Announcements for May 2

• Yarn Ministry Meets Monday
  The St. John’s Yarn Ministry meets Monday, May 3, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Guild Room.
  
  
• “Mayfair” Charity Auction set to return May 8
  In honor of Mothers’ Day (May 9), the Brotherhood of St. Andrew invites all last-minute gift shoppers to bring their checkbooks and piggy banks to our Second Annual “Spring Mayfair” Charity Auction, from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 8. Plans include dinner, “live” music, a bake sale, the traditional specialty cake auction, and a silent auction of donated art, gift certificates, and memorabilia. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for children, and $25 for families, available at coffee hour or from the parish office. Proceeds will benefit Episcopal Relief and Development nationally, and, locally, St. Mary’s Services for Maternity Counseling. And please be in touch with a Brotherhood member if you have an item to donate for the silent auction.
  
  
• Sunday School Children Complete Course on the Bible
  James Brown, Andrea Barrera, Matthew Francesconi, Caroline Madden, Glynnis McManamy, Madeline Moxley, Hayley Sutherland, Jayden Thomas, Matthew Turnquest and Kira Van Voorhees will be given Bibles this Sunday, May 2, during the 10:00 a.m. service in commemoration of their participation in the Sunday School program, Learning to Use My Bible.
  
  
• Daughters of the King Meet Wednesday
  The Daughters of the King will meet this Wednesday, May 5, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Guild Room. All women of the parish are welcome.

Reflection for May 2

What is also important for all people to realize is that what is literally true is insignificant. What is significant is what is eternally true, and it is eternally true of the Bible that its words come to us not as universal precepts for all time to which we must give assent, but as words directed to eternally human situations in which we must decide. –William Sloan Coffin [Credo]

Announcements for April 25

• Landscape Work Day: Saturday, April 24
  Church grounds spring clean up day on Saturday, April 24. Please come anytime between 9:30 and 11:00 and help spruce up the grounds for the growing season. Everyone is welcome.
  
  
• School Uniform Program Exceeds Goal
  Our parish goal was to donate at least 269 uniforms to help children in developing countries attend school. That’s one for each parishioner. So far we have purchased 271! Thank God for the children of St. John’s and their faithful commitment to this project. For those who have not yet participated, we will continue to receive donations throughout the Easter season.
  
  
• “Mayfair” Charity Auction set to return May 8
  In honor of Mothers’ Day (May 9), the Brotherhood of St. Andrew invites all last-minute gift shoppers to bring their checkbooks and piggy banks to our Second Annual “Spring Mayfair” Charity Auction, from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 8. Plans include dinner, “live” music, a bake sale, the traditional specialty cake auction, and a silent auction of donated art, gift certificates, and memorabilia. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for children, and $25 for families, available at coffee hour or from the parish office. Proceeds will benefit Episcopal Relief and Development nationally, and, locally, St. Mary’s Services for Maternity Counseling. And please be in touch with a Brotherhood member if you have an item to donate for the silent auction.

Reflection for April 25

St. Anselm, April 21

Anselm’s spirituality is best summarized in the phrase, “faith seeking understanding.” He writes, “I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order that I may understand. For this, too, I believe, that unless I first believe, I shall not understand.” [Lesser Feasts and Fasts]

Announcements for April 18

• Easter Flower Donations
  Thank you and praise God for everyone who donated money to provide the glorious Easter flowers in the church. A listing of donors and those whom they commemorate is in the Sunday leaflet and will be printed in the next print Evangelist.
  
  
• Vestry Meets Monday
  The April meeting of the vestry is Monday, April 19, beginning at 7:00 p.m.
  
  
• Good Friday Offering
  Every year a special collection is taken on Good Friday to aid the work of the Episcopal Church in the Holy Land. This year $500 was collected.
  
  
• Only 4 School Uniforms to Go
  Our parish goal is at least 269 uniforms to help children in developing countries attend school. That’s one for each parishioner. So far we have purchased 265! Thank you to the Brotherhood of St. Andrew for their recent contribution. If you have not yet purchased “your” uniform, you may do so at the display in the undercroft or by sending a check to the parish office. Each uniform sells for $12.00. Thank you again to the children of St. John’s for coloring the uniforms.
  
  
• “Mayfair” Charity Auction set to return May 8
  In honor of Mothers’ Day (May 9), the Brotherhood of St. Andrew invites all last-minute gift shoppers to bring their checkbooks and piggy banks to our Second Annual “Spring Mayfair” Charity Auction, from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 8. Last year’s inaugural event was such a success that the Brotherhood hopes it can recapture that magic with another potent combination of dinner, “live” music, bake sale, specialty cake auction, and silent auction of donated art, gift certificates, memorabilia and more. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for children, and $25 for families. Proceeds will benefit Episcopal Relief and Development nationally, and, locally, St. Mary’s Services for Maternity Counseling, www.stmaryservices.com.

