CALLING ALL KIDS.......JOIN US ON EASTER SUNDAY - APRIL 24, 2011!

9:30am Easter Egg Hunt* starting in the Parish Hall for children up to age 11. Donations for the Easter Egg Hunt gladly accepted!

10:00am Special joint Easter Sunday School and Flowering of the Cross

Don't forget to bring flowers and clippings from your yard for the cross!

If the weather is decent, we will take pictures of each child next to the Flowered Cross outside after the service.

We would like to fill the eggs with stickers, trinkets and wrapped goodies and need all donations back by Palm Sunday.

You can help in many ways:
1) Take home some plastic eggs, fill them and return them to church (we will have empty eggs in the NarthexApril 3rd & 10th),
2) Fill your own plastic eggs and bring them to church or
3) Drop off plastic eggs, stickers, trinkets or other wrapped goodies.

We could also use baskets. Sue Hiscoe has graciously agreed to collect donations for us in the office during the week or you can give items to one of the teachers any Sunday before Palm Sunday. We truly appreciated your help with this last year and know that the kids really enjoyed it!

Readings for the Eighth Sunday after the Epiphany: February 27th, 2011

Most loving Father, whose will it is for us to give thanks for all things, to fear nothing but the loss of you, and to cast all our care on you who care for us: Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which you have manifested to us in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Adult Education: Sundays, 9:00 a.m., February 27th & March 6th: Survival of the Sickest: A question of faith vs. genes.

We will explore the possibilities of how human diseases (ex. diabetes) have served a purpose at one time in our population, and discuss how our faith becomes tested as we reveal more about our genetic make up. We will be using the book "Survival of the Sickest" as our reference. I look forward to seeing everyone again for a wonderful class. –Ford Morishita

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The Rahab's Sisters Training scheduled for tonight, February 23rd, has been canceled.

Anytime that the local schools are closed due to weather conditions, St. John’s office will be closed as well.

The Annual Vestry Retreat will be on Saturday, February 26th, here at St. John’s.

You’re invited! On March 1st, at 7:00 p.m. to the Holiday Planning Event in the Guild Room.

Lenten Quiet Afternoon: Practicing the Presence of God
Sunday, March 13
12:00 noon – 3:00 pm in the West Wing
The season of Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday, is a period of time to strengthen and nourish our spiritual lives as we prepare for the miracle of the Resurrection on Easter.
Thus on the first Sunday of Lent, you are invited to a Lenten Quiet Afternoon which will provide an opportunity to explore a variety of spiritual practices through Bible study, prayer, small group discussion and time for personal reflection.
Bring a sack lunch – tea and coffee provided – and join with others in the parish for an afternoon of spiritual refreshment.
Facilitated by Paula Franck and Chris Thurston

Sunday School News

Come one, come all! We are doing great things in Sunday School......don't miss the fun!

We want to extend a warm welcome to Donna Halpin and Stephanie Egbers who have valiantly jumped in to help us teach Sunday School! We are so excited and just know these two ladies are going to add so much to the quality of our program!

Over the next two months, The Godly Play class (preschool - 1st grade) will be learning about the Life of Jesus and The Joyful Path class (2nd - 5th grade) will talk about Kindness and Sharing and how Jesus exemplified these traits. We will finish off these lessons with a special joint Easter Sunday School on April 24th and the Flowering of the Cross.

Sermon: Epiphany 7, The Very Rev. Anthony Thurston

Two decades ago, my two children put a surprise party together for me on my 50th birthday. The party was fun. It was held at an indoor park shelter; the large room was decorated with balloons. The food was terrific. Close friends came bringing gag gifts—a wig, T-shirts with all kind of over-the-hill messages on them, coffee cups with the same over-the-hill messages on them. Someone made a video of the whole evening. All-in-all, it should have been a birthday party that I could cherish in my memory for the rest of my life. But it wasn’t.

It wasn’t because several members of my family came: my mother, two of my brothers and one of my sisters. We grew up in a home where alcohol ruled the way life was lived.

There were family secrets that never were told to anyone. Bad experiences that were swept under the rug. Truth-telling was not the way we lived our family life.

Readings for the Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany: February 20th, 2011

O Lord, you have taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love, the true bond of peace and of all virtue, without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you. Grant this for the sake of your only Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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We were saddened to hear of the death of Nadine Young. Nadine’s memorial service will be held this coming Saturday, the 19th, at 3 p.m. here at St. John’s.

This is the time of year to start looking for jackets, hoodies, jeans, windbreakers and shirts with logos or other designs (solid colors are not popular with the kids) for our Children’s Clothing Center. They are often on sale now through the end of March. See Gael Smith or Judy Steele for advice regarding the best sizes to buy.

ADULT ED 9:00 a.m. The apostle Paul has been described as the first and greatest Christian theologian. His letters were among the earliest documents to be included in the New Testament and, as such, they shaped Christian thinking from the beginning. Deacon Pat will complete a four-week exploration of the life and writings of Paul on Sunday. Please bring Bible.

Sermon: Epiphany 6, The Very Rev. Anthony Thurston

In Today’s reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, Paul is appealing to the church in Corinth to avoid divisions and dissension among themselves.  It is clear that some Corinthian church member felt that because of the particular pathway—by which they had become Christians—they deserved a “higher” or “better” standing.  Paul indicates that these quarrels revolved around whether they had come to the faith by the preaching of Paul, or by the ministry of Apollos, or by the teachings of Cephas, or even by strict adherence to the words of Jesus himself.

There is small comfort—as in the “misery loves company” form of comfort—knowing that this problem of divisions in the church is not limited to our day, but occurred even in the very earliest days of the Christian community.

I would like to spend a few minutes with you today talking about three areas of division, dissension and separation.  These three issues might be broken out in these ways:

Readings for the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany: February 13th, 2011

O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Did you pick up your copy of the Servers’ Schedule?  The schedule for those who serve in the church services went out last week – if you didn’t receive a copy, reply to this email or call the office at 503-653-5880.

This is the time of year to start looking for jackets, hoodies, jeans, windbreakers and shirts with logos or other designs (solid colors are not popular with the kids) for our Children’s Clothing Center.  They are often on sale now through the end of March.  See Gael Smith or Judy Steele for advice regarding the best sizes to buy.

ADULT ED   9:00 a.m. The apostle Paul has been described as the first and greatest Christian theologian.  His letters were among the earliest documents to be included in the New Testament and, as such, they shaped Christian thinking from the beginning.  Deacon Pat will lead a four-week exploration of the life and writings of Paul – continuing February 13 and 20.  Please bring a Bible.

Readings for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany: February 6th, 2011

Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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St. Martha's spent some time cleaning out the cupboards in the parish hall this week - and there is some good news and some bad news.  The good news is that St. John's will NEVER run out of plastic silverware!  The bad news is that there has been a great deal of waste due to items being put back in the cupboards but not back with other "like" items making it hard to see what supplies we do or do not have.  St. Martha's asks you to do your part by putting unused supplies back in the cupboards where you found them.  Thank you!

ADULT ED  9:00 a.m. The apostle Paul has been described as the first and greatest Christian theologian.  His letters were among the earliest documents to be included in the New Testament and, as such, they shaped Christian thinking from the beginning.  Deacon Pat will lead a four-week exploration of the life and writings of Paul – continuing February 6, 13, and 20.  Please bring Bible.

What's happening at WILLIAM TEMPLE HOUSE and how does our Children's Clothing Center fit in with its ministries?  A board member from WTH will join us for 10 minutes of Q&A in West Wing - 9 a.m. Sunday, February 13.