You have probably noticed that a consistent theme of every sermon preached over the past several weeks, regardless of the preacher, has been love your neighbor. If you are attending services in person, one way of responding to our Lord’s commandment is to wear a mask. The mask offers some protection for you, but more importantly, it offers protection for others. As we move closer to a time when we can once again celebrate the Holy Eucharist, this loving care for one another becomes even more important. When you are in church, the Vestry recommends that you wear a mask. For God’s sake, and for the sake of your neighbor, please do.

By now you will have received a pledge card and a return envelope. We know you will pray about your own faith-filled generosity and the portion of the gifts given to you by God that you will pledge to the mission and ministry of St. John’s. Please return your card on or before October 4 by mailing it to the church, bringing it to Church on or before October 4, or by pledging online here.

Dear St. John’s Family:

Sunday, October 25 will be Fr. Chip Connelly’s last Sunday with us as Rector of St. John’s. Our 10:00 a.m. liturgy that Sunday will include a ritual of gratitude and affection marking our deep love and appreciation for all Fr. Connelly has offered to St. John’s in serving as our Rector. Whether you choose to come in person or participate via the live stream, it will be a moving and lovely event. Due to our ongoing concern for the safety and health of our parishioners, there will be no reception or Holy Hospitality after this service. We are planning for a festive gathering to celebrate Fr. Connelly in the spring, when we can hopefully do so in grand style.

While we plan to have a full celebration for Fr. Connelly come spring (when safety restrictions will hopefully be lifted or lessened), there are two ways you can help make October 25th a great day for him:

1. Contribute: Contribute to a retirement purse (no, not Louis Vuitton or Prada; "purse" is the fancy Episcopal term for a nice, big check!). To do so, click here, adding the note or instruction, "Fr. Connelly’s Purse." You may also send in a check made out to St. John's with "Fr. Connelly’s Purse" in the memo line, to St. John’s Episcopal Church, 906 South Orleans Avenue, Tampa, FL 33606. The deadline for receiving your contributions is October 20.

2. Record a video: During our 10:00 a.m. service on October 25th we will honor Fr. Connelly with the gift of a video montage from members of the parish. Film yourself and your family sharing your affection and gratitude for Fr. Connelly’s many years of ministry with us. It's so easy - just click this link and follow the easy instructions. Please keep your video to 60 seconds or less and feel free to be creative! The deadline for receiving your video is also October 20.

We hope you will choose to participate in both options as we honor our beloved Rector and wish him well in his retirement. Please remember too that we will hold a festive gathering this spring, when we will be able to celebrate Fr. Connelly in person and in a larger way.

Faithfully,

The Annual Women’s Retreat, sponsored by the Contemporary Women’s Bible Study group, is scheduled for Saturday, September 26 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. For those who feel comfortable gathering in person, we have reserved a large space at the Franciscan Center that will allow for social distancing. For those who would prefer to participate from the safety of home, there will be several opportunities to Zoom in over the course of the day. If you are interested in participating, please contact Deacon Kathleen Moore at kmoore@stjohnstampa.org and let her know your preference. We will discuss selections from Barbara Brown Taylor’s book, Learning to Walk in the Dark, and other readings and reflections will be provided.

St. John's aprons are for sale for $20 in the Parish Offices. Quantities are limited, contact John Edgar if you would like one. All proceeds will benefit our Ministries.

Dear IWC Team!

Exciting news... This Sunday we will break out into our first meeting with our three IWC teams; the “Invite Team,” “Welcome Team,” and “Connect Team” will meet in separate Zoom Rooms to brainstorm and share ideas. Be sure to set your alarm for 12:00 noon ET, this Sunday, September 27. Contact Fr. Michael for your Zoom link.

Every year our parish and school hold a joint Blessing of the Animals (Pets) on the Friday nearest to October 4 (the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi). This year, in order to abide by safe distancing requirements and ensure optimal health for all, we will be holding our Blessing of the Animals as a virtual event from 4:00 to 4:45 p.m. on Friday, October 2.

