The Weekly Sunday Bulletin of St. John’s Episcopal Church |
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Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”(Exodus 3:1-10). |
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During Lent, we are called to put away those things that distract us from God and to come to the presence of our Lord. In our Psalm for this Sunday we pray, “Oh God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you” (Psalm 63:1). We are called to return to the living presence of God in our Lord, Jesus Christ. God reaches out to us and asks us to live a good life by following the example of Jesus. We are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and give Living water to the thirsty. The burning bush glows bright when we repent of those things in our lives that keep us from the purpose and will of God, when we turn aside. Jesus said, I AM the bread of life; I AM the good shepherd; I AM the light of the world; I AM the living water; I AM the way, the truth and the life; I AM the resurrection and the life. Paul says in Roman 6, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
“You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians. 4:22-24). You are called to kneel and bow at church because you believe in the Living presence of God. We proclaim the Gospel that you might hear the voice of God in the burning bush. “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful” (Col. 3:12-15).
Last Sunday, I mentioned that we need to form close relationships in our community. We need to team up with good folks that want to help those in need in our community. The Thrift Shop is a good example of this. Please visit our Thrift Shop on Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday from 12-3. If you can, bring some cloths or jewelry that you are not using to St. John’s. Invite your friends and neighbors to donate, visit, or join us in our ministry.
In Christ’s love,
Fr. Duncan
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Join us for Sunday Worship at 8am and 10am in the church or remotely on Zoom and Facebook.
8:00 am - Rite I Holy Eucharist
9:45 am - Sunday School meets in the Guild Room and also on Zoom
10:00 am – Rite II Choral Eucharist
The Readings
The Hymns
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Our next Celtic Service is on Sunday, March 20th at 5:30 pm. Please join us for this contemplative, life-affirming mass with beautiful Celtic music in ceebration of the Feast of St. Patrick of Ireland. This service will be in our beautiful, historic church and also available on Zoom.
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SAFE PRACTICES FOR IN-PERSON SERVICES & EVENTS |
We are so happy to welcome people into the church for in-person worship. As we increase the number of people allowed in the church, we can all do our part to keep ourselves and others safe and healthy:
- Masks are recommended. Disposable masks are available at the back of the church;
- Social distancing. Please maintain a safe distance between your group/family and others;
- Sanitize hands upon entrance. Dispensers are available at the back of the church;
- Service bulletins and reading inserts are available at the back of the church.
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HOLY EUCHARIST WITH BAPTISM - MARCH 27TH AT 11:30 AM |
On March 27th, Fr. Duncan will be helping out at Trinity Northport as celebrant for their 9:00 am service. So, on that day our 8:00 am service will be a Rite I Morning Prayer and the 10:00 am service will be a Rite II Morning Prayer.
For those who wish to receive Holy Communion at St. John's on March 27th, we have added a Rite II Holy Eucharist with Baptism at 11:30 am. This service will be in the church and on Zoom:
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LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS WANTED |
St. John's is a member of the Huntington Greening Fellowship. We are looking for a volunteer to represent St. John's. Are you interested in the environment? Are you able to help St. John's partner with local faith and environmental organizations to be better envrironmental stewards?
HUMuS: Huntington Mobilization for Sustainability wants to train you to become a local environmental leader. As a a Huntington Greening Fellow you will:
- Connect to local environmental organizations
- Meet other people in Huntington who want to help the environment
- Learn how climate change affects us on Long Island
- Help your organization, workplace or your home go Green
- Learn how you can influence local and state policies
Dates: March 13 – May 22, 2022
Commitment: 7 meetings (on Zoom; alternating Sun/Thur nights), + 1 Sunday afternoon in-person field trip (outdoors)
Please contact Coral in the Parish Office to sign up for the next training series. |
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Thank you to all who gave to the special collection we had for our sisters and brothers in Ukraine. Through your generosity, we were able to send $686 to the Ukrainian Red Cross. Our Prayer Shawl Ministry also provided 14 blue and yellow prayer shawls which will be sent to Ukraine through St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Church in Riverhead.
Our music director, Alex Pryrodny, researched some reputable organizations providing support to the Ukrainian people at this time. If you would like to offer your support, please visit these following websites:
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"A Lenten Journey: A Christian Pilgrimage toward New Life" - This small collection of Lenten meditations was composed by now Bishop Allen Shin when he was rector of St. Johns as an offering to the members of St. John’s.
