However, 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
March 17, Thaddeus Bereday, Emily Gutowski, Rachael Hall, Margaret Wiegand
March 18, Frances Brooks, Mark Johnson, Absley Pekkala, Sandra Samson
March 19, Stacey Arcuri, Linda Beckman, Nancy Crane, Lisa Leal
March 20, Charles Arnold, Tiffany Blume, John Casey, William Ihrig, Connie Johnson, Jennifer Patterson, Mank Saunders
March 21, William Barrs, Emily Cabral, Emma Matthews, Sterling Purdy
March 22, Miriam Faircloth, Harris Pomerantz, Richard Whiteley, Amanda Whittlesey
March 23, Lucie Benson, Patricia Crumpton, Christopher Farmen, John Guyton III, Elizabeth Heisel, William Martin, Michael Matthews, Charles Sansone, Patricia Van Dyke
Sunday’s Scripture Snippet
Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3
This Week in
St. John’s
Thursday, Mar 17
10:00 a.m.
The Holy Eucharist and Healing and Anointing (Chapel)
Men’s Thursday Bible Study and Lunch
11:45 a.m., 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.
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.
The Bible Women group will not meet on March 21, the Monday of Holy Week, or on Easter Monday when the parish offices are closed. The study group for Bible Women by Lindsay Freeman welcomes all women. Each week is a standalone lesson. The book may be purchased from Forward Movement for $15.
Tuesday, Mar 22
Contemporary Women’s Bible Study
6:45 a.m., 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. For more information, please contact Kathleen Moore at 221.6253 or kathleenmarymoore@gmail.com.
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, March 22. Francie Brooks will lead the study of Colossians 2:1-3:4.
The group invites 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.
12:15 p.m.
Noonday Prayer (Chapel)
Wednesday, Mar 23
12:15 p.m.
The Holy Eucharist (Rite II) (Chapel)
Wednesday Nights In St. John’s
After Lent beginning March 23, the Wednesday Nights group invites all parishioners and friends to join them each week in the Parish Hall. Bring a dish to share and an open heart and mind for discussion. Contact Paul and Winkie Game at pgamefla@aol.com for more details.
Breaking News
Choral Evensong: Sunday, March 20
Choral Evensong is widely considered the jewel in the crown of the Anglican Choral Tradition, and we are pleased that we have taken the step of increasing the frequency with which we sing these services at St. John’s. There are two upcoming monthly opportunities to attend Evensong, which is a simple (and short!) service. Please consider joining us on Sundays, March 20 and April 17, both at 5:00 p.m.
Parish Picnic and Combined Services: April 3
On the Sunday following Easter, as is our custom, we will combine the 9:15 and 11:15 a.m. services into one 10:00 a.m. service, to be followed by our spring Parish Picnic. The main course and dessert will be provided by St. John’s. Parishioners with last names beginning with A through L, please bring a side dish. Those with last names from M through Z, please bring a salad, fruit, or some type of vegetable.
Parish Retreat Scheduled for April 16
The Fathers Ministry is pleased to host a Family Retreat at DaySpring, the Diocese of Southwest Florida’s scenic 92-acre campus in Palmetto. The retreat is open to the entire parish family, including children and adults of all ages. Join us for a day of fellowship with canoeing and nature trail adventures, labyrinth exploration, tree-top canopy walk, and much more! Participation in a low ropes course is an option as well for attendees 7 years old and up.
The retreat runs from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 16, but all are welcome to come and go as they please throughout the day. The cost for lunch is $10 for parishioners 12 years old and older, and $5 for children from 4 to 11. Children 3 and under eat lunch for free. An additional charge for the canopy walk ($3) and low ropes course ($10) apply. However, cost should never be a deterrent to parishioners wishing to participate in St. John’s activities, so please contact Fr. Connelly if you have a financial need. Click here to sign up for the retreat.
Greeters and Shepherds Ministry
Thank you to those who were able to attend the recruitment meeting held on February 21. Wonderful ideas were shared about how to grow the Greeters & Shepherds Ministry and practice Holy Hospitality. For those who were not able to attend, there will be additional opportunities to influence and shape the future of this vital ministry.
In the meantime, there are several opportunities to serve in March and April that urgently need to be filled. Based on suggestions to make this process as efficient as possible, ministry leader Melissa Ariss created an online sign-up using VolunteerSpot. For those who would like to commit to a legacy service schedule (e.g. every third Sunday of the month at the 11:15 a.m. service), please send Melissa an email directly and she will manually sign you up!
