We are always looking for church-related pictures to share with the congregation. Submit them to LLowry@104.237.132.142.
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We want to provide support in your time of need!
Health regulations prohibit the clergy from being informed when our parishioners are in the hospital, so we will not know if you or someone you love is there unless you tell us. W e want to provide support in any time of need or crisis.
Please call the parish offices at 259.1570 or email
As you may have read elsewhere, we are increasing the frequency with which we sing the office of Choral Evensong here at St. John’s. Evensong is a simple (and short!) service sung daily in most cathedrals and college chapels, and is a wonderful way to end the day. Please join us for Choral Evensong in the Church on Sunday, February 21, at 5:00 p.m. The canticles will be sung to the setting in D by E.J. Moeran, and the anthem, fitting for the season of Lent, will be ‘Wash me throughly’ of Samuel Sebastian Wesley.
Wednesday Lenten Series 2016: Living Luke
The 2016 Lenten Series at St. John’s, Living Luke, will explore the gospel of Luke in depth and help us find ways to use it as a guide for our spiritual journey during Lent and all throughout the year. Participants will get the chance to study the book with the leadership of our clergy, turning it from a book of the Bible that we think of only on Sundays into a guide that changes how we live our daily lives.
The gospel of Luke and its companion volume, Acts, contain the most specific instructions of any of books of the Bible for how Christians are to live their lives after the death and resurrection of Jesus. The explicitly-stated purpose of both books is to bring assurance to early Christians, in part by reminding them that Christianity has strong links to the early Church. This lent legitimacy to the fledgling religion and supported early Christians’ faith, as it does ours today.
Luke reinforces the idea of Jesus as our divine example, while still calling Christians to use him as a model for our own lives. He emphasizes the work of the Spirit and the necessity of demonstrating mercy to the poor and downtrodden, while demanding detachment from material possessions and things of this world, all appropriate reminders during the season of Lent.
The evenings will include a light supper of soup, bread, and salad, served family-style, and dessert. Fellowship begins at 5:45 p.m. and the program will close with worship and end at 7:45 p.m. each week.
Week 1 February 17 Introduction to Luke, led by Fr. Robert Baker
Week 2 February 24 True Self/False Self, led by Mother Alice Sadler
Week 3 March 2 Forgiveness, led by Fr. Chip Connelly
Week 4 March 9 Prayer, led by Miranda Harrison-Quillin
Week 5 March 16 Living into the Incarnation, led by Hal Wiley
Highlights from Fr. Connelly’s Recent Visit to the Holy Land
St. John’s School News
Our students at the Lower Division (Orleans) campus have been studying the work of Gustav Klimt this semester. They created their own versions of some of his paintings, and we just had to share. They are in the hallway by the School office, check them out!
Events and Fellowship
Outreach Volunteer Opportunity
On Saturday, February 27, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. in the Parish Hall, parishioners of all ages from 5 to 95 are needed to join us for an outreach activity . We will be filling food bags for children in need through the Kids Against Hunger charity. The cost is $25 per family to cover the cost of food and supplies. Please come out and help kids that do not have access to food daily. If each of us do our small part, we can change the world one child at a time. Please email Stephanie Andrews at szam1317@gmail.com to sign up or with questions.
In 2012, Kids Against Hunger, a part of Food Aid International, nationally provided approximately 40 million meals, and nearly half a million meals in Florida alone. The food that is packaged typically goes internationally to Christian orphanages and schools throughout Haiti, Central America, India and Nepal. In the United States it has been shipped to Indian reservations, food banks, schools, and into disaster relief areas. The group partners with organizations that are vetted so that they know they will use the food properly.
Globally there are approximately 900 million people dying of hunger-related diseases. This represents nearly 1/7th of the world’s population. In the United States we have nearly 46 million people that are classified as food insecure. Come join us and make a difference!
DaySpring Summer Camp
DaySpring summer camp registration is now open! DaySpring is one of the top church conference camps in the Southeast. Campers participate in a Christian program designed to help them grow spiritually and emotionally. The program provides campers the chance to explore new interests, skills, and friendships. Six week-long sessions are available for elementary to high school students. Activities from canoeing to high ropes and zip line to Wacky Wednesday events and spiritual growth opportunities are highlights. Click here for more information.
Men’s Ministry March Meeting: Advanced Heart Failure Care
The Men’s Ministry’s next meeting will be Tuesday, March 1, in the Parish Hall. The topic will be Advanced Heart Failure Care, as offered at Tampa General Hospital. Come hear about some amazing things that go on everyday just around the corner.
