We are pleased to announce that on the Day of Pentecost, Sunday, June 4, and on Trinity Sunday, June 11 we will celebrate Festal Eucharists at the 11:15 a.m. services. These services will include incense.

Bishop Dabney Smith has named Dr. Kathleen Moore as Archdeacon of the Diocese of Southwest Florida.   The role of the Archdeacon is described in the Diocesan Constitution as one who assists in the administration of the affairs of the Diocese. In the Canons, the Archdeacon serves ex officio as a voting member of the Council on Deacons. The Bishop also looks to the Archdeacon as an advisor on all aspects of the discernment, formation, assignment and continuing education for Deacons serving in the Diocese.  While  Kathleen will be reporting to the Bishop in this new diocesan role, she will continue to serve St. John’s as our parish Deacon.    Click here for more information about Deacon Moore and the appointment.

After 21 years in the St. John’s Choir, Michael Eachon’s last Sunday to sing will be this Sunday, May 21. Although he is sad to leave, he looks forward to now enjoying the choir’s music from the pews. Michael first started singing in the Episcopal Church in 1985 at St. Thomas on Snell Isle in St. Pete. He then sang at St. Andrews in downtown Tampa (with fellow St. John’s Choir member Marty Angiulli). He joined St. John’s Choir the week after Easter, 1996.Michael recently said: “I’m approaching each Sunday service now with the knowledge that this will be the last time I perform each piece of music.It has me feeling quite nostalgic and a bit sad. Choir at St. John’s has been a defining part of my life these past 21 years. I have been privileged to work with the absolute best musicians, first under the leadership of Ellie Taylor, and then Simon Morley. They have challenged me beyond my wildest imagination to perform pieces that I never thought possible, including the recent Durufle Requiem Mass at the annual concert. I know that I have always received much more from choir than I have given.”We are grateful for Michael’s years of ministry in the choir and wish him the best!

The Preserve Our Heritage Campaign is in full swing!  We have completed the “building envelope” work, and we have begun the replacement of our antiquated lighting control system in the sanctuary.   Plans to renovate the courtyard are progressing too. The contractor for the “building envelope” portion was Western Specialty Contractors.  This work included repairing, cleaning, and sealing the walls and windows of the entire church and school buildings on the Orleans campus.  On April 20th, the contractor, along with vestry, clergy, and CBRE, provided a final walk-through and sign-off on the work.  On that day, we took photographs of the work andyou can view more of these by clicking here. A major portion of the work included pressure washing, applying mortar in cracks (“repointing”), and applying a sealant on the buildings.  Special care was taken to attempt to match the color of the new mortar with original and previously repaired areas.   This was a challenge due to the various colors used for repairs over the years and, as a result, close inspection of the mortar still shows it in different colors; but clean and neat, nonetheless. Another highly visible portion of the project was repair of the casings and coverings of the stain glass windows in the church.  A close look at these windows and you can see how the wood work around the windows has been carefully stripped, sanded, refinished, and painted.  The Plexiglas coverings have been replaced too, bringing renewed brilliance to these important assets of the parish. Other notable improvements made as part of the campaign, although not in Western’s scope, included one highly visible improvement and one virtually invisible:  refinishing the doors on the sanctuary and applying insulation below it.  The doors are outstanding, and the insulation will help us run the HVAC system more efficiently.  Pictures of both of these can be seen in the link provided above. Please take a look around and we think you’ll agree that important work is being done. We need to continue on this path to ensure the beauty and integrity of our facilities will serve us now, and well in to the future. The Campaign goal is $445,000, and we launched the Campaign with existing commitments totaling $245,000 from the School, our Endowment, and a few large individual donations.  We are now raising the remaining $200,000 from St. John’s parishioners to reach our goal, and we have received $189,000 in contributions from 92 families and individuals toward that goal to date.  We expect to reach our fundraising goal soon!  We are hopeful that we will exceed our goal, as this will allow us to do more in key areas, including replacing our sanctuary lights with LED lighting, which will garner substantial savings on electricity costs over time and virtually eliminate the challenge of replacing the current bulbs as they burn out due the long lasting nature of LEDs.     If you haven’t yet contributed to the Campaign, please prayerfully consider a gift.  Contributions to the Campaign should be made to St. John’s Church, and please note “Preserve Our Heritage” on the check.

The Candle in the Sanctuary Light is available on June 4.  If you would like to take this opportunity to honor a loved one and support St. John’s, please call the parish offices at 259.1570 or parish@104.237.132.142 .

This is the second year of a three-year project building San Timoteo Episcopal Church in Nizao. The teams will also be working at the San Matías Church and School in Santana, Baní adjacent to the Morrow Center (our lodging).  We will be completing much needed repairs, painting and sealing the concrete roof. The school was constructed by the Tampa Deanery in 2002-2003.   There will be three one-week teams of up to 15 missionaries each:  Team I (June 10-17); Team II (June 17-24); Team III (July 1-8). Sally Thompson and Father Roy Allison from St. Mark’s are heading up Team II, and we are looking for volunteers.  For more information contact Sally at tampasal@verizon.net or 813-760-5120 (cell/text).

Do you love to help others?  Do you love summer camp?  Why not do both at the same time?!  All youth (rising 6th  graders through rising 12th  graders) are encouraged to sign up for Mission Camp this summer at DaySpring, from  July 23 through 28 .  We will join youth from across the diocese for a week of serving God and others, as well as taking advantage of all the things summer camp has to offer, including swimming, canoeing, the ropes course, and more!  As if that isn’t enough to entice you, Fr. Chase will be serving as one of the camp chaplains!  Be sure to visit  www.campdayspring.org  to register for Mission Camp or contact Fr. Chase for more information.

This Sunday, May 21 will mark the final day of our school year Sunday School program, after which we will switch to weekly volunteers throughout the summer. Host families will provide a snack and teach a lesson to a mixed-age group of children in the Parish Hall. You can sign up to teach one class or a few classes via the schedule by clicking here.