www.stjohnsportsmouth.org4 February 2016

Palm Burning is Sunday

This Sunday, February 7th, bring your palms from last year's Palm Sunday celebration to be burned following each Eucharist in preparation for this year's Ash Wednesday celebration.  Our liturgy will be filled with lots of "Alleluias" as we will fast this word of praise in Lent until we shout and sing it again at the Easter Vigil.  Make sure to fatten up at hospitality time, since our Lenten fare will be much simpler as well.

Shrove Tuesday, or Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), is the day before Ash Wednesday when people rid the pantry of all the fattening foods that they will not consume during the 40-day Lenten season.  On Tuesday, February 9th, St. John's will host a Pancake Supper from 5:30-7pm.  Adults $5, Ages 3-10: $3, Under 3 free.  Proceeds will go to the Acolyte Fund.    

On Ash Wednesday, February 10th, we will begin our forty-day preparation for Easter (called Lent) with a day of fasting.  Those who are physically able are encouraged to eat no food and drink only water or clear juice; when our stomach reminds us of hunger, we then turn to God in prayer.  (Even children or adults with special medical needs can find ways to observe a modified fast with simple foods like soup.)

The St. John's community will provide three distinct worship opportunities to observe this day.  Invite your friends, neighbors and co-workers to join you!

11:30am, Liturgy of the Day & Eucharist (contemplative format without music; lunch hour friendly!)
4-6pm, drop-in imposition of ashes
6:30pm, Principal Liturgy of the Day & Eucharist (classic format with organ music)

Use facebook?  Please like and share St. John's Ash Wednesday invitation video to your facebook page.  And, as always, invite your friends and neighbors! 

Come for one day to the Women's Retreat, 2/20
 
St. John's AWE Women's Ministries would like to invite you to attend the Retreat on Saturday February 20.  Be part of the praise music with Taraleigh Casteen (Sunday 9am Eucharist Band Leader), spiritual journey with our leader Kirsten McGrath, and enjoy the Founders Inn hospitality plus lunch in the Swan Terrace-all for just $25!  You do not need an overnight reservation to be part of this special Saturday event.

Please mail your $25 check (made payable to St. John's Church for the retreat) to Patti Devers, 1505 Mathews Terrace, Portsmouth, VA 23704.  Retreat representatives will also be available after worship on Sundays to accept payment.
 
Our speaker for the retreat is Kirstin Logsdon McGrath.  Kirstin is a beach-loving, book-toting Hampton Roads native currently living in Auburn, AL.  She enjoys exploring culture, nature and language to find new revelations of God's handprints in his world.  She is a mother of four children-toddler, teenager and two in between.  She especially relishes finding time to write and speak to women regarding their sometimes-forgotten identity as the beloved beauty of God's warm and relational heart.  Don't miss out on this special opportunity!
Miscellany
 
Christian Formation for adults and children continues this Sunday. 

This Sunday is Boy Scout Sunday.  Show your pride and wear your uniform to church this week!
 
Chisholm Hall is a Sunday quiet zone.  Construction was completed before Christmas on the Parish House roof and HVAC ductwork to eliminate the second floor water intrusion in our Christian Formation rooms.  Interior plastering of the ceilings is complete and painting has begun!  

In the meantime, the Good Shepherd Atrium (ages 3-6) will be meeting in their relocated atrium in Chisholm Hall.  Chisholm Hall will be closed to adults from 10:10-11:30am each Sunday.  We ask that those arriving for 11am worship walk around the building from the parking lot and enter the worship space through the Washington Street doors.  Disabled adults are asked to pass quickly and quietly through Chisholm Hall during this time.  Thanks so much in advance for your cooperation and assistance!
 
The Diocese of Southern Virginia Annual Council will meet in Williamsburg on February 5 & 6.  Joining Fr. Derek and Clifford King Harbin will be Dick Devers and Jeff Fremeau (delegates), Allison Foytik and Nancy Johnson (alternates), and Fr. Bob Gilman (visitor).  Congratulations to Clare Harbin who was selected as one of a dozen diocesan youth delegates; she also will read one of the scriptures for the main Eucharist of Council.

Join a Small Group in the new year.  Small groups at St. John's are called "Scott's Creek," in honor of the first such group that met in a home on the banks of Portsmouth's Scott's Creek.  Small groups are a great way to deepen your faith, build friendships, and become more connected to the St. John's community.  Multiple groups with diverse interests and age groupings are available and we invite you to be a part!  Email the Parish Office to get connected!
 
