A Prayer for Peace Among the Nations (BCP 816)

Let us pray in this time of conflict for the countries of Russia and the Ukraine,

We have migrated from Facebook to YouTube for live streaming our services. Please visit our St. John's YouTube channel at

St. John’s YouTube Channel, and make sure to click the Subscribe button! While you will be able to watch our livestreams without subscribing, you may not be able to chat unless you’ve subscribed. Be sure to check out everything that is currently on our Channel - and we will be expanding the content in the months to come!

On Sunday morning, please visit our website at www.saint-johns.org and click on the Livestream photo of our church to watch our Eucharistic liturgy at 9am!

Sunday, March 13, 2022

9:00 am

Please join us for our sung celebration of Holy Eucharist at 9:00 am in the church.

Come, pray, sing, receive Holy Communion,

and join us for fellowship following our liturgy.

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Genesis 15:1-12,17-18

Psalm 27

Philippians 3:17-4:1

Luke 13:31-35

St. John's website: saint-johns.org

St. John's YouTube Channel: St. John's Episcopal Church, Chula Vista

The Labyrinth is a spiritual tool and can be walked as a pilgrimage for repentence: a shedding of worries and concerns; reaching a place of meditation and prayer; and finding union with God and the healing forces at work in the world.

Come to walk on your own; brochures of guidance will be provided.

March 22 through March 25 from 9am-3pm in Nale Hall.

For more information and to Register, click here

Fasting 

Please consider giving of your excess in order to clothe those who go without.

See the table in the narthex or the article in our E-Newsletter for details.

If you wish to have clothing collection bags sent to you, contact Maria in the

church office.

Along with the prayers and reflections for each station, you will find artwork from former St. John's students.

Attached is the link to the prayer booklet:

Rev. Cathey invites you to participate in one of St. Bart’s most attended formation programs is a Lenten program called Lenten University. This year it will take place on Thursday evenings during Lent from 6:30 to 7:30 via Zoom. This year our overall theme will be “The Call to Hospitality.” Speakers will offer a 30 – 40-minute presentation followed by an opportunity for questions and conversation around the evening’s topic. At the end of the meeting, Rev. Cathey Dowdle will be hosting the sessions and offering a short period of prayer to close the session that is optional for both presenters and attendees.

March 10: Our Call to Radical Hospitality as Christians, Fr. Bill Doggett

March 17: Our Call to Hospitality to Strangers, Joseph Jok/Katherine Bom from St. Luke's

March 24: Our Call to Hospitality to Children and Young People, Charlette Preslar

March 31: Our Call to Hospitality to Immigrants, Troy Elder

April 7: How Do We Live into Our Call to Hospitality, TBD

Weekly: Weekly Calendar

Join Zoom Meeting: Zoom Link

In the Gospel, several Pharisees approached Jesus and warn him: “Go away! Herod is plotting to kill you!” Clearly, this particular group of Pharisees was concerned for Jesus and his safety. I wonder if they were secret followers of Jesus? However, Jesus replies to them: “Go to Herod and tell that fox: ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform healings today and tomorrow. And on the third day I will accomplish my purpose.’” Jesus then prophesies that He, the prophet, will die in Jerusalem.

Jesus says to them: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets. Many times I have yearned to gather your children to myself, as a hen gathers her brood under her wing. However, you were unwilling!” Jesus then sternly prophesies: “Your house will be abandoned, and you will not see me until you profess: ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Clearly Jesus realized that the Pharisees were not on his side. Perhaps the Pharisees were hoping that Herod would rid them of Jesus. Jesus not only was a thorn in their side, he also was a significant threat to their power and control of the people. However, Jesus was dedicated to the path that was before him. The Pharisees could not and would not deter Jesus from his mission.

Today Jesus is saying these loving words to us. He also longs to gather us to himself, close to his heart. However, we need to ask ourselves: Am I willing to allow Jesus to gather me to himself? Or do I stay at a distance from Jesus? The good news is that even if we keep our distance from Jesus, he still walks with us every day and every moment! Is there any love? What a wondrous gift is ours! The question is: Will we reciprocate by loving Jesus and daily walking by his side?

The journey through Lent into Easter is a journey with Jesus. We are baptized into his life, self-giving, and death; then, we rise in hope to life transformed. This Lent, communities are invited to walk with Jesus in his Way of Love and into the experience of transformed life. Together, we will reflect anew on the loving actions of God as recounted in the Easter Vigil readings. Together, we will walk through the depths of salvation history into the fullness of redemption. Throughout Lent, come along with us as we explore Life Transformed: The Way of Love in Lent, produced by Hillary Raining and Jenifer Gamber. You can find resources mentioned below at iam.ec/lifetransformed or by scanning the QR code above to the right.

