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Lenten Practices with St. John’s One Parish, One Book for Lent “Walk with Jesus: The Stations of the Cross” by Henri Nouwen From the back cover: This book of meditations by Henri Nouwen, inspired by a series of drawings by Sr. Helen David, represents traditional Stations of the Cross through the passion and suffering of the…
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…
Jeopardy! Black History Month Edition Join us online on Tuesdays, Feb 9, 16, and 23 at 7 PM for Jeopardy! Black History Month Edition with your host Troy Thomas! Register once for the Zoom meeting and join each night via the same link on our calendar. Use Google to research categories ahead of time so…
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…
The Church of the Awakening: Services Begin Around 3:00am. For the last ten months, I have been regularly attending a new church, and I venture to guess that many of you have too. Looking back, I have been a faithful member of this new church since I started teaching high school, and until an “Awakening”…
Mentorship and Leadership Matters!!! Having lived my formative years during the struggle against apartheid, I learned some important truths about leadership and mentorship. Often it looked different than the mentorship and leadership we are most familiar with. Because leadership was not endorsed by an institution, at times needed to be discreet, often came at great…
I’ve continued to reflect deeply this week, as I imagine you have also, on the violence visited upon the Capitol on January 6 – what it means about that state of our democracy, the state of race relations, the state of our political relationships, and the role of religious extremism in this country. I mentioned…
You might not know this about me yet, but I love a good list. And I have a lot of them. There is the grocery list, the “to do” list for each of my jobs, our home improvement wishlist, my list of personal “to do” tasks, the leftover staycation “to do” list still hanging on…
Greetings to all, and Merry Christmas! I am absolutely thrilled to be taking the reins as your Senior Warden, and I appreciate the kind words that so many of you have shared. The first thing I’d like to do is to offer a huge thank-you to Lois Sauer, our out-going Senior Warden. I may be…
The Annual Report is a written compilation of lay and clergy leaders’ reflections on St. John’s ministry and mission in 2020. Certainly, 2020 is a year for the history books! The Rector’s Report Submitted by The Rev. Sarah H. Phelps In early 2020, we were busy adding new parking spots, moving ministries into larger meeting…
This past week the Community Council through the Town of Wake Forest named its Citizen of the Year and Organization of the Year. This committee and ceremony have many ties to St. John’s including members of the committee, the Mayor who announced the winners and a beautiful painting by our beloved Shirley Matheny that has…
Dear Beloved People of St. John’s, Where to begin? Last Sunday marked the beginning of Advent…really?? Already?? We have entered into an Advent and Christmas season like none we have ever known, significantly reshaped and reimagined in the midst of the challenges of the ongoing pandemic. I suspect for most of us…
Our Annual Giving Campaign for 2021 has “officially” concluded, but it is never too late to let us know your “estimate of giving” (or pledge) for the year ahead. It is how we build a responsible budget for our ministries. 2020 v. 2021 Comparison In 2020, St. John’s received 140 financial pledges totaling $366,235.…
Worship With Us Christmas Eve Thurs., Dec. 24th from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm — online , live via YouTube only (not Zoom), with consecration of Holy Eucharist Thurs., Dec. 24th from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm — in-person administration of the Communion Host at St. John’s Given the prediction of rain and wind, Mo.…