Keenagers Luncheon and Program
Save the Date. Keenagers Luncheon and Program for men, women, and couples over 60.
Thursday, May 24, 12 pm, Barr Center Dining Room
United Thank Offering
The United Thank Offering (UTO) is a ministry of The Episcopal Church for the mission of the whole church. Through UTO, individuals are invited to embrace and deepen a personal daily spiritual discipline of gratitude. UTO encourages people to notice the good things that happen each day, give thanks to God for those blessings and make an offering for each blessing using a UTO Blue Box. UTO is entrusted to receive the offerings, and to distribute the 100% of what is collected to support innovative mission and ministry throughout The Episcopal Church and Provinces of the Anglican Communion.
Sunday, April 15 - Sunday, April 22
Connections
A social group for married and singles in their 20s and 30s, Will hold their April gathering on Thursday, April 26, 7 pm.
Hosted at the Koehlers residence; BYOB, and an appetizer to share.
Welcome!
St. John’s Episcopal Church is pleased to announce Lori K. Anderson has joined our parish staff as Finance Administrator.
Lori is a retired accounting and finance professional from Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS). She started her career at the insurance company when she was a senior in high school, working part-time in the accounting department. After graduating from the University of South Carolina, Moore School of Business, with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, she continued working with BCBS. For the next 30 years, Lori was promoted to various accounting and financial positions, overseeing staff, and managing many senior level business projects at BCBS.
Lori’s main hobby outside of work is taking care of her family. Lori met Kevin, her husband, during a youth retreat at church and have been married for 28 years. They have two children, Christy, 19 and Ashlee, 23. “What I love most is hearing from my children that they want to spend time with me and Kevin,” said Lori. “We are a close-knit family.”
Kevin and Lori attend Riverland Hills Baptist Church and live in Irmo, SC. Lori can be reached by email at the parish office at lka@stjohnscolumbia.org. Please welcome Lori to St. John’s!
St. John's Gravatt Day!
Outdoor Service and Parish Picnic for EVERYONE!
Sunday, May 6, 2018
St. John’s Parish
Join your St. John's family on Sunday, May 6 at Gravatt Camp and Conference Center in Aiken, SC. Worship service begins at 10:30 am at the Outdoor Chapel of the Holy Spirit on the camp side. Afterward, enjoy a picnic lunch in the camp dining hall. Chicken, mac & cheese, and green beans provided by our ministry teams, guilds and the MOSJ. Please bring a dessert or side item to share. After lunch, enjoy field games, swimming, boating, and porch sitting. Questions, contact St. John's Gravatt Day Chair Barbara Jones at bjones@mgclaw.com.
As an added benefit to St John's Gravatt Day, join Gravatt for their annual Under the Tent event the night before!
Saturday, May 5
Under the Tent
This year Under the Tent is the night before St. John's Gravatt Day and is being held at Gravatt for the first time. Enjoy a beautiful farm to table dinner for adults. Children ages 5-16 will enjoy Under the Tent Camp with summer staff. All overnight guests will be served a hot breakfast. Childcare will be provided onsite for children 9 months - 4 years from 5 - 10:00 pm on Saturday. For accommodations, tickets and more specific information about this event, visit the Gravatt Events at http://www.campgravatt.org/events/2018/5/5/under-the-tent. Questions, contact Associate Development Director Christine Koutrakos at christine@campgravatt.org.
Transitions Tour
Servant Ministry invites the parish to tour Transitions on Saturday, April 28 at 10 am. Transitions is the largest Midlands homeless center which moves people from homeless to housed by providing counseling, life skills and access to services in order to end homelessness. The tour is a result of the recent Ministry Fair hosted by Servant Ministry at St. John's where parish members heard a presentation on specific services provided by Transitions. The center is located at 2025 Main Street in Columbia. Parking is available and carpooling is encouraged. Please RSVP by Thursday, April 26 to drb@stjohnscolumbia.org.
For more information and specific details about the tour, check out our Facebook event page next week.
Fellowship Breakfast
SUNDAY MORNINGS
9:00 - 9:30 AM
Barr Center
Everyone is invited to enjoy breakfast with your parish family each Sunday morning at 9 am. Different groups within the church provide breakfast each week, so plan on stopping by to eat and visit with others between services and before Sunday School!
Breakfast in the Barr Center. Hope to see you there!
Family Yoga at St. John's - New Date and Time
All ages and levels welcome (babies under 2 must be in carrier inward facing). Tuesdays 10:15 am starting Holy Week.
Multipurpose Room, lower level of Heyward Hall.
KAIROS Ministry
Twice a year, members from our parish serve on the Kairos ministry team. Kairos is a “short course in Christianity” for the inmates at Broad River Correction Institution, in Columbia. The team returns monthly for half-day visits to help encourage those who have participated in the weekend. The Kairos ministry is supported by the prayers and donations of concerned churches and individuals throughout the state. The next Kairos will be held on April 26-29. New participants are always welcome.
You may support this ministry by baking cookies for the inmates. We need lots of cookies (8,000 dozen, to be exact!) That means that we need you to start backing now! Place bagged and labeled cookies for Kairos in the freezer (marked “Kairos”) located in the Barr Center Kitchen by 4 pm on Tuesday, April 24. If you would prefer to purchase cookies they are $35.00 a box. Each box has 220 cookies.
