St. John's invites parishioners and the entire diocese to join us for a three-part speaker program

on Sundays, April 11, April 25 and May 2 at 4:30 p.m. The hour long events will be held virtually on Zoom. The link will be sent to St. John’s parishioners via Realm, others, please contact us at parish@stjohnstampa.org to get the link.

The speaker will be Christian M. M. Brady, author of Beautiful & Terrible Things: A Christian Struggle with Suffering, Grief, and Hope.

We all endure suffering in this life. No matter how blessed and privileged we may be, we will experience hardship and grief. On a personal level, it may be the death of a loved one, sudden illness, the loss of a job, or the struggle with mental health. Our world faces global disease and regional wars. Suffering is part of living in a world that God created but humanity unmade.

Bible scholar Christian Brady, an expert on Old Testament lament, was as prepared as a person could be for the death of a child—which is to say, not nearly well enough. When his eight-year-old son died suddenly from a fast-moving blood infection, Brady heard the typical platitudes

about accepting God’s will and knew that quiet acceptance was not the only godly way to grieve.

Join us as we journey with Christian Brady in a personal presentation of this beautiful book which embodies not only his lament but also his declaration of thanksgiving as he remembers God’s presence throughout his life.

Gifts of thanksgiving for Christian’s generous time with us can be made to the Mack Brady Memorial Men’s Soccer Fund at Penn State, in memory of Christian and Elizabeth Brady’s son. Click here to read more about the event and about Christian. The first twenty St. John's parishioners to sign up will receive a complimentary copy of Christian's book.

Portico Housing Solutions is a partnership between Hyde Park United Methodist Church’s The Portico, Love INC of Metro Tampa, and Second Half Properties, LLC whose mission is to bridge people from homelessness to transformation through safe housing, mentoring, and spiritual support. They offer safe housing at an affordable rate, build a case plan based upon participant’s goals, and cultivate relationships and support through mentoring and church congregations.

They need:

People who are interested in exploring becoming mentors/guides to men who enter the program. This would require at least a year-long commitment.

People who are interested in being interviewed for their board. They are looking for a CPA, a real estate attorney, and/or a criminal defense attorney.

People who want to help secure houses with grant funding or access to funders who might be interested in donating toward the next house(s).

If you feel you can help, please contact Fr. Cannon.

The Pastoral Care Ministries have opportunities that require a minimal time commitment but lots of blessings in return. If you can help, contact Fr. Michael Cannon or Sharon Stoll or one of the Team Leaders directly.

Take a meal to a fellow parishioner who is returning from the hospital or in a family crisis. Team Leaders are Beth Arthur and Cindy Hadlow.

Deliver the altar flowers from Sunday services to parishioners who are sick or bereaved. (when the COVID-19 situation permits) The Team Leader is Miriam Faircloth.

Visit (when the COVID-19 situation permits) or call someone who is unable to attend church to provide fellowship and an on-going connection to St. John’s. The Team Leader is Sharon Stoll.

Visit our YouTube channel for more information about Pastoral Care Ministries at St. John's Church.

You’re invited to join with other members of St. John’s and have your very own “You’re Invited” yard sign, in your very own front yard. By placing this sign in your front yard, you are showing your love for Christ, and love for your church. It’s such nice, easy way of inviting friends, neighbors, or even strangers to visit our church. You can pick one up at the church offices, or email DonnaAGem@aol.com or Melinda@palermolistings.com if you would like to have a sign delivered to your home. We have printed invitation cards in the office as well for pick up. Or you can email the invitation below to friends, just click the image to download it!

To assist you in your observance of a holy Lent, St John’s as usual offers a variety of resources:

This Lenten season from now through Palm Sunday, St John's EYC will be focusing on the parable of the Prodigal Son through the movie Grace Unplugged! Join us for EYC (masked and socially distant) this Sunday, March 14. 6th through 8th graders will meet from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., and 9th through 12th graders from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall!

Parents, are you interested in your 6th through 12th grader participating in St. John's local Youth Mission Trip this summer, June 1 through 5? We only have a few spots left! Our group will be serving at Feeding Tampa Bay and The Humane Society of Tampa Bay, among others. The cost is $125 per person, which includes a day of ziplining!

EYC Parents! Please click the link below to sign up for our new Youth Group text (through the Remind app, frequently used in the school system). You can join the group to stay up to date on EYC happenings by clicking here from your phone: https://remind.com/join/4h36ff 

Our next Outdoor EYC, Sunday, April 11, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. outside of Connelly House, will be an Easter Celebration! Come for Peeps, Easter games, and bunny foolishness! As usual, Outdoor EYC is a combined (6th through 12th grades) EYC.

