Vol. 80 Issue 3 | Week of January 17-23, 2022 |
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A Word of Hope
Susan Classen, a Mennonite health worker in El Salvador reported to her congregation during a visit home. She displayed a beautifully embroidered banner showing shoots sprouting from a stump. The Spanish words on the banner read, “They yanked off our fruit. They cut off our branches. They burned our trunk. But they couldn’t destroy our roots.” After explaining the phrases, she said, “Roots grow deeper with persecution and suffering.” She had witnessed how the poor – as is always true – were the losers in the war.
Beloved, amidst these days of lingering pandemic, too many deaths, and cold icy days, please touch the roots of your faith. The source of your spiritual life is deeper than the surface. Trace the power of your spiritual power and you will find a strong and expanding root system out of sight. Feed the roots of your faith. Like the trees and shrubs and flowers during this winter, remember that your life in God is rooted in God’s life in you. Your roots and the soil God created are so intertwined they cannot be separated. Just as plants grow stronger during winter to flourish in the spring and summer, you too can grow stronger in your spirit during a season such as this. Your strength is in God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ.
Recall the words written to the Church in Rome:
“Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword (or a pandemic, or a cold winter)? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8)
Shalom,
Dennis
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UPDATED GUIDELINES BY ST. JOHN’S COVID-19 TASK FORCE
The rise in the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has caused CDC and other agencies to update guidelines. Because several households in the life of St. John’s have been diagnosed with COVID in January and because we always want to err on the side of caution on behalf of our preschoolers and persons at risk, our COVID-19 Task Force has updated our congregational guidelines as follows:
If you test positive for COVID-19, we are requesting the following protocol regardless of vaccination status.
Please refrain from returning to church services for 10 days.
To calculate this, Day 0 is the first day of symptoms, and Day 1 is the first full day after symptoms develop or your test specimen was collected. If symptomatic, you must also have symptoms improving and be fever-free for 24 hours.
We encourage you to be asymptomatic with a negative home test prior to returning to services to protect those who are most at risk among the congregation.
Always wear a well-fitting face-covering (KN95, N95, or surgical masks are preferred) and continue to practice social distancing.
We appreciate your compassionate care for others.
This attentiveness is one of the ways we follow Jesus’ teachings to love one another.
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A Centennial Year Of Celebrating & Envisioning
Throughout 2022, we will celebrate aspects of our heritage and envision our future based on God’s hope. Our Heritage Resource Team has worked with Dr. Foust and the Ministry Staff to plan a special 100th year!
Click below to access a full schedule of events for the winter and spring of 2022.
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From the Heritage Room
An Interesting Bit of History
During the "energy crisis" in the early 1970s caused by an oil embargo of shipments of oil by OPEC from the Mideast to the United States, the price of natural gas for heating the church rose considerably. In order to save money on heating the building, the church canceled all programming during the month of February 1973 except for Sunday morning worship.
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Faith Journey Book Study
Faith Journey book study will begin reading and discussing Radical Hospitality, Benedict’s Way of Love.
Books are available in the church office for $18. All are invited to join virtually on Monday, February 7 with a discussion on chapter 1. The Zoom link will be sent out prior to the beginning date. Our plan had been to meet in person but with the high numbers at this time it felt safest to start on Zoom and evaluate monthly.
We invite all (men and women) to join us for this meaningful study during these dreary winter months.
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High School Discipleship Retreat
January 28-29
Discipleship Retreat for 10th-12th graders is Friday, January 28, and Saturday, January 29. We will be staying in town due to Covid restrictions, but will still do Discipleship and talk about Youth Sunday and have some fun being together! See the schedule below:
- Friday, January 28 we’ll be in the lounge from 5-9PM for dinner and Discipleship.
- Saturday, 1/29 we will be at the Braggs’ barn from 10AM-3PM for Discipleship, lunch, fun, and Youth Sunday planning.
There is no cost to participate.
SAVE THE DATE!
