St. John's Episcopal Church - Centreville, VA
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Parish News - December 29, 2021
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Dear St. John's Parishioners and Friends:
What a weekend it has been!!! This past weekend, we had four services in three days: two on Christmas Eve, one Christmas Day and one on Sunday. Although the attendance at these services was less than normal due to COVID, the spirit was there! The celebration of the birth of the Christ child was front and center as we sang joyful hymns of praise and thanksgiving, and heard the readings of this miraculous event.
Many, many thanks go to all who made these wonderful services possible - the organist and choir, the Altar Guild, the readers, ushers and crucifers, and those who cleaned and decorated the church the week before Christmas. These services would not have been possible without the work of many people. Thanks to all!!!
As we celebrate the arrival of the New Year this Saturday, may we continue to pray for peace in this world, for an end to poverty and racism, for all people to love one another as Christ loves us. May we continue to live out the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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The Rev. Carol Hancock
Rector
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PARISH NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
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We are searching for a new non-profit group to use the parish hall during the week. If you know of any group looking for space, please tell them to contact David Thompson at St. John's (703-803-7500). We need to spread the word as widely and as quickly as possible. There are flyers on the back table in the church if you know of someone to send it to or a public bulletin board to post it. We have put an ad on Craigs List. If you know other websites, social media, or other places where we could advertise (preferably for free), please let Carol know. Without this income from a group using the parish hall during the week, we will have financial difficulties down the road.
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St. John’s Parish Hall on Friday, January 7, at 6:00 pm.
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Please sign up on this link to let us know how many are coming and what you might like to bring.
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We have just learned that one person who attended the 4:00 PM service on Christmas Eve may have COVID. They are awaiting test results. Other family members who were with this person on Christmas Day have tested positive for COVID. This person was wearing a KN95 mask during the entire service and was not sitting in close proximity to anyone else.
Bishop Ted Gulick will be making a Bishop's Visitation to St. John's on Sunday, April 3. If anyone wishes to be confirmed, received into the Episcopal Church from another denomination, or renew their baptismal vows, please let Carol know as soon as possible. Classes for confirmation candidates will need to start in January.
The sign-up sheet for readers, ushers and crucifers for 2022 is now online. Please sign up for the services that you can help with. Please click on the link under the "Announcements" below.
As part of our continuing community outreach, we will collect and deliver items to the Katherine Hanley Family Shelter. They provide crisis intervention, stable housing, and supportive services to homeless families and victims of domestic violence. They are located nearby and currently house up to 12 families onsite, 12 families in hotel sites and serve over 40 families in their prevention and rapid rehousing programs. The following items are in need year-round as these families transition into permanent housing.
Household items
Trash cans, Shower liners (new only) ,Shower rings, Toilet bowl cleaner and toilet brush
Laundry baskets, Laundry soap, Toilet paper, $25 gift cards to Walmart, Home Depot, or Lowe’s
Kitchen
Cutlery, Flatware, Cooking utensils, Measuring cups/spoons, Mixing bowls, Tupperware sets, Pot and pan set, Broom and dust pan, Dish soap and sponges
Linens (new only)
Twin, Full and Queen sheet sets/comforters, Towels, Bath mats
Vestry Candidates Needed - On February 6 at 12:00 noon on ZOOM, we will have our Annual Parish Meeting where we will be electing new members of the Vestry. Three of our current Vestry members will be completing their three year terms. Six people will remain on the Vestry so we can elect up to six additional members. If you would like to have more information about the work of the Vestry, please feel free to talk with a member of the Vestry (listed on the back of the bulletin each Sunday) or to attend one of our meetings on Zoom. Just let Carol know ahead of time so she can send you the link. The Vestry currently meets on Zoom on the third Sunday of the month at 7:00 PM. Vestry members must be confirmed communicants in good standing.
The Bishop's Learning Series: My Story; Our Story; The Story
How fiction and poetry can take us deeper into our faith
Clergy: Thursdays at 4 p.m., January 12 - March 16.
Lay: Wednesdays at 3 p.m. January 12 - March 16 OR Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. January 13 - March 17.
As human beings we make meaning through story. Stories are how we connect with one another. When you are introduced to a stranger, you begin with your story: “Where I am from; what I do; what are my passions” and so on. In addition, the deeper truth can often only be reached through story. We know this from reading the gospels. People asked Jesus a complicated question, and he answered with a story: “Once there was a man who had two sons…”
This online series of classes is intended to deepen our awareness and our reservoir of story and image. We will read short stories and poems and use them as the way to go deeper into the Good News and how we encounter it in our lives. The class is not an English class but a Theology class that uses fiction and poetry as the doorway into the mysteries of our faith. If you wish to join the class, please email Anita Lisk and indicate if you are clergy or lay. Read the full class description
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*Wood Bundles Now For Sale*
The price is still nominal at $5 per bundle and the bundles are located outside the breezeway. Donations can be put in the envelopes provided and put in the secure adjacent mailbox.
Andrew Wade
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Western Fairfax Christian Ministries has put out their list of the foods that they need the most. You can bring your non-perishable items to the church on Sunday mornings, or drop them off in the box outside the door by the breezeway during the week and they will be delivered to WFCM.
