Bishop Smith visited this Sunday to help us honor Fr. Chip on the occasion of his retirement from his role as our Rector. The Service for the Ending of a Pastoral Relationship was a lovely way to conclude Fr. Connelly's years of positive, loving, and strong leadership. In addition to giving Fr. Chip a substantial financial gift, thanks to donations from parishioners, and several other gifts both symbolic and touching, the Vestry announced that Discovery House will now be known as The Fr. Charles E. (Chip) Connelly Discovery House.

You can find more pictures on our Facebook page.

Join us for our next virtual Coffee Half-Hour and enjoy fellowship with other parishioners! The event will take place at 11:15 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, following the 10:00 a.m. service. The Zoom link will be sent out via a Realm email on Thursday and again on Sunday morning.

Since March, due to the current pandemic, we have not been able to include congregational hymns and service music in our services, since singing in large numbers is considered unsafe and a way that the virus might be spread. As you are also aware, the number of people singing in the choir has been drastically reduced to four, for the same reason. The singing of hymns the world over has been one of the mainstays of congregational worship for centuries, and many of our own congregation have told me how much they are missing it. Several weeks ago, we asked our people to submit requests for their favorite hymns to be recorded by the quartet with myself at the organ. The response was overwhelming and we received over sixty requests! Inevitably, we had to prune the list to a manageable number and were not able to include every verse of every hymn, given the length of time it takes to make such a recording. However, most of the favorites are there, and you can tune in on Sunday, November 1 at 5:00 p.m. to listen via our Facebook page or through the church’s website. My thanks to the quartet, Kristen Walker, Tori Swilley, Marty Angiulli and Steve Galloway for taking the time to make the recording, as well as to John Edgar for acting as cameraman and sound engineer!

On Tuesday, November 18, at noon, Love INC will offer a virtual orientation called Love INC 101. St John's is a founding member church of Love INC, and several members already volunteer. If you are interested in supporting Love INC as a volunteer or donor, contact Deacon Kathleen at kmoore@stjohnstampa.org or 785.9400.

St. John's Cursillo Community will present an Ultreya on Saturday, November 7, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. “Ultreya” is a Spanish word, derived from the original Latin, meaning "onward."  It was in common use by pilgrims to greet and to encourage one another along the way. This word is now used by the Cursillo community to signify the meeting which is held after a Cursillo experience.

This event is open to all, invite your friends. This will be a regular Ultreya format with the theme Transitions. We are pleased and honored to say that Simon Morley will accompany us as we sing hymns. Announcement of speakers to follow soon. Mark your calendars and contact Sharon Stoll for the Zoom link.

2020 is already one for the history books, and we haven’t yet finished writing its story. How shall we look at these cataclysmic events through the eyes of faith? Where is Christ leading us in this moment, and how will we find the strength to follow?

To assist in understanding, the Diocese of Southwest Florida is offering a two-evening online event entitled Grace in a Year of Trials. The free Zoom event, intended for congregations in the Diocese of Southwest Florida, will discuss the events of 2020 with leading bishops and clergy from across the Episcopal Church.

Speakers include Atlanta Bishop the Rt. Rev. Robert Wright; Virginia Assisting Bishop the Rt. Rev. G Porter Taylor; the Very Rev. Randolph M. Hollerith, Dean of Washington National Cathedral; and the Rev. Winnie Varghese, priest at Trinity Wall Street and author of Church Meets World. The hour-long events will take place on November 16 and 17 at 7:00 p.m.

For more information, including on how to register, click here.

St John's annual Advent program will begin on Monday, November 30. This year we will offer a four-week series based on Dr Amy-Jill Levine's book, Light of the World. We will meet via Zoom on Mondays November 30 and December 7,14, and 21 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Our St John's clergy members Fr. Michael Cannon, Fr. James Reho, Fr. Don Goodheart, and Deacon Kathleen Moore will each lead a session. Mark your calendar and plan to join us! Details will follow soon.

Check it out on our YouTube channel and stay tuned for another video next week! While you're on our channel, subscribe!

The new schedule for Evening Prayer began Monday, October 26. Prayer will continue to be held on our Facebook page at 4:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The schedule will be as follows:

Faith Cafe has inaugurated “Hot Meals to Go,” the first step toward resumption of full meal and other support services for those in need. To accomplish this, we will need six volunteers for the St. John’s team, which serves on the 3rd and 4th Fridays of each month. Three volunteers will be in the kitchen plating the protein, grain, and vegetable that Metropolitan Ministries provides and three will dispense the lidded disposable plates of food at the front door. Guests will eat outside, as they are currently doing, but the meal will be like the more substantial one they were served prior to the pandemic. Face masks will continue to be required for volunteers, and actual contact with any individual guest is brief and distant.

St John's is one of 15 churches that are members of Love INC of Metro Tampa, an organization dedicated to helping our neighbors in need. Love INC has an opening for a Help Center Coordinator in its office at the Portico in downtown Tampa. This position oversees the recruitment, training, and supervision of volunteer Resource Navigators; maintains client records; and assists the Executive Director to sustain relationships with member churches and community agencies. The position is currently 25 hours per week, Monday through Friday with the planned goal to increase to 40 hours per week in the first quarter of 2021. If you are interested or know someone who might be, contact Deacon Kathleen Moore at kmoore@stjohnstampa.org or 785.9400.

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.

The Women’s Mid Morning Bible Study continues 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. Chris McAdams will lead the study of the Second Letter of Peter (1:1 - 3:18) on Tuesday, November 3. 

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.

The Sunday Adult Formation Group meets 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. On October 21, the group began a study of The Meaning of Mary Magdalene by Cynthia Bourgeault.

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 call her at the parish offices at 259.1570. If you prefer, you may also call John Edgar in the parish offices and he will fill out a pledge card for you.

October 29, Rowland Lee, Ken Dockery

October 30, Nicholas Arcuri, Scott Greacen, Steve Straske, Robert Mattox, Carter French, Haydon Swanson

October 31, Simon Morley

November 1, Caroline Campbell, D.J. Holt, Frederick Krom

November 2, Joe Arcuri

November 3, Susie Sanders, Alison Arnold

November 4, Helen Gilbart

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.

The Holy Eucharist (Rite II), 10:00 a.m., Church, on Facebook Live, and our website

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 stream is also live on our website.

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.

Our clergy and staff stream evening prayer daily Monday through Saturday at 4:00 p.m. on Facebook Live. Intercessory prayers are invited in the comments during the feed or email us.

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.