Checks may be made out to “BRCI Cookie Fund” and given to the Rev. Scott Fleischer at the parish office.
Servant Ministry supports Fresh Start
Fresh Start is an outreach program sponsored by St. Luke's Episcopal Church. It is coordinated by Deacon Dianna Deaderick along with her husband Doug. This mission provides free food, clothing, free showers and free laundry services to those in need. All this takes place in the O'Neal Center on Thursdays from 10 am to 3 pm and the second and fourth Saturdays. Donations of men's boxers (large and x-large) would be appreciated.
Make your donations by dropping off items in the Fresh Start box at St. John's located in the break room across from the parish office in Heyward Hall. Volunteers are always needed too.
A Willing Servant of the People
From Servant Ministry at St. John's
We ask the congregation to continue to show its support for Harvest Hope Food Bank. Founded in 1981, the organization provides food to those in need across 20 different counties in the state of South Carolina. In the fiscal year of 2014-2015, Harvest Hope distributed 27,405,347 lbs of food to provide hunger relief for individuals in our service area. Harvest Hope accepts a large variety of canned goods and non-perishable foods, but they are especially in need of specific items.
List of Items Most Needed
Food items and plastic shopping bags can be brought to the basket containers at every Sunday service at St John's. You can find the containers right behind the front doors of the Barr Center.
We also ask that you make monetary donations when you can to Harvest Hope.
Let's all do what we can to feed a hungry soul today!
“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” John 6:35
Sunday School Offerings
Children and Youth
We hope you'll join us for this time of learning about and experiencing God, growing in faith, and building community!
Upstairs Sunday School rooms will be moved around a bit until basement renovation is completed, so follow the signs (and the smell of fresh donuts) this Sunday to find your age group.
3k and 4k - Downstairs classroom across from toddler nursery
5k and 1st - Upstairs room 226
2nd-5th (Temporarily combined rooms) Upstairs room 215
Middle School - Upstairs room
at the end of the hallway
High School - Upstairs room 222
Adults
Every Sunday at 9:30 am
The Wired Word, Parlor
Participants are invited to engage in lively and thought-provoking conversations about this week’s headlines from a Christian perspective, using relevant passages of Scripture. Join parishioner and high school science teacher George Matsui as we learn how to apply our faith to current events!
Gospel Shaped Outreach, Multi-purpose room
What do you think about when you hear the word “Evangelism”? Many Christians are nervous about sharing their faith. We prefer to leave it to the clergy. This study will explore the proper motivation for evangelism, and consider how we can work together as a church to share the good news with the world around us.
Early Morning after the 8 am Service, Second Sunday of the Month
Thinking through Paul: A Survey of His Life, Letters, and Theology, Dining Room
This class will first look at Paul’s life before and after his encounter with the risen Christ en route to Damascus, then examine each of Paul’s letters individually, and finally synthesize the Pauline writings to highlight the main strands of Paul’s theologizing―all the while keeping in mind the particular context of first-century Christianity. Filled with images, maps, charts, and questions for further study and discussion,Thinking through Paul is both engaging and easy-to-follow, making it the perfect choice for study.
Coins for Change
We ask the congregation to recognize and continue its support for Coins for Change. The program is designed to provide financial support for our Weekend Backpack Food Program, which is coordinated by the St John's Servant Ministry's Committee to help bring needed food items to the students of Hand Middle School. The food is given to students of the school who have been identified as homeless or in transition between homes. Ten dollars in change will feed a child for one weekend. So keep scrambling for those coins from your piggy bank jars to the depths of your sofa cushions! We have many great children to feed with both the food we bring as well as the love we share with them.
Help the Servant Ministry Team fill the basket with items for Harvest Hope every Sunday.
Would you like to serve in Children's Chapel or Nursery this year?
We're growing our fantastic team of children's ministry volunteers who take part in Sunday morning leadership. Children's Chapel and Nursery volunteers rotate when they serve based on monthly schedule and are vital to Sunday mornings being a welcoming and safe space for visitors and members at St. John's. Middle and high school students can also serve as assistants if they have babysitters' training or an equivalent training certificate.
Contact Madelyn Smith at mas@stjohnscolumbia.org if you'd like to serve!​
Sponsor Altar Flowers
The Guild of the Flowering Cross invites all parishioners to sponsor altar flowers for any given Sunday throughout the year (even during Lent and Advent when greenery is used, you may still sponsor flowers and it will be acknowledged in the Sunday bulletin). Sponsoring altar flowers is a beautiful way to honor loved ones marking special life events such as birthdays, wedding anniversaries, baptisms, confirmations, in memory of a loved one, or in thanksgiving for life's blessings. More than one person may make a gift on a particular Sunday. Names of those honored will be printed in the bulletin announcements and included in the weekly, online e-pistle for the week they are given.
The cost for sponsoring altar flowers begins at $50 per individual/family. The altar flowers are currently arranged by members of the Guild of the Flowering Cross. Donations can be made online at our Giving Page on the website or by calling the parish office at 799.4767.
Donations can be made online at our Giving Page or by calling the parish office at 799.4767.
