Greetings!
PARISH NEWS for Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Update on our 2020 Pledge campaign
As of today, we have received 33 pledges totaling $174,700. Last year, we had 46 pledges totaling $198,326, but we are still waiting to hear from many of last year's pledgers. If you have not yet returned your pledge card for 2020, please do so as soon as possible. It is important for us to know our income so we can plan our expenses for next year. Extra pledge cards are on the back table.
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THE CHURCH OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11 IN OBSERVANCE OF VETERAN'S DAY.
St. John’s Men’s Fellowship Breakfast and Sign Install/Fall Clean Up:
Saturday, November 16th, starting @ 8:00 a.m. until 10/11:00 a.m.
Round 2: A few years ago we installed the St. John’s sign at the corner of Route 29 and Braddock Road. That sign was cut down and now we have a replacement sign to put up. If it is anything like last time; there may be one or two workers for the half dozen consultants hovering nearby to make sure the installation gets done correctly 😊
The Plan: Fellowship Breakfast at IHOP at 8:00 a.m. (across the street) from where we will be working followed by the sign installation about 9:00 a.m. Depending on our numbers, we may break into two groups; one group will be the ‘Sign Crew’ and the second crew will be for ‘Fall Clean Up crew’ as we have a ton of leaves around our campus. The division will be based on your perceived skill set. 
If you cannot stay for the morning chores, please join us for breakfast, the more the merrier!
Any questions, please call me @ 703-477-8980 or andrewdwade@gmail.com .
Sincerely, Andrew Wade
Bonnie is gone and Raphael is installed!
The air conditioning and heating unit that provides heat and air to the office area, otherwise known as "Bonnie", laid down and died several weeks ago after well over 20 years of service. A new air conditioner and heater, named Raphael (after one of the archangels) was installed this week. Tom McDermott provided these wonderful pictures of Bonnie being taken off the roof and Raphael being installed. Many thanks to Tom for overseeing this project and to Dick Griffith for background research and the offering the names of the archangels that were selected for the new air conditioners and heaters.
Not the usual view!
Bye, bye Bonnie!
Raphael is here!
Thanksgiving Altar Harvest Ingathering
On Sunday, November 17, if you would like to contribute to the Thanksgiving altar arrangement, please bring one non-perishable fruit or winter vegetable to be arranged on the 11/24 Altar. Some suggestions are:
Fresh Fruit: Apple, Pear, Orange, Lemon, Lime, Pomegranate, Pineapple
Fresh Vegetable: Potato: Russet, sweet potato, yam, Onion: Red, White, Cooking yellow, Squash: Acorn, Butternut, Spaghetti.
Place it in the basket by the back table 11/17. After the Thanksgiving servic e, the donation items will be taken to WFCM pantry. Photo below from 2015.
Thanksgiving Eve service - We will have a joint Thanksgiving Service with some of our Ministry Partners on Wednesday, November 27 at 7:30 PM in the church. Please invite friends and neighbors to join us in giving thanks to God for all that God has given to us.

Coffee Hour - As this Sunday is the second Sunday of the month, the choir will provide the Coffee Hour snacks.

Thanksgiving donations - Again this year, we will be providing food for 12 families in need for Thanksgiving. The names have been given to us by Western Fairfax Christian Ministries. This year, we will be providing gift cards so families can select what food they would like. Many other churches are doing gift cards rather than food baskets. Envelopes are on the back table for your donations.

Last Sunday , we said "goodbye" to Robyn Ramsey until April, when she will return. Robyn spends the winter in Park City, Utah, where she offers help and hospitality to the skiers on the mountain. We will miss you, Robyn, but look forward to your return in the spring! Happy skiing!

Interested in becoming a Lay Eucharistic Minister? We are in need of several more LEM's to serve at the altar on Sunday mornings. LEM's lead the psalm and the Prayers of the People, help prepare the altar for communion, and administer the chalice. Training will be provided. Please contact Walt Cooner or Carol Hancock if you are interested. We need your help!

Did you know??? Did you know that the Diocese of Virginia puts out a quarterly magazine called "The Virginia Episcopalian"? The most recent issue just came out. If you do not receive this magazine, with stories and information about things that are going on in the diocese, and you would like to, please contact Catherine Packard in the church office. The yearly cost is $5.

