Children's Clothing Center

Volunteers are needed that can help match children with new clothing. It is a wonderfully rewarding ministry, so if you can commit to a little bit of time on a few Saturdays this fall please let us know. There are two ways to sign up. You can either sign up with Linda Kidd in the narthex of the church on Sunday, or you can give her a call at her home.

Readings for the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost: July 31st, 2011

Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; 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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Lector Training Scheduled for August 6th. Please consider this your official invitation to attend Lector training at St John’s. Whether you are new to being a lector or have been a lector for decades, the meeting should be of benefit to you and the parish. The workshop will be on Saturday, August 6th, 10:00 am to noon. We will review basics such as where to look for pronunciation help, how to approach the lectern, how to prepare to present your reading and procedure to follow if you will be unable to lector on an assigned Sunday. We will also talk about lectoring as a spiritual practice and discuss different approaches to the prayers of the people. Each participant will be given an opportunity to practice presentation techniques. For questions, please contact Deacon Stephen Denny, at dcndenny@aol.com

SCRIP... The next date for ordering scrip will be August 14th.

Summer Fun for Children is on recess for the remainder of the summer. Watch for Church School to return in the fall.

Sermon: Pentecost 6, The Very Rev. Anthony Thurston

There are certain voices which we never hear except when everything is silent. I’m sure you’ve experienced this: whether you are out fishing on a river and all you hear is the wind and the rush of the water, or you had a very busy day but when the evening comes and all the activity is over—in the hush of the darkness you can hear the calm of night.

In our Epistle lesson today we hear about the work of the spirit. Paul says that the Spirit solves our problems of language and words and noise by resorting to sighs. And then in the gospel we see a number of verses that are the most enigmatic in Matthew’s gospel. What do seeds, yeast, buried treasure, pearls and fishing nets have in common? Just this: they are all hidden or invisible before they are seen and human hands are involved in their being seen—in silence these seeds and yeast and treasure comes forth in silence.

What a different time we live in than the time of Jesus. We’ve been taught the art of being strenuous and we’ve lost the art of being still.

Readings for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost: July 24th, 2011

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; 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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Hello! We'll be having a work party in the basement this Saturday, July 23rd from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. to clean up from theatre camp, organize our rooms/supplies, and maybe (if there's time) re-decorate the stairwell, hallway, rooms.
If you can join us, even for a short time, we'd appreciate the help!
Please let me know if you are available to attend.....we'll put the kids in the nursery and feed helpers lunch around 1 p.m. or so. The outer church doors will be locked the entire time, so please keep my cell # handy if you're able to show up at the last minute and we'll run up to let you in!
Thanks so much!
Hillary

Lector Training Scheduled for July 23rd and August 6th. Please consider this your official invitation to attend Lector training at St John’s. Whether you are new to being a lector or have been a lector for decades, the meeting should be of benefit to you and the parish. Two sessions have been scheduled: Saturday, July 23rd, 10:00 a.m. to noon and Saturday, August 6th, 10:00 a.m. to noon. In each session, we will review basics such as where to look for pronunciation help, how to approach the lectern, how to prepare to present your reading and procedure to follow if you will be unable to lector on an assigned Sunday. We will also talk about lectoring as a spiritual practice and discuss different approaches to the prayers of the people. Each participant will be given an opportunity to practice presentation techniques. For questions, please contact Deacon Stephen Denny, dcndenny@aol.com

Sermon: Pentecost 5, The Very Rev. Anthony Thurston

As an adolescent, I was terrifyingly religious. I was a Baptist, after all. I devoured books on religion.

Most of them were written by pious older women who had heard God’s voice in the dark, or by robust businessmen who had become financially successful evangelists after receiving divine calls….calls that apparently propelled them out of their existence into the adventurous life of faith.

Somewhere in my subconscious, there lurked a faint feeling of guilt because I never was around when those divine calls came. The silence of my own religious life was a frightening contrast to the stories that others could tell.

Sermon: Pentecost 4, The Very Rev. Anthony Thurston

Few issues draw more emotional fire than the effort to seek peace in our world. And, once again, we face multiple issues of war in so many places in our world—Iraq and Afghanistan—being only two of many at this point in history. Just yesterday, Southern Sudan celebrated their independence—after more than three decades of internecine war.

Somehow in our time the subject of a peaceful world is one that most people don’t consider talking too much about. We read of the atrocities and horrors of what is going on in various parts of the world, and we still live with the remembrance of the devastation of September 11.

But as I speak with various people regarding what is happening in the world, and while feelings run deep when we talk about justice and peace, we also appear quiet about a public stance on this issue. In fact, I think that’s because we feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the issues involved in peace making.

