The Word from St. John's Church (Week of March 14, 2021)

Reminder: Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday, March 14 at 2:00 a.m.

Turn your clocks forward one hour.

Sunday Schedule

March 14 | The Fourth Sunday in Lent

Join us Sunday, March 14. Worship will be livestreamed on Facebook and on the Worship Page of our website from the sanctuary at 9:00 a.m. A recording of the service will be posted on Facebook, YouTube, and our website's Worship Page after the service ends. Please note that the service will not be live on YouTube. If you would like to be on the list for attending services in person as space is available, please sign up here by Thursday at noon. We are able to open these services to 25 people each week on a rolling basis. Visit www.stjohns-dc.org for more information.

Virtual Coffee Hour

Sunday at 10:00 a.m. | Online via Zoom

Join us Sunday to socialize, catch up, and talk about the service. Wendy Fibison, member of the Vestry and of the Parish Choir, will host. Send a message here for the link to participate.

Bible Study

Sunday at 10:00 a.m. | Online via Zoom

Please contact Jack Reiffer who leads the class, for the link to participate.

Youth Group for Grades 6-12

Sunday at 11:00 a.m. | Online via Zoom

Click here to join the St. John's Youth Group meeting. Please contact the Rev. Savannah Ponder for more information.

Speaker Series

Sunday at 11:00 a.m. | Online via Zoom

Join us March 14, from 11:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., for a discussion led by Karen Travers, senior member of the ABC News White House team, who covered the Bush, Obama and Trump Administrations and now covers the Biden Administration. She serves on the board of the White House Correspondents’ Association. She will speak on Reflections of a White House Correspondent. Following the discussion, there will be opportunity for Q&A. Click here to register to attend on March 14. Once you register, you will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link for the meeting.

The 2021 Next Step Breakfast: Virtual Brunch with Yamiche Alcindor

Saturday, March 20, 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Thirty-five years ago, twelve Episcopal parishes established Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington to combat poverty, homelessness, and other challenges faced by our brothers and sisters. Today, Samaritan is supported by more than 40 parishes and schools and continues this vital mission. Through the years, St. John's has been a loyal supporter through both donations and volunteers.

Please virtually join Matt Bode, our Samaritan Ministry Partner Representative, on March 20th for the 2021 Next Step Breakfast. This event is one of the main fundraisers for Samaritan Ministry each year and will be emceed by Yamiche Alcindor of the PBS NewsHour. This is a fundraiser so of course you will be asked for a donation, but no donation is too small.

Click here to register and for more information. If you do register, please list Matt Bode as your table captain.

Pathways Through Lent

St. John's Church has successfully created and evolved many elements of its ministries during these months of the pandemic. For Lent this year, we are encouraging everyone to take advantage of the several weekly gatherings and postings as part of our Pathways through Lent. Weekly prayer services, Holy Habits podcast, Sunday gatherings and worship, the messages we get from our clergy—all of these combine to offer opportunities for reflection, gathering, and prayer. We are also publishing parishioner reflections on Monday and Friday mornings.

Sung Compline

Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. | Livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube.

New this year during Lent: sung compline by the St. John's Choir. The service will be livestreamed on Facebook and our website's Worship Page. Click here for a copy of the Thursday sung compline bulletin. For more information, please contact the Rev. Savannah Ponder.

Lenten Reflections

Sent as email Monday and Friday mornings.

If you were subscribed to the reflection list-serv in 2020, you should automatically receive these again this year. If you would like to begin receiving the devotions this year, please subscribe here .

Spoken Compline

Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. | Online via Zoom.

Compline is a service for the completion of the day or night prayer. Click the button below to join us for this peaceful liturgy as our day ends. Click here for a copy of the spoken compline bulletin. Click here to join the Tuesday Service of Compline. For more information, please contact the Rev. Savannah Ponder.

Centering Prayer

Wednesdays at 7:30 a.m. | Online via Zoom.

Centering Prayer is a form of Christian prayer that allows us to experience God’s presence within us. Join us as we quiet our mind and begin our day with 20 minutes of silent prayer together. No experience needed. Contact Thom Sinclair for more information or for the link to participate.

Holy Habits Podcast

Sent as email Saturday mornings.

Holy Habits is a podcast from St. John’s, journeying through Lent. In these conversations, we explore the disciplines we need to live our faith here and now. This is an exploration into the shape of a life well-lived, that is, a life oriented to receiving the gift of belonging in God’s life. The Holy Habits podcast will be sent to the same list as our weekly eNewsletter The Word. Click here to subscribe.

Holy Week and Easter Schedule

Palm Sunday | March 28

9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

Palm Sunday Service with Passion Narrative, and with music on the plaza before the service begins.

Tuesday | March 30

8:00 p.m.

Spoken Compline. (Online via Zoom)

Wednesday | March 30

Watch Party at 6:00 p.m.

Pre-recorded Lamentations Holy Week Concert with Reflections.

(Online only on Facebook and YouTube)

Maundy Thursday | April 1

7:00 p.m.

Maundy Thursday Service with Stripping of the Altar and Foot Washing.

