RSVP and Instructions for the Feast
This year’s Feast of St. John the Evangelist begins with Evening Prayer in the church at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 5. Please RSVP to the parish office by January 2. And everyone is asked to bring a small object to the feast that symbolizes or represents their particular connection to St. John’s. It can be fun or serious. Consider a memento or symbol for a special event (for example, a wedding or baptism), an activity or ministry that you particularly enjoy, a special place at St. John’s. Watch your e-mail for further suggestions.
Lessons and Carols This Sunday
Services of Scripture readings interspersed with music of prayer and praise are a rich part of our Anglican worship tradition. This Sunday’s 10:00 a.m. service will be a service of Christmas Lessons
and Carols. Holy Communion, although not a traditional part of these services, will be included on Sunday.
Recycle Your Christmas Trees and Lights
Natural Christmas trees and holiday lights can be recycled at Irons Oaks (Vollmer and Western) on Saturdays, December 29 and January 5, from 9:00 a.m. until noon.
Sunday School Classes are on Vacation
Christian Education classes for all ages are on vacation this Sunday, but will resume January 6.
2013 Offering Envelopes are Available
Please pick up your 2013 offering envelopes in the undercroft.
2012 Pledge Payments
For tax purposes, clearly marked 2012 pledge payments received through January 6 will be posted to 2012 statements. After January 6, 2012 payments are still welcome, but will be posted to 2013 statements, listed as previous year pledge payments.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Reflection for December 30
Shed upon your Church, O Lord, the brightness of your light, that we, being illumined by the teaching of your apostle and evangelist John, may so walk in the light of your truth, that at length we may attain to the fullness of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (The Collect for the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, December 27; Book of Common Prayer, p. 238).
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Christmas Worship Schedule
The Fourth Sunday of Advent
(December 23)
The Holy Eucharist, Rite 1: 8:00 a.m.
The Holy Eucharist, Rite 2: 10:00 a.m.
Christmas Eve
The Holy Eucharist with Children's Christmas Pageant, 4:00 p.m.
Music of Christmas, 10:00 p.m.
The Christ Mass (Choral Holy Eucharist), 10:30 p.m.
Christmas Day
The Holy Eucharist, 10:00 a.m.
The First Sunday after Christmas Day
(December 30)
The Holy Eucharist, Rite 1: 8:00 a.m.
A Festival of Christmas Lessons and Carols, with the Holy Eucharist: 10:00 a.m.
(The Wednesday healing service will NOT be held on December 26.)
Friday, December 21, 2012
Announcements for December 23
Christmas Pageant Rehearsals
Participants in the children’s Christmas pageant will rehearse this Sunday during the morning 9:00 hour and again at 4:00 p.m.
2013 Offering Envelopes are Available
Offering Envelopes for next year are available in the undercroft. Please pick yours up. Using the envelopes helps the parish record contributions more efficiently.
Parish Office Closed Christmas Week
The parish office will be closed December 24 through January 1. Phone messages will be checked periodically.
Contribute to Christmas Flowers
If you wish to contribute to the poinsettias and special greens that adorn the church during the Christmas season, please use the flower envelope included with the Christmas letter or found in the pews. Contributions may be designated as memorials, thanksgivings or purely to the Glory of God.
Save the Date for the Feast
The annual Feast of St. John the Evangelist, celebrating both our patron saint and our own parish community is scheduled for Saturday, January 5. Please plan to come. Invitations have been mailed; RSVP cards can be placed in the offering plate or returned to the parish office.
Gifts to Lawrence Hall
Thanks be to God for everyone who contributed money and gift cards to the youth of Lawrence Hall for Christmas. $1075.00 was raised.
Christmas Worship Schedule
Services on Christmas Eve will be at 4:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. The early service includes the children’s Christmas pageant. The late service is the festive, choral Christ Mass. It is preceded by special Christmas music for choir, organ and congregation beginning at 10:00 p.m. The Christmas Day service begins at 10:00 a.m.
Participants in the children’s Christmas pageant will rehearse this Sunday during the morning 9:00 hour and again at 4:00 p.m.
2013 Offering Envelopes are Available
Offering Envelopes for next year are available in the undercroft. Please pick yours up. Using the envelopes helps the parish record contributions more efficiently.
Parish Office Closed Christmas Week
The parish office will be closed December 24 through January 1. Phone messages will be checked periodically.
Contribute to Christmas Flowers
If you wish to contribute to the poinsettias and special greens that adorn the church during the Christmas season, please use the flower envelope included with the Christmas letter or found in the pews. Contributions may be designated as memorials, thanksgivings or purely to the Glory of God.