The guest speaker will be Dr. Benjamin Mackie, practicing advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist at Tampa General Hospital. Ben went to medical school at USF and completed his residency and fellowship at Emory. Click here for his full bio.
Ben will give a brief overview of Advanced Heart Failure services offered at TGH, including cardiac transplantation and different forms of mechanical circulatory support ” heart pumps.” There will be a question and answer period during which the group can also discuss any non-heart failure cardiac issues.
Please join us in the Parish Hall at 5:30 p.m. for fellowship time, followed by a fine meal catered by Holy Hog Barbecue at 6:00 p.m., and our speaker following dinner at 6:30 p.m. RSVP to Dallas Coffield at dcoffield@gmail.com
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Action Items and Opportunities
Candle Available
The Candle in the Sanctuary Light is available on Sunday, March 27. If you would like to take this opportunity to support St. John’s and honor a loved one, please call 259.1570 or email parish@104.237.132.142.
If an Angel Asked, Would You Give Up Toothpaste and Old Shoes for Lent?
Well . . . the Angel Closet at Faith Cafe is asking. And this February is your chance to join others at St. John’s who are helping to meet the needs of the men and women who come regularly to Faith Cafe for a meal. But the hungry do need more than food. And that is where you come in.
By dropping off clothing, shoes, and/or personal care items at St. John’s anytime during the month of February you can join with your fell ow parishioners who are working to make life a little better for those struggling to meet their basic needs.
What would help most? Most of Faith Cafe’s guests are men, so the greatest need is for men’s shoes, socks, underwear, tee shirts, and jeans. Slacks, shirts, sweatshirts, and hats are requested, too. All need toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, razors, shaving cream, soap and shampoo. Donations may be placed in boxes just inside the door into the parish offices/school building.
Faith Cafe is operated by volunteers from the seven churches that participate in South Tampa Ecumenical Ministries (STEM). It serves lunches to its guests Monday – Saturday from its building located off Himes Avenue near I-275. For additional information, contact your STEM board representatives, Mary Jane Schenck at mjschenck@ut.edu or Sally Wiley at swileytampa@aol.com or 253.3906, or visit the Faith Cafe website at www.FaithCafeTampa.com.
Do You Have Holy Hospitality?
Parishioner Melissa Ariss (pictured with Steve Stanford speaking with the Soiree group) is now leading our Greeters and Shepherds ministry. The group is looking for new volunteers, so they invite anyone with holy hospitality in their heart to join them on Sunday, February 21, at 10:30 a.m. in the Lowry Room for an informational meeting.
Sandwich Sunday Hosts Needed
Each month, we make sandwiches and bag lunches for the patrons of Faith Café to take with them after they eat a hot meal at the Café. We are in need of monthly hosts for 2016 on March 20, June 19, October 16, November 20, and December 18. Hosting means purchasing supplies (costs are reimbursed by St. John’s), helping facilitate the assembly line, and delivering sandwiches to Faith Café. If you are interesting in hosting on one of the dates, please contact Sandwich Sunday Coordinator Cindy Martin at cdmcasa@gmail.com.
This Week at St. John’s
Thursday, February 18
10:00 a.m.
The Holy Eucharist and Healing and Anointing (Chapel)
11:45 a.m.
Men’s Thursday Bible Study and Lunch(Peterson Room)
The Men’s Thursday Bible Study and Lunch group continues weekly. The readings the group will study are those from the Revised Common Lectionary for the coming Sunday. The group will continue with this pattern, reading and studying the lessons for the Sunday to follow, to better understand and absorb those readings and Sunday’s sermon.
Parking is available in the School’s parking area across Plant St. under the Cross-town expressway if the regular lot is full. Please do not park in the Four Green Fields parking lots. Lunch is sandwiches at $5 per person. RSVP to dlrncrtpa@verizon.net if you would like to partake.
Parishioners are invited to help assemble sandwiches and bag lunches for the patrons of Faith Cafe after the 9:15 a.m. service. Today’s hosts are Cindy and David Martin. We thank them for their support of this outreach ministry!
10:30 a.m.
Shepherds and Greeters Informational Meeting (Lowry Room)
11:15 a.m.
The Holy Eucharist (Rite I) (Church)
Sunday School Teacher Mid-Year Training
Sunday School teachers, please plan to attend a training from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall. The discussion will include curriculum, the MIA plan, and classroom management strategies. Team leaders also want to hear from you: what’s working, what isn’t, and how we can make the Children’s Ministry more vital. There will also be a brief time of contemplative prayer/meditation to feed the soul. RSVP to Miranda.
