St. John's Episcopal Church - Centreville, VA
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Parish News - November 3, 2021
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Dear St. John's Parishioners and Friends:
The following is taken from remarks made by the Presiding Bishop Michael Curry at the national Executive Committee of the Episcopal Church on October 25:
"I want to refer back to a passage in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. This is after the crucifixion and the resurrection, and moments before Jesus ascends or returned to the fullness of the Godhead before the Ascension. And Jesus is speaking to people who are going to have to live in in-between times, and who aren’t anxious for the in-between times to enter. And for us to know when it ends and something new begins.
And so this may well be a text for our time, for this moment when not only our meetings are hybrid, but life is hybrid. So when they had come together, they asked Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority, but this you will know. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, to the ends of the earth.”
It is not for you to know all the ins and outs of life. That’s just the way it is. Some things you can know, and some things you don’t. Like my grandma used to sing, we’ll understand it better by and by. But this much you can count on. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea, in Samaria, in first-century Palestine, and in the 21st century world of a global pandemic. Of a world struggling with itself profoundly, and maybe of a world where something is trying to be born. Who knows, but you’ll be my witnesses. And maybe that’s enough.
I want to suggest that Jesus has given us some wisdom to be his witnesses, to witness to his way of life, his way of love...... to witness the things like kindness and forgiveness and giving and loving, that they matter. And that in the end, those are the things that do matter. You will be my witnesses. Whatever mistakes you make, church, whatever ways you err, however you fumble the ball, you will be my witnesses, and that’s enough.
You are not God, you’re witnesses. You are not perfect, you’re witnesses. You don’t have all the answers, you’re witnesses. You will be my witnesses."
Each one of us are God's witnesses here and now. May we continue to be the people who God has called us to be and to radiate God's love to all.
The Rev. Carol Hancock
Rector
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PARISH NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
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IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN......TIME TO TURN YOUR CLOCKS AHEAD ONE HOUR BEFORE YOU GO TO SLEEP ON SATURDAY NIGHT!!
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We are searching for a new non-profit group to use the parish hall during the week. If you know of any group looking for space, please tell them to contact David Thompson at St. John's (703-803-7500). We need to spread the word as widely and as quickly as possible. There are flyers on the back table in the church if you know of someone to send it to or a public bulletin board to post it. We have put an ad on Craigs List. If you know other websites, social media, or other places where we could advertise (preferably for free), please let Carol know. Without this income from a group using the parish hall during the week, we will have financial difficulties down the road.
All Saints' Day will be celebrated this Sunday, November 7. If you have loved ones who have died who you would like to remember on All Saints' Day, please send their names to Carol by tomorrow and they will be prayed for on November 7.
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We are looking for up to 4 volunteers to support our “Neighborhood Food Drive Collection” (see poster below) from 10:30-2:30 Sunday Nov. 7th . Volunteers will greet, welcome, and collect food donations from anyone who stops by for the Western Fairfax Christian Ministries Food Pantry. Last week volunteers distributed flyers through the adjacent neighborhood with a list of food items currently needed at the Food Pantry. The flyers also included an invitation to join us for worship services on Sunday. If we get 4 volunteers we would schedule them for 2 hour shifts. (Note: this is a separate effort than the Holiday Meal program which we initiated last Sunday by providing lists of specific items and boxes to parishioners.)
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OUTREACH
Neighborhood
Food Drive Collection
This Sunday,
November 7
To Benefit Clients of
WFCM -
Western Fairfax Christian Ministries
10:30 AM - 2:30 PM
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Our Annual Pledge Campaign for 2022 - The ingathering of the pledge cards will be this Sunday, November 7. Please prayerfully consider what your pledge will be in response to God's great goodness and mercy and return your pledge card as soon as possible. To date, we have received 31 pledges for a total of $167,232. Most are an increase from last year's pledge. Last year, we had 47 pledgers for a total of $215,565. Thanks go to those who have returned their pledge cards to support St. John's financially in 2022.
Many thanks go to David Weir for his four inspiring reflections in The ENotes during our Annual Pledge Drive. Thanks also go to Katharine Lavery, Meg Crossett, Marcia Evans and Susan Davis for their moving remarks during the last four Sunday services as they spoke about why they give to St. John's.
Veteran's Day is November 11. We would like to remember all St. John's parishioners who have served, or continue to serve, in our armed forces, including active duty, reserves and National Guard. Please let Carol know what branch of the service you served in, your highest rank, and the years that you served. If there are former parishioners or family members who you would like to remember, send Carol their names as well. They will be remembered during the service on November 14.
St. John's is doing everything we can to keep people who come to the Sunday services safe. Everyone must wear a mask, particularly when singing. We have "touch-less" communion. You pick up your own cup with a consecrated wafer, and a small cup with consecrated wine. We do not pass the offering plate, but have it in the back for people to put in their offerings. We are averaging about 25 - 30 people in person on Sundays so people can easily distance themselves from others. If you feel comfortable being inside with these safety practices in place, please join us in church on Sunday morning. Being together in community is important. If you still don't feel safe, please watch our services online. Don't get "out of the habit" of coming to church!