Save the Date for the Feast
The annual Feast of St. John the Evangelist, celebrating both our patron saint and our own parish community is scheduled for Saturday, January 5. Please plan to come. Invitations have been mailed; RSVP cards can be placed in the offering plate or returned to the parish office.
Gifts to Lawrence Hall
Thanks be to God for everyone who contributed money and gift cards to the youth of Lawrence Hall for Christmas. $1075.00 was raised.
Christmas Worship Schedule
Services on Christmas Eve will be at 4:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. The early service includes the children’s Christmas pageant. The late service is the festive, choral Christ Mass. It is preceded by special Christmas music for choir, organ and congregation beginning at 10:00 p.m. The Christmas Day service begins at 10:00 a.m.
Reflection for December 23
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it although this time, or at least right now, it has come very close. My pastor talks often about our dual citizenship, as Children of God and Goodness, gorgeous and divine, and we are also people with human biographies and wounds and families, living in a world of unimaginable suffering, brutality, madness….
[My Jesuit friend Tom Westin] says, “Advent is not for the naïve. Because in spite of the dark and cold, we see light—you look up, or you make light, with candles, trees. And you give light. Beauty helps, in art and natures and faces. Friends help. Solidarity helps.…”
Advent says that there is a way out of this trap—that we embrace our humanity, and Jesus’s humanity, and then we remember that he is wrapped up in God (Anne Lamott, posted on Facebook December 15).
[My Jesuit friend Tom Westin] says, “Advent is not for the naïve. Because in spite of the dark and cold, we see light—you look up, or you make light, with candles, trees. And you give light. Beauty helps, in art and natures and faces. Friends help. Solidarity helps.…”
Advent says that there is a way out of this trap—that we embrace our humanity, and Jesus’s humanity, and then we remember that he is wrapped up in God (Anne Lamott, posted on Facebook December 15).
Friday, December 14, 2012
Announcements for December 16
Christmas Pageant Organizational Meeting This Sunday
Children of all ages are invited to participate in the children’s Christmas Pageant, offered during the 4:00 p.m. service on Christmas Eve. There will be a brief organizational meeting for parents and children in the church after the 10:00 service this Sunday, December 16.
Vestry Meeting
The December meeting of the vestry is Monday, December 17, beginning at 7:00 p.m..
New Parish E-mail Address
We have updated the computer and changed internet service providers in the parish office. Check with the parish office if you need the new e-mail address. Also, please note that we are no longer maintaining a dedicated fax line.
Contribute to Christmas Flowers
If you wish to contribute to the poinsettias and special greens that adorn the church during the Christmas season, please use the flower envelope included with the Christmas letter or found in the pews. Contributions may be designated as memorials, thanksgivings or purely to the Glory of God.
Save the Date for the Feast
The annual Feast of St. John the Evangelist, celebrating both our patron saint and our own parish community is scheduled for Saturday, January 5. Please plan to come. Invitations have been mailed; RSVP cards can be placed in the offering plate or returned to the parish office.
Cookie Walk Thanks
This year’s Cookie Walk was a great success. Heartfelt thanks to all the bakers, buyers and helpers. Without you the Cookie Walk could not function or exist. Profits are over $3,500. Save the date; next year’s Cookie Walk will be December 7, 2013. –Alison Deniston
Christmas Worship Schedule
Services on Christmas Eve will be at 4:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. The early service includes the children’s Christmas pageant. The late service is the festive, choral Christ Mass. It is preceded by special Christmas music for choir, organ and congregation beginning at 10:00 p.m. The Christmas Day service begins at 10:00 a.m.
Children of all ages are invited to participate in the children’s Christmas Pageant, offered during the 4:00 p.m. service on Christmas Eve. There will be a brief organizational meeting for parents and children in the church after the 10:00 service this Sunday, December 16.
Vestry Meeting
The December meeting of the vestry is Monday, December 17, beginning at 7:00 p.m..
New Parish E-mail Address
We have updated the computer and changed internet service providers in the parish office. Check with the parish office if you need the new e-mail address. Also, please note that we are no longer maintaining a dedicated fax line.
Contribute to Christmas Flowers
If you wish to contribute to the poinsettias and special greens that adorn the church during the Christmas season, please use the flower envelope included with the Christmas letter or found in the pews. Contributions may be designated as memorials, thanksgivings or purely to the Glory of God.
Save the Date for the Feast
The annual Feast of St. John the Evangelist, celebrating both our patron saint and our own parish community is scheduled for Saturday, January 5. Please plan to come. Invitations have been mailed; RSVP cards can be placed in the offering plate or returned to the parish office.