Today’s Practice: Watch the Rev. Dr. Hillary Raining’s video at iam.ec/lifetransformed for Week 2. The topic is based on the practice “Pray” and is titled, “Israel’s Deliverance at the Red Sea”.

Read: Exodus 14:10-15:1

Today’s Prompt: Today, intentionally listen devoutly to another.

Read: “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” – Mark 4:23

Today’s Prompt: How do your creative outlets impact on taking rest?

Read: Genesis 1:1-2:4

Today’s Prompt: What passage of scripture is important to you Why?

Read: “The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.”

– Isaiah 40:8

Today’s Prompt: Take 20 minutes in contemplative prayer today.

Read: “As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.”

– Matthew 4:18-22

Today’s Prompt: Intentionally smile at least ten times today.

Read: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” – Philippians 4:4

Today’s Prompt: Where are you being encouraged to “show up”?

Read: “Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”- Matthew 25:44-45

Sunday School is now available. Children ages 4 and up are welcome to come and learn about the Word of God with Heather Wallace.

Child Care is available during our Sunday Services. Ana, the daughter of Alex Valdez-Beer, will be staffing our child care room.

Do you know what your spiritual gifts are? If you'd like to receive the assessment and information on how to get the results, please contact Diane Gustafson (diangus15@aol.com or 619-253-7298).

Please hold the Trader and Vasquez families in your prayers during this difficult time.

St. John's has four Lay Eucharistic Visitors who are commissioned to bring Holy Communion to anyone requesting a visit.

As we carefully gather in person at St. John's, we would like to remind you that we are here for you!

If you, a family member, neighbor or a friend are interested in celebrating a significant event in your spiritual life, please know that you are welcome.

We would be honored to be a part of your Baptism, Holy Communion, Quinceañera Marriage, Renewal of Vows or Anointing of the Sick.

At St. John's, no matter who you are or where you are on your spiritual journey - you are welcome here

If you have a pastoral emergency when the parish offices are closed,

please call 619-301-0724 or email revroger@saint-johns.org

Each day of Lent, you are encouraged to think of someone less fortunate as you look in your closets and drawers. Remove one item from your closet that you no longer wear or need and put it into the appropriate bag.

We will provide labeled bags to separate the items by Men’s, Women’s, and Children’s items. (If you need a bag mailed to you, please let us know) Men’s items will go in a black bag, Women’s items in a white bag, Children’s items in a gray bag labeled “Children’s”. At the end of the forty days, donate these items to St John’s so that we may share them with clients of Episcopal Community Services - Central East Regional Recovery Center (CERRC) and Father Joe’s Villages.

The following items are needed:

St. John's Outreach Committee meets monthly to discuss our parish Outreach activities.

We will continue our ongoing collections for:

Reminder: To make the process more efficient, Please donate only amber-colored prescription bottles with the label removed. For a quick and easy way to do this at home, watch this short video: Label Removal Video

You may also bring your items to church during our weekday office hours, Monday through Thursday from 9am to 3pm. Ring the doorbell, and you will be buzzed in to leave your items outside Nale Hall.

If you do not feel comfortable driving, please contact the parish office, and we will find a volunteer to pick up the items from your home.

Please click on the following link or visit the St. John's website (www.saint-johns.org) for more information on our Outreach Ministries:

You must notify Diane Gustafson to get the login information. Contact her at diangus15@aol.com or 619 253 7298.

Reminder: If you are looking for a new book to read, the Rev. Jack and Sarah Tolley Memorial Library is open for you to browse our shelves and borrow a book.

For almost the entire time that Rev. Roger has been at St. John's we have been in a pandemic with part of that time being shut down.

Rev. Roger would like to provide an opportunity for any members of the parish to "get to know him".

On Wednesday mornings from 10:30-11:30, following Morning Prayer and Bible Study,

Rev. Roger will be available in the Rev. Jack and Sarah Tolley Memorial Library for a visit. This is time to get to know him, ask him questions, and learn about his vision and dreams for the church.

If you would like to host a Sunday, you may sign up on the poster in Nale Hall or by calling or emailing Maria at 619-422-4141 or maria@saint-johns.org

Refreshments should be individually portioned or wrapped, or served by a server who is the only one touching the serving implements. Coffee and Clean-up are done by our Sexton, Ryan Attaway.

