resurrection. 

NewSound and Sonrise Choirs Sing on Palm Sunday, April 2

NewSound and Sonrise Choirs will be singing at the 11 a.m. worship service on Palm Sunday, April 2. Call time is 10 a.m. in the Sonshine Café. After service, Sonrise will stay for lunch and choir practice at 1-2 p.m. Then youth are invited to stay and help set up for the Easter egg hunt which begins at 4 p.m. The Easter egg hunt party will be 4-6 p.m.

NewSound Choir sings in service on Palm Sunday and Mother’s Day in the 11 a.m. service. It is never too late to join! Contact tmacali@stjohns-abq.org for details!  

Youth Prayer Vigil on Saturday, April 8

Youth Prayer vigil will be Saturday, April 8 from 9 p.m. to Easter Sunday morning. There will be a nocturnal egg hunt starting at 9 p.m. and then we will take shifts praying through prayer stations until Easter Sunday. We do need parents to sign up for hour shifts. For more info contact Tiffany at thollums@stjohns-abq.org.  

Sonrise Choir on Easter Sunday

Sonrise Choir helps lead the 8:15 a.m. Easter Sunday service! Call time is at 7:30 a.m. For information or questions contact tmacali@stjohns-abq.org.

Summer Events

Youth Bells: The Youth Bell Choir will begin in the summer on Sundays before youth group. Updates coming soon! 

Sacramento Mission Trip: The youth mission trip will be July 23-29. Be on the lookout for some exciting news on this trip coming very soon.

St. John's United Methodist Church

2626 Arizona Street NE | Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110

Office Hours (call only): Monday - Thursday, 9a.m. - 4 p.m.

Friday, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Pastor 24-Hour Hotline | (505)808-1624

Pastor care is available for after hours emergencies. Any congregational care needs, please send those to Pastor Tiffany at thollums@stjohns-abq.org as we all work together to love one another well.