The Bridge
October 28, 2020
The Mission of St. John’s is to be a community of God’s people who heal brokenness, build bridges, and exemplify borderless kindness.
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Remember: Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday, November 1
Set your clocks BACK one hour on Saturday night!
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Vestry and Council Delegate Results:
At their last meeting, the Vestry voted to accept by acclamation the persons nominated for Vestry and Council, as there were the same number of nominations as vacancies. These people will be presented to the congregation at the Annual Meeting in January 2021, for full acceptance by acclamation.
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Our new Council Delegates: |
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Congratulations to each of you! |
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From Our Interim Rector
We are in a season that is not exactly in our liturgical calendar; however, in this season filled with prayers and need for prayers we have help from our Book of Common Prayer. We are in a Season of Prayer: for an election.
Novena is “an ancient tradition of nine days of devotional prayers, often with a specific intention. The Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations and Forward Movement are offering a novena, which means nine days of prayers, which started yesterday. In this case we pray for discernment in voting and for the well-being of our nation.” You can find the novena on Facebook, Instagram, twitter, #seasonofprayer, and St. John’s web page and Facebook, available in English and Spanish. Besides the daily prayer for each of the nine days, there is also a litany “for sound government” which we can each offer up in our prayers. The litany has the response, “Give grace to your servants, O Lord.”
On Wednesday, October 28, a holy day commemorating the disciples Saint Simon and Saint Jude, we offer up the following novena prayer: Pray for every human heart. “Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart and especially the hearts of the people of this land, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease, that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Amen. (BCP, p. 823)
The novena offers some beautiful prayers; prayers we forget are in our beloved BCP. These are prayers for the people of God. May this novena be enriching, your faith strengthened, and your belief in the Lord Jesus Christ be your anchor.
Faithfully,
Ann+
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Holding Onto Hope: A national service for healing and wholeness
Sunday, November 1
3:00 - 4:30 pm Central Time
With a combination of live and pre-recorded elements, this service will be live streamed on November 1, 2020, from the Washington National Cathedral at 4:00 p.m. EST [3:00 p.m. Central]. The service, available in English and Spanish, will create a common space for us to come together to mourn, confess, and seek guidance as we look not only to our own interest but to the interest of our neighbors and country as well.
The Episcopal Church and Washington National Cathedral are hosting the service and Presiding Bishop Michael Curry will preach. Ecumenical and interfaith voices will also join, including Fr. James Martin, S.J., and Valarie Kaur. Prayers for the country’s healing and wholeness will be led by faith leaders including Eboo Patel, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Rabbi Shoshana Conover, and Shane Claiborne.
A live prayer hotline will be open during the service in partnership with TryTank. To receive a reminder about this service, text HOLDING to 51555.
For more information about the service, please use this link:
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To access the service on Sunday, November 1, at 3pm Austin (Central) Time, please click this button: |
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"Make Election Week Holy"
As we head into election week, the Episcopal Church Foundation has gathered five resources from around the church to help make this election week holy. Click this button to access the ECF website:
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Early voting ends
Friday, October 30, 2020
General Election Day
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
For ballot information, polling places and ID requirements, click this button:
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Building Bridges and Healing Brokenness
DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS
by Rosalinda Rodriguez
I grew up with my grandmother making the “Day of the Dead” altar every November. At first, I did not know anything about every detail of what the altar represented. Neither did I understand the enthusiasm my grandmother had reflected on her face; it really was an inexplicable joy. Although sometimes a tear rolled down her cheeks, at the same time her lips formed a contagious smile.
As the years passed, I understood my grandmother's words when she said it was a day to celebrate. Mexico celebrates Día de los Muertos and in some states with major events, but all Mexicans know, that on November 1 and 2, Día de los Muertos is celebrated. On November 1st we celebrate the innocent saints, which are the children and babies, and the altar is set with offerings of rice with milk, bread, and even some favorite toy or treat. The 2nd is for the adults, the offerings set are mole, tamales, atole (a Mexican hot beverage), bread and everything that made the departed loved one happy. The altar is filled with marigolds, skulls, candles, salt, and water.
Personally, I am filled with joy today as my heart believes truly that souls return to our home, that we can feel them again and that they enjoy what is on the altar.
19 years ago, I lost my dear Grandmother. Since then, I love and impatiently wait every November to feel her presence again. This past June my mother passed and although her absence has been very difficult, I have faith, joy, and enormous hope to think that they will now be traveling companions and I will be able to feel them when they visit my home. Aside from the altar that holds something that marked my life, what holds my attention the most is the flower path. My grandmother always said, "The path of flowers is the one that helps guide the return of souls to our home without getting lost".
For my family, celebrating the Day of the Dead has a purpose, the belief of coming together to welcome our loved ones who return from beyond, because when remembered, they live in our hearts forever. Many in our church know that we make an altar every year. This year is sad because we will not be able to do it, but God will give us better time remembering to love, in life, in death, in all times. We will never die while living in the hearts of those who love us.
