THE EPISTLE. St. John s Episcopal Church Midland, MI. A Moment of Ending & Beginning

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1 THE EPISTLE St. John s Episcopal Church Midland, MI Linking Lives in the Love of Christ A Moment of Ending & Beginning St. John s vestry hopes all members of our faith community will join them in congratulating Rob and Sandy for Rob s recent election as the 8th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina. Earlier this week, a pair of letters regarding this exciting new step in Rob s ordained ministry and the transition underway at St. John s were sent to the congregation by mail and . Rob s farewell letter expresses thanks for the chance to share life together over the past ten years. Our vestry echoes that sentiment and invites members of St. John s to convey their gratitude for Rob & Sandy s service by participating in events marking this ending and beginning. Sunday, June 22 - Rob s final day leading worship and preaching with us here at St. John s will be Sunday, June 22. Bishop Todd Ousley will be present at the 10:00am worship to take Rob and our congregation through a symbolic ending of the pastoral relationship. Sunday, July 13 (PM) - A farewell event* celebrating Rob s decade of service to St. John s and his election to be the 8th Bishop of the Diocese of East Carolina will take place on Sunday evening, July 13. As details are finalized, we ll publish them in the bulletin and on our website: Farewell Offering - *Please prayerfully consider an offering to a final farewell gift to be presented on July 13. Offerings may be mailed to the church office or placed in the offering plate. Please note check memo as Rob s farewell gift. Our wardens letter, along with updates on St. John s rector transition as they occur, will be posted on our website s vestry page: June 2014

2 Pentecost Worship & Celebration Worship at St. John s Sunday, June 8th - Come to St. John s worship dressed in reds, yellows and oranges...expect the Holy Spirit! That same Sunday, at 3:00pm at the Central Park Band Shell (Memorial Presbyterian Church if it rains), join Rob and other local Christian leaders in an interactive, musical worship experience celebrating the birth of the Christian church by the power of the Holy Spirit. This celebration will examine the Biblical story of early Christian believers at Pentecost and explore its significance for contemporary Christians. This event is part of this year s Choosing A Culture of Understanding interfaith programming. At each event, attendees are asked, though not required, to bring a nonperishable item for donation to the Emergency Food Pantry Network. The full programming schedule is found on page 7 of this Epistle. You may also visit our website for event recaps: Rob s Final Sunday Leading St. John s Sunday, June 22 is Rob s final date leading worship and preaching at St. John s. Bishop Todd Ousley will be present at the 10:00am worship to take Rob and our congregation through a symbolic ending of the pastoral relationship. 8am 9am 10am 11:15am 9am 10:30am Noon THIS SUMMER AT ST. JOHN S Sundays Worship... Holy Eucharist, BCP - Rite One Adult Formation...In the Activity Room Worship... Holy Eucharist, BCP - Rite Two with music and nursery care Older children stay for worship during the summer Fellowship... Coffee, juice & goodies in Williams Hall Wednesdays Men s Bible Study... In the McNab Room (In the Activity Room during February) Women s Bible Study... In the McNab Room Worship... Holy Eucharist, with prayers for healing offered Page 2

3 Pastoral Care Since the publication of our last Epistle, we have marked the following passages: Baptism May 4...Benjamin Frank Potter Deaths April 25 Priscilla Jane Pat Tyler April Charles Chuck Schartow Notes: Pat Tyler was a St. John s parishioner before her more recent time as a member of Holy Family. Services for Chuck Schartow will be announced when finalized. Do you know someone who would appreciate a pastoral visit from one of our clergy or lay visitors? Do you know someone who is a patient in one of our area hospitals? Do you know of someone who should be added to our prayer list? With their permission, please contact our church office during the week and pass this information along to us so that we can respond appropriately. It s always better to get a message more than once than not at all! In the case of a pastoral emergency outside of office hours, please contact one of our clergy as follows: The Rev. Michael Wilson...(989) The Rev. Mary Jo Schuetz...(989) Diocesan Confirmation On Saturday May 3, St. John s own Aaron Angell, Brandon Angell, Connor Dasbach and Josh Ousley were confirmed in their faith as part of a diocesan celebration at St. Christopher s Episcopal Church in Grand Blanc. Our young men joined over forty other individuals being received for confirmation that day. A nice photo of Rob with the boys is at right. Office Help Needed We re looking for a little help - just two hours a week - to get ready for each week s Sunday worship. The volunteer tasks include bulletin assembly (folding machine, inserts) & distribution and preparing the hymn boards. Tasks could be completed Thursday afternoons or Friday mornings. Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord; and let light perpetual shine upon them. If you d like to serve St. John s in this way, please contact Parish Secretary Dawn Richardson, dawn@sjec-midland.org, (989) to set up an orientation. Page 3

