SAVE THE DATE!
Mark your calendars now for Saturday, December 13, 2014 at 4:00 PM for the Installation of the new Rector – Rev. Duncan A. Burns. More information will follow – but for now – Save the Date!
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CANTERBURY SHOP
The Canterbury Shop is ready for holiday shoppers. Stop in this morning and see the welcoming display. Advent calendars are ready for your selection
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YOUTH GROUP WREATH SALE
Order forms are now on the back table, and on our website, for the Youth Group’s Wreath Sale. Deadline for placing an order s Monday, December 1st. Order pick up is Saturday, December 6th
10 AM to 1 PM, and Sunday, December 7th, 9 AM to 12 noon.
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ALTAR GUILD POINSETTIAS
Would you like to donate a Poinsettia(s) in Loving Memory of, or In Thanksgiving for, to grace our Altar this Christmas? Order forms can be found on the back table, and on our website. Order deadline is Monday, December 16th and to ensure that your dedications will be listed in the Christmas bulletin insert. Please be sure to check off if you wish to pick up your poinsettia(s) after the 10 am service on Sunday, January 4th.
ALTAR FLOWERS & PERPETUAL LIGHT DONATIONS
Starting November 30th there will be a new process to donate Altar Guild Flowers and Perpetual Light dedications at St. John’s.
· Please see the BINDER on the back table to select the date(s) you wish to reserve. Enter your name under the date you’ve selected (up to two per Sunday).
· Take an Order form located in the front pocket of the binder. Fill out and return with payment as you have done in the past!
Thank you for your support of St. John’s Altar Guild.
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PRAYER CONCERNS FOR ST. JOHN’S
For the sick: Roberta, Roger Giacomini, Teresa Santiago, Bill Hinton, Irena, Geralynn Marchesi, Philip Wulfken, Christine Bushnell, Jean Giacomini, Cheryl Hairr, Anna Felter, Arthur Noble, Martha Kee, Marta Dovi, Mark Bellissimo, Brain A., Jennifer, Frank Elliot, Karin, Bill Wesp, Kathy, Tom, Elizabeth Wagner, Melanie Gryznstein, Raili Dwyer, John McCartney
To have someone entered onto our Prayer List for 4 weeks, please e-mail the church office with the person’s name as well as the requester’s name. The e-mail address is: .
Last Sunday attendance: 135
THE CHALICE
The weekly Sunday Bulletin of St. John’s Episcopal Church
November 9, 2014
FROM THE RECTOR:
I saw a stranger yestreen:
I put food in the eating place
I put drink in the drinking place
I put music in the listening place;
and in the blessed name of the Triune
he blessed myself and my house;
And the lark said in her song
often, often, often
goes the Christ in the stranger’s guise.”
—
An old Gaelic rune
We have a wonderful opportunity this weekend to open our hearts to our community. The Harvest Fair is Saturday November 8th and we continue the Harvest Fair after 8:00 am and 10:00 am services on Sunday. My prayer is that we will show a radical hospitality to everyone that enters our building this weekend. Christ asks us to love God and one another. Loving God takes place at our worship service, but loving one another begins after the service and continues until we worship together again.
“Nouwen spoke about ‘hospitality of heart.’ At its core, hospitality is an opening of the heart. It
really has very little to do with having friends or strangers over for dinner. Indeed, we can invite the
poor into our homes for a meal three nights a week, but if our heart is not open, we have not offered
hospitality. This is what makes many of us avoid hospitality as a practice. We hesitate to open our hearts to the degree that hospitality calls for. Providing a meal or shelter seems more manageable than opening our hearts. Opening our hearts means we really have to gather others in their problems, their dreams, the hopes that lie hidden in their souls, the joys that have taken them to heaven’s doors –all these become a part of our own heart when we engage in hospitality as a spiritual practice. The challenge of this, of course, is that the contents of our own heart merge with those of our guest. This means that what is in our heart is no longer front and center. It’s no longer all about me. It becomes, instead, all about us” (M. Renee Miller).
We open our doors every weekend to the community. We take great pride in fellowship from the Lord’s table to the kitchen table. Please practice the art of hospitality with all who enter this beautiful church. Whether they come to buy, to visit, or to worship this weekend, we should open our hearts and our ears to all who enter.
