As the number folks suffering from food insecurity grows by the day we at St. John’s plan to help the community respond to that growing need.
Starting in May, on the first and third Wednesday of every month, we’ll be collecting donations of food at the church and taking them to the Food Bank at New Milford Social Services (on the first Wednesday) and to Our Daily Bread at the United Methodist Church (on the third.)
Here’s how it’ll work. We’ll have a van or truck parked on Main St. in front of the church from 10 AM to noon on those days.
Bring your donations in the trunk or rear compartment of your car, pull in behind the van, or as close as possible, and volunteers will do the rest.
You won’t need to leave your car or open the window (though friendly waving is encouraged!)
We, of course, will need people to make this happen. It’s not a big time commitment and the more volunteers, the more we can spread it out.
Please consider helping out and if you decide this outreach opportunity is for you, please call or email Pastor Jack.
Our dear friend John Roger passed from this life on Good Friday, April 10th. It is hard to imagine our life at St John’s without our wise and caring Patriarch.
A service of Christian Burial will be held when it is safe to gather again.
If you would like to give a gift to St John’s Book of Remembrance in John’s name, please write J Roger in the memo line of your check and mail your remembrance to St John’s Church, 7 Whittlesey Ave., New Milford CT 06776
We’re planning an online Coffee Hour for Palm Sunday morning. Find out how to “attend” and more ways to keep in touch with your friends at St. John’s in the latest issue of our newsletter St. John’s Connects.
Here are some options to stay spiritually connected during these unusual times. We hope this is helpful.
Sunday Morning Prayer: Pastor Jack will continue to tape and upload to the internet Morning Prayer on Sundays. You can see these prayer sessions on the St. John’s Facebook page and on our website.
ECCT Daily Morning Prayer/Compline: During the weekdays, the ECCT is providing Morning Prayer and Compline via the online meeting site ZOOM. Morning prayer is at 7:30 a.m. Compline is at 8:30 p.m. Here’s a link to the conference calls. Please click HERE for meetings, cancelations, updates and more news across the ECCT along with important self-care resources!
Northwest Region Daily Prayers: Morning Prayer and Compline. Morning Prayer is at 7:30 a.m. Compline is at 8:30 p.m. To join the conference calls click this link or dial 929-205-6099. The meeting ID is 489 161 8328. They will be using the readings and collects each day provided by the Mission of St. Clare, found here.
NW Region Tuesday Afternoon Bible Study Rev. Martha Tucker will lead a NW Region Bible Study on Tuesdays at 4PM! We will be looking at the Gospel of John! The zoom link is below. Please contact Dylan Mello with any questions at dmello@episcopalct.org.https://episcopalct.zoom.us/j/836528308
NW Region Bible Study Thursday Mornings: St. John’s in Pine Meadow is offering Dwelling in the Word on Thursday mornings at 10:30 AM. They will look at the Gospel for the coming Sunday! Please contact Dylan Mello at dmello@episcopalct.org for log-in information.
NW Region Wednesday Healing Services: 10:00, Rev. Joe Shepley of St. Paul’s in Brookfield will offer a Morning Prayer with a litany of healing with prayer requests. This will be done over Facebook Live. 12:30 p.m., Rev. Tara Shepley of St. George’s in Middlebury will offer noonday prayer with a litany of healing with prayer requests. This service also can be found on Facebook Live,
The Bible App for Kids: It’s available for both Android and iOS, and is a free app that offers illustrated and interactive games for children ages four and older. (We saw this in an article on CNET. Pretty sure it’s non-denominational but you may want to test it out before you let your kids have a look.)
A Special Prayer: Jen Pollock Michael of Christianity Today composed a prayer addressing the concerns of this trying time. You can see that here.
I am writing to tell you that, at the recommendation of our bishops in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are suspending public worship services at St. John’s for at least the next two Sundays.
Bishop Ian and Bishop Laura have been in touch with the clergy in the diocese several times this week concerning the growing crisis. The last communication was a pastoral letter, yesterday afternoon, to everyone in the ECCT. To quote from that letter:
“Our primary advice and counsel are that we should do all in our power to mitigate the speed of COVID-19….Medical and health=professionals, epidemiologists, and government officials all agreethat the best way to [do that] is to reduce human contact and practice “social distancing”. To that end we strongly encourage the clergy and lay leadership of ECCT parishes to decide against holding public worship for at least the next two weeks….”
I firmly agree with this recommendation; and we have to be prepared for the possibility that it’s going to be a good bit more than two weeks. The coronavirus is spreading across the whole country, and though we don’t know how many it will infect (that’s part of the problem), we do know that it can be lethal and that it is ten times as lethal as standard influenza. We need to do everything we can – all of us – to slow its spread. This is truly a matter of loving our neighbor as ourselves.
Churches throughout the ECCT will, electronically, be providing liturgical worship experiences of various kinds during this period. We at St. John’s will begin tomorrow with a video recording of the service of Morning Prayer, which you can access through the church website (stjohnsepiscopal-newmilford.org).
I encourage you to do so, not only for the service itself, but some wonderful excerpts from the Bishops’ pastoral letter which I include. You are also invited to join our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, in celebrating the Eucharist at the National Cathedral (which has suspended worship as well.) Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUGZLwnLhUU
We will get through this. Our neighbors, our community, our country, and our world need us to act in this difficult time as the Body of Christ, witnessing to the power of God’s love. Keep in prayer; and remember that God is always with us, and God will strengthen us. May God bless us all.
