A Reflection from the Director of Youth and Video Ministries |
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Introducing Sarah Floyd
Director of Youth and Video Ministries
I am thrilled to be the new Youth Director here at St. John’s as my heart belongs to the Lord who instilled a desire in me to help young people grow and find their identity in Christ. It will be my great pleasure to spend ample time with our youth so that I can really know them deeply and they can grow to know me deeply as well. In life, and in ministry, most people just want to know others well and be known well by others. The greatest joy I have is using my call to ministry to help others apply the concept of being known and knowing to their own relationships with the Lord. God loves us deeply. God wants us to move beyond the acquaintance level and become deeply connected to Christ and to each other.
I am also the new Director of Video Ministries. These two vocations work well together. Many of the youth have accepted my challenge to run cameras and other equipment so we can have help broadcasting our worship services. Youth need to be around other adults to build relationships with other members of the body of Christ here at St. John’s. It is also important to value our established technology volunteers by lightening their burden and obligation. Mixing these groups together allows our older members to mentor the younger ones. It also gives our youth an invitation to help us innovate. Once teenagers joined our crew it was no time until we upgraded to YouTube LIVE and closed captioning. Right away we saw the results when a woman wrote a letter to our church thanking us for being the first church service in our area to provide subtitles. As a deaf person she could finally participate fully in our service! Youth dare to dream big and embrace change. My calling is to give them a voice and a platform to be fully integrated into the life of our church.
My calling to serve Christ and the church started when I was a child. I experienced firsthand what it meant to be fully known by God and fully known by my church family when members of my congregation took me by the hand and walked along side me. They partnered with me in life and in ministry. I learned to be a part of a community of believers. There is safety in numbers which is why Jesus created us to be in fellowship with one another. When we spend time together in work, worship, and activities, we build a relationship network that can help us thrive even in the everyday struggle. When we pray to invite the Holy Spirit into our ministries, everything we do becomes easier, more meaningful, and more fun.
During college I trained to combine my love of television production with my love for church ministry. Over the years I have worked in both fields, often combining them together. My call to marriage and motherhood created a season where I worked in social work for many years. Now that my husband’s career is established, my daughter is in college, and my 16-year-old son is thriving (and driving around Bucks County on his own), God reminded me that my ministry call is not yet over. Now more than ever, the church needs workers to step fully into their callings. The potential for outstanding ministry is so great that it gave me the courage to resign from my comfortable social work job and jump into ministry. I knew this day was coming because over the past few years I have been growing and hearing God’s voice stronger than ever. The call was so strong that I just completed my first year at Palmer Seminary and am on the track to becoming an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, God willing.
God’s timing is perfect. God gave me the desire for a non-traditional ministry path that is intersecting perfectly with this non-traditional time in which we find ourselves living. Overnight, every church in our nation turned into a television studio and suddenly my years in media, youth, and social worker all made sense. Even my son being the right age for youth group and having a shared interest in Video Ministries is a gift of God’s timing. God has given each one of us our own unique calling and talents. It is amazing how God brings together just the right mix in ministry. Where one person is weak, the other is strong. On our current Video Ministries team, we have engineers who can build anything, producers who understand how and why we create content, and young people who can stream, snap chat, insta, or post.
As the Director of Youth and Video Ministries, it is my privilege to create a culture where everyone is valued and given the opportunity to fully know each other and to fully know our Savior. Join us as we begin to plan potential youth events and ministry opportunities. We need Video Ministry volunteers as well as youth chaperones as we plan things like rafting down the Delaware River, local hiking adventures, organizing the youth lounge, producing church videos, running audio in the contemporary service, and working with members of all ages to get St. John UMC ready for a post-pandemic reboot.
God is at work as we all come out of isolation. This is going to be an exciting year! Come join me. Volunteer by signing up on our website or volunteer to just be fully present in the life of the church. We need each other and we need St. John’s Church. Our community needs us too.