Reflection for April 18

That light we see burning is in my hall. How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world. [Portia, approaching her home from afar; William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, V, i.]

Announcements for April 11

• Christian Education Classes Resume this Sunday
  Christian Education classes resume this Sunday, April 11, following the Easter break. All children’s classes resume as usual. The adult Lectionary class and Living Faithfully classes also resume their regular meetings. All classes begin at 9:00 a.m. and all are welcome.
  
  
• Easter Flower Donations
  Thank you and praise God for everyone who donated money to provide the glorious Easter flowers in the church. A listing of donors and those whom they commemorate is in the Sunday leaflet and will be printed in the next print Evangelist.
  
  
• Faith in Films, Friday, April 9
  This Friday, April 9, Faith in Films will show Longford, about Lord Frank Pakenham, the 7th Earl of Longford. Longford’s faith led him to visit prisons and work for prisoner rehabilitation. The movie begins at 7:00 p.m. in the Guild Room. Discussion follows.
  
  
• Daughters of the King Meeting
  The next meeting of the St. John’s chapter of the Daughters of the King will be at 9:00 a.m., Saturday, April 17 (beginning with a light breakfast). All women of the parish are welcome.
  
  
• 238 School Uniforms and Counting
  Our parish goal is at least 269 uniforms to help children in developing countries attend school. That’s one for each parishioner. So far we have purchased 238! Thank you for recent contributions from relatives of Audrey Ongman in honor of her birthday and from the Episcopal Church Women. If you have not yet purchased “your” uniform, you may do so at the display in the undercroft or by sending a check to the parish office. Each uniform sells for $12.00.

Reflection for April 11

The Great Fifty Days of Easter
Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to commemorate this great gift of new life by a season of celebration and joy. This season of Easter provided a time for new converts to explore the mysteries of life in Christ and experience for the first time the wonder of Christ’s living presence made real in the sacraments and the common life of the Christian community. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the abundance of God’s grace and mercy. I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of the Great Fifty Days of Easter, by praise, feasting, and shared celebration. [Easter Sermon, the Rev. Kristin E. Orr]

Announcements for April 4, Easter Day

• Thank You
  Thank you to everyone, known and unknown, who has contributed time, talent and care to the parish celebration of Holy Week and Easter.
  
  
• Children’s Easter Egg Hunt
  All children are invited to participate in an Easter egg hunt in front of the church following the 10:00 a.m. service. Bring a basket and join the fun. Thanks to the Brotherhood of St. Andrew for supplying the eggs and Donica Van Voorhees for filling them.
  
  
• From the Kitchen Genie
  Many, many thanks to everyone who is helping keep the kitchen in neat condition. The response for coffee cups was overwhelming. Thank you so much. It would also be helpful if anything you leave in the refrigerator has a note attached so we know what should happen to it. As I write, there are pounds of butter that belongs to someone, large containers of salad dressing that have no date, etc. Please let me know what to do with them. And thanks to a very good suggestion we now have yogurt and some sugarless fruit for anyone that would prefer it to a sweet roll at coffee hour. Audrey Ongman
  
  
• Yarn Ministry
  The St. John’s yarn ministry meets this Monday, April 5, as it meets every first Monday of the month, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Guild Room.
  
  
• Daughters of the King Meets Wednesday
  St. John’s chapter of the Daughters of the King resumes its regular schedule, gathering at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 7. The next meeting will be at 9:00 a.m., Saturday, April 17 (beginning with a light breakfast). All women of the parish are welcome.
  
  
• Still Time to Attend April 10 “Spring Fling”
  It’s not too late to send reply to the luncheon fundraiser for Altrusa International of Chicago’s South Suburbs. The event is Saturday, April 10, at Flossmoor Country Club. Featured speaker is Linda Morris of Northwestern Memorial Hospital on “Tales from the Light: A Look at Near-Death Experiences.” For more information, contact Betsy Burgwald.
  
  
• 167 School Uniforms and Counting
  Our parish goal is 269 uniforms to help children in developing countries attend school. So far we have purchased 167! If you have not yet purchased “your” uniform, you may do so at the display in the undercroft or by sending a check to the parish office. Each uniform sells for $12.00.

Reflection for Easter Day

From A Meditation for Holy Week and the Easter Season
The mission of the church is to align itself more and more with God’s decision to enter our humanity – with all its pain and possibility – and redeem it. We have the astonishing invitation from God to join in God’s project of restoring all creation to right relationship. As Christians we can only do that by realizing our fundamental identification with the dying and rising of the Lord Jesus. As members of his living Body, we are his hands and heart God has given for the needs of a broken and bleeding world. This Holy Week and throughout the Easter season, let us live the words we say. Let us renew our commitment to become who we are. A blessed celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Rt. Rev. Jeffrey D. Lee, Bishop of Chicago.