828 King's Highway, Suffolk VA 23432

757 255-4168 stjohns1755@verizon.net Worship Service: Sundays at 10:30am
Welcome to St. John's community. We are honored to serve Christ, and to open our doors to all. Please feel free to join us for worship. St. John's can trace its history to the founding of Jamestown. The parish is over 350 years old, and the church building itself has stood for 2 and a half centuries. St. John's saw the American Revolution and served as a camp ground for troops during the Civil War. Through it all, St. John's has been a place of worship and a home for those seeking communion with Christ. St. John's has a rich and abiding history. Today, it is as it was... a place to find and be found by Christ.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

St. John's e-News for Sunday, November 20, 2011 - 1 Advent

2012 Funding Proposal – The Vestry and Rector has submitted a proposal explaining the need for $103,500 for calendar year 2012. This is only a $2,000 increase over our projected spending for calendar year 2011. Please take a look at the letter from the Vestry and fill in your pledge card for the coming year.
Community Thanksgiving Day Service – Thank you to all who helped make our community service for Thanksgiving a success. We share worship space with 36 residents this past Tuesday with representatives from Diamond Grove Baptist, Oakland Christian, Wesley Chapel Methodist, and Whitehead’s Grove Baptist. We were truly blessed to have such a diverse congregation and we collected $157 for the Suffolk Meals-on-Wheels program.

Lay Participants – We would like to thank those who volunteer to assist during worship as Altar Guild, Chalicist, Reader, Lector, and Usher. We would like to have a few more volunteers to assist on Sundays in one of these capacities. The Chalicist is the only person who requires special but simple training. We will provide an overview of the positions in coming weeks but if you have any questions about the duties see one of our current volunteers or the Rector.
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November 27, 2011, 10:30 am Holy Eucharist Rite II
Lessons for the First Sunday of Advent
First Lesson: Isaiah 64:1-9
Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
The Gospel: Mark 13:24-37

Lay Participants for November 27, 2011 - 10:30 am service
Chalicist: Terry
Lector: Fred
Prayers: Marlene
Ushers: David and Lynn
Nursery Attendant: Taylor
Nursery Assistant: Alice

Refreshments: Bernice

Sermon for November 20: http://chirb.it/gmqwDp
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Our Vision – We will be conscientious stewards of our facility, time, talent, and treasure to effectively be instruments of God’s providence.

This Sunday’s Psalm – We will sing the portion of the Psalter in unison. We will use a metrical version of the Psalter from A New Metrical Psalter by Christopher Webber. Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18 will be set to Hymn 609, Where cross the crowded ways (Gardiner) from the Hymnal 1982. The words and music will be found in a bulletin insert.

Christmas Eve and Day and New Years Day Services – During the Liturgy Team meeting it was decided that our Christmas Eve festivities would begin at 9:00 pm. We will have 30 minutes of Carol singing followed by the celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord beginning at 9:30 pm. We will also celebrate Holy Eucharist the following morning (Sunday) beginning at 11:00 am (note the delayed start time). Please join us for one or both the offerings on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
    We will have service the following Sunday, New Years Day at 11:00 am. On New Year’s Day we will celebrate with Christmas Lessons and Carols. There will be 8 readings and a like number of Carols. Please come and enjoy this celebration of the New Year.

Budget Year 2012 $$ Pledge Drive $$ – Thoughts about pledging: (1) your pledge, while it should be firm, is not cut in stone – you can modify your pledge based on family and financial situations; (2) your pledge includes time, talent, and treasure to help the church achieve its mission and vision; (3) every little bit helps and helps us plan for the coming program year; (4) is something that you should determine based on your prayerful consideration of the thankfulness you have for God’s gracious bounty in your life – not simply in the past year but over the span of your lifetime.

Winter Quiet Day – The clergy from Convocation IV will be holding their Clericus in December at St. John’s. During this meeting the clergy will participate in a Quiet Day led by the Rev. Canon Michael Spear-Jones. The quiet day will be held Tuesday December 6 from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm. Please help us observe Holy Silence on this day.
    In addition, the Rector is looking for a couple benches to place in the church yard in case the weather is cooperative and participants desire to spend time outside.

“Women’s” Book Study - The “Women’s” Book study will be studying The Grand Weaver by Dr. Ravi Zacharias this year. The study is not limited to women alone; the Rector does participate most weeks. The next meeting will be Wednesday November 30th from 10:00-11:30 am in the Parish Hall. We will discuss “Your Will Matters; Questions 17, 18, and 19.”

Formation Classes – This week’s class will discuss our Old Testament reading: Isaiah 64:1-9, “A Prayer of Penitence”. All are invited to join us in the Parish Hall from 9:15-10:15. Next week we will cover Isaiah 40:1-11, “God’s People are Comforted”.

Coffee Hour – There is a sign-up sheet for Coffee Hour in the Narthex. Please sign-up for an upcoming Sunday. The goodies can be as extravagant or simple as you would like – you need not be a gourmet chef to volunteer, simply desire to assist the fellowship efforts at the church.

Thought for the weekHeart: Our hearts rest in Jesus, even in the midst of very busy lives our heart of hearts rests in him. Even when we’re saying things Jesus wouldn’t say; even when we’re thinking or feeling things Jesus wouldn’t think or feel—even then our heart of hearts rests in him.
-Br. Mark Brown, SSJE
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Upcoming Events:
Thu. Dec. 1st "New Chapter: Your Church in God's Unfolding Story" conference – Williamsburg VA (through Dec. 3rd)
Sun. Dec. 4th     Parish Advent Potluck – following the service (Parish Hall)
Tue. Dec. 6th     Convocation IV Clericus Quiet Day – 10:00 am – 2:00 pm (Church and Parish House)
Sun. Dec. 11th   Pledge cards due
                           Lake Prince Woods Vespers (Rector preaching) – 4:00 pm
Mon. Dec. 12th  Vestry Meeting – 7:00 pm (Parish House)
Sun. Dec. 18th   Blessing of the pledges
                           Greening of the Church – following service
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PASTORAL CARE
Pray for Katherine, our presiding bishop; Holly, our bishop; and Les our priest.

St. John’s shut-ins, Marianne, Meriwether, Allen, David, Shirley, Suzanne, Janis, Dominique, Virginia, Lon, Luann, David, Evan, Kevin, Peg, Faye and family, Carter and family, Foster family, Jim, Lisa, Terri and Family, Marvin, Bev, Denise, and Jaelyn.

Serving in the Armed Forces and Overseas: Bryan and Susan; Jonathon, David, and Patrick
Parish Cycle of Prayer: Nansi & Zollie
Diocesan Cycle of Prayer: Calvary, Dinwiddie; Grace, Drakes Branch; The Rev. Alice & Joe Davis.
Anglican Cycle of Prayer: The Rt. Rev. Dr. Thomas John Brown of Wellington, New Zealand & Polynesia.

Birthdays in November 
Bev 03        Dianne 04
Doug 11      Eddie 13
Steven 16   Kathy 28
Laura 28      Dotty 29

Anniversaries in December
Don & Marcella 17     Shannon & Dotty 20
John & Elizabeth 28   Steven & Susan 30

Birthdays in December
Marcella 2     Gary 8
Les 8             John 14
Burr 18          Nansi 18
Kevin 19        Will 28
Kate 29         Susan 30
Don 30

If you are in need of Pastoral Care,
Please call Father Ferguson.
Home: 757-484-8409

Contact Music Minister Roger Peyton

Like us on our Facebook page:
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Suffolk VA
https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Johns-Episcopal-Church-Suffolk-VA/176697562360854

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