Evensong: February 21
As you may have read elsewhere, we are increasing the frequency with which we sing the office of Choral Evensong here at St. John’s. Evensong is a simple (and short!) service sung daily in most cathedrals and college chapels, and is a wonderful way to end the day. Please join us for Choral Evensong in the Church on Sunday, February 21, at 5:00 p.m. The canticles will be sung to the setting in D by E.J. Moeran, and the anthem, fitting for the season of Lent, will be ‘Wash me throughly’ of Samuel Sebastian Wesley.
Monday, February 22
12:15 p.m.
Noonday Prayer (Chapel)
4:00 p.m.
Bible Women (Lowry Room)
The study group for Bible Women by Lindsay Freeman meets on Mondays at 4:00 p.m. in the Lowry Room. All women are welcome and each week is a standalone lesson. The book may be purchased from Forward Movement for $15. Please complete the noted readings and reflections. This week, February 22, the group will learn about Mary of Bethany. Readings: Luke 10:38-42, John 11:1-45, John 12:1-8 and in the book, page 426 – 429.
Tuesday, February 23
6:45 a.m.
Contemporary Women’s Bible Study (Peterson Room)
CWBS continues their study of the book of Daniel on Tuesdays from 6:45 to 8:00 a.m. in the Peterson Room at the School’s Middle Division campus. After conversation and a light breakfast (fruit & some type of bread) that members take turns bringing, the study starts at 7:00 a.m. and ends shortly before 8:00 a.m.; a few people may leave early if they have to go to work.
All women of St John’s and their friends are welcome; the current group includes several valued members from other branches of Christ’s church. They would love to have you join them.
For more information, please contact Kathleen Moore at 221.6253 or kathleenmarymoore@gmail.com
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12:15 p.m.
Noonday Prayer (Chapel)
Women’s Mid Morning Bible Study
This group’s focus for winter/spring will be the study of Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. They will continue using the study guide Paul, The Prison Letters by N. T. Wright. The group’s next meeting is Tuesday, February 23, and Sally Olsson will guide their study of Philippians 4:2-23.
They invite all women of the parish and interested friends and neighbors to join them at 10:15 to 11:30 a.m. in the Church sanctuary (please note new location). They meet on alternate Tuesdays. For more information, contact Pat Wilson at patwilson68@tampabay.rr.com or 644.4640 or Joan McKay at mckayjhm@aol.com.
Wednesday, February 24
12:15 p.m.
The Holy Eucharist (Rite II) (Chapel)
Wednesday Lenten Series 2016: Living Luke
The 2016 Lenten Series at St. John’s, Living Luke, will explore the gospel of Luke in depth and help us find ways to use it as a guide for our spiritual journey during Lent and all throughout the year. Participants will get the chance to study the book with the leadership of our clergy, turning it from a book of the Bible that we think of only on Sundays into a guide that changes how we live our daily lives.
The gospel of Luke and its companion volume, Acts, contain the most specific instructions of any of books of the Bible for how Christians are to live their lives after the death and resurrection of Jesus. The explicitly-stated purpose of both books is to bring assurance to early Christians, in part by reminding them that Christianity has strong links to the early Church. This lent legitimacy to the fledgling religion and supported early Christians’ faith, as it does ours today.
Luke reinforces the idea of Jesus as our divine example, while still calling Christians to use him as a model for our own lives. He emphasizes the work of the Spirit and the necessity of demonstrating mercy to the poor and downtrodden, while demanding detachment from material possessions and things of this world, all appropriate reminders during the season of Lent.
The evenings will include a light supper of soup, bread, and salad, served family-style, and dessert. Fellowship begins at 5:45 p.m. and the program will close with worship and end at 7:45 p.m. each week.
Week 1 February 17 Introduction to Luke, led by Fr. Robert Baker
Week 2 February 24 True Self/False Self, led by Mother Alice Sadler
Week 3 March 2 Forgiveness, led by Fr. Chip Connelly
Week 4 March 9 Prayer, led by Miranda Harrison-Quillin
Week 5 March 16 Living into the Incarnation, led by Hal Wiley
Wednesday Nights at St. John’s (Parish Hall)
No Meeting Tonight
The group will join Lenten Series attendees during the season of Lent beginning this week. Following Lent, the Wednesday Nights group will continue viewing “CHRISTIAN (It’s Not What You Think),” an eight-session video Bible study.
