St. John's Family News

Week of April 7-13, 2025 | Vol. 84, Issue 15

www.stjohnsbaptistchurch.org | @sjbccharlotte

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In this week's Family News (Scroll to Learn More):

1. Improvising with God's Grace
2. Introducing J. Noel Lance as Interim Minister for Worship & Music
3. Holy Week with St. John's
4. Community and State Mission Offering 2025
5. Elizabeth Communities of Faith Lenten Worship
6. Maundy Thursday Worship on April 17
7. Elizabeth 8K Road Race Coming Up!
8. Easter Morning Celebration
9. Visit the Easter Tree During Holy Week
10. Meet and Mingle on April 27
11. Thursdays on the Town at Copper: Register Now
12. TreeFest for Young Adults
13. Grand Slam Picnic: Register Now
14. On the Way on April 30
15. Men's Shelter Service this Month: Sign Up to Serve!
16. Brotherhood of the Biscuit Workday
17. Youth and Adult Mission Trip to Western North Carolina this Summer
18. Senior Adult Picnic Soon!
19. Prayer List, Sympathy, Thanks, and Celebrations
20. Minister On Call Schedule
21. Staff Contact Info

IMPROVISING WITH GOD’S GRACE

by Dennis W. Foust, Senior Minister

Ken Medema is one of my favorite human beings. His official bio states, “Though blind from birth, Ken sees and hears with heart and mind. His ability to capture spirit in word and in song is unparalleled.” For decades, he has inspired people through storytelling and music.

One of Ken’s unparalleled gifts is his ability to improvise in the moment. He takes a passage of Scripture or a sentence from a sermon or a reflection as he experiences a meaningful encounter and creates an entire piece of music that is both theologically sound and heartwarming. It’s inspiring to witness someone improvise with God’s grace.

One of my favorite compositions by Ken is a hymn entitled, ‘Let Truth and Mercy Find Here.’ The lyrics are printed here. If you want to sing the tune, ‘Aurelia,’ it is also the tune for ‘The Church’s One Foundation.’

Let truth and mercy find here a joyful meeting place.

And here let peace and justice be joined in warm embrace.

And in this congregation let strangers now be friends,

to do the gospel's bidding till wars on earth shall end.

Let truths bright flame be blazing in all the darkest hours,

confronting schemes of darkness, exposing evil powers.

Let mercy’s gentle manner so willing to forgive,

Fill warring hearts with longing ‘til in truth’s light we live.

So now let peace and justice be never far apart,

but flowing like a river for every thirsty heart.

These two shall be united, a mighty moving stream,

upon whose banks we gather to work and pray and dream.

My prayer for you, St. John’s, is that you continue to improvise with God’s grace. When you pursue this challenge, you find truth and mercy meeting with joy. When you improvise with God’s grace, you confront schemes of darkness and expose evil powers. When you improvise with God’s grace, you allow God’s peace and justice to flow like a river for every thirsty heart. In this mission of improvising with God’s grace, you redeem and reconcile as God’s people in this world of brokenness and estrangement. Keep on keeping on! Shalom!

Introducing J. Noel Lance as Our Interim Minister for Worship & Music

Personnel Resource Team is pleased to announce that Noel Lance has accepted our invitation to serve as our Interim Minister for Worship and Music. We have been blessed by Noel’s musical gifts and talents since 2015 when he became our Organist/Music Associate.

HOLY WEEK WITH ST. JOHN’S

Palms, Communion, Candles, Flowers, and Bells

This Sunday is Palm Sunday. We will enter worship through a procession of palms as our children and chancel choir lead us. We will remember Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem and prepare ourselves for the unfolding story of next week. This will also be Noel Lance’s first Sunday as our Minister for Worship and Music.

Next Thursday is Maundy Thursday. The word, ‘Maundy’ is for ‘mandate’ focusing on the one mandate or commandment of Jesus: “Love one another as I have loved you.” On Maundy Thursday evening, we will gather in the sanctuary at 7:00PM for one of the most meaningful services of the year. We will commune in The Lord’s Supper and express our worship by retelling the story through Tenebrae, extinguishing candles as each word is read as was spoken at Jesus’ cross and by Jesus from his cross. Our worship will conclude with a solo voice as the Christ candle departs the sanctuary.

Our Holy Week observance will conclude with Easter’s celebration. Please remember to bring flowers to place in the wire on the sanctuary cross. Also, bring bells to ring on Easter each time we say or sing, ‘Alleluia.’

Then, on April 27, Bright Sunday, we will wear our bright colors and celebrate the joy of living in the light of God’s resurrection of Jesus. Following worship, we will enjoy another Meet & Greet in the Library Commons.

Invite your friends, co-workers, and neighbors to sit with you for any or all of these four services. Their spirits will be fed and uplifted.

Our 2025 Community & State Mission Offering

Could you help us reach our $7,000 goal?

This year’s Community & State Mission Offering will follow a “Loving Our Neighbors” focus and the goal is to raise $7,000.

The offering will be split between our ministry partners: Mars Hill Baptist Church; OurBridge for Kids; Refugee Support Services; Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency; and our local Immigrant Solidarity Fund. 

Click the button below to contribute to this offering. Choose "Community and State" in the drop down menu.

Elizabeth Communities of Faith Lenten Worship

Don't forget to worship with the churches of the Elizabeth community at noon one more Wednesday in Lent. We gather in the sanctuary of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church each week. Lunch is served following worship.

Maundy Thursday Worship

We will gather for Maundy Thursday worship on Thursday, April 17 at 7:00 pm in the Sanctuary. Please plan to join us.

Come out and run the Elizabeth 8K Road Race or volunteer to help on April 26!

We are proud sponsors of the Elizabeth 8K Road Race again this year and hope you will come out to run or volunteer and greet runners as they finish.