Sarah Floyd
Director of Youth and Video Ministries
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WORSHIP - SAFETY PRECAUTIONS |
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Please click below to read the latest Congregational Update regarding COVID-19 measures: |
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Worship this Sunday, July 04, 2021
2 in-person services offered:
One at 9 AM in the Sanctuary and one at 10:30 AM in Fellowship Hall
The 9 AM service can be viewed LIVE through
St. John's Youtube Channel
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or on our homepage:
www.stjohnsivyland.com
Past worship service videos can also be found:
Auto-generated closed captions are usually provided by YouTube about a week after the service has posted for the hearing impaired.
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Pastor Brad will be taking vacation from June 20 to July 3.
If pastoral support is needed during office hours, please contact the St. John’s Office at 215-357-6998. In the event of an after-hours emergency, contact Pastor Ruth at 215-343-4749.
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Don't forget to extend your thanks and appreciation to the Leight Family
It's been exactly one year since Pastor Brad, Jennifer, Gavin and Darcy joined our St. John's family. And what a year they have had! They had a new church, a new home, a new community, a new school - and all while wearing face masks and staying "socially distanced" during a global pandemic! Thanks be to God for showering them with his grace and mercy in guiding them through this very trying first year.
We are so grateful and blessed that God sent you all to us!
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The Church office will be closed on
Monday, July 5th in observance of
the Independence Day Holiday.
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NEW MEMBER SUNDAY
New Member Sunday is being planned for later in the summer.
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READ TO FEED®
A Heifer International Program
ENROLL NOW!
“Seize the day and join other children
who are changing the world.”
Please check our website for more information!
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July 2nd, 7 PM
Youth Only Campfire and Sparklers!
Bring a lawn chair and bring a friend!
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ALL AGES
COMMUNITY CAMPFIRE
Bring outdoor chair.
Hot dogs and marshmallows provided.
Every Wednesday, 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM
June 23 to August 25, weather permitting
Questions? Contact: Sarah.sjumc@gmail.com
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DONATIONS NEEDED
Donations of non-perishable food for the Eastwick Food Pantry are needed throughout the year. Please place contributions in the shopping carts located in the narthex and fellowship hall lobby.
Volunteers are also needed to deliver food and clothing to the Eastwick Food Bank. Please contact Lou Lescas, stjohns820@gmail.com if you are available to help.
Thank you for your support.
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St. John’s Drive-thru Prayer Ministry is back! We will be offering prayer on the 3rd Wednesday of each month starting July 21st from 4:30-6 pm. Our prayer team is looking forward to praying with all who for various reasons don’t feel that they can come to church but do realize their need for prayer.
If you would like to join us and be a part of this ministry of St. John’s, please contact Pastor Ruth: 215-357-6998 ext. 306 or outreachstjohns@yahoo.com.
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ST. JOHN'S BOOK CLUB
Tuesday, July 13
10:00 AM in Grace Cafe' and 7 PM in Parlor.
Leaders: Barbara Schneider and Carol Campbell
The Day the World Came to Town by Jim Defede
When 38 jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land at Gander International Airport in Canada by the closing of U.S. airspace on September 11, the population of this small town on Newfoundland Island swelled from 10,300 to nearly 17,000. The citizens of Gander met the stranded passengers with an overwhelming display of friendship and goodwill.
We will follow St. John's guidelines regarding masks and social distancing. Please join us!
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The Upper Room Devotionals
for
July/August
Will be available in the Narthex, outside of Fellowship Hall, and in a container on the front porch of the church beginning Sunday, June 27.
Be sure to pick up one for yourself and one for a friend.
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TOWELS FOR RED BIRD
Thanks to your generosity, many families served by Red Bird Mission will have an added blessing this Christmas. The collection of towels for Red Bird was a huge success. The 200 bath towels, 154 hand towels and 192 wash cloths will be distributed in Christmas gift boxes to families and individuals in need. Your response has been overwhelming.
Thank you! Naomi Circle, St. John’s UMW.
