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Sunday, November 3 is All Saints' Sunday.

Service at 10:00 AM, Holy Eucharist

Find this week's readings in the bulletin.

Reminder!!

Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday, November 3

at 2:00 am. Don't forget to set your clocks back an hour!

This photo shows the shrine collaboratively made by members of our parish in honor of Lynn Runnells.

The Feast of All Saints and All Souls Join St. John’s on Sunday, November 3 for this special service that includes the reading of the names of those who have gone before us. We will feature an "Altar of Remembrance." Please bring photos or shrines of loved ones by Saturday morning, November 2, and we will place them on the altars!

Night of Prayer for our Country, Election Night, Nov 5, 2024, 7pm



The election is days away. As we await the counting of ballots and the results of the election, you and those you love and care about may be wondering how to navigate such a weighty time once you have done what you could in the voting booth. Instead of constantly checking the news for election results, we invite you to take a break and focus on what is eternal: God’s love for us. 

We will be holding a compline service (a beautiful night prayer in the Anglican tradition filled with psalms, prayer and an opportunity for contemplation and hope) on Tuesday night. We will come together with the intention of asking for guidance and requesting nourishment as we journey toward morning. We may not know the results of the election right away, yet will have the focus to pray with our commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves as a way to practice love together.

Come share your prayers, release your hopes and anxieties in peace and prayer as we focus on the future of our country together.

Get ready for the Silent Auction Some items from the Silent Auction will be on display at the Coffee Hours in November. Come see some of the wonderful things that have been donated!

Google the Thrift Shop! If you Google “Gloucester Thrift Shop,” St. John’s Thrift Shop comes up in the search results - now we need POSITIVE reviews! If you have a moment, please Google Gloucester Thrift Shop, scroll down (you might need to click “more places” and keep scrolling …) When you see St. John’s, click it and review. Thanks!

The Days are Shorter. Now that November has arrived, the days are shorter and the weather is colder. Food that warms and comforts us back in season. This week, The Open Door would appreciate: soup, pasta, oatmeal, and anything else tat would bring good nutrition and warmth to our Gloucester community. Many thanks.

Music Notes 

This Sunday, for our Offertory Hymn we will be singing “I was there to hear you boring cry,” a hymn for baptisms, confirmation, and memorial services, written by John Ylvisaker (1937-2017).

Instead of the much more common perspective of person/people to God or about God, the text speaks to God’s people from God’s perspective. The transcendent God begins the hymn text and throughout each stanza, most especially at the end, the words also reflect the immanent God, who is there at every phase of our lives.

In an age that appears to present more opportunity for music and text to be directed towards specific times and stages of people’s lives, this hymn transcends any specific generational attachment. Also, in an age that continues the ongoing, often arbitrary categorization of songs into “traditional” or “contemporary” genres, this hymn captures the best of both worlds, just as it captures the transcendent/immanent God.

The text offers something for everyone as it represents God’s unchanging presence, even as our lives never cease to change. It represents each generation and its special season. Stanza 3 proclaims at the beginning that God is there during childhood and then, as suddenly as it seems to happen in life, abruptly shifts to the adolescent and young adult stage. The stanzas continue through the stages of life, making way for relationships while not making the assumption that everyone will do so. In the text, God reveals God’s self to us through our middle age, finally arriving at the winter of our lives. God’s lovingly expressed words to us even as, in old age, we tire and prepare to receive the mystery of what lies ahead in eternity is portrayed as a “surprise.” Rather than a concrete description, the text offers no specifics as to what awaits us as we end this life on earth and -begin our life eternal – just a gentle promise. In this promise of a “surprise” is also an acknowledgment that during our lives there come many surprises, through which God has guided us.

In this hymn, we find peace of mind by the images represented in the text, and hearts are touched by the assurance found in the words, “I was there…”

Looking Ahead!

All Saints Sunday and baptism Sunday, November 3 at 10:00am

The Rev. Ali Lutz Preaches at St. John's Sunday, 11/10 at 10:00am

Generosity Sunday Sunday, November 17 at 10:00am

Village Fair Saturday, November 23

Advent Calming Service Sunday, December 1 at 10:00am

A Service of Lessons and Carols Sunday, December 15 at 10:00am

Christmas Eve Service Tuesday, December 24 at 8:00pm

A Service of Christmas Carols Sunday, December 29 at 10:00am

On Sunday, October 27, choirs from four churches - St. John's Episcopal Church, Annisquam Village Church, First Congregational Church, Rockport, and Trinity Congregational Church - gathered at St. John's for a lovely Evensong service, proceeds to benefit the Cape Ann Arts Alive program for kids. You can see the service here and download the bulletin to follow the service and learn more about Cape Ann Arts Alive.

We are delighted to report that the community raised over $1,100 for CAAA. Thanks to John Churchwell and to everyone who sang in the choir and joined us for this wonderful afternoon of music!

First Friday Coffeehouse Friday, November 1, doors open at 7:00 at the First Universalist Church of Essex. Come hear the Walker Creek Sax Quartet.

For more information and to buy tickets ahead of time, click here.