Youth Sunday on February 13
Every year, we celebrate the young people of our church on Youth Sunday. This year, we will have Youth Sunday on February 13 during morning worship. Their commitments and dreams inspire us as they reveal their commitments to God’s vision for the world.
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St. John’s Baptist Church
Inclement Weather / Closing Information
With the weather forecast in mind, here is a reminder of what our inclement weather policy is at St. John's.
Weekdays
When the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools cancel school because of bad weather, all church activities, including meetings, activities, and Weekday School, will be canceled and the church office will be closed.
Sundays
In the case of extreme weather conditions affecting Sundays, we will announce alterations/closings no later than 7:00 am Sunday through the following media:
- Automated Greeting on Church phone (704.333.5428)
- Church website (www.stjohnsbaptistchurch.org)
- E-mail
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Room in the Inn Update
Due to the current spike in Mecklenburg County covid infection rates, St. John's has rescheduled our first night of Room in the Inn (RITI) hosting from Saturday, January 29 to Saturday, February 19. We have updated our Signup Genius signup lists to reflect this change of schedule.
To signup for ANY of the RITI hosting tasks available during February and March, please add your name to the lists accessed through the button below.
If you have any questions about RITI hosting tasks, please contact Dale Johnson (704-454-8931) or Alice Wirz (704-222-6208).
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Welcoming Rev. Jonathan Lee Walton, PhD
February 20 During Worship
Throughout our history, St. John’s has enjoyed a close relationship with Wake Forest University. We are a founding church for Wake Forest University School of Divinity and are privileged to welcome the Dean of the School of Divinity, Rev. Jonathan Lee Walton, PhD, into the St. John’s Pulpit on Sunday, February 20.
Walton is a social ethicist whose scholarship focuses on evangelical Christianity and its
relationship to mass media and political culture. Dean Walton's work and insights have been featured in several national and international news outlets including the New York Times, CNN, and the BBC.
We look forward to welcoming Dean Walton to St. John's on February 20!
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Prayer Concerns, Thanks, Sympathy |
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Shirley Ballard, Katherine Barr, John Bragg, Tamara Edwards, Caroline Godsey, Tish Philemon, Brad Sifford, Carole Ann Simpson, Don Swofford, Elma Thomas, Dee Turner
We express our sympathy to the family of Paul Lloyd in his passing on January 14. We will gather in the St. John's sanctuary on Sunday, January 23rd at 2PM to celebrate Paul's life of ministry. This service will be live-streamed and a receiving line will follow the service at the front of the sanctuary to allow you to express your love to the Lloyd family.
The following response comes from Marsha Hirsch, director of Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency, expressing appreciation for an additional $791.00, which were Global Missions Offering funds received after our presentation to the agency of the check for $10,000 in December.
"St John's has been so generous during this emergency period with Afghan arrivals and their needs. Thanks to everyone in the congregation and the Global Mission group for this support. CRRA is in receipt of the check and will use it to assist these families. We look forward to continuing our partnership."
Indeed, we also look forward to a continued partnership as CRRA and other local resettlement agencies continue to minister to these new neighbors.
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Financial Ministry Plan Report |
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Week of January 11-19: $45,636
Income through January 19: $73,256
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You can make contributions, view your giving history and pledge status, as well as update your pledge and giving information anytime by accessing your personal Realm profile online or via the Connect App. |
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Ministers On-Call Schedule
Jan 17-23: Dennis Foust
Jan 24-30: Dennis Foust
Jan 31-Feb 6: Kevin Gray
Staff Contact Information
Dennis Foust, Senior Minister - 704-359-7234 (cell); 704-333-5428, ext. 12
Lee Gray, Minister for Congregational Care - 704-451-1309 (cell); 704-333-5428, ext. 15
Allison Benfield, Minister for Spiritual Growth - 828-448-8412 (cell); 704-333-5428, ext. 18
Kevin Gray, Minister for Music and Worship - 803-524-0287 (cell); 704-333-5428, ext. 14
Jacquelyn McAbee, Church Administrator - 434-579-1177 (cell); 704-333-5428, ext. 20
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