December 02, 2022

Congregational Care Team Meeting This Sunday

The Congregational Care Team Meeting will be Sunday, December 4 at noon in the library upstairs.

Zuni Christmas Blessing Tree This Sunday

Zuni Christmas Blessing Tree will be here on Sunday, December 4. This will be our second year to bless children from Zuni Elementary school with Christmas gifts. Please grab a tag, buy the gift, and return it wrapped with the tag attached by Sunday, December 18. If you have any questions please contact Pastor Tiffany thollums@stjohns-abq.org.

Quintessence Presents "Wonder Tidings" on Sunday and Monday

Join Quintessence: A Community of Singers and conductor Matthew Greer for their winter concert “Wonder Tidings,” featuring gorgeous music of the season. Quintessence will be joined by the Concert Choir from Rio Rancho High School, directed by Rebecca Kendall. Performances are Sunday, December 4 at 3 p.m., and Monday, December 5 at 7 p.m. (Students of any age get in free to the Monday concert!) Tickets are available at quintessence-abq.com, and St. John’s members receive a 25% discount on advance sales by using the code SJUMC at checkout.

All Church Christmas Singalong December 11

You are invited to join the All Church Christmas Carol Singalong in the Sonshine Cafe, December 11, 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. Complementary coffee will be served to all participants. The St. John's Blue Grass Ensemble and Jim Ahrend on keyboard will accompany your singing. Come join us. 

Jolly Elders Meeting December 14

Our next meeting of Jolly Elders will be on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, beginning at 11:00 a.m., in the Sanctuary. Adults of all ages are cordially invited to come to our next meeting of Jolly Elders, where we will enjoy as our program a concert of Advent and Christmas Songs by our special guests, the Joy Singers. The Joy Singers are a choral group of older musicians here at St. John’s that enjoy singing with a focus on the Gospel style. They are directed by our church’s Assistant Music Director, Therese Macali. Come join us and join in singing yourself if you know the lyrics! Even if you have never attended a Jolly Elders event in the past you are welcome.

The meeting will end by Noon to allow everyone to depart church for lunch elsewhere on their own. Everyone must park their vehicles and enter St. John's United Methodist Church on the west side (the 2626 Arizona Street NE side) of the church. 

Youth Announcements

December Youth Schedule

• This Sunday, Dec 4, from 4:00-6:00 p.m. Solid Ground theme is 'Elf Olympics'. Come ready to fling some candy canes and tinsel!  
• December 10, 9:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.: Youth help with Bair Foundation Christmas party foster children (FLC)
• December 11, 4-6 p.m.: Regular Solid Ground
• December 18, 4-6 p.m.: Solid Ground gift exchange (bring a wrapped gift under $10)

Flamingo Flock

The Flamingo Flock is getting festive and would love to land in your friends' yards for a love donation to youth ministries! The youth will deliver the friendly flock to your friend, leave a note letting them know that this flock was a gift from you only for a few days, and then will fly off to their next destination. Simply fill out a pink Flamingo flight itinerary sheet located at the hospitality table or front office or you can contact Pastor Tiffany (thollums@stjohns-abq.org) to book these pink friends!  Book them quickly as the flock is popular and in a 5-6 week waiting time.  All donations will be used to fund mission trip scholarships, youth interns, and other incredible youth ministries here at St. John’s UMC. 

Children's Ministry Updates

New children's chapel location is Room 240 upstairs. We grew! Children's chapel is offered during the 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. worship times. Children are dismissed to chapel following the children's offering. 

Children's December 'St. Kids Be a Blessing' Calendars are available at the Hospitality Center and Abide check in table. Each day on the calendar has blessing challenges to do as a family and children can bring their completed calendar to earn prizes. You can also join us for Families of Faith each Thursday from 5:30-7:40 p.m. to turn in calendars and earn Bible Bucks for the 'Treasure cart' with cool prizes (rumored Squishmellows). To receive an email copy of the calendar, please email Tiffany (thollums@stjohns-abq.org) 

Nursery Announcements

The nursery will be available for Lessons and Carols services and at the Christmas Eve Service at 4:00 p.m. There will not be nursery available for morning services on December 25 and January 1.

In Memory of Jim Collins

Jim Collins, longtime member of St. John’s (over 40 years) died November 22, 2022 surrounded by family in Frisco, Texas. Jim and his wife, Kay, are remembered by many of us as leaders and teachers of many groups and committees.

Two Organizations in Need of Our Help

Just imagine living without the essentials, like blankets and underwear! If this tugs at your heartstrings, please join our effort, throughout December, to collect these specific items for two organizations: Good Shepherd Center, located in downtown Albuquerque, and Four Corners Native American Ministries in Shiprock. Good Shepherd Center provides overnight shelter for homeless men, and is in need of: new men's socks, and new men's boxers and boxer-briefs in medium, large and extra-large. Four Corners Ministry assists Native Americans, and is in need of the following new items for both men and women: socks and underwear in all sizes, and new or gently-used blankets. Please be sure that all socks and underwear are new; blankets may be gently-used, but must be clean. Please place your donations in the wire bins located in the Hospitality Center, anytime during the month of December. Thank you.

