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The Bridge
March 4, 2022

The Mission of St. John’s is to be a community of God’s people who heal brokenness, build bridges, and exemplify borderless kindness.
BIRTHDAY BASH!
Friday, March 18, 2022

On Friday, March 18, we will celebrate ALL the birthdays! Our Birthday Bash will start at 11:30am. Please bring a dish to share. We will have CAKE!

Please mark your calendars for the THIRD Friday of each month for Birthday Bash.
Worship at St. John's
Sunday Services - March 6
9:00 am Holy Eucharist Rite I (In-Person)
10:30 am Holy Eucharist Rite II (In-Person and Zoom)
1:00 pm Santa Eucaristía Rito II (en persona)
To participate in our virtual Sunday services, you do not need to have a Zoom account or download Zoom. Simply click the link to join.

You may also join the service by telephone -
dial (346) 248-7799 and enter the meeting ID when prompted.
Meeting ID: 879 9502 6837
The video recording of the 10:30 a.m. service will be posted on the St. John's Facebook page, YouTube, and the St. John's website later in the day. Additionally, recordings of the English and Spanish sermons will be available. Links to the recordings will be posted on our website (www.austinstjohns.org).
Consider This
St. Teresa of Ávila: (Spanish Carmelite nun who lived in the 1500s) long ago wrote these words:
 
“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
Mardi Gras - Loteria Party
St. John's Notices and Activities
LENTEN MEDITATION GUIDES

The free Lenten Meditation Guides from Living Compass are available in the narthex. You are welcome to take one for yourself and one for a friend.

If you would like to access the Guide online, and / or receive a daily emailed meditation, please visit Living Compass.
FR. DAVID'S BOOKSHELF
A monthly review of a book well worth reading from St John’s church library
 
Peter Gomes, The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart.

If you would like a fresh look at the Bible, then you’ll enjoy this book. The Rev. Peter Gomes (1942-2011) was a noted teacher and preacher at Harvard Divinity School, but this isn’t a difficult book. It’s written for a general audience who know something of the Bible but would like to know more or get a fresh viewpoint. The eighteen chapters are divided into three sections: 1. Opening the Bible; 2. The Use and Abuse of the Bible, and 3: The True and Lively Word. The book’s 353 pages (not including notes) aren’t difficult to read since the author’s style is lucid and his ideas are fascinating.

One critic had this to say: “A riveting tour of this holy book with the guide both witty and wise. Gomes blends the passion and reason of the humanist to open the sacred even to the most secular and skeptical mind. The Good Book is a great work of scholarship and imagination.”
PRAY FOR YOUR NEW VESTRY

On Saturday, March 5, your Vestry will be on retreat to pray and work together towards a plan for moving St. John’s through 2022.

Please add them to your prayers, jointly and individually – Steve Kriechbaum (Senior Warden), Kevin Flegal (Junior Warden), Maria Caballero (Clerk), Carlos Lugo, Sandy Welles, Maria Angie Hernandez, Sandra Ward, Carolyn Cline, Patricia Mata, Mother Minerva, Deacon Victoria.
COFFEE AND FELLOWSHIP

We return to the Parish Hall for coffee and fellowship after each Sunday service!

We need volunteers to set up and clean up. Put together a team of 2 or 3 (or more!) to make the coffee, set it up, and clean up after.

If you would like to bring snacks, you are invited to do so. Please take your dishes home with you so you won't have to wonder what happened to that plate Dear Old Aunt Gladys gave you.
ALTAR FLOWER DEDICATIONS
Donations received during Lent will be used for our Easter Lilies.

You may now sign up to dedicate flowers for the altar either on the flower chart in the narthex or online through our website.

On the website home page, click on “Flowers” in the upper right corner. Dedications may be made in thanksgiving for special times (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.), or in memory of those close to you who have died.

Multiple dedications on any given Sunday are acceptable.

The suggested donation for a dedication is $60. However, we know that some would like to give more, and some can only give less. All dedications will be honored, and any donations will be appreciated.

If you use the flower chart in the narthex to make your dedication and wish to make a donation, please use the provided envelopes. If you are using the form on the website for your dedication and wish to make a donation, please click on the "online donation" box.
CHRISTIAN FORMATION
Lenten Formation Series - hybrid
Wednesdays during Lent - 7pm

Continuing on the Wednesdays during Lent, we will focus on an exploration of Christian history. Each 90-minute session will include watching an episode of a BBC documentary series on the “History of Christianity” by Diarmaid MacCulloch, followed by a discussion of the video.

The topics of each episode are:
  1. The First Christianity
  2. Catholicism: The Unpredictable Rise of Rome
  3. Orthodoxy: From Empire to Empire
  4. Reformation: The Individual Before God
  5. Protestantism
  6. God in the Dock

On the final week, April 6th, Professor Dan Joslyn-Siemiatkoski from the Seminary of the Southwest will join us to wrap up our exploration of Christian history.

This is an opportunity to better understand how Christianity got to where it is today and our place in its two-thousand-year-old story. We hope to see you there! The link to the Zoom meeting can be found in the Tuesday Christian Formation email, as well as in the weekly Bridge.
 