The ECW donates a large portion of the Harvest Fair proceeds to people in need in our community. It is important for each of us to attend this weekend and welcome others to join us. Caring about one another and sharing our lives with one another is what hospitality is all about. “Let us not love with word or tongue, but in deed and truth.”
In Christ’s love,
Rev. Duncan A. Burns
VISITORS AND NEWCOMERS WELCOME!
We welcome you to St. John’s Episcopal Church. Established in 1745, this historic church opens its doors to all who seek to deepen their faith and provides warm hospitality to all. We are blessed by your presence and invite you to fill out a Visitor’s Card on the back table of church. Visit the Greeters’ Kiosk in the rear of church, where Greeters are available to answer questions and provide you with a packet of additional information about church services and activities.
HONORING OUR VETERANS
TODAY we will be honoring our veterans at both the 8 and 10 am services on Sunday, November 9th. After services come into the Great Hall and try to figure out who our brave service members are from your fellow parishioners, by trying to match up their old service photographs to them now; and to thank them for their service to our country!
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GOD’S MISSON – OUR GIFTS
Thank you for your generosity and faithfulness in this year’s Stewardship Campaign. If you have not already done so, please fill out a Pledge Card and drop it in the mail or into the collection basket this Sunday.
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ECW and YOUTH GROUP
Together our ECW and Youth Group will be collecting donations to help sponsor a Thanksgiving Meal for 10 families from the Suffolk County Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Please see the boards in Church with takeaway notes of the various donations needed to create these Thanksgiving Meal baskets that the Youth Group will be putting together. All donated items MUST be dropped off to Church no later than the 10 am service on Sunday, November 16th. Thank you for supporting the noble cause and helping families who have been victims of domestic violence, start to celebrate life again as a family!
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CARING FOR THE CAREGIVER WORKSHOP
Are you a Caregiver? Are you a Veteran’s Caregiver? There will be a Caring for the Caregiver workshop on Saturday, November 22nd from 9 AM to 12 Noon at the Church of the Advent in Westbury, NY. There are flyers on the back table with information and how to register. You can also visit the website www.aarp.cvent.com/caregiver3
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ADVENT & CHRISTMAS SEASON – CALENDAR OF EVENTS
· Sunday, November 30th at 9 AM in the Guild Room – Advent Series led by Fr. Duncan.
The Courage of Mary: A study of the Blessed Virgin Mary through music, art, poetry and Timothy’s Keller’s “Encounters with Jesus” (Book available on Amazon).
· Sunday, November 30th in the Great Hall after the 10 AM service– Advent Wreath Making. There will be NO Sunday School, but EVERYONE is invited to participate in making an Advent Wreath for the season.
· Saturday, December 6th from 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM – St. John’s Spirituality Group hosts “Advent: A Morning of Prayer” with Guest Speakers Marcia and Jack Gaudet.
· Sunday, December 7th at 9 AM – Advent Series: The Courage of Mary led by Fr. Duncan continues.
· Sunday, December 7th at 7 PM – Sing Noel: A concert of Christmas Songs, Carols and Stories.
· Saturday, December 13th at 4PM – Installation of Rev. Duncan A. Burns as Rector.
· Sunday, December 14th at 9 AM – Advent Series: The Courage of Mary led by Fr. Duncan concludes.
· Saturday, December 20th 9 AM to 12 Noon – Christmas Pageant Rehearsal.
· Sunday, December 21st at 10 AM service – St. John’s Sunday School Christmas Pageant.
· Sunday, December 21st after the 10 AM service - Greening of the Church.
· Wednesday, December 24th at 4 PM – Christmas Eve Family Service.
· Wednesday, December 24th at 8 PM – Choral Christmas Eve Holy Eucharist.
· Wednesday, December 24th at 11 PM – Choral Christmas Eve Holy Eucharist, with incense.
· Thursday, December 25th at 10 AM – Christmas Day Service with Holy Eucharist
· Thursday, January 1st at 10 AM – New Year’s Day Holy Eucharist and Brunch