4 Sunday Morning Christian Formation for Children As of Sunday, May 25 and continuing through the summer, we ll offer nursery care each week during our 10am worship and will welcome children through 1st grade to the nursery. Children 2nd grade and older will be included in our worship each week. Each family, of course, is welcome to keep all of their children in church with them any Sunday! We ve had a strong team of adult leaders in place this year, and we re getting ready to start our planning for the summer and for next school year. Interested in participating? Contact the church office at or office@sjec-midland.org or watch for details about how to get involved! Vacation Bible School: August 4-7, 6-8pm St. John's will host Gospel Light's SonTreasure Island Vacation Bible School this August, where treasure seekers will play island games, create colorful crafts, enjoy tropical snacks and, most importantly, discover the rich treasure of God's love through Jesus. This VBS is for ages 4 years old through entering 5 th grade. Nursery care will be available with Bible story time for children ages 6 weeks through 4 years old. There will also be an adult social hour and faith discussion available. Thursday, August 7 is the closing program and barbeque, to which the entire family is invited. Volunteers Needed! This will be an exciting week at St. John s but in order to be successful, we ll need lots of involvement from our membership everything from spreading the news to family, friends and neighbors, to teaching, baking, music, skits, and many more opportunities. Please prayerfully consider participating. For more information or to volunteer, please contact Wendy Thompson (leave a message) or winifred27@hotmail.com. Registration forms are now available! Look for them at the church or access a copy from our website. On Sunday night, June 1st, SNL took to the outdoors for some Ultimate Frisbee. All was well until Rob crashed awkwardly into the ground...proving, yet again, that he s not as nimble as he may once have been! Ice cream from the Great Lakes Ice Cream Company helped! SNL will have a low key gathering on June 8th, for those not studying for final exams, and then an end of year BBQ on Sunday, June 15th at Rob & Sandy Skirving s home, 305 Nakoma Drive. We ll start at 6pm and keep it simple. BBQ meats and soft drinks will be provided. Bring lawn chairs, and salads or desserts to share. Family members are invited to join us, and a few other guests may join us as well! Page 4

5 Our Dominican Republic Mission Partnership JUNE 2014 MISSION TEAMS The church we ve been helping to build for the congregation of La Iglesia Episcopal San Pablo y San Lucas plans to have its dedication on Saturday, June 28. To help with remaining work, two teams from St. John's will travel to San Isidro, Dominican Republic in June The first team, traveling June 14-21, will work on building pews and furniture for the church. St. John s members participating on the first team are: Bill Barnett, Charles Bash, Anne Moll, Roger Moll, Robbyn Prange, Carol Sullivan, Alicia Watt and Dave Whisler. The second team, traveling June 23-30, will help with preparations for the church's dedication and will represent St. John's at the June 28th celebration. The second team consists of St. John s Bill Barnett, Charles Bash, Ellen McVey, Rob & Sandy Skirving and Transfiguration s (Indian River) Jim Harrison, Mary Smith & Joanne Sutton. OUR THANKS! Members of St. John s & Transfiguration have been incredibly generous in support of this mission partnership. More than $25,000 was raised in support of construction costs, and enough money has been given to purchase 100 Spanish language prayer books for the new church. Excess funds will be used to support the expenses for the dedication on June 28th, which more than 400 people are expected to attend, and then a discretionary fund for use in San Isidro. Please pray for our mission team members and the congregation of La Iglesia Episcopal San Pablo y San Lucas! Page 5