Don’t forget to stay up to date on the latest pictures and videos from EYC on our Youth Group Instagram.

St John's Sunday School will be hosting an Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 3, (Holy Saturday) at 10:00 a.m.! The Hunt will start in the St. John's courtyard. All activities will be outdoors, and masks are required. We are looking for donations of pre-filled eggs, and candy--if you can help, please drop off your supplies at the church office by Palm Sunday, March 28. If you would like to sign up to participate, please contact Ayana Grady at agrady@stjohnstampa.org.

Please let us know if you'd like to receive our April at-home Sunday School packet by contacting Children's Minister Ayana Grady at agrady@stjohnstampa.org. The March packets will hopefully be going out this week, or at the latest early next week!

This week’s Sunday School curriculum for all classes can be accessed here, along with the weekly cartoon videos.

The Way of the Cross liturgy will be performed in the church each Wednesday of Lent at 5:00 p.m. and broadcast online. The schedule of leaders is as follows: March 10 - Fr. Goodheart, March 17 - Fr. Reho, March 24 - Deacon Moore.

Our Lenten series On Forgiveness will be presented by the clergy and staff of St. John’s each Wednesday of Lent from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. These conversational sessions will feature stories from a documentary entitled “The Power of Forgiveness,” explore the meaning of the parable of The Prodigal Son using Henri Nouwen’s Return of the Prodigal Son, and provide practical resources for approaching and processing forgiveness as found in the Book of Common Prayer and in tradition. If you plan to attend, you would benefit by the acquisition and reading of Nouwen’s book, though it is certainly not required. Previous sessions are available on our YouTube channel. While you're there, subscribe!

March 10 – Ayana Grady on “The Elder Son”

March 17 – Fr. Goodheart on “The Father”

March 2 - Fr. Reho on resources and tools for forgiveness

The Women’s Mid Morning Bible Study continues a study of the Book of Job, which biblical scholars include in the genre known as "wisdom literature." They are using Interpretation Bible Studies /Job by David C. Hester as their study guide. They welcome new members joining them at any point in the series. Deacon Kathleen Moore will lead the study of Job 19:1-29, on Tuesday, March 23.

This is a Zoom study on alternate Tuesdays, 10:00 to 11:15 a.m. To receive an invitation to log in

email Joan McKay at mckayjhm@aol.com. Pat Wilson can also provide more information or

answer questions, contact her at patwilson68@tampabay.rr.com or 245.9562.

The Wednesday Afternoon adult formation group continues an online Lent program from St George’s College in Jerusalem. For those who have visited the Holy Land, the program will recall its beauty, wonder and inspiration--a wonderful reminder of those times which undoubtedly will have left an indelible mark. For those who have not yet been able to make their pilgrimage, we hope it will serve as a taste to inspire you to find your way there in the future. The program topics are:

Week 3 - The Mountain

Week 4 - The Sea

Week 5 - The Road

Week 6 - The Garden

All are invited to meet on Zoom on Wednesdays from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.; there will be videos to watch at home. For more information contact Deacon Kathleen at kmoore@stjohnstampa.org or 785.9400.

We are in need of Sandwich Sunday Hosts for the upcoming year. Available dates are March 21, May 16, June 20, July 18, August 22, November 21, and December 19.

Hosts can assemble lunches at their own homes, and deliver them to Faith Cafe the next day. Costs are reimbursed by the parish. Contact Cindy Martin if you can help.

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.

March 11, Jim Lane, Trish McKay, Betsy Wood, Zane Polins, Anna Frick, Avery Collier

March 12, Charles Hancock, Anna Peyton Malizia, Anne Kelley, Oliver Roberts, Esther Santiago

March 13, David Martin, Andrew Jennewein, Elizabeth Jennewein

March 14, Jackie Preis, Hazel Cox, Michael Dangl, Martin McKinney

March 15, Cindy Hadlow, Bill Carson, Jack Williams, Kendal Kelly

March 16, Mac Scarritt

March 17, Maggie Wiegand, Paige Shoukry

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.

On Forgiveness Lenten Program, 6:00 p.m., Zoom

In addition to welcoming limited, safe in-person attendance at the 8:00 and 10:00 a.m. Sunday services, St. John's streams our 10:00 a.m. services live on Facebook. 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 are open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday. However most staff and clergy are 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.

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.