Treasurer and Assistant to the Treasurer set to retire. After serving faithfully for 6 years, our Treasurer, Tom McDermott, and our Assistant to the Treasurer, Penny Parker, will be retiring at the end of the year. We need to find a new Treasurer as soon as possible so they can "shadow" Tom and learn the ropes. If you have some financial skills and a little time to commit, please consider volunteering. If you have questions about what is involved, talk with Tom or Penny. Please let me, Tom or Penny know as soon as possible if you are interested. and willing to serve as our next Treasurer.
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Log Splitting & Wood Bundling
for Saturday, November 6, 2021 from 8:00 a.m. until Noon
The field behind St. John’s Episcopal Church, 5649 Mt. Gilead Rd. Centreville VA 20120
Crown Down Tree service came to the church this week and did a lot of cutting on the dead trees to make for manageable chunks to split. Not only did they take care of the trees, but they are lending their log splitter for the church to use this coming Saturday! We will be splitting and bundling . . . no chain saws this Saturday😊
We will also have a rack that makes it easy to bundle the wood. We would like to bundle enough wood to get us started. It would be great to get a good number of bundles ready to sell in front of the church for this coming Sunday, November 7th. The price is still nominal at $5 per bundle OR $20 for five bundles.
We will have Dunkin donuts and drinks available. We hope to have enough volunteers that we can wrap up before noon!?
Items to bring on Saturday:
· Safety First: gloves, ear protection, & goggles (if log splitting)
· Rakes, Wheelbarrows, & Dollys/hand trucks
If you have any questions prior to Saturday, please let me know. [email protected] or 703-477-8980
Andrew Wade
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Online Service Videos
As we return to in-person worship, it will be important for us to continue our ministry of having our services online for those who cannot or choose not to come to church. Our videos are also sent out by parishioners to friends and family in other states. We need several people to take turns recording the service on Sunday mornings. Instructions will be given. Please join us if you can help with this ministry. We need several people so it doesn't fall on the shoulders of one person every week. Please let Carol know.
You may be on YouTube. As we are now recording our services in the church and posting them on YouTube, you might be recorded in the service, particularly when you are going up to communion or returning to your seat. If this is a problem for anyone, please let Carol know.
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Thank you for all the items donated for Afghan Refugees
For now, we have collected all the shoes, socks, and luggage that were needed by the Afghan refugees coming to Dulles Airport. As the refugees begin to get settled, other needs will most likely arise. Please stay tuned to the E Notes and church announcements for updates. Thanks to all who have supported this ministry.
from the 'St. John's Outreach Committee'
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Western Fairfax Christian Ministries has put out their list of the foods that they need the most. You can bring your non-perishable items to the church on Sunday mornings, or drop them off in the box outside the door by the breezeway during the week and they will be delivered to WFCM.
· Canned garbanzo beans (low salt preferred)
· Canned kidney beans, red beans, and black beans (low salt preferred)
· Canned pasta
· Pasta Sauce (low salt preferred)
· Canned Tuna and Canned Chicken
· Flavored pasta/rice
· Mashed Potatoes
· Oatmeal (Quaker Oats Healthy Old Fashioned Oatmeal)
· Canned vegetables (corn, carrots, spinach, beets) (low salt preferred)
· Canned Pineapple (no sugar added preferred)
· Tomato Paste (low salt preferred)
· Toiletries: Toilet paper, shampoo, conditioner, feminine pads, deodorant, baby wipes, shaving cream, mouth wash (NOTE: we are not currently in need of diapers due to our partnership with Greater DC Diaper Bank. Please only donate larger size pull ups or wipes if you want to donate items for babies.)
Parishioner Denise McCarthy has informed us that Northern Virginia Family Services is collecting money, food and toys for the holidays for those in need. To learn more about wishlists, volunteering, or where and when to drop-off your donations, please visit nvfs.org/holidayprograms, or contact Jessica Warren at [email protected].
Outreach Opportunity to Help Our “Neighbors”
The Western Fairfax Shepherd Center is still accepting volunteer drivers to support clients who need help getting to appointments, shopping trips (for food), and to deliver food from WFCM to clients. Please contact the Shepherd Center at 703-246-5920 or email [email protected] and copy Deacon Steve at [email protected].
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Sign Up: Sunday service reader or usher We welcome, need, and value your help! The lector will read the 2 lessons and the psalm. The usher will hand out bulletins and bring the elements and offering to the altar. If you would like to do either of these, CLICK HERE.
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Sign Up: Altar Flowers
Please indicate how you wish your flower donation to appear in the Sunday bulletin. (Wedding anniversary, in memory of someone - something special you want to remember by providing flowers.) CLICK HERE
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Service of Evening Prayer - Virtually
Every Wednesday, St. John's has a Service of Evening Prayer. It is a peaceful way to end the day, and it's now being held virtually. Here is the link to this evening's service:
Wednesday, November 3-
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THE ADULT LECTIONARY FORUM - IN PERSON & ON ZOOM
All are invited to join in, following the Sunday service. Here is the link to the Lectionary Forum via Zoom, in case you cannot attend in person:
PLEASE NOTE LINK updated
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Last Sunday's recorded service: The Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, October 31, 2021
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We can prepare our hearts & minds by reading ahead
for the Sunday Service lesson
All Saints' Day
November 7, 2021
The First Reading: Wisdom of Solomon 3:1- 9
Even amid bleak circumstances, God’s people rest in his care, both in this life and the next.