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St. John's is turning 60! |
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Here is the answer to this week's trivia question:
This week’s question concerned some of the paintings that can be found around the Church and the Parish Hall. The artist for these paintings is Ruth Beer, wife of The Reverend Dr. David Beer.
The Bonus Question asked who is depicted on the stained glass window in the Chapel. That window shows St. John the Baptist, not our namesake St. John the Evangelist. The window was donated to St. John’s in the 1970s and has been in its current location since the original building (now parish hall) was remodeled in 1988.
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Check the St. John's Facebook page on Monday for next week's question! |
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And remember to write a short (500 words or less) story about your time - an event or special memory - at St. John's. Please send text and photos to fay@austinstjohns.org for publication in our 2020 Memory Book. |
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Sunday Services at St. John's
We are finding different ways to worship.
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Our Sunday services are being live streamed from our Chapel:
- 10:00 a.m. Morning Prayer in English
- 12:00 noon Morning Prayer in Spanish
There are two ways for you to participate in our Sunday services:
- Go to Facebook Live. No login is required to attend the service, but you must log into your Facebook account to comment or to view other comments. Click this button to attend the service using Facebook:
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- Call 1-888-958-7272 and, when prompted, enter an access code to listen to the service on your telephone. For the English language service, the access code is 865862038#.
In both cases, the live stream for each service will begin approximately 5 minutes before the start of the service.
Recorded video from both services will be posted on the
St. John's YouTube channel later in the day so that you can replay a service at your convenience. Links to the YouTube recordings will be posted on our website (www.austinstjohns.org).
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Holy Eucharist on the Deck
Limited in-person worship will continue this Sunday, with an outdoor Holy Communion Service at 1:15 PM. This week's service will be in English.
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Pre-registration is required; please click the button to register. Please register for only one Sunday service at a time so others will have an opportunity to attend.
If you need to cancel your reservation, please return to the registration site or text Fay Jones at 512-626-1771.
In case of inclement weather, this service will be cancelled.
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Sunday Morning Prayer services at 10:00 AM in English and noon in Spanish will continue to be live streamed on Facebook. No login is required to attend the service. |
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All Hallows' Eve,
commonly known as Halloween
It may come in the guise of cute children dressed up in all manner of costumes, but our pre-Christian and Christian ancestors in the faith would recognize Hallowe’en as that night when you stared at, and stared down, death. But just as we know the answer to Good Friday is not despair but Easter, so the answer to Hallowe’en is not fear but All Saints’ and All Souls.’ Each remind us that we can stare death in the face and be triumphant.
Br. James Koester, Society of St. John the Evangelist
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Although we will be unable to construct our Altar de Los Muertos in the church this year, many people will build ofrendas at home to celebrate All Souls' Day (November 2) by remembering those who have gone before us in the Communion of Saints. Next week, we will display photos of your home altars in The Bridge and on the St. John's Fellowship Facebook page, so please send your pictures to fay@austinstjohns.org by Tuesday, November 3. |
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Virtual Coffee and Fellowship:
Provide your own beverage and treat of choice
Join us for our Virtual Coffee and Fellowship on Sunday beginning at 11 am! This 30 minute opportunity to visit with friends you haven't seen in a while will be a separate Zoom meeting so you will need to use this link to join:
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To protect the meeting participants from any possible "trolls" who might try to interrupt our fellowship, the Waiting Room is enabled for this event. The meeting facilitator will admit you to the meeting as quickly as possible. |
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There are several ways you can continue to give towards the mission and ministry of St. John's:
Mail your check to the Church: St. John's Episcopal Church,
P. O. Box 81493, Austin, TX 78708-1493
Go to your bank's website and set up direct payment - the bank will send a check directly to St. John's using this address:
St. John's Episcopal Church, P. O. Box 81493, Austin, TX 78708-1493
Use this link to learn more about online giving: Click here
Use this button to go directly to our online giving portal:
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To those who have returned your giving intention for 2021 -
Thank You!
If you have not already done so, please return your giving intention (pledge) card for 2021 to the church as soon as possible.
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Caring for Each Other
If you, or someone you know, need prayer or would like to be contacted by the church, please contact the Reverend Ann McLemore at 769-257-2377 or RevAnn@austinstjohns.org to add names to the Prayer List.
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Need Help?
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 Rev. Ann (769-257-2377).
We are a church family; when a family member needs assistance we want to try and help that member.
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Only Rev. Ann and essential support staff will be in the Chapel for the streaming of services and outside for the in-person Holy Communion services as we continue to follow the direction of government officials and the guidance of our Bishop.
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All meetings and activities at St. John's are temporarily suspended.
Ministry continues. All St. John's meetings will be held virtually (via Zoom).
We will post a notification here, on Facebook, and on our website when this restriction has been lifted.
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Fay Jones, Editor (fay@austinstjohns.org) |
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St. John's Episcopal Church
P. O. Box 81493, Austin, TX 78708-1493
Virtual Sunday Services
10:00 am in English (Facebook and website)
Mediodía en español (Facebook y sitio web)
In-Person Holy Communion
1:15 pm Sundays
Outdoors on the Deck
Alternating weeks: English and Spanish
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