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UNITED METHODIST MEN'S BREAKFAST
Saturday, August 21, 2021
8:00 AM
St John’s Fellowship Hall
(pending approval by Leadership Board)
Final Planning Meeting for the September 18th Chicken BBQ
All Men Welcome!
The following items were discussed at the June meeting: Sign-up sheets for Chicken BBQ will be posted outside Grace Café; Letters will go out to church organizations re extra activities during the BBQ (car wash, bake sales, etc); a decision on the proposed $2200 Red Bird Mission donation was tabled until after the September BBQ.
Calling all Golfers! Any men who are interested in a UMM Golf Outing, please contact Jack Donovan at Jdonovanco@comcast.net
Contact Jack Donovan or Paul Henry for additional information on UMM activities
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Prayer requests can be submitted
Prayer requests are reviewed
Monday-Friday AM.
All "Ongoing Prayer Concerns"
will be listed for two weeks.
Please submit a new prayer request,
if you desire to renew the listing for 2 additional weeks.
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PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY
It has been a busy spring for the prayer shawl ministry team. A thank you letter was received on May 5 from The Baby Bureau of Warminster for a donation of baby hats and blankets. The Baby Bureau provides clothing bundles to local families in need. A dozen hats for older children were sent to Knit for Kids/World Vision in Sewickley, PA. Prayer shawls and lap robes, in excess of our congregation’s needs, were sent to Wesley Enhanced Living in Hatboro and the Eastwick United Methodist Church in Philadelphia. Two baby shawls were presented at the April 25 and May 16 baptisms. At present, a total of 417 shawls and lap robes have been given out by the St. John’s knitting and crocheting cadre.
Requests for prayer shawls or lap robes - to comfort those experiencing serious illness, bereavement, or other major life issues - may be made through the prayer request form on the church website, or by calling or emailing the church office.
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MOBILE GIVING
- Just go to our website stjohnsivyland.com
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Click on the 'Give' button in red, Donate Any Amount and register.
Once you've registered, you can either make donations by debit or credit. Lenten Offerings may also be received through our website.
OR try TEXT GIVING
All you have to do is text the amount you wish to give to 877-960-2396.
You will immediately receive a one-time registration link, then just follow the prompts to complete your donation!
It's quick and secure.
The same vendor that handles electronic giving for us, Vanco Services, has state of the art encryption, so you can rest easy that your transaction is 100% safe and confidential.
You may also send your tithes and offerings to the church office:
820 Almshouse Road, Ivyland, PA 18974
If you have any questions about mobile or text giving,
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When your flowers are in full bloom, take a picture and share it with us!
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If your contact information changes:
address, phone, email, etc.
please notify the church office at 215-357-6998 or stjumc@aol.com and we'll be sure to update your information in our files.
Thank you!
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WHAT'S HAPPENING!
The latest Devotionals, News and Worship Videos can be be accessed below, as well as, under the
"What's Happening"tab on our website.
www.stjohnsivyland.com
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HELP NEEDED
Two significant needs and great opportunities to serve at St. John's!
A small team of dedicated audio-visual ministry volunteers enable us to offer meaningful online worship each week. We're in need of additional help, as there's very little flexibility within the team in the event someone needs to be away. While some aspects of this ministry requires technical expertise, other aspects are very straight-forward. If you have the ability to advance PowerPoint slides, you can help us offer online worship!
Please contact Sarah Floyd, Director of Video Ministries at
or sign up here!
Similarly, ushers are needed for in-person worship to greet worshippers, direct them to their seats, and assist with questions. This is a simple yet meaningful opportunity to serve God by serving our
St. John's family.
Please contact the church office if you are interested in serving as an usher.
(215) 357-6998.
Thank you for your faithful support of all we do in service to Christ at St. John's!
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CCLI Streaming License #CSPL049266 |
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St. John's Ivyland
820 Almshouse Road
Ivyland, PA 18974
stjohnsivyland.com
Rev. Brad Leight, Sr. Pastor
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