This is our Centennial year, culminating in our Centennal Liturgical Celebration with the visit from Bishop Susan Brown Snook on Sunday, September 18. There are a number of special events being considered. If you are interested in helping with any of these projects, please notify Maria Love in the Office: 619-422-4141/ maria@saint-johns.org

or Diane Gustafson: 619 253-7298/  diangus15@aol.com 

Centennial Cookbook

We are going to publish a cookbook of favorite recipes in honor of St. John's Centennial. Our call for recipes will come soon, but right now we are looking for help in putting it together. Nancy Painter is Editor of the cookbook. If you would be interested in any of the following, please contact Nancy at buddys@cox.net or 619 422-7792. Much of this work can be done from your home. 

Join us for Wednesday Morning Prayer and Bible Study

on Wednesdays at 9:30 am as a Zoom meeting.

Please contact Rev. Roger ( revroger@saint-johns.org)

The Morning Prayer guide can be found here:

The leaders of the Prayer Quilt Ministry would like to remind

you that there are many quilts available for anyone in need

of prayer and support. This important ministry brings comfort and healing to many people who are suffering with illness.

Please contact Diane Gustafson directly (diangus15@aol.com)

or through the office (maria@saint-johns.org).

All the women of the parish are invited to discern becoming a member of the Daughters of the King. If you have any questions, please contact Lynn Young (208-695-7735) or Linda Dennehy (619-429-4747).

If you have a special prayer request for Daughters of the King, you are invited to fill out a prayer card, found in the narthex. Drop your prayer request in the church-shaped box or in the offering plate. These requests are confidential and are separate from our printed parish prayer lists.

We would like to acknowledge and pray for anyone celebrating a birthday and/or anniversary in the coming week. Please let us know by Thursday of the prior week so that we can get it in the Sunday liturgy. If you have a picture of you that we could post for your birthday and/or a wedding photo or current photo for those celebrating an anniversary, please email it to us - it would be great to allow everyone to see you.

Today and every day include some time for prayer, for yourself,

for your church family, and for those in need.

Matt Jensen, Drew Shorkey, Cody Crossland, Cameron Ronie, Chariti Paden, Mark Stanfield, Sean Robinson, Jonathan Martinez, TK Nguyen, Christopher Lindshield, Timothy Lindshield, Jeremy Colton, David Sanchez, Jonathan Baldera, Nick Wyatt, Daniel Getreu, Jamal Warner, Matt Hernandez, Devon Strunk, Taylor Harrold, Jorge Zuazua, Katherine Milam,

Sebastian Morales, Richie Lebron, Andrew C. Dugger, Dan and Chelsey Nayaradi,

and Roberto Johnson and the crew of USS Essex.

Heather Pokornowski, Callie McKay, Linda Urbano, Dianne Lewis, Sharon, Christy Gollihur and Linda Longoria-Neff.

In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, we pray for the clergy and people of St. Andrew the Apostle in Encinitas.

In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we pray for the Anglican Church of Melanesia.

In the Military Cycle of Prayer, we pray for the crew of USS Lincoln (CVN-72).

Lynn Young, Senior Warden

aaaaaa208-695-7735

aaaaaalynnyoung2786@gmail.com

Tom Brzeczek, Junior Warden

--------619-481-1256

--------trbrz2014@gmail.com

Jane Ferguson, Clerk

Bill Cheney, Treasurer

Diane Gustafson, Recorder

This will be a monthly addition to the E-News to keep you more in-touch with your Vestry.

You often hear our church referred to as our Parish, however, when we talk about parish business we are referred to as the Corporation. This can be a little confusing when you think about us as a church. We, as a Parish, are a non-profit corporation of the State of California, thus must follow certain rules. The following is a direct excerpt from our By-Laws that gives a little clarity to how it all fits together:

“The purpose of the Parish (as an ecclesiastical entity) and the Corporation (as a nonprofit religious corporation) is religious worship in the City of Chula Vista, State of California, according to the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church and the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego. The Parish is an integral unit and a subordinate body of The Episcopal Church and is in communion with The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego. The Parish organized the Corporation for its convenience to serve as a subordinate auxiliary to the Parish for the purpose of holding the property of the Parish, assisting in the management of the Parish’s temporalities, and supporting the mission and ministry of The Episcopal Church, The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, and the Parish.”

The responsibility of the Vestry is to make sure that the parish operates effectively and efficiently. The Vestry serves as the governing body (Board of Directors) of the corporation and is organized as follows:

Our Vestry has 10 members, the Rector, a permanent member and 9 lay members elected by the congregation. The following are the Officers of the Corporation:

I hope that gives a little clearer vision of how we are organized and how your Vestry is structured.

