Announcements for June 23

The Fourth of July is Almost Here! 
Every year individuals and families from the broader Flossmoor community attend St. John’s Fourth of July ice cream social. We always offer special entertainment for kids. This year, there will be a Story Teller. We seek donations from parishioners to help defray the costs of providing this entertainment. You can help us offer this event to the community. Look for red, white and blue donation envelopes around the church. You may place your donation in the offering plate or drop it off at the parish office.

Notes on Recycling
The church has recently received new receptacles for recycling. They are brown rollable totes. The blue totes are for yard waste only. The commercial dumpster is for trash. Recycling guidelines are posted in the kitchen. Note, for example, that paper towels, used paper plates, paper cups or any paper/cardboard soiled with food are not recyclable. Plastic silverware and aluminum foil are also not accepted for recycling. One more reminder: The rectory backyard is never the pathway to the dumpsters. Thank you to everyone throughout the year who helps in the kitchen and with event clean up!

Celebrating Rabbi Ellen Dreyfus
A luncheon this Sunday celebrates the retirement of Rabbi Ellen Dreyfus, who has served as a leader within the Jewish and broader faith community of the south suburbs for almost three decades. She served as rabbi at Congregation Beth Shalom in Park Forest and then at the new, merged congregation of B’nai Yehuda Beth Shalom in Homewood. She is past-President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the global organization of Reform rabbis. She has also been active, including time as president, of the local South Suburban Ministerial Association. Mazel Tov.

Sunday Morning Prayer to End in July
Beginning the first Sunday in July, July 7, St. John’s will no longer offer Morning Prayer at 7:40 a.m. on Sundays. Morning Prayer is a wonderful part of our Anglican worship tradition, but it was always intended, as part of the Daily Office, for daily use by individuals or communities like monastic communities or religious schools that meet daily for corporate prayer. The custom of parishes using Morning Prayer on Sundays has varied in form and frequency across time and in different areas. It does not seem to be meeting a broad need at St. John’s at this time.