6 St. John s has reserved a block of 60 tickets for the Loons Thursday, July 10 7:05pm game vs. the Fort Wayne Tincaps at Dow Diamond. Ticket price of $25 includes game admission, seats in the Northern Lights Pavilion and a 2 hour buffet (6-8pm). Tickets may be purchased electronically via our website s online giving link, or you may mail or drop off a check to our office. If you wish to include your ticket payment via worship collection, please be sure to clearly indicate Loons tickets in the check s memo section. Tickets are available on a first come first served basis. We must receive payment to hold tickets. Checks received after we have sold our block of 60 tickets will be returned. St. John s Is Going To The Loons July 10th at 7:05pm -Tickets available now! We hope you re able to join us and share this link with others to spread the word: Update: Garden Project 2014 submitted by Peter Carver, Buildings & Grounds Chair In our last newsletter, we shared the exciting news that St. John s cloister garden will receive a much appreciated redesign this summer. People have shared only good things about the design plans and they join St. John s in looking forward to its realization this summer. If you didn t have a chance to examine the landscape architect s design plans while we had them on display in Williams Hall last month, you may view the garden sketch here or visit the Stewards of St. John s section of our website: What will bloom in St. John s new garden?!? Jim Begick, of Begick s Nursery and Garden Center in Bay City, will next meet with St. John s garden group to pick out specific plants, choice of brick and determine best location for lighting. Those matters will be discussed in the coming weeks. Once those decisions have been made, we'll be able to determine start and end dates for this project. For background and additional details about this project, please read the related article on page 7 in our April 2014 Epistle. Page 6

7 Choosing a Culture of Understanding: 2014 Programming Schedule Building off positive attendance and feedback from last year s Choosing A Culture of Understanding, which offered open-house services at Abrahamic faiths places of worship, representatives of Midland s diverse faith communities will offer five events this year highlighting distinctive celebrations and writings from world religions. We hope to have St. John s as well represented as last year! Note: At each event, attendees are asked, though not required, to donate a nonperishable item for the Emergency Food Pantry Network. (event recap) Thursday, May 8 at 7:00pm Rabbi Chava Bahle and Temple Beth El offered a wonderful presentation digging into commonalities among faiths and cultures both ancient and current. Similarities of calendar and meaning were revealed between the Jews Passover to Shavout (when the Torah was revealed) and Christians Easter to Pentecost (when the disciples received the Holy Spirit). For those who missed or who want to hear more from Rabbi Chava, she s giving a TEDx talk May 14 in Traverse City; bio found here and TEDx video available shortly after May 14th. Sunday, June 8 at 3:00pm Pentecost is the great festival that marks the birth of the Christian church by the power of the Holy Spirit. Meet at the Central Park Band Shell (Memorial Presbyterian Church if it rains) for an interactive worship experience featuring music and movement. This celebration will examine the Biblical story of early Christian believers at Pentecost and explore its significance for contemporary Christians. Map: Midland's Central Park Band Shell (Rain Site: Memorial Presbyterian Church, 1310 Ashman) Saturday, July 12 at 8:00pm During Ramadan, Muslims all over the world abstain from food, drink and other physical needs during the daylight hours. It is a time to focus on strengthening faith, getting closer to God and giving back to those less fortunate. Come join us at the Islamic Center of Midland as we break our fast (iftar) and learn more about Ramadan and Eid al-fitr. Map: The Islamic Center of Midland, 1801 N. Stark Saturday, September 20 at 7:30pm Midland's Creative 360 Center will host an Evening of Meditation of Sacred Writings. After a brief introduction, participants will be invited to meditate silently while sacred writings from many of the world's religions are read. We will end the evening with light refreshments and time for sharing. If you prefer to meditate sitting or lying on the floor please bring your own pillow or mat. Chairs will be provided. Map: Creative 360 Center, 1517 Bayliss Saturday, November 1 at 6:00pm Halloween has become a largely secular holiday. But many religions at this time of year remember the beloved dead. Join us at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Midland as we celebrate the glorious diversity of holidays remembering souls now passed. Our Ancient Shores Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans invite you to share a ceremony of Samhain (pronounced Sow'-in), the beginning of the Wheel of the Year. As we embrace the inevitable darkness of approaching winter, we turn inward and contemplate our life paths. At Samhain, we seek out their wisdom and guidance as we move forward in the physical world. Map: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Midland (corner of Jefferson & Wackerly) Page 7

