Announcements for November 16

Fall Pledge Campaign: Pledge Sunday is November 23
“Count Your Blessings, Share Your Blessings: Celebrate the Experience” is the theme of this year’s pledge campaign. Please share any blessings you have received through your life in this parish on the large banner in the undercroft. Pledge Sunday is November 23.

St. John’s Has a New Website
St. John’s website has been totally redone. Check it out HERE (same address as before – new content). And pick up a new refrigerator magnet with the web address and other contact information on Sunday.

Practicing Our Faith Book Club
At 7:00 PM next Thursday, November 20th, the book club will meet in the Guild Room to discuss Brian D. McLaren’s A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith. Please join us, or maybe you would like to participate in the December 18th meeting. If so, get a copy of Joan Chittester’s Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope, which Chittester describes as “an anatomy of struggle and an account of the way hope grows in us, despite our moments of darkness, regardless of our regular bouts of depression. It is an invitation to look again at the struggles of life in order that we might remember how to recognize new life in our souls the next time our hearts turn again to day.”

Cathedral Shelter Christmas Baskets
This program provides gifts, necessities and food to families and seniors who otherwise would not be able to afford them at Christmas time. Information is available in the undercroft on how you can adopt a senior or family. Or you may contribute cash for the family that will be adopted by the children and youth of the parish. Pick up date is December 5.

Children and Youth Shopping for Christmas Baskets
Children and youth of all ages are invited to help shop for families in the Cathedral Shelter Christmas basket program. We will meet at the church Sunday, November 23, at 3:00 PM. After shopping we will return to the church to wrap the presents.

Yarn Ministry
The knitting group will meet Monday, November 17, beginning at 7:00 PM in the Guild Room.

Youth Group Meeting This Sunday, November 16th
Flashlights and long underwear...High School Youth, please dress for warmth (don’t forget your mittens!) and bring a flashlight for this Sunday’s gathering at 4 PM. We’ll be outside in the neighborhood for a short while prepping for Caroling for Canned Goods (December 7th). We’ll also make posters to rev up the parish. Come brimming with creativity. Your sponsors will supply warm snacks and unwavering faith in your abilities and talents.

Thanksgiving Services
This year’s community interfaith Thanksgiving service featuring the Viking Choir will be held on Wednesday, November 26, at 7:30 PM at Flossmoor Community Church. Thanksgiving will be celebrated with the Holy Eucharist at St. John’s on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, at 10:00 AM.