Is it just me, or does Lent feel different this year? As we pass the one-year mark under the grips of the COVID pandemic, I can’t help but think “where was I when…?” For example, I realized that this week marks one full year since my last business trip – the longest I have been…
If you grew up in another church tradition, or none at all, you may be a candidate for Confirmation or Reception into the Episcopal Church. The rites of Confirmation and Reception mark a formal, public decision to walk the Way of Jesus with others on the “Episcopal branch” of the Christian family tree. These rites…
As we “Walk with Jesus” this Lent by studying the Stations of the Cross together, we focus on Station 5 this week: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross. For me, the genius of Henri Nouwen’s little book on the Stations of the Cross is that he invites us to relate the well known…
One of my favorite Godly Play stories (although it is hard to choose!) is “The Circle of the Church Year.” With words, color, and gesture this story explores the Christian view of time. “Some people say that time is in a line,” the storyteller explains. But as Christians we know that “for every ending there is a…
Wake Forest Community — Covid Memorial What: All are welcome to use the large outdoor labyrinth at St. John’s Episcopal Church (a circular meandering path meant for walking and reflection that leads you to a center point and guides you back out to an exit point) to honor and remember all who have been…
Springing into Lent: A Way of Worship for the St. John’s Family during the Lenten Season Soon we will “spring forward”. As we turn clocks ahead and anticipate the brighter, lighter weather of Spring, let us also couple this with a spirit of “springing” into Lent. Instead of thinking of Lent, Good Friday, and Easter as…
I have a bunch of gangly hydrangea bushes along the fence in my back yard and a few camellia bushes that have gotten very leggy. They need to be pruned back now so they’re ready for the burst of growth coming this spring. If I don’t do the pruning, the bushes just get more unmanageable…
The St. John’s hiking group will venture to B.W. Wells Rockcliff Farm on Saturday, May 18, our last scheduled hike until September. This 154-acre farm, once owned by NCSU ecologist Bertram and Maude Wells and now jointly managed by various conservation entities, is located at the dead end of Bent Road, Wake Forest. NOTE: The Preserve is not the same place as…
I am now officially one month into my journey as your Senior Warden, and what a rewarding month it has been. We worked … we played … we planned … and we prayed. All in all, I’d say it was a pretty typical month for St. John’s! We began the year trying to make sense…
Did you know the word “Lent” means “spring”? Some people think Lent is a “downer,” but it’s true aim is joy — the joy of a deeper experience of God. In the western church the forty days of Lent extend from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday, omitting Sundays. Christians are invited to the observance of…