The Psalm: 24, p. 613
The Second Reading: Revelation 21:1- 6a
God establishes a new heaven and a new earth, and will dwell among the saints for the rest of time.
The Gospel: John 11:32- 44
Jesus weeps with those who weep, and then speaks his powerful word that conquers death.
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Online Contributions
to St. John's
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St. John's now offers three buttons for online donations via Tithe.ly. You may use the buttons below to go directly to Tithe.ly, or you may download the Tithe.ly app on your phone or tablet.
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The Pledge payment button may be used only to make your pledge payment (after signing up to be a pledger, which may be done at any time in the year. See Carol or Vestry)
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The Facility Campaign button may be used only for any contribution for the facility's buildings and grounds, or special facility campaigns.
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The Donation button may be used for any other type of donation to St. John's. To designate a special purpose (i.e. Organ Fund, Ministry Partner payments, etc.) please send a note to [email protected].
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Saints: “I mean to be one too”
Who are the people who saved your life? When you think of the turns your life has taken – the times when you could have gone one way or another – who helped you find your way?
Let me ask this in another way. When you think of situations that you don’t think you can handle, when you need to ask for help, what faces come to your mind? Or when you think about men and women you admire, who comes to mind? Whoever these people are, they are your saints.
Too often we are too smart for our own good. We think of saints as kind of mythic figures who lived a long time ago and lived legendary lives. We think saints are people in stained glass windows. We think they are saints because of miraculous deeds in their lives that make them so different from us.
Let us remember that our common calling is to be saints. Sainthood is not about stigmatas, or visions, or levitating, or making the sun stand still, or miraculous healings. It’s about being so connected to the love of God in Jesus Christ that this love radiates out from you in your life “like shook foil,” as the poet Gerard Manly Hopkins says.
Saints are God lovers. St. Irenaeus said, “The glory of God is the human being fully alive,” and that’s who saints are: men and women fully alive because they are connected to the source of life. The great Jewish theologian Abraham Heschel said: "Eternity is not perpetual future but perpetual presence. God has planted in us the seed of eternal life. The world to come is not only a hereafter but also a herenow."
There are two states of being: non-life and eternal life. Every experience – every act – every moment fits into one of these two states. Non-life is the life we live apart from God and God's will for us. Non-life is false life – the life of distraction – the life of anxiety – the life of sin. When we are immersed in non-life, we forget who we are and as a result, we feel alone – we hunger for communion. The non-life is the life apart from grace – a life in a world where nothing comes easily or freely but we must earn everything we receive and prove moment after moment that we have some worth.
In that non-life place, we feel cut off from all the living – we feel unconnected. In that non-life place, we'll do anything to jolt us into feeling something: music, films, videos, shopping, alcohol, anything. That’s where so much of our society lives.
However, there is another place; a place called eternal life. That’s where we are connected to the source and, therefore, to one another, creation, and all that has come before us. As the saints tell us, “All the way to heaven is heaven and all the way to hell is hell.” The saints are a roadway to heaven for us.
Once when I was a young priest, I was greeting people after Church. A young boy yanked on my alb and said in a loud voice: “Why do we pray for the dead?” I couldn’t remember anything from seminary, so I said the first thing I thought of: “Because they are not dead – they are alive.”
And they are. We celebrate All Saints’ Day because the dead aren’t dead. They live in us and beckon us to live for the glory of God by being fully alive. They comfort us when we are downcast – or in despair. They intercede for us – and beckon us to be fully alive.
The truth is all love is eternal. The people who love you and have gone onto greater glory still love you, and that love makes them saints for you. The miracles we celebrate are not about levitating or stigmata’s or visions. The miracle is that love never dies – we remember the saints in our life and are remembered to them.
However, we don’t simply remember the saints; we let them inspire us to offer our lives for God. We honor them by living our lives for God’s glory and by making a difference where we are.
As the hymn reminds us:
They lived not only in ages past;
there are hundreds of thousands still.
The world is bright with the joyous saints
who love to do Jesus' will.
You can meet them in school, or in lanes or at sea,
in church, or in trains or in shops or at tea,
for the saints of God are just folk like me,
and I mean to be one too.
Bishop Porter Taylor
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Saints
Our baptismal vocation is to pay attention to how God is calling us as unique, unrepeatable individuals. We are saints here and now, practicing for our sainthood in heaven. Though we may be moving slowly and seem to make little progress, we are being transformed 'from one degree of glory to another.'
-Br. Keith Nelson
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and the office number is 703-803-7500.
May our ministry together spread God's love to all whom we encounter.
- Carol
The Rev. Carol Hancock, Rector
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