This Week on the Mountain for Sunday, December 13th

This Week on the Mountain

Sunday, December 13, 2020

The Third Sunday of Advent

Stewardship Campaign 2021

As of Wednesday of this week, we have joyfully received pledges from the following people. Fr. Dave, the Wardens, and Vestry are thankful for the faithfulness and generosity of..

December 13: The Third Sunday of Advent

Spoken Holy Eucharist Rite I, 8 am

Holy Eucharist, Rite II, 10 am

Please join us at

8 am Spoken Holy Eucharist, Rite I, Church
10 am Holy Eucharist, Rite II, Church

We urge you to do whatever feels safest to you! You are welcome to attend the 8 and 10 am services in-person or virtually. Space has been available the past few weeks. If you choose to attend in person, please let Fr Dave know by 9:30 am on Sunday morning so we may keep count of attendees.

The liturgy is held in the Church where social distancing and safe procedures are maintained:

Every other pew is available for seating. Persons sit more than 6 feet apart.
The 10 am liturgy is about 45 minutes long, so parishioners are inside the church building for less than one hour.

If you are joining us at either the 8 or 10 am in-person, please read the guidelines here before responding. Your reservation is acknowledgment that you have read and agree to conform to them,

The 8 & 10 am liturgies will continue to stream in the SJOTM Zoom Room as well.

All are welcome to and encouraged to join our Sunday Zoom Room Coffee Hour at 10:45 am.

This is the Zoom link

The 8 am Service Leaflet is available here

The 10 am Service Leaflet is available here

Longest Night Observance

Thursday, December 17 at 7:30 pm.

The holiday season can be a difficult one for anyone, especially this year when we mourn our inability to gather, or we miss beloved friends or family, or we feel like we are underwater or struggling, perhaps for no specific reason at all. We invite all who are feeling like this, and anyone you'd like to invite, to join us for a Zoom service at St. Bernards on Thursday, Dec. 17, at 7:30 pm.

Sponsored by St B.'s, from their virtual church, the link is available here We're invited and so is St Marks in Basking Ridge. All our priests are participating. This link and the service leaflet will again be available in next Wednesday's evening prayer announcement.

Christmas Eve on the Mountain

Thursday, December 24

Creche, Candle, Carol: 4 pm*

Bring your home creche's baby Jesus to be blessed and join us to light candles, sing "Silent Night," hear the story and be blessed on this sacred night together. A twenty minute outdoor observance
Reservations are necessary - please email the office today!
Rain (or sleet) cancels
*An additional observance at 3pm is possible.

Festal Eucharist

6:30pm: Choral Prelude
7:00pm Choral Eucharist
We will provide details and links for the services in the coming weeks. This event is web-based only.

Outreach at Christmas

In addition to our annual Advent Fostering Love campaign, we plan to continue to support the Food Bank clients at Christmas. Currently, there are 360 families using the Food Bank and Pantries; we are asking that you help by contributing hams or turkeys/turkey breasts or frozen lasagnas for families in need at Christmas. Contributions should be left in our lovely new freezer in the garage. We are also collecting diapers that will go to the Food Bank, CASA SHAW for foster children, and families in need in Bernardsville. Please leave diapers next to (not in!) the freezer in the garage. Dave has suggested that we build an altar of diapers! We'll see,,,,

Thank you for your continued support.

Check out Our YouTube Channel

1. We are trying to get to 100 subscribers on our SJOTM YouTube channel so we can have a custom domain. Will you and your friends please SUBSCRIBE to our channel? You will receive automatic updates about our virtual liturgies, just in time for Christmas.

2. In case you missed it, you are invited to sing, pray, watch, and enjoy our Advent Evensong, now available on our YouTube Channel at any time.

Collection for CASA SHaW

Children being placed in the Foster System because of abuse and/or neglect must usually leave their homes immediately. Often they are offered not much more than a garbage bag into which they may hastily put their personal belongings. Fostering Love provides these children with a tiny bit of dignity and hopefully shows them that the world around them loves them during this most difficult time. During the season of Advent, we will be collecting items for Fostering Love, which benefits foster children supported by CASA SHaW (Court Appointed Special Advocate of Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren counties).

Specific items are requested based on age and gender. Please use this link to review the available slots on the list and see if there are any items you would care to donate. In past years, generous friends have ordered in quantity from Amazon and had items directly delivered to SJOTM. Send to:

St. John on the Mountain, Fostering Love

379 Mount Harmony Road

Bernardsville, NJ 07924

Please bring all items to the SJOTM Parish House Meeting Room

The Open Table Men's Group continues to meet

Wednesday, December 16, at 8:15 am

We will begin reading Love Is The Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry this week.

Both books are available through Amazon quick ship.

Please contact Rich McGlynn here for more information. Especially contact Rich if you want to receive a reminder and the Zoom link early on Wednesday morning.

Vestry Nominations

The following people are soliciting nominations for the incoming Vestry Class of 2023. If you yourself or someone you know might consider serving as a member of the vestry, please contact

Peter Mercer: jpmercer@comcast.net

Sophie Ray. : smophie.ray@gmail.com

Mattie Sbaraglio: mattiesbaraglio@gmail.com

Bill Young: bjyoung150@gmail.com

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