To participate, please send a picture of your pet, together with your pet’s name, to Fr. Reho no later than 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 30. This will be held as a Zoom event, with logon credentials to follow. We look forward to your participation and to blessing your wonderful pet in this safe yet special way!

We have resumed the Thursday 10:00 a.m. Healing Prayer Service in the church. There is appropriate safe distancing, masks, and no Eucharist. We hope you will join us.

This year's St. John's Fathers Camping Trip is November 13 and 14 at Lakewood Retreat, 25458 Dan Brown Hill Road, 34602 in Brooksville, FL.

Don't miss this popular St. John's tradition! Contact Kaivon Madani with questions and to RSVP.

We miss you all! Please join us tomorrow, Thursday, September 24 for a Zoom meeting at 9:00 a.m. We would love to hear from you and take a few minutes for fellowship and friendship. Please email Ayana at agrady@stjohnstampa.org or Sarah Bricklemyer at sarah_milton@hotmail.com for the meeting ID. Hope to see you there!

On Tuesday, October 6, the Women’s Mid Morning Bible Study will continue their fall study

of some of the general letters or epistles using the commentary The Early Christian Letters for

Everyone: James, Peter, John and Judah by N. T. (Tom) Wright, as their study guide. Father Cannon will guide their study of the First Letter of Peter 1:1 - 2:25.

It is a virtual class, using St. John’s Zoom, and will begin at 10:00 a.m. to allow time for greeting one another prior to the lesson. The lesson time will be 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. Classes are on alternate Tuesdays with the final class scheduled on December 1. The class is open to all women in the Parish and invited friends.

For more information about the study, contact Pat Wilson at patwilson68@tampabay.rr.com or

245-9562 or Joan McKay at mckayjhm@aol.com. Email Joan to get the Zoom link.

St John’s EYC will continue with our regular weekly schedule of meeting (socially distant, with masks required) in the Parish Hall--except for the 1st Sunday of each month, which will be completely Outdoors. On regular EYC days in the Parish Hall, middle schoolers meet from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. and high schoolers meet from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. We won’t have dinner, but snacks/water will be available!

This Sunday, September 27, our Middle School theme is finding inspiration in the midst of troubled times. Where do we see people inspiring us to do better? With the high schoolers, we will be continuing our Faith in an Anxious World series with some coping mechanisms and prayers for when the stress gets to be too much.

October 4: EYC Pet Blessing

Bring your pets to be blessed by Fr. Cannon! We’ll have prayers and fun, and end with a Pet Talent Show--so get your pets ready! In honor of St Francis we are also making this event a Pet Food Drive--so if you can, please bring dog or cat food that we will donate to local shelters.

Our public hour long conversation on grief is intended to be a resource and forum for anyone experiencing grief or tending to others experiencing grief. Our four speakers are all St. John’s parishioners. Nancy Walker, author of 100 Days: Dying to Tell His Story, will share with us her perspective on grief based on the experience of the loss of her father to cancer. Harry Hedges will discuss how support groups can be helpful and the general landscape of bereavement support groups in Tampa. Michael Eachon will give an overview of the Mourner’s Path program, how it works and who it helps. Pam Shives will give an overview of the Faithful Friends ministry, why it started and how it serves persons experiencing grief.

Our hope is that this conversation will provide spiritual comfort and fellowship as well as helpful information about available resources.

The conversation will be held on Zoom on Tuesday, October 6 at 4:00 p.m. and recorded for later distribution. Please contact Fr. Cannon at mcannon@stjohnstampa.org if you would like to attend and he will send you the link.

In addition to this talk, St. John's supports people experiencing grief in a variety of ways including regular contact, grief support literature, special informational events, pastoral counseling, and a reference library. A full listing is here.

The Sunday Adult Formation Group continues to meet via Zoom each Wednesday from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Generally, each session includes a short presentation followed by group discussion. Topics are suggested by the group. Currently, the group is involved in discussions of several videos by N.T. Wright.

All are welcome; if you have not previously attended the Wednesday afternoon sessions, contact Deacon Kathleen at kmoore@stjohnstampa.org or 785.9400 for the login information.