If you had a medical emergency at church on Sunday morning, would the ushers or church staff know who to contact? If you would like to add someone to St. John's emergency contact list in case of such an emergency, please contact Maria in the office (619-422-4141 or maria@saint-johns.org). Please provide your name, the name of your emergency contact, their relationship to you and their phone number. Any information you provide will be stored carefully in order to protect the privacy of your contact's information.

As our staff are now fully vaccinated, we are permitted to open our parish office.

Masking and social distance should be maintained when visitors are present.

The Parish Office will be open 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, Monday through Thursday.

Please call the parish office if you have any questions or concerns

(619-422-4141).

Rev. Roger will be working half-days in the office on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday; and all day on Wednesday and Friday. He will be available by appointment. Please call the office (619-422-4141) to schedule an appointment.

In case of a pastoral emergency, Rev. Roger may be reached on his cell phone at

619-301-0724.

If you receive a suspicious email from an address that seems to be Rev. Roger or another parishioner asking for a favor, it may be a phishing attempt. Scam emails mimic addresses we are familiar with and are very often full of grammatical errors.

Rev. Roger will never email you asking for funds or financial support by way of gift cards. If you receive an email that seems suspicious, do not open it or respond to it. Delete it immediately.

Phishing is a cyber attack that uses disguised email as a weapon. The goal is to trick the email recipient into believing that the message is something they want or need - a request from their bank, for instance, or a note from someone in their company - and to click a link or download an attachment.

Your weekly newsletter highlights important events at St. John's Episcopal Church. You can also find news about St. John's at www.saint-johns.org.

We welcome your feedback, photos, and news items. Contact Maria Love at 619-422-4141 or maria@saint-johns.org.

As violence escalates in Ukraine, over one million people have already fled the country — and the borders are flooded with many more people desperate to leave.

Almost all of them are women and children who have had to seek safety on their own, leaving their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons behind.

As this crisis continues to evolve, Episcopal Relief and Development is working with Anglican agencies and their other partners to provide humanitarian assistance, and they urgently ask for your help.

Your emergency gift today will support their immediate response, providing cash, blankets, hygiene supplies and other needs as this crisis unfolds.

Please click the button below to donate:

Chris Tumilty, EDSD Director of Communications

News from the war in Ukraine is quickly changing and we are shocked by the images and reports we are seeing. We do not know what the future holds but what we do know is that thousands of deploying soldiers and their families here at home are experiencing the frightening and surreal feeling of saying goodbye to a spouse and children. I am sure we are thinking about what our military families are going through and families in Ukraine.

As of Friday, February 25th, the New York Times reports that “Thursday’s deployment of the First Brigade of the Army’s Third Infantry Division will bring to 14,000 the number of American troops that Mr. Biden has moved closer to the fighting since the Ukraine crisis began. Their arrival will bring to nearly 100,000 the number of American troops in Europe. Read More

RefugeeNet invites you to register for its annual fundraising gala on the evening of Saturday, March 19. Guests will have the option of attending the event, which will be held at St. Luke's in North Park, either in-person or virtually via live stream. In-person tickets of $60 will cover a delightful array of east African foods enjoyed in a beautiful outdoor setting with plenty of space for you to choose the level of social distancing you prefer. There is no cost to participating in the online live stream, though virtual attendees can also order food to be delivered if they would like. Help us raise the crucial operating funds necessary to provide for the thriving of San Diego's refugee families!

For sponsorship and ticketing contact Andrea Muir at amuir@ecscalifornia.org.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is changing life for all of us. You may feel anxious, stressed, worried, sad, bored, depressed, lonely or frustrated in these circumstances.

Find resources to connect with real people that can help, here.

Love calls us to care for our neighbors and for our enemies. Love calls us to attend to those in prison, to those who are homeless, to those in poverty, to children, immigrants and refugees.

What would love do? To you, who so generously support the transformative work of Episcopal Relief & Development, love calls you to continue to sow seeds of lasting change

Visit Episcopal Relief and Development: One Thousand Days of Love to see how you can help.

As part of our ongoing commitment to creating a safe haven for everyone, our diocese trains people in the prevention of misconduct and encourages all to report misconduct. All reported incidences are taken seriously and investigated thoroughly and confidentially. If you believe you have experienced misconduct of any kind, please contact Mr. John Seitman, (jseitman@pacbell.net), 858-793-4555 or Ms. Equilla Luke, (aequilla@icloud.com), 760-583-0485.