Weather Alert - February 1

Current predictions call for heavy snow beginning Saturday night and continuing throughout the day Sunday, February 1.  Church services WILL be held as usual.  But please be careful.  Even if you are scheduled for a liturgical ministry, do not drive if you do not feel it is safe.

Announcements for February 1

Vestry Elections
At last Sunday’s annual parish meeting new vestry members were elected. A profound thank you to retiring vestry members Bill Bestow (Senior Warden), Steve Hofer, Gale Michael, and Mark Moxley. Newly elected are: Diane Walsh-Madden (Senior Warden), Anne Edwards (Junior Warden), and vestry members Bob Burgwald, Rob Carrier and Cynthia Turnquest.

Lift Project Video
The video slide show of the lift project shown at the annual meeting is available online HERE.

Teen Youth Group
The teen group and their parents will meet briefly (15 minutes) immediately following the 10:00 AM service to discuss details of Happening #99.

New Adult Sunday School Class
The adult Sunday morning class begins a new study this Sunday: Lost Christianities: Christian Scriptures and the Battles over Authentication. Why did some Scriptures “make the cut” and others didn’t? How did “orthodox” Christianity become established? The classes begin with a 30 minute DVD lecture by Prof. Bart Ehrman, followed by discussion. Join us!

Michael Soto Organ Recital
Michael Soto will be presenting a recital of musical hommages written by French composers of the 19th and 20th centuries played alongside works of the composers who inspired them. The program includes selections by Frank, Frescobaldi, Dupré, and Duruflé. The event will be at Queen of Angels Catholic Church, 2330 West Sunnyside, Chicago on Saturday, February 7, 2015 at 7:30 pm.

Yarn Ministry Meets This Monday
The knitting group will meet Monday evening, February 2, beginning at 7:00 PM in the Guild Room.

Mark Your Calendars: Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper
Yes, before we know it, Lent will be here. The traditional Shrove Tuesday pancake supper is scheduled for Tuesday, February 17. More details will follow.

Reflection for February 1

The album has two very brilliant pieces of music at the beginning and at the end. But then in between, there is a lot of this more wistful music. I’m very fond of wistful music because wistfulness is an emotion that has nearly vanished from the scene. Classical music has become a kind of preserve for endangered emotions – wistfulness, longing, all these things that are definitely almost gone in the instant-gratification, channel-changing, thrill-seeking, game-playing culture in which we exist. (Michael Tilson Thomas, Gramophone, January, 2015).

Announcements for January 25

Annual Parish Meeting This Sunday, January 25
The annual parish meeting will follow the 10:00 AM service this Sunday, January 25. Please plan to attend this important meeting of the parish. Loaves and Fishes will serve sloppy joe’s for lunch. You do not need to bring any additional food.

Michael Soto Organ Recital
Michael Soto will be presenting a recital of musical hommages written by French composers of the 19th and 20th centuries played alongside works of the composers who inspired them. The program includes selections by Frank, Frescobaldi, Dupré, and Duruflé. The event will be at Queen of Angels Catholic Church, 2330 West Sunnyside, Chicago on Saturday, February 7, 2015 at 7:30 pm.

Yarn Ministry
The knitting group will meet Monday evening, February 2, beginning at 7:00 PM in the Guild Room.

Reflection for January 25

Prayer for a Church Convention or Meeting
Almighty and everliving God, source of all wisdom and understanding, be present with those who take counsel in the annual meeting of the Church of St. John the Evangelist for the renewal and mission of your Church. Teach us in all things to seek first your honor and glory. Guide us to perceive what is right, and grant us both the courage to pursue it and the grace to accomplish it; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen (Book of Common Prayer, p. 818).

Announcements for January 18

Annual Parish Meeting Next Sunday, January 25
The annual parish meeting will follow the 10:00 AM service on January 25 (one week later than originally published). Loaves and Fishes will serve lunch. Everyone is encouraged to attend.

Martin Luther King Day Service
The South Suburban Interfaith Ministerial Association will sponsor a service commemorating the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. The service will be Monday, January 19, beginning at 10:00 AM at Hazel Crest United Methodist Church, 17050 California Avenue. 2015

Offering Envelopes are Available
Please pick up your 2015 offering envelopes in the undercroft.

Reflection for January 18

Love is creative and redemptive. Love builds up and unites; hate tears down and destroys. The aftermath of the ‘fight fire with fire’ method which you suggest is bitterness and chaos, the aftermath of the love method is reconciliation and creation of the beloved community. Physical force can repress, restrain, coerce, destroy, but it cannot create and organize anything permanent; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr., 1957).

Announcements for January 11

Annual Parish Meeting January 25
The annual parish meeting will follow the 10:00 AM service on January 25 (one week later than originally published). Loaves and Fishes will serve lunch. Everyone is encouraged to attend.

Martin Luther King Day Service
The South Suburban Interfaith Ministerial Association will sponsor a service commemorating the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. The service will be Monday, January 19, beginning at 10:00 AM at Hazel Crest United Methodist Church, 17050 California Avenue.

New Adult Class on Evil
The adult Sunday School class is currently studying a series on evil, based on a DVD featuring scholar and bishop N. T. Wright. From the DVD: “More than ever we need to know, ‘Is there a solution?’” All are welcome.

2015 Offering Envelopes are Available
Please pick up your 2015 offering envelopes in the undercroft.

Reflection for January 11

Forty years [after I first encountered Merton] I’m still reading him, still finding friendship, love, and rescue — essential elements in serving as a messenger of hope. Imparting hope to others has nothing to do with exhorting or cheering them on. It has everything to do with relationships that honor the soul, encourage the heart, inspire the mind, quicken the step, and heal the wounds we suffer along the way (Parker J. Palmer, “A Friendship, A Love, A Rescue,” www.onbeing.org).

Announcements for January 4

Celebrate the Epiphany
The Holy Eucharist will be celebrated on the Feast of the Epiphany, Tuesday, January 6, beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Vestry Meeting
The vestry will meet following the 10:00 AM service this Sunday, January 4, to finalize the 2015 budget.

Sunday School Classes Resume
Sunday School classes for all ages resume this Sunday, January 4, during the 9:00 AM hour.

New Adult Class on Evil
Beginning Sunday morning, the adult Sunday School class will begin a series on evil, based on a DVD featuring scholar and bishop N. T. Wright. From the DVD: “More than ever we need to know, ‘Is there a solution?’”

Wednesday Service Resumes
The Wednesday morning celebration of the Holy Eucharist with healing resumes January 7.

Recycle Your Christmas Trees and Lights
Recycle your natural Christmas tree and lights. Information on drop off locations and dates is available here.

2015 Offering Envelopes are Available
Please pick up your 2015 offering envelopes in the undercroft.

Reflection for January 4

The magi may not have been what we have thought them to be…. I rather like the notion that the magi might have been traveling entertainers, members of a class commonly accepted as fools in every sense of that word…. There is only one thing about this story that we can hold with any certainty: whoever these people were and wherever they were from, they were henceforth called “wise.” Their wisdom was not necessarily the precondition of their visitation, but it was certainly the one gift they took with them from that stable. Wisdom, then, is not the prerequisite to relationship with Jesus, but the product of knowing the Lord (Sam Portaro, Brightest and Best, “The Epiphany of Our Lord”).