For more information, please contact Scott Morizot.
Cornerstone Literary Circle - Zoom
Wednesdays at 5:30 pm

Cornerstone Literary Circle is reading Crazy Horse: The Lakota Warrior's Life & Legend, (2016) For our next session, we will be reading Chapters 14-18. 

The reading assignments will be found in each week's Christian Formation email sent out on Tuesday.

Please contact Laurie Williams for more information. 

The link to join the class is here:
Thursday Morning Bible Study - Hybrid
Thursdays at 10:00 a.m.

We continue to meet both in person in the Parish Hall and via Zoom. Everyone is welcome to join our conversation - please participate at your personal physical and emotional comfort level.
For more information, please contact Elaine Jackson.
The link to join the class is here:
(please refer to our website www.austinstjohns.org or to the Christian Formation email sent every Tuesday for more information and links)
WEDNESDAY MORNING GROUNDS CREW

There are projects to be done all year, and your participation would be very welcome! We start about 8:00 a.m. and finish about noon.
For more information about this ministry, please contact Hal Hughes.
LABYRINTH COMMUNITY GARDEN
Annual Meeting/Open House
Saturday, March 12, 10:30-11:30 a.m.

Have you ever wondered what those people were doing in the community garden? Now is your chance to find out! This year, the Labyrinth Community Garden will have a combined annual meeting and open house on Saturday, March 12th from 10:30-11:30. Weather, permitting, we will meet in the garden. In case of weather issues, we will meet in the parish hall. At the meeting, you will have the opportunity to meet the gardeners and find out what we have done the past year and what we plan for next year. We want to make this a potluck event, so please feel free to bring your favorite dish. It is very important that we know who will be attending, so please RSVP (labyrinthcg@gmail.com) as soon as possible. Hope to see you there!

To learn about how our Labyrinth Community Garden serves the community, or for information about obtaining a bed in the Garden for you and your family, please contact Patty Arnold.
Episcopal Diocese of Texas
BISHOP DOYLE'S TOWNHALL CONVERSATIONS
Sunday, April 3
Sunday, April 3
St. James’, Austin
1941 Webberville Road
Austin 78721
Town Hall at 3 p.m.
Coffee & Snacks following the presentation

Please click the button to RSVP
Wondering what happened at Diocesan Council last week? Click here for the highlights!
COVID-19 Related Information
click on the image to access the Austin Public Health website
Based on the new CDC guidelines, masks are optional on the St. John's campus. The CDC guidelines also highly recommend that all persons who are not fully vaccinated wear masks while indoors. Please get vaccinated and boosted to keep yourselves and others safe. Thank you for your cooperation in these efforts to keep our St. John’s community safe and healthy. 
Caring for Each Other
FOR PRAYER AND PASTORAL CARE
If you find that your situation is causing financial, spiritual, or emotional difficulties, or if you are in need of food, do not hesitate to call Deacon Victoria (512-297-5953) or email Mthr. Minerva (RevMinerva@austinstjohns.org).

We are a church family; when a family member needs assistance we want to try and help that member.
Our Gathering Policy
St. John's gathering policy continues to be updated as conditions change relative to the COVID pandemic. St. John's holds the health and safety of our community as a top priority.

Your understanding and cooperation are very much appreciated.
Please visit our website (Austin St. John's)
for other ways to make a donation.
Please send mail to the church post office box:

St. John’s Episcopal Church
P. O. Box 81493
Austin, TX 78708-1493
All First Class Mail, Priority Mail and Priority Express Mail will be forwarded through Dec. 7, 2022.
Stories and Photos for The Bridge

You are invited to send photos and stories about yourself, your family, and our parish for inclusion in The Bridge. As we come back together, let's share our experiences! Please send your ideas, stories, and photos to Fay Jones, (newsletter editor) by 12:00 pm on Wednesdays.

Running event announcements two weeks prior to the date is recommended.
Our Vestry
Mr. Steve Kriechbaum, Senior Warden
Mr. Kevin Flegal, Junior Warden
Ms. Sandra Welles, Treasurer
Class of 2023
Mr. Steve Kriechbaum
Ms. Sandra Welles
Sr. Carlos Lugo
Class of 2024
Ms. Maria Caballero, Clerk
Sra. Maria Angie Hernandez
Ms. Sandra Ward
Class of 2025
Dr. Carolyn Cline
Mr. Kevin Flegal
Sra. Patricia Mata
Our Staff
The Rev. Minerva Camarena Skeith, Rector

The Rev. Victoria Mason, Deacon
Ms. Fay Jones, Director of Communications

Mr. Philip Riley, Choirmaster and Organist

Sr. Alfonso Hernandez, Spanish Music
Fay Jones, Editor (fay@austinstjohns.org)
St. John's Episcopal Church
11201 Parkfield Drive
P. O. Box 81493, Austin, TX 78708-1493
Regular Sunday Services
9:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite I
10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite II hybrid
(in-person & Zoom)
 1:00 p.m. Santa Eucaristía, Rito II
The Parish Office is open Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday
from 10am - 12Noon.
For more information about St. John’s Episcopal Church, please visit our website at www.austinstjohns.org