Author Archives: Priscilla Burns

A New Year of Faith, Formation, and Friendship

Posted on by

St. John’s begins a new program year on Sunday, September 13th, and we want you to be a part of it. Here are some of the ministries resuming or starting:

Children’s Formatiocartoon image of St. John's smaller file 001n Programs: Our two children’s classes begin at 9:45 am on the 13th. Do plan to come a bit early and register your children. Godly Play for 3 year old through 3rd graders meets downstairs, and our older class meets upstairs in the Parish Hall.

Children’s Choir: Nancy Armstrong invites all children in grades two and up to join her for the first rehearsal of Children’s Choir, at 9:15 upstairs in the Parish Hall.

Adult Choir: The choir sings at the 10 am service on the 13th, and holds their first rehearsal on Thursday, September 10th at 7:30 pm in the Parish Hall. Douglas Witte welcomes all – including persons new to the choir. Your voice will add to our praise.

Parish Picnic: A Parish Picnic follows the 10 am service on the 13th. Please plan to stay for hot dogs, hamburgers and more.

Confirmation Class on September 20: All high school age students are welcome to join us for a confirmation class, at 6 pm. We will meet on alternate Sunday evenings, with a light supper included. The class will provide an opportunity to explore what it means to be a Christian and a member of the Episcopal Church.

 

From Your Godly Play Teacher

Posted on by
From your Godly Play Teacher:

On May 4th, I’ll be walking in Project Bread’s Walk for Hunger! I’ll be walking with the Episcopal Chaplaincy at Harvard, where I’m Kellogg Fellow. We’re raising money to help feed the 700,000 children and adults who face food insecurity in Massachusetts. We’re also raising money in honor of Bishop Tom Shaw, part of his Season of Celebration and Service. It’s the most vulnerable around us who are most affected by food insecurity. When we give money to Project Bread, we’re helping feed children, the elderly, the disabled, and the unemployed. I’m doing this because I believe it’s one way to follow God’s will in my life. If you’d like to donate, visit this link (http://support.projectbread.org/goto/ejg) and click the “DONATE” button above the picture! Some extra incentive: If you donate $50 or more, we’ll give you a free ECH Walk t-shirt … see below!hunger walk tshirt.2014

Join Us for Lenten Faith Conversations

Posted on by

LENTEN FAITH CONVERSATIONS –
Thursday evenings, 5:30-7:15, March 13, 20, 27, and April 3. 

We meet on Thursday evenings for soup, supper, and conversation. This will be a four week program, and you can come for any or all of them. The Rev. Lyn G. Brakeman, Priest Associate, will facilitate the conversations on various spiritual themes. No preparation or homework is required; any sharing is voluntary and confidential; all are welcome—your presence is enough. We’ll take turns bringing food to share. You can  sign up at Coffee Hour if you would like to come for any or all. And if you can only come on the spur of the moment – please do!

DAILY LENTEN MEDITATIONS
Offered by the Society of St. John the Evangelist

The daily video meditation offered by the monks of SSJE  has begun, based on the Gospel of John. Love/Life: Living the Gospel of Love, provides the opportunity to pray and meditate on a daily reflection. We’ll schedule a few gatherings during the season so that we can share our responses together. For more information, and to subscribe to the series, go to this link:

http://ssje.org/ssje/lovelife/

A Suggestion for Personal Reading in Lent from the Rev’d Dick Simeone

There are countless possibilities for personal reading in Lent.  One I highly recommend is The Last Week by Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan, (HarpersSanFrancisco) available from Amazon in  print or Kindle.  Using the Markan text, the only one of the four Gospels that follows a day by day chronology of Holy Week, the book explores the depth and meaning of Holy Week.  Drawing us more deeply into this pivotal week for Christians, it provides rich opportunities for prayer and reflection in preparation for celebrating the most important days in the Church Year.  Commenting on this work, the late Peter Gomes, long time minister of Memorial Church at Harvard, wrote: “If there is one book for the redemption of Holy Week, this is it.  Lent can not be better concluded than with this expert guide through the passion to Easter.  This is a ‘must read’ for clergy and laity.”  May it be a fruitful resource for your Lent pilgrimage this year.  —The Rev’d Dick Simeone.

 

 

 

 

Thank you!

Posted on by

IMG_8688To say that the observation of my twentieth anniversary at St. John’s bowled me over would be to understate it by quite a bit.  “Just a bit of cake” I thought when Tom told me the occasion would be marked, maybe a sip or two of prosecco and we would all be on our way.  Well, the songs, the gifts, the congratulations from past Rectors, and the remarks from the floor really moved me, and I thank the people of St. John’s for making the day truly a special and memorable one for me.

As I said at the time, when I arrived at St. John’s I really didn’t expect to be here very long. I had just returned to the US from two years in Amsterdam, and was at loose ends and simply took the first job offered me because I needed the work. Why have I stayed? I may have been less than articulate last week when I tried to express this, but aside from the beautiful organ and devoted choir and unusually  beautiful building, I am still at St. John’s because this congregation here present cares for its own in very important and fundamental ways.  This parish’s practice of welcome and acceptance is second to none, and I know that I am far from alone when I say that at times of great personal crisis, I have felt cared for here.  This really is a parish family.  From conversations I’ve had with colleagues, I have come to know that this is rarer in parish life than you might think, and much to be cherished.

Further, working at St. John’s has been a constant education.  There are many things about parish life they don’t teach you in music school, and I have been very blessed to have a place to learn those things.  Whether you know it or not, you have been patient and thorough teachers.

So thank you, not just for the nice party with cake, but for making this my home for these last twenty years.

IMG_8680