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LENTEN SERIES - "LIVING BEYOND BORDERS" |
Tuesdays in Lent via Zoom
March 22nd, 29th, April 5th
All are welcome to join us:
6:00 pm - Stations of the Cross
6:30 pm - Evening Prayer
7:00 - 8:30 pm - Program*
The Rev. Canon David Ulloa Chavez, Canon for Border Ministries for the Diocese of Arizona, will lead a five-part series referencing the book The US Immigration Crisis by Miquel de la Torre (copies are available in the Parish Office for a suggested contribution of $25). For our 2022 Lenten Series we will partner with St. Francis in the Valley.
Week 3 - March 22: please take a look at Chapters 4 & 5. We will reflect on and discuss question 1 from chapter 4 (pg. 87) and question 2 on page 107.
How is your understanding of refugees and migrants changing?
*The 1 pm option was eliminated due to lack of attendance. Join us at 7 pm.
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By Dave Lasek, Thrift Shop Secretary
As you all know we are the hands and feet for God’s work. We are so very blessed with our volunteers. With out them St. John’s would not have the ability to serve our community. During the Christmas break, we had the hallway painted and lighting upgraded there and one other room. The hallway is now a art gallery, yes, repurposed in an amazing way. The cost was $2,525 for the work done and was completely paid for by the thrift shop. We were getting so many compliments on how friendly and inviting the thrift shop looks. We invite you to stop by and see for yourself.
Year-to-date the shop has total sales of $7,522.63. We just paid our sales tax liability for 2021 in the amount of $1,065.97. Also we have made $6,000.00 in donations so far this year to St John’s. Plus, we distribute vouchers to various organizations in the community. We donate our children’s clothing and some of our other overflow of clothing to Christ Church in Brentwood. And as we say, we are sure we have something that you don’t need but would love to sell to you! Thank you for your continued support of St John’s thrift shop.
.”Help us to shine the light of Christ on others “
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MARCH IS WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH |
By Heather Kress, RR&SJM Chairperson
In many of our prior articles, you’ve read about one group or another arriving in the United States – whether the Latinos, the Italians, the Africans – and how poorly they were treated. Even our own indigenous people, found here by the European settlers, fared no better. The same pattern continues with women who have been here as long as men and have shared in men’s journeys of exploration and conquests, working alongside them, but never as equals.
So, where to start with women’s history - or, perhaps, more appropriately, women’s HERstory? Let’s start at the very beginning with Eve. There, in the Christian creation myth in Genesis, she was created out of the side of Adam and later infamously tempted him to disobey God and eat from the tree of knowledge of right and wrong. As punishment for this, original sin became the inheritance of the entire human race. This story gave rise to any number of assumptions, theories and rejoinders about whether men, because Adam was created first, are superior to women because Eve was created second and “from Adam’s rib”, with a categorical and enduring response that women are the “inferior” sex. All of these narratives either totally deny or intentionally forget God’s explicit statement in the same Genesis text that he created both – both men and women – in His image and his clear charge to both, to humans as a whole, to have “dominion” over the creatures of the earth. As God’s image bearers, men and women share the dignity that comes with reflecting divinity; as co-rulers over God’s creation, there is no suggestion that humans were originally created to rule over other humans. From the beginning of recorded history, however, men have misinterpreted that instruction of “dominion” to mean “domination” and have acted with impunity to dominate over all of creation, including women.
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MARCH IS ALSO IRISH HERITAGE MONTH |
"The Irish in America" by Bill Kiley
Over the past few years, you have heard comments such as these:
- Why should we care about refugees who are forced into exile by humanitarian and/or political disaster?
- These refugees are poor and disease-ridden who are taking jobs away from Americans.
- They will strain and break our welfare budgets.
- These refugees are bringing crime with them; many of these undesirables are rapists.
- They practice a religion that is alien to America, and they pledge allegiance to a foreign leader.
The above comments are not contemporaneous utterances about the various refugee groups who have recently come to America, rather, they are historical comments about the almost two-million Irish refugees who came to our country in the mid-1800s. And while there had been some Irish who came to America prior to this massive wave of immigration, the roots of most of the emigrants from Ireland can be tracked to this mid-19th century period. So, what caused this massive flight from their native country?
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All are welcome at Morning Prayer. We meet Monday through Friday at 9:00 am via Zoom.
