Dec. 29, 2023

New Year's Eve (This Sunday, Dec. 31)

A Service of Lessons and Carols 10 a.m.

Prepare for the new year with a reminder of the the whole Story as told through scripture and song.

Worship Schedule

Sundays at 10 a.m.

(with Morning Prayer once a month)

In person and live-streamed on YouTube

Church School

Godly Play Sunday School 10 a.m.

Teen Text Sunday School twice a month

Adult Bible Study

twice a month after Coffee Hour

I hope you all had a blessed and merry Christmas!

Our next regular edition of St. John's Connects is scheduled for Friday, Jan 5.

But, we've gotten our pictures of the Christmas Pageant and Christmas Eve back from the Fotomat and we're itching to share them with you.

And, Jim Rains has dutifully provided a summary of activity from the December vestry meeting and the newsman in me can no longer bear to keep the info to myself, so that will be included in this edition too.

If you have anything for the Jan. 5 publication of Connects, please send the info to me by Wednesday, Jan, 3. Email me here.

Happy New Year to you all!

As is always the case, our festive Christmas Eve service was heartwarming and special.

We were treated to glorious music from soloists Carolyn King and Sharlene Zagozewski; Laurel Larsen and Penny Rose thrilled us with their piano skills; Emily and Anna Harvey soothed us with their smooth sax sounds; and the lilting sound of Jens, Gabe and Margot Larsen on trumpet brought joy to all! And the expanded choir was magnificent!

Below are a few pics from the Christmas Eve service. Thanks to Flora Quammie for the photos.

Heartwarming would also be a great word to describe our Christmas Pageant, held a week earlier - on Dec. 17. A good number of cast members caught one of the many respiratory bugs going around and we missed them and hope they were back on their feet by Christmas.

But, as they say, the show must go on - and go one it did, with a few cast members stepping into additional roles last minute. Kudos to them!!

Here's the crew - including the folks who were laid up at home but put a lot of work into preparation: Emma Altemus, Lily Altemus, Anna Harvey, Emily Harvey, John Harvey, Peter Harvey, Matilde Harvey, Grayson Kamp, Sam Shakelford, MaKayla Stead, Eleana Stead, Joshua Violette and Nia Young.

We also thank Josh and Nia for their beautiful solos, Gabe and Margot Larsen for their musical accompaniment and Dorothy Shackelford for overseeing the costumes.

And, of course, we thank Rev. Lisa and Laurel Larson for organizing, directed and producing our pageant. And thanks to the parents who helped them out.

The members of St. John's Vestry met on Dec. 19 for their monthly meeting. We thank Vestry Clerk Jim Raines for providing the summary below.

Looking Ahead

Rev. Lisa offered some food for thought at the start of the meeting about the need to have intentional conversations in the coming year about where we are now and what we intend to do.

It’s important to take time every now and then to think about how we engage together as a parish around the ministries we support. Nobody should be going it alone in our ministries – we’re a team.

There could be some collaborative activities in the offing next year; Lisa is starting some conversations with other nearby parishes about what sort of things we might do together.

Annual Meeting

Our Annual Meeting is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 28, following the service. The annual meeting is a great time to take stock of what we’ve done in the past year and where we’re going to go next. Please plan to attend.

Vestry Nominations

There are still no candidates for one three-year term on vestry. If this is something you might be interested in, please talk to anyone on the vestry, or Rev. Lisa, for more information.

We need to fill the position before the January annual meeting, so don’t delay.

Vestry meetings are likely to move next year from Tuesday to Thursday evenings to accommodate the schedules of some of the vestry members.

Next Food Collection - Jan. 3

Our next St. John's Food Drop-off, the first of 2024, will be Wednesday, Jan. 3, from 10 a.m. to noon.

The food collected will be delivered to the New Milford Food Bank.

We're in front of the church to collect your donations of non-perishable foods and personal-care items on the first and third Wednesdays of each month.

Please remember that you can always bring in food on Sunday mornings and place your offerings in the donation basket next to the last pew.