· Canned garbanzo beans (low salt preferred)
· Canned kidney beans, red beans, and black beans (low salt preferred)
· Canned pasta
· Pasta Sauce (low salt preferred)
· Canned Tuna and Canned Chicken
· Flavored pasta/rice
· Mashed Potatoes
· Oatmeal (Quaker Oats Healthy Old Fashioned Oatmeal)
· Canned vegetables (corn, carrots, spinach, beets) (low salt preferred)
· Canned Pineapple (no sugar added preferred)
· Tomato Paste (low salt preferred)
· Toiletries: Toilet paper, shampoo, conditioner, feminine pads, deodorant, baby wipes, shaving cream, mouth wash (NOTE: we are not currently in need of diapers due to our partnership with Greater DC Diaper Bank. Please only donate larger size pull ups or wipes if you want to donate items for babies.)
Outreach Opportunity to Help Our “Neighbors”
The Western Fairfax Shepherd Center is still accepting volunteer drivers to support clients who need help getting to appointments, shopping trips (for food), and to deliver food from WFCM to clients. Please contact the Shepherd Center at 703-246-5920 or email [email protected] and copy Deacon Steve at [email protected].
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Sign Up: Sunday service reader or usher We welcome, need, and value your help! The lector will read the 2 lessons and the psalm. The usher will hand out bulletins and bring the elements and offering to the altar. If you would like to do either of these, CLICK HERE.
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Sign Up: Altar Flowers
Please indicate how you wish your flower donation to appear in the Sunday bulletin. (Wedding anniversary, in memory of someone - something special you want to remember by providing flowers.) CLICK HERE
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Service of Evening Prayer - Virtually
Every Wednesday, St. John's has a Service of Evening Prayer. It is a peaceful way to end the day, and it's now being held virtually. Here is the link to this evening's service:
Wednesday, December 29
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THE ADULT LECTIONARY FORUM - IN PERSON & ON ZOOM
All are invited to join in, following the Sunday service. Here is the link to the Lectionary Forum via Zoom, in case you cannot attend in person:
PLEASE NOTE LINK updated
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Last weekend's recorded services:
Christmas Eve 4 PM
Christmas Eve 9 PM
Christmas Day
Sunday After Christmas
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SUNDAY WORSHIP & EDUCATION
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THE ADULT LECTIONARY FORUM - HELD EACH SUNDAY
All are invited to join in, following the Sunday service, in the library. Or use the link to the Lectionary Forum via Zoom, in case you cannot attend in person, found above.
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We can prepare our hearts & minds by reading ahead
for the Sunday Service lesson
The Epiphany
January 2, 2022
The First Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6
The Psalm: 72:1-7, 10-14
The Second Reading: Ephesians 3:1-12
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Online Contributions
to St. John's
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St. John's now offers three buttons for online donations via Tithe.ly. You may use the buttons below to go directly to Tithe.ly, or you may download the Tithe.ly app on your phone or tablet.
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The Pledge payment button may be used only to make your pledge payment (after signing up to be a pledger, which may be done at any time in the year. See Carol or Vestry)
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The Facility Campaign button may be used only for any contribution for the facility's buildings and grounds, or special facility campaigns.
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The Donation button may be used for any other type of donation to St. John's. To designate a special purpose (i.e. Organ Fund, Ministry Partner payments, etc.) please send a note to [email protected].
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Dear friends in the Diocese of Virginia,
As I sat to pray and give thanks for the life and witness of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, this message from our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, was posted. I can not say anything better about one of the bright lights of our Anglican Communion and, more importantly, of our human family. We are blessed with hope and joy even in the midst of this messy, muddled world because Desmond Tutu walked in love in Jesus' name. Please hold this dear brother in Christ in your prayers.
I commend Bishop Curry's message to you.
Faithfully yours,
The Rt. Rev. Susan E. Goff
Bishop Suffragan and Ecclesiastical Authority
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry's Statement
With the passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a true friend, colleague, and mentor—and a genuinely humble, great soul—has gone before us. He has passed through the gate of death into the arms of the God who gave him life.
While on this earth, he sought to follow Jesus of Nazareth in God’s way of love and life. In so doing, he showed us how to live God’s dream as children of the one God and creator of all.
So, even in our sorrow that he is no longer walking among us, we can thank God that he did.
Perhaps we best give thanks by honoring his legacy—not merely with lip service to racial justice and reconciliation, but with lives dedicated to this work. We do this by learning to live together as the children and family of God, no longer hurting each other or God’s creation, but together living the dream God intended. For in God’s dream, as the Hebrew prophet Isaiah said, “they will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
To borrow from a friend who texted me on Archbishop Tutu’s passing, may the knowledge of his life and heart keep us all strong, good, kind, and loving.
May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church
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Fight
The feast of the Holy Innocents is a reminder that we fight the same fight Jesus was born into. The fight against evil is a good fight, a timeless fight. Like Jesus, we fight with our hearts and minds, our prayers, our love, our vows and our will. We enlist with our baptismal covenant and are reinforced daily by the communion of saints and the power of the Holy Spirit.
-Br. Jack Crowley
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and the office number is 703-803-7500.
May our ministry together spread God's love to all whom we encounter.
- Carol
The Rev. Carol Hancock, Rector
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Please note: If you choose to unsubscribe below, please be aware that you will no longer receive either St. John's sermons or E-Notes, which are sent weekly. If you do unsubscribe and later want to be added back in, that needs to be done through the provider, Constant Contact. Please email St. John's office with the request: [email protected].
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