Our short prayer service is followed by some fellowship and discussion. Feel free to join us occasionally to listen and pray, or come more often to participate as a leader or reader, and to start your day with your focus on Christ and a deeper connection with your friends at St. John's.
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Bible Study meets on Mondays at 6:30 pm and Tuesdays at 11:00 am. The topics covered on Monday will also be covered on Tuesday of the same week.
We have begun a new program on Paul's Letter to the Philippians using the writings of N. T. Wright.
More copies of the book, Paul for Everyone: the Prison Letters by N. T. Wright will be available in the Parish Office on Thursday, January 6th. It is also available at amazon.com in paperback or Kindle versions:
We are also referencing an online program, "Paul and His Letter to the Philippians" at Udemy.com. Here is the log in information if you would like to review them before we meet:
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ST. FRANCIS IN THE VALLEY |
Upcoming Meeting with St. Francis in the Valley
Friday, March 18, 2022, at 4 p.m. on Zoom
All are welcome to attend
Join Zoom Meeting:
My Name is Jose Luis Cabrera
Here’s a link to his story
NEW DATE for MISSION TRIP to Arizona
October 24 – 31, 2022
OUTREACH is sharing Christ’s love with all our neighbors!
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RACIAL RECONCILIATION & SOCIAL JUSTICE MINISTRY |
The Rev. Dr. Craig Townsend, Historian in Residence for Racial Justice for the Diocese of Long Island, will present his findings while "Uncovering Parish Histories" with a special focus on parishes like St. John's, established pre-Civil War.
Members are also encouraged to participated in an Interfaith Pilgrimage Walk and Vigil in Solidarity with Essential and Excluded Workers on Thursday, March 24th, 4:00-5:30 pm.
Please contact Heather Kress, RR&SJM Chairperson, for more with questions or to join St. John's RR&SJM ( hkress44@gmail.com) |
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ST. JOHN'S CHOIR REHEARSALS |
St. John's Adult Choir will meet on Thursdays at 7:30 pm in the church to prepare for Holy Week.
If you are interested in joining our choir, please contact Alex Pryrodny, Music Director, for more information at rurikbird@gmail.com. |
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Giving envelopes are here! They are available for pick up at the back of the church for those who have requested them. If you are unable to pick up your envelopes, we can make arrangements to have them delivered, just let us know.
Giving numbers are still available, so if you would like 2022 envelopes or have any questions, please contact Coral in the Parish Office.
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STEWARDSHIP: PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT |
Your stewardship is a commitment to sustaining St. John’s ministry today and going forward.
Pledge cards are available in the pews and at the back of the church. You may also submit your pledge online using our online pledge form. You may send your regular stewardship payments in the mail, leave them in the collection plate on Sundays, or set up automatic, recurring payments online.
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If you would like to remember a loved one with the Perpetual Light in Lent, please complete an Altar Flower Form and return it to the Parish Office with your check made payable to "St. John's Altar Guild." Flowers are not available during Lent.
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To help beautify St. John’s Altar at Easter we ask for your donation for Easter Flowers to remember your deceased Loved Ones, or in Thanksgiving for your blessings.
Please complete and return this form to the office by the DEADLINE of Monday, April 4, 2022 if you wish to have your dedication listed in the Easter Bulletin.
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PRAYER CONCERNS FOR ST. JOHN'S |
We pray for the sick: Liz, Harry and Christine, Hal, Richard, Barbara, Fanny, Jackie, Diana, Edward, Christine, Fred, Tom, Allison, Amy, Kate, Cole, Jennifer, Spencer, Sue, Wylie, Matt, Susan, Maggie, Tom, Olivia, Christina, Victor, Melissa, Jack, Ursula, Anita, Nancy, Peter, Patti, Shannon, Kelsey, Justin, Cheryl
The Perpetual Light is given in loving memory of Bertha and Frank Lasek, and Natividad and Modesto Roman, the gift of Dave and Nelly Lasek.
The Perpetual Light is given in loving memory of Walter J. McCarthy, beloved husband, father, grandpa, and Opa, the gift of his family.
To add or remove someone from our prayer list, please email prayers@stjohns1745.org or call Coral in the Parish Office.
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St. John's Episcopal Church
12 Prospect Street
Huntington, New York 11743
(631) 427-1752
STAY CONNECTED
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