Good Friday | April 2

12:00 noon

Good Friday Service with Communion from the Reserved Sacrament.

Easter Day | April 4

9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

Festival Holy Eucharist

3:00 p.m.

Easter Outdoor Gatherings with Music, Prayer, and Distribution of Communion.

Virginia Theological Seminary (Alexandria, Virginia)

Washington National Cathedral (Washington, D.C.)

In order to attend in-person worship, please click the button below to RSVP.

We can welcome up to 100 per service, but advanced notice is required.

All offerings, except outdoor gatherings, will be available online.

Click here to RSVP.

Please list the total number of people attending in your RSVP.

The deadline to RSVP for the Palm Sunday services is Sunday, March 21 at 11:59 p.m.

The deadline to RSVP for the Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Day services

is Sunday, March 28 at 11:59 p.m.

Upcoming St. John's Speaker Series Events

Sundays | March 21 and April 11

11:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. | Online via Zoom

March 21: Sarah Stewart Johnson , Associate Professor at Georgetown University. Her lab focuses on detecting biosignatures, or traces of life, and is involved with analyzing data from current spacecraft and devising new techniques for future missions. She has worked on NASA’s Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity Rovers. She is also a visiting scientist with the Planetary Environments Lab at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. She will speak on The Red Planet: The Search for Life on Mars. Click here to register to attend on March 21.

April 11: George Will, Washington Post columnist. He covers politics and domestic and foreign affairs. He will speak on The Function of Conservatives: What they Exist to Conserve, and What Only They Can Do. Click here to register to attend on April 11.

Book Group

Thursday, April 8 at 6:45 p.m. | Online via Zoom

The St. John’s Book group will meet on Thursday, April 8, at 6:45 p.m. via Zoom to discuss The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri. This moving novel puts human faces on the Syrian war with the immigrant story of a beekeeper, his wife, and the triumph of spirit when the world becomes unrecognizable. If you love to read, please join us for an evening of discussion and socializing.

For more information and for links to participate, contact Janet Edmond.

Worship Offerings for Children

Please click below for the Children’s Bulletin with coloring pages of stories from this Sunday’s scripture readings.

Baptism at St. John's

To give families options during this extraordinary time, and until St. John's is open for full Sunday services, the Rector will discuss options to a church service with families, including baptisms at home (and preferably outdoors) or a private baptism at the church. All baptisms must comply with health and safety guidelines. The parents or grandparents of children being baptized must be active, pledging members of St. John’s. Adults interested in baptism for themselves must attend the Rector’s Adult Inquirers’ Class and be active, pledging participants in the life of the parish.

The Rev. Savannah Ponder will lead a required pre-baptism class on Thursday, April 8, at 7:00 p.m. If you are interested in baptism and would like to register for the class, please contact Kaye Edwards.

Stewardship Update

Click here to pledge.

We’re nearing the end of a strong stewardship season, though of course we’ll still accept & welcome pledges for weeks/months to come. Currently we have 326 pledges, 20 more than at this time last year and nearing last year’s year-end number of 336. We have also hit more than $964,000 in pledged dollars. Last year at this time we were nearly $50,000 less than that. And we are $20k above where we were at the end of last year’s tracking in the summer. By the way, we had 23 out-of-state households pledging so far this year, up from 14 last year. Nearly 94% of our fellow parishioners pay off their pledges in full, which is wonderful! If you haven’t yet had the chance to do that for 2020, I hope you’ll try to do so. Thank you to everyone who made all of this possible, and especially to those who were able to dig a little deeper this year, as well as those who have never pledged before and decided to join in for 2021.

If you know someone new to St. John’s who is intimidated by the stewardship process, please suggest they reach out to me here as I am happy to talk about it. This coming year we’ve mapped out the calendar so as to give us a better chance at reaching an even higher goal. A few years ago, St. John’s was regularly reaching more than $1m in pledges each year, and we think we can get back to those numbers in the near future. We also hope to offer a zoom discussion on planned giving sometime this spring, as our members often have questions about this subject. And a small team will be working together soon to improve the online giving and pledging process, as it is still a bit confusing. I should add—if you’re interested in joining the stewardship committee this year, please reach out! Please contact the Stewardship Committee here with any questions.

Toby Stock,

St. John's Stewardship Committee Chair

COVID-19 Pandemic Service and Giving Opportunities

Direct volunteer service or requests for help:

Please send an email to help@stjohns-dc.org with your name, contact information and details of the type of assistance you would like to contribute or that you need. We are matching volunteers with those requesting help for practical support during the pandemic, such as grocery shopping.

Financial Assistance:

Our Rector, the Rev. Rob Fisher, has an emergency fund for those who are in need of financial assistance. If you need financial help or would like to contribute to the emergency fund, please reach out directly to the Rev. Rob Fisher.

To support members of parishes in the Diocese of Washington who suffer from food insecurity and other hardships, the diocese has suspended the Annual Bishop’s Appeal for the diocesan budget and has replaced it with a Covid-19 Emergency Relief Appeal . You can make a gift on the diocesan website at this link: https://www.edow.org/about/giving.