Zuni Weekend Meal Bags

Helping prevent childhood hunger is a major goal of our St. John's Mission Team, but you are the ones who actually make it happen! Throughout December, we'll collect the following individual-sized food items: shelf-stable white milk; nut-free granola or breakfast bars; microwavable mac-and-cheese cups; and Chef Boyardee single-serve, microwavable pastas with meat. Please place your donations in the wire bins in the Hospitality Center. The Weekend Meal Bag Project currently helps 45 Zuni students who are experiencing food insecurity at home on the weekends. We thank you for your generosity, and if you'd prefer to give a monetary donation, any amount is gratefully accepted at any time. 

Family Promise Meals Needed

Family Promise needs meals after Christmas and at the beginning of the new year. If anybody is interested in providing meals, please see the Sign up Genius link below or call Kaleen or Laura at the office to sign up for a night - (505) 268-0331.

Sign-Up For Extend the Table Ministry

Home communion ‘Extend the Table’ ministry is in its second month!. If you would like to receive communion delivered to your home once a month OR if you would like to serve Communion, please contact pastor Tiffany at thollums@stjohns-anq.org.

St. John's UMC Foundation

The St. John’s UMC Foundation is governed by the board whose purpose is to manage the endowments established for long term growth and support of the church’s ministries. When you donate to St. John’s UMC Foundation via a gift, memorial or in your Will, you help to ensure the mission of St. John’s, “Loving God, Loving Others, and Changing Lives” continues throughout the years. Anyone can leave a gift no matter how big, or how small, to the Foundation and be assured your gift will make a difference in the continuing efforts of St. John’s UMC. We ask you to prayerfully consider gifting to the St. John’s Methodist Church Foundation. If you have any questions about the St. John’s UMC Foundation, or how to include St. John’s UMC Foundation in your will, please contact Jamie Davidson at JDavidson@stjohns-abq.org or 505-883-9717.

Memory Cafe Update

We would like to thank Roger Eaton and his band, Dave Ring and all others who helped to put the 'fun' into our first meeting in almost three years!

However, we will be cancelling our Dec. 10th meeting and hopefully reuniting in January.

Our December meeting coincides with the all-day Care Givers Conference at the Marriott ABQ hotel. This conference is free and is sponsored by the Alzheimer's Organization.

Unfortunately, we feel we cannot continue successfully unless we have a few more dedicated volunteers who will commit to taking positions both behind the scenes and at meetings. These monthly meetings are so important because they give caregivers a chance to enjoy time with their loved ones in a fun and supportive environment and to meet others like them who are traversing the same journey. Please consider lending your time and talents to this important group. For more information, contact Sharon Jensen at ssmjens@aol.com.

Join the Advent Bible Study on Sunday Mornings

Family Spirit Sunday School class invites you to join us in person in classroom 257 on Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. as we study: The Angels of Christmas, Hearing God’s Voice in Advent, a book by Susan Robb.

Between November 27 and December 18, 2022, we will be studying this new book and watching in class the video series on DVD of the author teaching us about her new book. In class, over the four Sundays of the Advent Season, “we will explore the four angelic visits surrounding the birth of Jesus, with Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds." In this study, the reader will explore the visits and dive deep into the history of the angel Gabriel and other angels in the Bible. The messages of the angels hold means for listeners both then and now.”

Facilitator: Brian A. Eagan. No pre-registration is needed. Walk-ins welcome. This free class is open to all adults. Guests and visitors are invited to drop in to sample the class. To learn more: watch this quick introduction video (just 1 minute) by the book author, Rev. Susan Robb of Dallas, TX, about her newly published book: https://youtu.be/SKn7KsMtLVo

And to read a free sample of the book (Chapter 1 of 4), to see if you like the book, please go to https://www.cokesbury.com/The-Angels-of-Christmas and click on: Take a Look Inside (to read all of Chapter 1 and to view the Table of Contents, and to view the Front Cover image and Back Cover image of book.

Help Fill Stockings for the Bair Foundation

The youth and children at St. John's UMC are going to be making stockings for children and teens who are in treatment foster care through an amazing ministry in town called the Bair Foundation. If you would like to learn more about the Bair Foundation, please visit https://www.bair.org/locations/albuquerque/. We need stocking goodies to fill about 45 stockings! Please help us by bringing any of the following: small toys, trinkets, coloring books, games, stuffed animals, candy, individual snacks, or anything else that you can think of that a child would love in a stocking. These stockings will be given to the children and teens at their Christmas party, held here at St. John's in December! For questions, please contact Tiffany at thollums@stjohns-abq.org. 

Christmas Food Boxes For the

John Marshall Community Center

Interested St. John’s church members are invited to participate in our program of providing Christmas food boxes to needy families served by the John Marshall Community Center in the south Broadway area of Albuquerque. This year’s timeline:

• Sunday, December 11, 2022: Commit to Jack Nuzum (tel. 505-265-5241, jcnuzum@juno.com) as to the number of boxes which will be provided and by whom. There also will be a sign-up sheet in the Hospitality Center with a suggested list of contents for the boxes. List of contents can also be accessed by this LINK.

• Saturday, December 17, 2022: Bring the completed boxes to the WEST side of St. John’s between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. 

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.