Altar Flowers - When you sign up online (by clicking on "Altar Flowers" below) please include your intention for the flowers. Are you giving them in memory of someone, or in thanksgiving, or in honor of someone? Please include that information when you sign up to give flowers. (Please know that we have greens only on the altar in Advent and Lent, so we will not be using flowers.)
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Blood donation opportunity on November 23 - According to the LifeServe Blood Center, an average of 90 percent of people who live to the age of 72 will need at least one whole blood or other blood product transfusion in their lifetime. I know that you understand how important it is. I hope you will consider making an appointment to donate blood on Saturday, November 23rd at Rec Center 2 in Little Rocky Run (6201 Sandstone Drive, Clifton).

Appointments are available every 15 minutes from 7:45 AM to 11:45 AM and can be made here: Make an Appointment or you can email me ( pantherpints@gmail.com ) with your preferred time and I can make an appointment for you. Drop-ins may be permitted, but you may have to wait for an opening so that we can honor the time commitments for people who make appointments.

Thanks, as always, for supporting PantherPints and Inova. Hope to see you on November 23rd.

Brent Kiefer (Brent is a high school student whose older brother has needed blood transfusions in the past for a medical condition. He and his family are known to many in the congregation.)
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Scouting for Food – Boy Scout Food Drive - Volunteers needed

November 9, 2019 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Boy Scout Sorting Site
14280 Park Meadow Drive
Chantilly VA 20151

Volunteers are needed at the sorting site to sort the food into crates as it is brought in by the Boy Scouts Help is then needed to load the crates onto the trucks and unload the crates into the WFCM building. Strong arms and backs are needed to lift the food crates.

Largest community-wide food drive for WFCM’s Food Pantry
Volunteers needed: Students, Families, Groups etc…
Shifts Available: 10am-1pm, 11am-2pm, 12pm-3pm, 1pm-4pm
Truck Driver Helper: 11:30pm-2:30pm, 2pm – 5:30pm
Strong arms/backs needed to lift crates of food.

Make an Online Pledge Offering!
The new way to send your pledge offering! You can download the app to your phone, or you can click the link below, and use your credit card!
SUNDAY SERVICE
We can prepare our hearts & minds by reading ahead
for the Sunday Service lesson


The Twenty-Second Sunday After Pentecost


November 10, 2019

9:30 AM

 The First Reading: Job 19:23-27a
Whatever the circumstances, and Job has surely suffered deep distress, may we, too, trust in the Lord, knowing that it is God who is the author of salvation, even of our salvation.

The Psalm: 17:1-9, page 600, BCP

The Second Lesson: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17
There are so many excuses for becoming anxious and complicating the simple work of following Jesus. May we continue to keep our eyes and hearts focused on the truth of God rather than the distractions of the evil one.

The Gospel: Luke 20:27-38
Marriage is given to humanity to make us holy, to be a school for sinners and a training ground for righteousness. In our resurrected and perfect selves, there will be no need for this arduous work. Our unity with God will be complete.
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CHILD CARE IS PROVIDED IN THE NURSERY  
(Rm. 205) 
During the Service
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JOINT SUNDAY SCHOOL: 10:30 - 11:30 AM
 Each week, St. John's children join with our Ministry Partners: 
Wellspring UCC & Grace Baptist Church
Room 207/208
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St. John's Sunday School class for ages 2-4, Room 215
Meets the first Sunday of each month from 9:50 - 10:40 AM 

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THE ADULT LECTIONARY FORUM

MEETS EACH SUNDAY IN THE LIBRARY, FOLLOWING THE SERVICE 
  FROM 10:50 - 11:50 AM

The Saint of the Week for Forum Discussion:

MARTIN OF TOURS, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (11 NOV 397 AD)
Martin was born around 330 AD of pagan parents. His father was a soldier, who enlisted Martin in the army at age 15. One winter day he saw an ill-clad beggar at the gate of the city of Amiens. Martin had no money to give, but he cut his cloak in half and gave half to the beggar, a scene that is sensationalized in a famous El Greco painting. In a dream that night, Martin saw Christ wearing the half-cloak. He had for some time considered becoming a Christian, and this ended his wavering. He was promptly baptized. At the end of his next military campaign, he asked to be released from the army, saying, "Hitherto I have faithfully served Caesar. Let me now serve Christ." He was accused of cowardice, and offered to stand unarmed between the contending armies. He was imprisoned, but released when peace was signed. 
He became a disciple of Hilary of Poitiers, a chief opponent in the West of the Arians (who denied the Christ’s full deity of Christ), and who had the favor of Emperor Constantius. Returning to his parents' home in Illyricum (Dalmatia today), he opposed the Arians with such effectiveness that he was publicly scourged, was driven from Milan, and eventually returned to Gaul where he founded its first monastary; it existed until the French Revolution.
In 371 AD, he was elected bishop of Tours, a heavily pagan diocese, but his instruction and personal manner of life prevailed. In one instance, the pagan priests agreed to fell their idol, a large fir tree, if Martin would stand directly in the path of its fall. He did so, and it missed him very narrowly. When an officer of the Imperial Guard arrived with a batch of prisoners who were to be tortured and executed the next day, Martin intervened and secured their release.
In the 384 AD, Roman Emperor Maximus condemned to death the Gnostic heretic Priscillian and six companions. The bishops who had found them guilty in the ecclesiastical court pressed for their execution. Martin contended that the secular power had no authority to punish heresy, and that excommunication by the bishops was a more than just sentence. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, supported Martin, refusing to leave Treves until the emperor promised to reprieve them. He did just that. No sooner was his back turned than the bishops persuaded the emperor to break his promise; Priscillian and his followers were executed, the first time in Church history that heresy was punished by death.
Martin was furious, and excommunicated the bishops responsible. He later took them back into communion in exchange for Maximus’ pardon for certain men condemned to death, and for the emperor's promise to end the persecution of the remaining Priscillianists . He never felt easy in his mind about this concession, and thereafter avoided assemblies of bishops where he might encounter some of those concerned in this affair. Following his death circa 11 November 397 AD, his shrine at Tours became a sanctuary for those seeking justice.
The Feast of Martin, a soldier who fought bravely and faithfully in the service of an earthly sovereign, and then enlisted in the service of Christ, is also Armistice Day (Veteran’s Day in the United States) commemorating the end of the First World War. On this day we remember not only those who risked or lost their lives in the Great War, but also did so in service to causes they believed were in pursuit of justice and peace. 
THE DIOCESE OF VIRGINIA
Assistant Bishop Jennifer Brooke-Davidson will begin her ministry in the Diocese of Virginia on Monday, November 4. She comes to us from the Diocese of West Texas where she served as Bishop Suffragan. Her office will be at Mayo House in Richmond.
VOLUNTEERING AT ST. JOHN'S
Sign Up Here to be an altar server *, or to donate flowers for a Sunday service, or to bring refreshments for Coffee Hour after the service. * (if you're not an altar server, and would like to be a Lay Eucharistic Minister (LEM), a Lector, or a Crucifer, please see Carol).
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COMMUNITY
WESTERN FAIRFAX
CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES

"We know that food can be one of the most expensive items on a household budget list. Our hope is that in allowing our clients to visit once per month they will save enough money to pay for other expenses such as rent or utility bills."
I tems are collected weekly in the baskets at the front door of St. John's Church. For food list:
OPPORTUNITIES
Reminder
Every Wednesday evening, we have a service of Holy Eucharist and healing at 6:00 PM. The service is about 30 minutes. It is a perfect alternative for those who cannot come to church on Sunday mornings, as well as a good spiritual boost in the middle of the week. Come join us!

Wedding
The wedding invitations have been sent. One appeared in your mail box just the other day. Like most people these days, I am sure you are busy. But will you come? Will you come to this wedding that is the kingdom of heaven? If you do come, will you be wearing what you are expected to wear? Along with your dress or your suit, you will need to wear a wedding robe of gentleness, prayer, thanksgiving, truth, honour, justice, and purity. That’s what the king will expect you to wear when you show up at the wedding banquet of his son.
-Br. James Koester


My email address is stjohnscvpriest@gmail.com,
and the office number is 703-803-7500. 

May our ministry together spread God's love to all whom we encounter.
      - Carol

        The Rev. Carol Hancock, Rector
ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH | 5649 MT. GILEAD RD. , CENTREVILLE, VA | 703-803-7500
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