Priests, I think, are not supposed to have favorite scripture passages or liturgical seasons, kind of like you’re not supposed to have a favorite child. But I do. Advent is my favorite season, and the scripture passages we read in Advent are among the ones I treasure most in all of scripture. (There. You’ve heard…
Message of the Week “There are saints who light the darkness, and the world cannot contain them, For the love of God sustains them, they will never be forgotten. We are blest to have them with us, and we praise the God who made them…” John Ylvisaker, (1937-2017), the author of this text,…
As Fall settles in, we move from a focus on Creation Season at St. John’s (celebrating God’s gift of Creation and God’s call to steward it well), to a season of reflection on other dimensions of stewardship: First, discerning how we might best serve God and neighbor with our time, and our talents, and our…
“I want to walk as a child of the light.” This simple song we sing every Sunday as the children of St. John’s process to Godly Play grounds us and reminds us of Isaiah’s vision of the peaceful kingdom, which states, “and a little child shall lead them.” As we have entered the Season of…
My favorite memories as a child were back to school shopping for new school supplies, new school clothes, and of course the change of the seasons. We are back to a new year at the preschool with 65 students attending. We have 31 families that are new to St. John’s Preschool this year, many of which…
Over the years I have heard hundreds of times that our congregation cares deeply about food security. Our faith in action has made St. John’s known in the community as a church that works to feed the hungry. Historically and currently, our time, treasure and talents support our deep conviction to feed the hungry and…
To mask or not to mask? (This is NOT the only important question.) Since March of 2020 – going on two and a half years now – this has been a major question; but interestingly, I find the current moment the hardest to manage from my position as a decision-maker on these matters for St.…
The power of nature… where God’s creation surrounds us daily… and we are grateful for this world. Nearly three decades ago, a movement extolling the virtues of experiencing the great outdoors emerged from Japan. Shinrin-yoku (translated as “taking in the forest atmosphere”), promoted the therapeutic benefits of truly observing and experiencing the…
We have begun our “Bury the Debt” campaign to pay off our mortgage on the Education Building. We owe approximately $50,000 and we would like for that to be paid off by November 1st so that this account will not have to be considered when formulating next year’s budget! In addition, we are selling…
“What are you looking for?” That is Jesus’s question to his first disciples in John’s Gospel (Jn. 1:38), and that is my question to you, the people of St. John’s: What are you looking for? My focus as curate at St. John’s this year is discipleship — that is, supporting, initiating, and cultivating…