Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the Gospel lesson for this past Sunday (John 1:29-42a ESV), John the Baptist said of Jesus: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” And this is who Jesus is. He came to be that once-for-all sacrificial offering for our sin on the altar of the cross, as the sermon pointed out.

This same Jesus comes to us today in his life-giving Word and Sacraments, assuring us that his precious blood does indeed cover all our sins. Whenever we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we sing of Jesus as we prepare to receive Him who gives us his very Body and Blood in his holy Supper: “Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.” And because Jesus does this, we receive his blessed peace – peace which the world cannot give; peace which passes all understanding.

From the Pastor's Desk - January 2023

Pastor Meehan Will Be Away Next Week

Pastor Meehan will be away from church following the worship service on Sunday, January 22 through Sunday, January 29, taking some vacation time before the Lenten season begins. Pastor Gary Rueter will be preaching and leading worship on Sunday, January 29.

Pastor Andy Jagow from Bethany Lutheran Church in Alexandria has agreed to provide emergency pastoral care during that time, if needed by anyone from St. John's.

The best email for Pastor Jagow is [email protected] and the best phone number is 516-782-5519 (his cell). The daytime phone number for Bethany’s church office is 703-765-8255. Pastor Jagow will let his secretary know that he will be on call for St. John’s during that week.

Year-End Giving Statement

It’s that time of year again…TAXES! All of the 2022 offerings have been entered into our Church Community Builder (CCB) database and are ready to be printed in order to report your generous contributions on your 2022 tax return.

Instructions to print your year-end Giving Statement:

• Log in to CCB
• At the Home page and from the left column, select “My Giving”
• Next page, select the “Schedules/History” option
• Following page, upper right-hand side, click on the “Giving Statement” button
• In the pop-up window, select “Custom Date Range” and insert the dates January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022
• Click “Run Report”

Your 2022 Giving Statement should now appear on the screen and be ready for printing or saving. If you have any questions or need additional assistance, please contact Jennifer Smith, St. John’s Finance Administrator, 703-971-2211.

Hypothermia Shelter 2023 – MORE HELP NEEDED!

As part of Being SJLC (Serving Jesus—Living in Community) during this Epiphany Season, St. John’s is again Living Out Our Faith by helping with the Hypothermia Shelter to be held at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Springfield the week of January 22nd The Hypothermia Shelter system in Fairfax County (assisted by the non-profit organization FACETS), provides a safe place in churches for homeless adults to sleep in warmth overnight and meals to cover each day during the winter months. This year, St. John’s will be providing meals and volunteers for three days of the shelter operations starting with dinner on Sunday, January 22nd and finishing with lunch for Wednesday, January 25th. In addition, we will be interacting with the shelter guests this year for the first time since COVID began so we very much need folks to come to the shelter to prep and serve meals, have social/fellowship time with guests and oversee their needs into the night and in the mornings for breakfast.

This is a wonderful opportunity for many of us (including various Small Groups and individuals) to serve our neighbors in dire need in the local community. Children can be involved at home in cooking and teens 16+ can be part of a kitchen/serving team onsite with parental permission. Sign-up sheets with more info, dates, and times for all opportunities to assist/donate are located in the Church Narthex OR on Church Community Builder (CCB). You only need to sign up once either on the poster or in CCB. You can also contact SJLC member Christy Hoins to sign up or ask questions.

Praying in Color

We will gather Saturday morning, January 21st on Zoom to pray using this visual way of praying. What a great way to start off the new year by taking time to listen to the Lord through Scripture, and capturing the reflection and prayer onto paper with color, shapes, lines, words, etc. No artistic talent needed, just a desire to pray! You will simply need paper, and colored pens, markers, or pencils or even crayons. You also need your Bible or Bible app. If you are new to this prayer form, please join Zoom at 9:30AM for Orientation. Our hour of themed prayer will begin at 10AM. Please contact SJLC member Christy Hoins for the Zoom link.

Church Potluck and Trivia Night on Sunday, January 22 

Plan to join fellow members and friends of St. John’s for a mid-winter potluck and trivia night on Sunday, January 22 beginning at 5PM in the Fellowship Hall.

Sponsored by St. John’s Connecting Ministry, the purpose is simply to bring people together for a time of fellowship and connecting with one another. Plan to bring a dish from home to share and dust off your trivia knowledge with games that will follow the meal. Watch for more information to come! Questions? Please contact Barbara Wright, Connecting Ministry Lead.

Walking and Talking with Jesus

Sponsored by the Salaam Isa Mission Society, the next Session of Walking and Talking with Jesus will be on Wednesday, January 25, at 7 PM on Zoom. The topic will be “Scripture – The Bible and Koran”. This will be the third of five sessions. Please be sure to register in order to receive the Zoom link. You only need to register once for all five sessions. Questions? Contact Greer Putnam: 703-684-8949.

The sessions will be led by Pastor Martin (Grace, Woodbridge) or Pastor Triolo (St. Mark’s, Springfield). Each session will be approximately one hour with a 15-minute Biblical framework from Pastor, 15-minute presentation from Yvette Moy, stories from participants and post-meeting fellowship for continued conversation. We will explore Walking and Talking with Jesus through a thematic approach to Christianity compared with Islam and Islamic and Christian practice, culture and theology.