Readings for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost: July 17th, 2011

Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Theatre Camp Performance

St. John's Church School Proudly Presents.......

"Act up for God"

a Theatrical Performance. 

All St. John's Parishioners are cordially invited to attend a Potluck Dinner and Theatre Camp Performance on Friday, July 15th, starting at 6pm in the Parish Hall. To sign up for a potluck dish to bring or for more information please contact Hillary Regan at hillaryregan@yahoo.com.

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Summer Fun for Children is on recess for the remainder of the summer. Watch for Church School to return in the fall.

The giving statements this quarter printed out with total giving only, no detail on the contributions. They are available in the East Narthex. If you need a statement that is itemized, please contact us and we will get a detailed statement to you (the year end statements will be itemized).

Feed the Hungry has procured a new 21 cubic foot freezer, thanks to donations from the Oregon Food Bank, Joyce & John Cornyn, and the General Outreach Fund of St. John’s. We appreciate the support!

Readings for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost: July 10th, 2011

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.

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Scrip Sunday: This Sunday will be the order day for July scrip orders. Groceries, restaurants and entertainment for the month of July are on the order form.

RECYCLE SUNDAY July 10th – Feed The Hungry will be having a can & bottle drive to raise funds for the program. Please bring your empty beverage cans and bottles next Sunday to either of the services and volunteers will GLADLY take them off your hands : ) NOTE – all containers MUST HAVE ”Oregon 5 cent deposit”. The 8:00 service drop off will be @ the West Wing Entrance. The 10:00 service drop offs will be @ the West Wing entrance & side entrance on 21st Ave.
Feed The Hungry thanks you in advance for your support : )

The Parish Office will close at 2:00 p.m. on July 14th. Sue will be on vacation next week, but the office will be open due to the willingness of volunteer Jan Childs. Thanks, Jan!

Theatre Camp Update

A BIG shout out to everyone who came last Friday to the first Theater Camp Work Party/Flash Mob Dance Rehearsal and/or donated items that were on the wish list. The energy and time were well spent as we completed many of the sets needed for one of the plays we'll be performing. "Jonah and the Whale" is bound to be a success, thank you, thank you all who have participated so far, and fantastic job!

This Friday is the second and last Work Party/Flash Mob Dance Rehearsal, and we still really need volunteers to help. Your time that day (this Friday 4-6pm and/or at the camp, 8:00am to 2:30pm, July 11th through July 15th) is so greatly appreciated. I, and the Sunday School Team, have faith we will have people show up to help with the "David and Goliath" sets, and make it a big success too. Remember, Subway sandwiches for all who come!

Lastly, whether you were able to volunteer or not, we welcome your presence in the audience on performance night. Our production will start at 7pm, and everyone who is interested may join us for the potluck dinner at 6pm that night as well, but don't be surprised if you get asked to help put on make up or settle children in their staging areas. Please come join in our fun and success!

Sermon: Pentecost 3, The Very Rev. Anthony Thurston

Over the past several decades, many key words have dominated our conversations. Some of them have taken on new meaning. I think of collegiality, community, conscience, dissent and identity, to name only a few. These are key words for our time.

And yet one word outstrips the rest in its importance. It’s the word freedom. We’re so aware of this word as we see all of the appeals for freedom in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Tunisia, Bahrain, and Syria. We also hear this word associated with the cry of “how can I be free in my religious beliefs”—freedom is not something that comes easily to the human family.

Freedom isn’t even easy to define. So often it means what we choose it to mean. But there are two facts of freedom which are important to explore: What are we freed from and what are we freed for?

St. Johns Youth Group Summer 2011

Sunday July 10 – Pool Party at Wilson HS Pool 12:00-4:00 p.m. (pack a lunch and water bottle)

Saturday July 23 – Berry Picking (10 a.m.-2 p.m.) Pack a lunch and water bottle

August TBA – Bike Ride in the neighborhood

Friday August 19 – Saturday August 20 – Beach Trip (Seaside & Pacific City)

Friday September 9 – Fall Lock-in (7 p.m. – 9 a.m. Saturday)

Sunday September 18 – In Church Scavenger hunt with dinner (5-7 p.m.)

Sunday September 25 – Alzheimer’s Walk with Westside Youth (WE!)
Our group name is: Team Awesomeness
To join our team or make a donation go to: http://2011alzwalk.kintera.org/pdx/stjohnsmilwaukie
or send a donation to the church (made out to St. Johns) with a note in the memo line
“Alzheimer's walk”.

Readings for the Third Sunday after Pentecost: July 3rd, 2011

The Independence Day readings, transferred.

Lord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for nations then unborn: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.