A Night of Silent Movies: Saturday, November 2 at 7:30pm, the Gloucester Meeting House, at the corner of Church Street and Middle Street in Gloucester, will host a night of Silent Movies. Peter Krasinski, sonic artist and pipe organ maestro, accompanies two silent movie classics: Alice in Wonderland (1915) and Toll of the Sea (1922). For more information, download the flyer.

SIMA SAMAR to read from her book OUTSPOKEN

Thursday, November 21 at 7pm, come to the Gloucester UU Church at 10 Church St. for a reading by Dr. Sima Samar from her book "Outspoken: My Fight for Freedom and Human Rights in Afghanistan." Dr. Samar is a Hazara woman and human rights advocate, activist, and medical doctor. She has spent decades fighting for equality while building schools and clinics for girls and women across her home country, Afghanistan. She works at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and at the Scholars at Risk program at Harvard University. For more information, download the flyer.

The 239th Annual Diocesan Convention: Sat. 11/9 in Quincy

"One Body in Christ, Members One of Another: Reconciliation and Belonging in an Age of Division" The 239th annual Diocesan Convention with our new Bishop, takes place on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, at the Marriott Boston Quincy Hotel in Quincy. Register to attend here. Registration closes at close of business, November 7. Download the Convention Handbook, including the schedule and proposed budget. Information on how to livestream and watch from home is here.

Bishop Whitworth at her Boston consecration with her family around her after the consecrations and with our retiring Bishop Alan Gates to the left. Read more about the consecration events here.

Bishop Whitworth in the moment of consecration

Check out who had a front-row seat! Co-wardens Patricia Anders and Katharine Newhouse, and Priest-in-collaboration Marya DeCarlen.

November 3, 2024

All Saints' Sunday

10:00 AM

Download the bulletin to see who is participating in the liturgy.

SIGN-UP IN THE PARISH HALL! We always need people to contribute funds for the weekly burning of our sanctuary lamp and for altar flowers. Pick a date that has special meaning for you (anniversaries, birthdays, etc.)! We also always need donations of any kind for the Open Door food bank (no expired items or glass containers please). And don't forget about helping provide lunches for the Action Shelter so people can have something to eat on Sundays!

Sign up in the parish hall for future dates for flower and lamp, Action Sandwiches and coffee hour.



CONTACT MARYA (Priest-in-Collaboration) at mdecarlen@comcast.net or 978-590-1642

St. John's Intercession List: Steve Jencks, Ben, Rosie, Reverend Stephen Woods, Abby Baxter, CoCo Baxter, Isaiah Woods, Nancy Neschis, Francisco Lococo, Clayton Dyett, The People of the Middle East, Jim LaBelle, Eric Leibowitz, Ruth and Gabriel Leibowitz, Anna and Isabelle, Ondine, Don Baker, Mandy, Nina Ziv, Marjorie Frontiero, Hope, Brie-Anne Martel, Patty Reed, Marjorie Fergusson, Laurie Menard, Jeremy, Lucy,  Gaëlle K., Sean G., Josh R., Sean, Alexis Morris, Charlie Bishop, Lyn Brakeman, Sarah Clifford, Ace Torrence and Family, Jacoby, Jay Featherstone, Isabelle Higgins, Christopher Antonuk, Miranda Featherstone and Family, Marsha White, Claire Stahler, Carole Secrest, Chris Klosterman, Sereda Feener, Alex Furth, Simeon Teitelbaum, Miriam Teitelbaum,  Len Berry, Ellen, Wayne Martin, Ernie Runnells, Jack Ketchopulos, Michael Rocha, Liana and Joe Webb, Anne Sullivan, Linda, Malcolm Henderson, Emelia Currier, Danny, John Fleming.

Contact prayer list manager: Joan Gorga 978-283-5926 or jmgorga@yahoo.com

Please notify Joan Gorga if there is any change with the people on this list. Thank you.

Join us for Zoom Coffee Hour, aka Reliable Joy! 

Reliable Joy meets Sundays at 12:30. 

Use this Zoom link to join in. Meeting ID: 873 3272 1412

Passcode: 01930 Dial by location: 1 646 558 8656

WEEKLY CALENDAR

Sundays               

• 9:00-9:30 am Choir rehearsal (Sept. through June)
• 10:00 am Sung Eucharist

Mondays             

• 9-noon Church open for prayer and meditation
• 9-noon Ms. Fixits Women gathering to tend to the fabric of the church

Tuesdays

• 9-noon Church open for prayer and meditation
• 4:30 pm Women's Cursillo Reunion Group (1st and 3rd Tuesdays)

Wednesdays

• 7 am Men's Bible Reflection, (Bible study) 
• 9-noon Church open for prayer and meditation
• 10 am to 2 pm Thrift Shop and Regal Rummage Open
• 7 pm Fish City AA

Thursdays    

• 9-noon Church open for prayer and meditation
• 7 - 8:30 pm Parish Choir rehearsal (Sept. through June)
• 7:00 pm AA

Fridays

• 10 am to 2 pm Thrift Shop and Regal Rummage Open

Saturdays             

• Action Shelter Lunch-Making, Carolyn Stewart
• 10 am to 2 pm Thrift Shop and Regal Rummage Open
• 7 pm Big Book AA