Director of Discipleship

Jennifer Hills' responsibilities and duties were enhanced and approved during the June 2020 Congregational Meeting when St. John’s congregational Bylaws were revised for our new Church Council structure. 

Now that she has been successfully performing ALL of these duties (and a few extras here and there, including providing insight and advice to Church Council members), the Council has approved a new title for her: Director of Discipleship. This is an immediate title change from Director of Youth and Christian Education (DYCE); Jennifer remains a rostered Director of Christian Education (DCE) within the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS).  Be sure to congratulate Jennifer on her success!

ESL Volunteers Needed

Want to make a big difference in someone’s life? Join us teaching English online to our immigrant neighbors. Volunteers must commit to teach one online class per week, February 14-May 4. Classes are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10-11:30AM or 7:30-9PM. (Students attend both days, but volunteers teach once a week). All classes are on Zoom. Our adult students are eager to learn and extremely appreciative. Training and books are provided. No experience necessary—just a smile and desire to help people from other countries!

We also need help selling textbooks to students 7-9PM, February 7 and 9, at St. John’s. For more information, click here or contact ESL Coordinator Dori McCormick.

ESL Book Fund Donations

St. John’s ESL program serves about 150 adult English language learners each fall and spring session. Last fall, our students came from 37 different countries. They speak 16 different first languages.

Throughout the pandemic, we have subsidized the book costs to keep prices affordable, and no one is turned away for lack of funds. However, the ESL book fund is dwindling. Please consider donating to help students learn English. Write checks payable to St. John’s Lutheran Church, earmarked for ESL book fund or click here to donate electronically to the ESL program. Thank you!

Creative Fellowship Donation Drive

Shelter House, Inc., a community based, nonprofit organization serving Fairfax County, has an urgent need for new twin blankets, sheets, and bath towels for women and children in the shelter. Shelter House was formed in 1981 in response to a homeless crisis in Fairfax County. 

To support the endeavor, St. John’s Creative Fellowship will be collecting donations through Tuesday, February 21 (Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper). Donations may be placed in the basket located in the Narthex. For questions or more information, contact a member of Creative Fellowship or the Church Office.

Calling All Singers!!

I know you are out there… Your St. John’s choir needs you! It’s a New Year, so why not add something new to your church ministry?

Top Four Church Choir Myths:

The need to read music – This can help, but I’ve known many choir singers who get the part with repetition! If the part requires extra practice, I provide recordings which help you practice a bit at home.

Having to be there every Sunday – Life happens. Sometimes we have events to go to, or vacations, or other things come up. Every week is great but don’t let a travel schedule or other things keep you from joining us!

Thinking your voice isn’t good enough – In a choir, all our voices blend together, and the complete sound always sounds better! Voices can be classified like instruments: flutes, reeds, even brass. Every type of sound compliments the other types and supplies what is missing. When we all sing the same word at the same time in the same way (vowel matching), then the magic ‘happens’ and the voices unite.

Ability to sing high notes – notes are both low and high. If you feel you can’t ever sing higher notes, it could be that you are a low voice type, or no one has ever shown you the tips and tricks to make it happen. One of the duties of my job as choir director is to encourage and teach better sounds. We need all voice types!

Our choir is currently preparing for Lent and Easter seasons. Rehearsals are on Wednesdays at 7:00PM in the music room. We welcome one and all! Come and join us!!

Questions? Please contact David Leahey.

Offering Envelopes

For members who receive envelopes for weekly offerings, the company that supplies those envelopes is currently experiencing supply and manpower issues. They have informed us that envelopes will not be sent in January or February. They are hopeful production will resume with the March envelopes, to be delivered to members by the first Sunday in March, and quarterly delivery scheduled to continue in April. In the meantime, there will be offering envelopes available in the back of the Sanctuary and in the Church Office for your use, or you may use plain, white envelopes labeled with your name and the intended fund for which the offering should be credited (i.e., Operating Fund, Capital Improvement Fund, Endowment Fund, etc.). If no fund is listed, we will assume the operating fund.

We apologize for any inconvenience this causes but, unfortunately, it is completely out of our control. For those who would prefer to move to making your offerings online, you can do so by logging into your CCB account, select the “Giving” option, then “My Giving." You can then make a one-time gift or set up a repeating gift. If you do not already have access to CCB, you will need to click the “Sign Up” link under the Login button to request your username and password first.

If you have any questions, you may email our Financial Administrator, Jennifer Smith, or call 703-971-2211.

St. John’s Endowment – Being SJLC

During the season of Epiphany, St. John’s celebrates "Being SJLC" (Serving Jesus—Living in Community). The Endowment Committee is seeking your input into how we can best utilize the treasures that He has blessed us with as we Join Jesus on His Mission. Your grant recommendations can help fund outreach and in reach ministries above and beyond those funded by the church’s operating budget. A CCB form titled Endowment and Memorial Grant Recommendation has been created to collect your input. If you have any questions, please email Mark Gilbertson or call 703-451-0027. 

Wednesday Noon Holy Communion

We continue to offer Holy Communion each Wednesday at 12 noon. Based on feedback from individuals, we will continue this practice for the immediate future. All are welcome to join us. Please register here or feel welcome to contact the Church Office (703-971-2210.

Important Links



• Registration for Holy Communion held on Wednesdays at noon.
• Facebook Live for viewing live services or educational opportunities as well as those previously recorded.
• YouTube for viewing church services
• Click here and scroll down for the bulletins