30 June 2016

Church Leaders Speak out this Week

"The privilege of democracy is to vote, to campaign vigorously, to have robust and firm discussion. It is not a privilege of democracy to express hatred, to use division as an excuse for prejudice and for hate-filled attacks."

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury (UK)

"We all know that some things in holy Scripture can be confusing, hard to understand, or open to various ways of understanding. But some essential teachings are clear and incontrovertible. Jesus tells us to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves, and he tells us over and over again not to be afraid (Matthew 10:31, Mark 5:36, Luke 8:50, John 14:27). There's no confusion about what Jesus is telling us, but it often requires courage to embody it in the real world. Again and again, we become afraid, and mired in that fear, we turn against Jesus and one another. This age-old cycle of fear and hatred plays out again and again in our broken world, in sickening and shocking events like the massacre targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Orlando, but also in the rules we make and the laws we pass...but we believe, as the New Testament says, 'perfect love casts out fear.'"

Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop & Gay Clark Jennings, President of the House of Deputies (Episcopal Church USA)

"This upsurge of racism, of hatred towards others, is something we must not tolerate. We have to say this is simply not acceptable in a humane society and it should never be provoked or promoted. We need to grasp again our basic sense of purpose in living together, creating together, and fashioning a society. It is that sense of purpose that we may have lost focus of: believing that the purpose of politics is to manipulate power (and) the purpose of business is simply to make profit for a few."

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster (UK)

Though Christian Formation for adults and children is now on summer break, the next formation opportunity for adults and children will be during this year's Kidz Kamp Vacation Bible School (July 18-21) jointly sponsored and hosted by Trinity Church this year. Fr. Derek (of St. John's) and Fr. Charles (of Trinity) will lead the adult track. Register using this link today!

We needs lots of volunteers, both teens and adults, to make this an amazing week for all our young participants. Sign up on the "Journey" Mission Bulletin Board in the first floor Parish House hallway.

St. Fiacre results are in!

AWE Women's Ministries would like to thank everyone from St. John's Church and our neighbors, who helped us celebrate this year's St. Fiacre Garden Party and Flower Festival (April 29, 30 and May 1). Your support of this weekend was fantastic. The net income from the Garden Party, Silent Auction and Plant Sale was $7,536!

We are grateful for the opportunity in the coming year to give these funds away! Your generosity allows a gift for our Rector's discretionary spending, monthly support for our missionary Amanda Porter, Giving to Christ at Christmas, the Ida Barbour Pre-School, the AWE Annual Women's Retreat, and AWE Women's Bible Study material. God is Good!!

Miscellany

The Parish Office will be closed on Monday for the Independence Day national holiday.

Want to give the gift of flowers at the altar and chapel on an upcoming Sunday? Sign up on the "Feast" Mission Bulletin Board in the first floor Parish House hallway.

Prayer List Reset this week. One of the challenges of maintaining prayer lists is that names can unnecessarily remain on them longer than needed. Each quarter we "reset" our prayer list by removing all names and requesting parishioners to submit names to repopulate the list. Please use this link if you would like a name added to the new list we will use from July - September.

Our thanks to Fr. Bob Gilman who today ends his service as St. John's Assisting Priest. Bob is now serving as the part-time priest-in-charge of Glebe Episcopal Church on Nansemond Parkway in Suffolk and needs to step away from his responsibilities here to focus on his new responsibilities there. Well done, good and faithful servant. You will be missed!

Want to serve as an Acolyte, Reader, Lay Eucharistic Minister/Visitor, or on the Altar Guild Sacristan team? Every person at St. John's has a ministry -- no matter how old, no matter how young. All baptized persons at St. John's are invited and welcomed to explore ministry as an acolyte, reader, and altar guild sacristan team member. All confirmed persons at St. John's are invited and welcomed to explore ministry as a lay eucharistic minister in worship or to the homebound. Training for each of these ministries will begin in the next two months. Contact Fr. Derek if you would like to be included in this upcoming training!

St. John's eNews will publish on a twice a month schedule during the summer months. Upcoming summer publication dates will be 7/14, 7/28, 8/11, and 8/25, with weekly publication resuming on 9/1. Content deadline is Wednesday at noon.

Want to volunteer for Kidz Kamp? Your online Safe Church (abuse prevention) Training must be up to date and your certificate of completion filed in the Parish Office. To complete this online training, send an email to Susan Allen, Safeguarding Online Administrator, with "Safeguarding Online Registration for St. John's Church, Portsmouth" as the subject. Include your full name and that you will be volunteering with children for our Kidz Kamp Vacation Bible School. You will receive a reply email with your user login and password so that you can complete the online training and print the certificate of complete to bring to the parish office.

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). Thanks to Charlie Burlingame, Lee Moore, and Taylor Pules, we now have a metal board on which to store your name badge if you desire. Look for it in the first floor hallway of the Parish House.

The Parishioner Corner of our Website has news you can use. Here you can access the July 2016 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.

In our Prayers this Week

For the Church

Justin, Archbishop of Canterbury; Michael, the Presiding Bishop; 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; that gospel love may conquer the growing worldwide fear, prejudice, and violence against those who are different; for Barack, our president; Terry, our governor; Ken, our mayor; for the city of Portsmouth; for Clint Carlson; Kevin Carrigan; Erin Elliott, Greg Hicks; Carolyn Higgins, Charles Jackson; George Lang, Dakota Neel; Thomas Smetanka; Jessi Staley, Dariana Torres, and Shaun Tuttle 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: Lorraine Barclay; Sharon Buell; Mary Colby; Virginia Cooke; Bill Edwards; Al Gregg; Mavia Hudgins; Franklin Marzullo; Dody Mason; Martha Ann Oast; Carol Phipps; Barbara Stearns; Sue Taylor; Peggy Tuthill; Bobby Wilkerson; Sonny Wilkinson; Joy Young

Related to our Parish: Karen (cousin of Cassie McBride); Mary (sister of Dody Mason); the Hobden family; Verlene (sister of Carolyn Colon); Patients at the Naval Hospital & EDMARC hospice for children

Thanksgivings

Mark & Amy Gilligan and Joshua & Stephanie Brown who are each expecting a child; the 240th Independence Day of this Nation; those away attending summer camps

Departed

Sherry (friend of the Harbin family); Bishop Edward Salmon; those who died in the Istanbul terror attack

Stewardship of God's Resources

Week of June 26

Ministry/Worship Attendance: Sunday 8am (10), 9am (57), 11am (68)

Wednesday 6:30pm (7)

Worship Offering: $6,395

Income needed for ministry expenses each week: $6,778

Upcoming Sundays in Worship

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost &

Independence Day, 7/03: Deuteronomy 10:17-31 & Matthew 5:43-48

Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, 7/10: Colossians 1:1-14 & Luke 10:25-37

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Herman Hollerith, IV, bishop

J. Derek Harbin, rector

Keith Byers, bookkeeper

Taraleigh Casteen, bandleader

Courtney Devers, staff chef

Philip Goodrich, sexton

Clifford King Harbin, associate to the rector

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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