Contact Laurie Lawther at llawther@stjohnstampa.org to set up.

Go to www.stjohnstampa.org and click on "Give Now" on the right side of the top blue bar. The church now has the ability to accept credit and debit card payments, along with checking/savings account payments. To make a pledge or pay in some other way, click on "Stewardship" in the top website menu.

In the 'To' field of the text type 73256, then in the message, type SJE. You will receive a text back immediately with a link to complete the payment.

Laurie is available to walk you through any of these methods by email at llawther@stjohnstampa.org or a phone call at 259.1570.

September 24, Robert Vawter, Mike Nolan, A. J. Valdes, Lauren Brown

September 25, Paul Weekley, Thomas Bricklemyer, Wayne Capen, Emily Deitzer

September 26, None

September 27, Gwen Hedges, Ambrose Jones, Tucker Witte, Kate Shenk, Greg Moore

September 28, Tim Killgoar, Amy Patenaude, Barry Shone

September 29, Meg Russell, Cynthia Hunter

September 30, Emmala Galloway, Jean Denney, Witt Graff, Kaivon Madani, Hailey Stricker, Elizabeth Murphy

The Men's Interactive Bible Study meets every Thursday at 11:45 a.m. to study the readings for the coming week and for fellowship. Email John in the parish offices at jedgar@stjohnstampa.org for the link to join.

Choral Morning Prayer, 10:00 a.m., at Church and on Facebook Live.

Bulletins and other resources are available here. 

Click here for the readings, St. John's follows Track 2.

The Contemporary Women's Bible Study (CWBS) group is doing a weekly virtual study on Tuesday evenings from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. This is a Zoom meeting, so if you are interested in participating, you will need to register. Contact Deacon Kathleen at 785.9400 or kmoore@stjohnstampa.org; or Sally Thompson at tampasal@gmail.com or 254.3009.

The group meets by Zoom from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. If you would like to join them, contact Deacon Kathleen at kmoore@stjohnstampa.org for login information.

St. John's continues to stream our 10:00 a.m. services on Facebook Live on Sundays. Access the stream at our page at https://www.facebook.com/stjohnstampa/.

The audio for sermons is here. New sermons are uploaded by Monday each week. Bulletins for Sundays are here, each week's bulletin is uploaded to this page by Saturday. Click here to find the readings for this coming Sunday (St. John's follows Track 2). You can also see Sunday services on our YouTube channel, they are uploaded each Sunday by mid-afternoon.

The parish offices have reopened. Regular hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, however most staff and clergy are still working from home, so please make an appointment with the staff or clergy member you wish to meet with to be sure they are available. Email us at parish@stjohnstampa.org or call 259.1570 to speak with John Edgar if you have questions.

Fr. Reho invites you to join the School for daily chapel services on the School's YouTube channel. For safety, students will have chapel in their homeroom via video for the time being. A reminder that the sermon is geared to children, but is no less enjoyable for that fact. The link is the same every day: www.stjohnseagles.org/daily-chapel, the services become live each morning at 6:00 a.m., Monday through Friday. You can also access the Chapel Book here if you would like to follow along.

Fr. Connelly streams evening prayer daily Monday through Saturday at 3:00 p.m. on Facebook Live. Intercessory prayers are invited in the comments during the feed or email Fr. Connelly.

Nightly compline is offered by the brothers of the Society of St John the Evangelist on their web site at www.ssje.org.

If you have any questions or trouble using the online services noted above, please contact Lee Lowry by replying to this email, or John Edgar at jedgar@stjohnstampa.org. You can also contact the clergy member or parishioner who is the contact for each ministry. 

If you are someone who is able to help your fellow parishioners with errands and other means of support, please contact Fr. MIchael at mcannon@stjohnstampa.org. Conversely, if you are a parishioner who needs help, please also contact Fr. Michael at email at mcannon@stjohnstampa.org or by phone at 864.320.7116. He will match needs with resources so we are able to help one another in Christ's name.