Want a St. John's name badge?  Are you ready to look outward and be welcoming, greeting those you do not know before you greet your friends and offering hospitality to those you meet?  If your answer is "yes," then complete a name badge request form found in Chisholm Hall.  These badges have a magnetic back (which should be kept away from medical devices and credit/debit cards).
 
The Parishioner Corner of our Website has news you can use.  Here you can access the January 2015 Parish Directory, parish handbook, worship ministry schedules, and read approved minutes of vestry discussions and actions as well as parish financial reports.  Need or don't remember the password?  Contact the parish office.
 
Content deadline for St. John's eNews is Wednesday at noon before publication.

In our Prayers this Week

For the Church
Justin, Archbishop of Canterbury; Michael, the Presiding Bishop; for Holly, our bishop; Derek, our rector; Heidi, Russ, & Amanda, our missionaries; and our parish staff, wardens and vestry
 
For Justice and Peace    
Peace in the Middle East; for an end to mass violence and racial divides in this nation; for Barack, our president; Terry, our governor; Ken, our mayor; for the city of Portsmouth; for Clint Carlson, Erin Elliott, Carolyn Higgins,  George Lang, Jessi Staley, Dariana Torres, Shaun Tuttle, and Bill Wolter who are serving our country overseas or away from home; for the Coast Guard Personnel on watch and on patrol from Coast Guard Base Portsmouth
 
For those in any Need or Trouble  
In our Parish: Elaine Baker; Mary Colby; Bill Edwards; Ron Fritz; Andy Gray; Al Gregg; Barrie Harper; Richard Hill;  Mavia Hudgins; Franklin Marzullo; Dody Mason; Cody Miller; Martha Ann Oast; Arlene Peterson; Carol Phipps; Anne Barbour Schwab; Walter Short; Barbara Stearns; Fran Taylor; Sue Taylor;  Peggy Tuthill; Patricia Viera; Ruth Waldo; Dave Walker; Mike Wall; Bobby Wilkerson; Sonny Wilkinson; Joy Young  

We ask God's Holy Spirit to surround, protect, and move to successful completion the renovation of the second floor Christian Formation rooms.
 
Related to our Parish: Tom, Patti & Kelly (family of Dody Johnson); Mary Jane (friend of JoAnn Rose); Tim (friend of Andy Graham); Lynn (Cindy Carlson's sister-in-law); Mary (friend of Claudia Tomlin); Michael & Kelsey (children of Allison Foytik); Jacob (friend of Scott & Nancy Johnson); Tyrone (friend of Mick & Linda Kauffman); Eddie (Martha Rush's stepfather); Patients at the Naval Hospital & EDMARC hospice for children
                                                        
Thanksgivings
For the new spiritual opportunities that fasting will provide each of us in the upcoming Lenten season
Stewardship of God's Resources 
Week of 1/31 

Ministry/Worship Attendance: Sunday 8am (9), 9am (61), 11am (60); 
Wednesday 6:30pm (9)
Worship Offering:  $9,523
 
Income needed for ministry expenses each week: $6,778

This Sunday in Worship
 
Last Sunday after the Epiphany, 2/7: 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 & Luke 9:28-36
The flowers at the Altar and Founders' Chapel are given to the Glory of God and in thanksgiving for all scouts and leaders on this Boy Scout Sunday and for Derek Harbin, Centurion Award recipient on the 100th Anniversary of the Order of the Arrow, the honor society of the Boy Scouts of America.

Herman Hollerith, IV, bishop 

J. Derek Harbin, rector

Keith Byers, bookkeeper

Taraleigh Casteen, bandleader

Courtney Devers, staff chef

Bob Gilman, assisting priest

Philip Goodrich, sexton

Clifford King Harbin, associate to the rector

Rebecca Mina, creation atrium coordinator

Christopher Rusk, organist/choirmaster

Claudia Tomlin, organist emerita

Justin Young, publications

 

Welcome to our Sunday Worship Services

 Contemplative Eucharist, Rite I at 8:00am
 Contemporary Eucharist at 9:00am
 Classic Eucharist, Rite II at 11:00am

Wednesday Healing Eucharist, 6:30pm

Holy Days as Announced

You'll find us at 424 Washington Street, Portsmouth, VA 23704 or by phone at 757.399.4967

Our office hours are 10am - 1pm M-F. We look forward to seeing you!
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