8 Garden Help Needed Take a look at St. John s garden boxes on the Hillcrest (north) side of our building. You ll see signs of life and an opportunity to steward our blessings. Throughout summer, there will be plenty of opportunities for this kid & family-friendly garden stewardship. Contact Lee Smith, or optimalvalue@att.net if interested. Prayer List Help Every Sunday, we publish a list of individuals whom we ask you to keep in your prayers. Please help us maintain a prayer list that is inclusive, accurate and current by communicating updates to our parish office by phone (989) , office@sjec-midland.org or in person. Your prayers and updates help us serve the many lives linked to each other and St. John s in Christ s love. Thank you, in advance, for your help. SJEC Member Book Signing Saturday, June 14 11:00am - 3:00pm Mark Oliver invites the St. John s community to a book signing at Christian Pathway Book Store, 415 Saginaw Rd., Midland. In addition to signing copies of his Christian adventure novel, Witt s Prayer, Mark will have DVDs of his MCTV program, Christian Devotions, available. Feinstein Challenge Thank You s! Our Share A Meal Service (SAMS) thanks all who participated in the Feinstein Challenge by donating food or funds to our food pantry or the Emergency Food Pantry Network in the past two months marks the 17th year the Feinstein Foundation has made $1 million available to divide proportionally among non-profit hunger fighting agencies nationwide. The annual March-April proportional match campaign is intended to spur participating non-profits and communities to raise their own funds as well. We ll report on exact donation totals in the next Epistle. Again, many thanks! ACT Volunteer Recognition Event Agape Community Transformation (ACT) recently hosted an evening dessert to recognize the efforts of its 200+ volunteers in mid-michigan. The event featured a wonderful report from the most recent ACT Mission Team working in Uganda. Read blog entries from their April 21- May 13 trip at Want to learn more about the many ways to get involved with ACT sewing pillow case dresses, staffing the storefront at Uniquely Uganda and gift fairs, tracking inventory, serving on teams, sponsoring orphans, etc.? Visit our website Volunteers welcome and always needed! Page 8

9 SAMS Helps Midland s USPS Stamp Out Hunger With A Little Help From Its Friends Thirty volunteers pitched in to help process over 2,200 donated items collected during the May 10 Stamp Out Hunger campaign. Rob and our SNL youth helped load the donations into Tom Webb s trailer at the post office dock. Tom even made a second roundtrip to deliver additional items to SAMS. After youth led the load & unload efforts, a fantastic crew of volunteers checked for dates, sorted and boxed up the food. On Monday morning, Roger Moll and Carol Sullivan helped pantry coordinator Dana Pressnall finish the job by moving the sorted goods into our pantry s stockroom. The many hands did indeed make for less work! On behalf of all our pantry clients, St. John s and our Share A Meal Service coordinators thank our wonderful volunteers! Page 9

10 The next edition of The Epistle will be published in early July. The final deadline for submissions is Sunday, June 29. Please consider submitting stories of your group s activities, or news of coming events and activities. Please note, if you are not currently receiving an notice to tell you that The Epistle has been published on our website, and you would like to receive one, please send a message to Dawn Richardson, our parish secretary, at dawn@sjec-midland.org If you would prefer to receive a printed copy of The Epistle by regular mail, please call our church office at to share that message. We would be happy to mail a copy to you each month! We joyfully gather to pray, worship, learn and serve as we seek to follow Jesus, and invite all to join us on a sacred journey of hope and transformation. St. John s Episcopal Church 405 N. Saginaw Road Midland, MI (989) office@sjec-midland.org Page