Cookie Walk Thanks
This year’s Cookie Walk was a great success. Heartfelt thanks to all the bakers, buyers and helpers. Without you the Cookie Walk could not function or exist. Profits are over $3,500. Save the date; next year’s Cookie Walk will be December 7, 2013. –Alison Deniston
Christmas Worship Schedule
Services on Christmas Eve will be at 4:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. The early service includes the children’s Christmas pageant. The late service is the festive, choral Christ Mass. It is preceded by special Christmas music for choir, organ and congregation beginning at 10:00 p.m. The Christmas Day service begins at 10:00 a.m.
Reflection for December 16
The idea that God, if there is a force of Logic and Love in the universe, that it would seek to explain itself is amazing enough. That it would seek to explain itself and describe itself by becoming a child born in straw poverty, in [dung] and straw...a child... I just thought: “Wow!” Just the poetry ... Unknowable love, unknowable power, describes itself as the most vulnerable. There it was. I was sitting there, and it’s not that it hadn’t struck me before, but tears came streaming down my face, and I saw the genius of this, utter genius of picking a particular point in time and deciding to turn on this (Bono, Bono: in conversation)
Friday, December 7, 2012
Announcements for December 9
The Christmas Pageant is Coming
Children of all ages are invited to participate in the children’s Christmas Pageant, offered during the 4:00 p.m. service on Christmas Eve. There will be a brief organization meeting after the 10:00 service next Sunday, December 16.
December Sunday School Schedule
Sunday School classes for children and adults will meet this Sunday, December 9, and next Sunday, December 16. They will then be on vacation December 23 and 30 and will resume January 6.
Daughters of the King Help Lawrence Hall
Once again the Daughters of the King will be coordinating the St. John the Evangelist Church Wish List Drive for the children, youth and families at Lawrence Hall Youth Services. You may give your donation to Iris Bestow or any Daughter of the King.
Advent Festival of Lessons & Carols at Church of the Holy Family
The Episcopal Church of the Holy Family in Park Forest will hold its most beloved annual musical event this Sunday, Dec. 9, at 4 p.m. This year's festival will feature inspiring seasonal hymns and anthems sung by Holy Family's own choir, joined by the choir of St. Paul’s in Homewood, and the Canticum Novum chamber ensemble. All are welcome to this magical and spiritual service, which will be followed by a gala reception in the Parish Hall. Holy Family is located at the corner of Sauk Trail and Orchard Dr., just west of Western Avenue.
Advent Taize Service at Infant Jesus of Prague
A one hour service of simple songs, scripture, and prayer. Thursday, December 13, 7:30 p.m.
Vestry Nominations
The vestry nominating committee will be meeting soon. If you feel you might be called to this particular ministry, please speak to the Rector or one of the Wardens.
Children of all ages are invited to participate in the children’s Christmas Pageant, offered during the 4:00 p.m. service on Christmas Eve. There will be a brief organization meeting after the 10:00 service next Sunday, December 16.
December Sunday School Schedule
Sunday School classes for children and adults will meet this Sunday, December 9, and next Sunday, December 16. They will then be on vacation December 23 and 30 and will resume January 6.
Daughters of the King Help Lawrence Hall
Once again the Daughters of the King will be coordinating the St. John the Evangelist Church Wish List Drive for the children, youth and families at Lawrence Hall Youth Services. You may give your donation to Iris Bestow or any Daughter of the King.
Advent Festival of Lessons & Carols at Church of the Holy Family
The Episcopal Church of the Holy Family in Park Forest will hold its most beloved annual musical event this Sunday, Dec. 9, at 4 p.m. This year's festival will feature inspiring seasonal hymns and anthems sung by Holy Family's own choir, joined by the choir of St. Paul’s in Homewood, and the Canticum Novum chamber ensemble. All are welcome to this magical and spiritual service, which will be followed by a gala reception in the Parish Hall. Holy Family is located at the corner of Sauk Trail and Orchard Dr., just west of Western Avenue.
Advent Taize Service at Infant Jesus of Prague
A one hour service of simple songs, scripture, and prayer. Thursday, December 13, 7:30 p.m.
Vestry Nominations
The vestry nominating committee will be meeting soon. If you feel you might be called to this particular ministry, please speak to the Rector or one of the Wardens.
Reflection for December 9
The house lights go off and the footlights come on. Even the chattiest stop chattering as they wait in darkness for the curtain to rise. In the orchestra pit, the violin bows are poised. The conductor has raised his baton.... In the silence of a midwinter dusk, there is far off in the deeps of it somewhere a sound so faint that for all you can tell it may be only the sound of the silence itself. You hold your breath to listen.... You walk up the steps to the front door. The empty windows at either side of it tell you nothing, or almost nothing. For a second you catch a whiff of some fragrance that reminds you of a place you’ve never been and a time you have no words for. You are aware of the beating of your heart...The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment (Frederick Buechner, Whistling in the Dark).
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