Here’s how the sign-up works in four easy steps:
Click the link to see the list of available opportunities on VolunteerSpot: https://vols.pt/jvEi3q.
Sign-in with your email or Facebook account.
Review the open opportunities to serve.
Sign-up for the opportunities that work best with your schedule.
Good to Know:
As you sign-up for opportunities in March and April, please take a moment to make service commitments for the entire year.
You will receive a reminder email from mail@volunteerSpot.com two days prior to your scheduled commitment.
If you need to make a change to your schedule, the Swap feature makes it easy for you to find a replacement.
You will not need to register an account or keep a password on VolunteerSpot.
VolunteerSpot does not share your email address with anyone.
The valuable role Greeters and Shepherds play:
The late Mother Alice reminded us how simple it is to serve, and how valuable our service is to all who worship at St. John’s Church (friends and strangers alike).
If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please email Melissa at melissa.ariss@gmail.com.
Annual Women’s Retreat: CWBS Invites All Women of St. John’s
Delegates to Diocesan Convention
The Vestry elected the following as Delegates to Diocesan Convention:
Christopher Lykes
Steve Stanford
Hugh Cruse
Alternate: Drew Graham
They are voting members of the Deanery Convocation in September and the Diocesan Convention in October.
Final Wednesday Lenten Series Tonight
The 2016 Lenten Series at St. John’s, Living Luke, will conclude the exploration of the gospel of Luke tonight.
The evening 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.
Week 5 March 16 Living into the Incarnation , led by Hal Wiley
Important Dates
Holy Week Service and Event Schedule
March 20, Palm Sunday
Parish Breakfast and Sandwich Sunday, following the 9:15 a.m. service, Parish Hall
A Service of Choral Evensong, 5:00 p.m., Church
Tuesday, March 22
Stations of the Cross, 5:00 p.m., Church
March 24, Maundy Thursday
Joint School Holy Eucharist, 8:00 a.m., Church
Maundy Thursday Holy Eucharist, 7:00 p.m., Church
March 25, Good Friday
Parish Offices Close at Noon
Morning Prayer and Holy Communion from the Reserved Sacrament, 7:00 a.m., Chapel
The Liturgy for Good Friday with St. John’s Choir, 12:00 noon, Church
Tolling of the Bells, 3:00 p.m.
Good Friday Evening Prayer, 5:30 p.m., Church
March 26, Holy Saturday
Easter Vigil, 7:00 p.m., Church
March 27, Easter Sunday
Easter Service, 8:00 a.m., Church
Flowering of the Cross, 9:00 a.m., Courtyard
Festal Easter Service, 9:15 a.m., Church
Easter Service for Families with Young Children, 9:15 a.m., Parish Hall
Easter Egg Hunt following the 9:15 a.m. family service in the Parish Hall, Church Grounds
Festal Easter Service, 11:15 a.m., Church
March 28 Easter Monday
Parish Offices Closed for Holiday
Events and Fellowship
Easter Egg Decorating
Saturday, March 19, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., Parish Hall and Courtyard
Come join us for a colorful day, as we look forward to the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. Bring clothes/daddy’s old shirt for getting messy… We will supply decorating eggs to save for your Easter egg hunts or just for decoration. If you prefer hard-boiled eggs, please bring them with you.
We will have egg decorating, bunny hand prints, Easter crafts, coloring, and FUN games and music to enjoy. $20 donation per family suggested.
Pizza and snacks will be served. If you would like to bring your favorite snack to share with the party, you are welcome to do so, please just let us know when you RSVP to the e-vite.
** Remember also that our St. John’s Egg Hunt will follow our 9:15 Family Service on Easter Sunday. If your little ones will be joining us in searching for eggs, please bring 2 dozen prefilled eggs (per child) to the Parish Hall by Good Friday. This will help the Easter Bunny hide the eggs in time for the morning hunt on Sunday. **
Men’s Ministry April and May Meetings
Curt Brown is the Investment Manager for Ambassador Enterprises Southeast Regional Office. Ambassador Enterprises is a “family office” located in Fort Wayne, IN. Ambassador’s mission statement states: “Ambassador Enterprises is a for-profit, philanthropic equity firm investing for the glory of God – the building of his kingdom, the betterment of mankind and financial sustainability – by working together with others in optimizing individual and organizational performance.”
Curt will be telling the Ambassador story and how Ambassador uses business as a platform to integrate Faith into the marketplace.
Please join the group in the Parish Hall on April 5 and May 3 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.