If you want to volunteer, please sign up here.

Register to run below.

Easter Morning Celebration at St. John's

We are excited to share two fantastic opportunities to elevate our worship experience on Easter Sunday, April 20. We need you to bring fresh cut flowers and a bell to worship!

1. Flowering the Cross: All are invited to bring fresh cut flowers to adorn our cross in the Sanctuary. This annual tradition is both a meaningful and symbolic celebration of resurrection life. Please bring your floral contributions to the Sanctuary starting at 9:30am. Assistance will be available as needed.
2. Alleluia Bells: This year, we introduce a new Easter tradition! All are invited to bring a bell to worship. Every time the word, "Alleluia," is spoken or sung during the service, we will ring our bells together in joyful proclamation This promises to be a thrilling way to express our excitement to the risen Lord.

Visit the Easter Tree during Holy Week

During Lent, our elementary Sunday school class has been expressing their preparation for Holy Week and Easter through art.

During Holy Week, you are invited to visit their Easter Tree, which is the hallway outside Amanda Morrison’s office. Children painted each egg and adorned each egg with a symbol representing Holy Week. A symbol guide is provided to assist you as you visit the Easter tree and ponder the holiest week of the year.

Save the Date for April 27!

Our next Meet & Mingle will take place on April 27 after worship in the Library Commons area. All guests are invited to join us! Children are welcome.

Thursdays on the Town at Copper

Outing for Parents of Children

Our next Thursdays on the Town will be May 15 at 6:00 pm at Copper Modern Indian Cuisine. Registration has opened. 

Please sign up by May 11 to mark your naan safe from consumption by Kheresa and to reserve childcare.

TreeFest Hang Out for Young Adults

April 26 at 3pm

Join our Young Adult Resources Team (YART) at this year’s TreeFest, which is on Saturday, April 26 at NoDa Brewing. It is a family-friendly event to celebrate trees, sustainability, and community.

YART is getting together to hang out and chill out at this event - meet us around 3pm! Questions? Reach out to Kheresa Harmon and/or Molly Belong.

Grand Slam Picnic

Register now!

Children and families, let’s batter up for a Grand Slam Picnic honoring one great catch, our pastor, Dr. Dennis Foust! Meet us at the Broach Hall Ballpark immediately following worship on Sunday, May 18. Register by May 11. 

You may sign up on Realm or contact Kheresa.

On the Way: St. John's Retired Adults and Friends

Old Salem on April 30

We will go to Old Salem on April 30. We will meet at the church at 9am that day and return around 5:30pm. The cost is $65 due to the church for bus rental and museum entry. You will need to pay for your lunch at the museum cafe. Please make your reservation by emailing Lee Gray at lgray@sjcharlotte.org today!

Men's Shelter Banana Puddings and Servers Needed for April 18!

We serve dinner at the Uptown Men's Shelter on the third Friday of each month. We still need 4 servers and 6 banana puddings for this month's date, April 18. Please consider helping with this ministry. The folks at the shelter surely appreciate it!

Brotherhood of the Biscuit Workday

The Brotherhood of the Biscuit will have its annual spring workday on Saturday, April 19. We will meet in the church lounge at 8:30 am for biscuits and then work on several projects around the church from 9:00 am until 11:30/12:00. These projects will include cleanup in the courtyard, pressure washing the outside doors and windows of the church, and moving our medical supplies into a new room. 

Please let Jeff LeVie jtlevie@gmail.com know if you help so that he can get an appropriate number of biscuits.

YOUTH AND ADULT MISSION TRIP TO WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

We continue to express our compassionate commitments to the people of western North Carolina who were impacted by Hurricane Helene. We have sent clothes, goods, coats, food, and finances over the past several months. Now, we want to send some volunteers.

If you would like to be part of our Youth and Adult Mission Trip the week of June 15-20, please volunteer by calling the church office and asking Amanda to place you on the list. You do not need to stay all week. If your schedule only allows you to be with the group a day or two, your help will be appreciated. The needs literally change every week. We will be in touch with potential efforts during May so as to have all our ducks in a row by June 1. We will be staying with Mars Hill Baptist Church and working at various sites in the area.

Calling All Senior Adults (ages 75+)!

Senior Adult Picnic June 29

Save the date of Sunday, June 29 for the annual Senior Adult Picnic held in Broach Hall immediately following the worship service. Details coming soon! Sponsored by Women of the Church.

Prayers, Thanks, and Celebrations 

Current Prayer Concerns: Joseph Freeman, Anne Sutton, Warren Lineberger

Continuing Prayer: Mary Rickenbaker, Jeck Warren

Financial Update 

2025 Full Year Budget: $1,241,000

Income received through March: $274,958 (22%)

March financials to be shared later in April

Staff On-Call Rotation



• Apr. 7-13: Lee 
• Apr. 14-20: Kheresa

Staff Contact Information

• Rev. Dennis Foust, PhD, Senior Minister - 704-359-7234 (cell); 704-333-5428, ext. 2012
• Rev. Lee Gray, Minister for Congregational Care - 704-333-5428, ext. 2015; 704-451-1309 (cell)
• Rev. Kheresa Harmon, Minister for Children & their Families - 704-333-5428, ext. 2018; 910-890-3392 (cell)
• Mallory Brown, Media Coordinator - 704-477-3349 (cell)
• Chloe Hall, Children's Choir Director
• Noel Lance, Organist
• Amanda Morrison, Church Administrator - 704-333-5428, ext. 0
• Lydia Olmsted, Weekday School Director - 704-333-5428, ext. 2039

St. John's Baptist Church | 704-333-5428 | 300 Hawthorne Lane, Charlotte, NC 28204 | stjohnsbaptistchurch.org