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In this week's Family News (Scroll to Learn More):
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From Dr. Don Gordon: A Time and Season for ... Outreach
- Stewardship is Coming!
- Happy Birthday, Amelia!
- Fall Festival - October 26
- NAMI Walks - November 8
- Depression Support Group - November 4
- Real Estate Task Force Listening Session - November 16
- Friendsgiving - November 16
- Basketball Registration is Live!
- Christmas Painting Party at Noah's Art - November 22
- Coat Drive Collection in November
- Rise Against Hunger Mesage
- CROP Walk Message
- Save the Date: Senior Adult Christmas Gathering - December 4
- Churchwide 2025 Save the Dates
- Prayer List, Sympathy, Thanks, and Celebrations
- Financial Update
- Minister On Call Schedule
- After Hours On Call Schedule
- Staff Contact Info
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A Time and Season for... Outreach
by Dr. Don Gordon, Interim Minister
| | | | This coming Sunday afternoon, St. John’s will host its annual Fall Festival. I have just returned from a staff meeting where Kheresa Harmon shared an exciting update on what’s in store. A host of people will open their car trunks to hand out candy, while the Together in Christ congregation from Sierra Leone will | | |
be grilling and serving 300 hot dogs and chips—free for everyone. Children will pet goats and ride ponies in the grassy area next to 5th Street. Face-painting and balloon artistry will bring delight to young visitors from across the Elizabeth community. And at the center of it all will be the bounce house—where I get to serve as “Bouncer.” I’ve always fantasized about being a bouncer at a Baptist church. Dreams really can come true!
With all those good things happening, I have an important ask. I’d like for all St. John’s members to think of this as an outreach event. Come, volunteer, and serve as an ambassador for our church. Whether you’re an official volunteer or not (see Kheresa about that), this is an opportunity to connect with our neighbors, share a smile, and extend a warm welcome. Every conversation is an act of hospitality that can open the door to lasting relationships.
Downtown churches—especially long-established traditional ones—across America are standing at an important crossroads in the face of a demographic tidal wave. One path reflects a sobering reality: fewer people see value in attending or supporting a physical embodiment of the institutional church. Generally speaking, the younger the generation, the less likely they are to identify with any organized religious group. As a result, many churches have seen steady declines in membership and budget support over the past 20 years. Some have even closed their doors or sold property to address their current reality.
However, there is another movement underway. The youngest adult generation, Gen Z (ages 18–28), is showing signs of renewed interest in church participation. According to a recent Barna Group study, Gen Z churchgoers attend 1.9 services per month—more frequently than Millennials (1.8 times per month), Gen X (1.6), or Baby Boomers (1.4).
There seems to be a growing desire among younger adults to find grounding in an increasingly volatile and chaotic world. They are searching for friendship, moral direction, and spiritual meaning. They long for genuine community and a break from the isolation of our smartphone culture.
So what does that mean for St. John’s? Our Fall Festival sits right in the middle of this demographic tide and gives us the chance to make meaningful connections with people who are thirsty for community. We can greet them with warmth, engage in real conversation, and show sincere interest in who they are.
The future of St. John’s will not be determined by asking, “What do our members want?” but rather by asking, “What does our community need?” If we can build our mindset around that second question, we can offer a vision of the Christian life that is both life-giving and deeply attractive to people we have yet to meet.
The writer of Ecclesiastes once said, “There is a time and a season for everything under the sun” (Eccl. 3:1). Now is the season to extend the gift of community to those who have not yet found it.
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STEWARDSHIP 2026: Growing in Purpose
This week, our stewardship journey turns to what it means to be “Growing in Purpose.” At St. John’s, our purpose is lived out not just within our walls, but in the ways we serve our neighbors and the world.
Because of your generosity, St. John’s has been able to make a real impact beyond our congregation. This year, we participated in two Hurricane Helene relief trips—including one with our youth—helping communities rebuild and recover. We hosted a 100-volunteer event with Rise Against Hunger, packing meal kits for under-nourished families and children. We expanded our partnerships with Refugee Support Services and NAMI, and we are preparing for new opportunities to serve with the opening of the Roof Above dormitories next door in the old King’s College space.
Your pledges make these ministries possible. Every gift is an investment in the mission and outreach of St. John’s, helping us grow in purpose and extend Christ’s love to others.
Our theme this year is “Rooted in Faith, Growing in Purpose.” Commitment Sunday is November 9—please mark your calendar and consider how you will participate.
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Happy Birthday, Amelia!
Happy Birthday to Amelia, who will be 4 years old on October 27! She is the daughter of Liz and Jordan Benton.
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2025 Fall Festival and Trunk-or-Treat
Bring your friends and family to our 2nd annual Fall Festival and Trunk-or-Treat on Sunday, October 26, 3:00 - 5:00 p.m.! There will be candy, a petting zoo, pony rides, candy, a bounce house, face painting, candy, a ballon artist, and did we say candy?!
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NAMI Walks: Nov. 8
St. John's is a sponsor of this year's NAMIWalks Charlotte. Join our team and support the work with NAMI!
"No one NAMIWalks alone," is the mantra we walk by at the community’s most important mental health fundraising event.
Some people walk together, in step and arm in arm. Others walk together in spirit. Still others, sadly, walk together in memory.
However, we raise money that connects those in need to the life-changing, even life-saving, mental health programs and guidance that NAMI offers.
We participate as a team. Each contributing what we can: time, effort, muscle, and commitment. What do you have to offer us? Because let me tell you, your contribution will make all the difference. No matter the age of a team member, or whether you’re a practiced athlete, when you join our ranks, it’s one big loud cheer the community will hear: We are NAMIWalks.
It's also a lot of fun. You get to meet new friends and reach goals you never thought you’d reach.
Won’t you join the joy with us? Together, we’ll be strong enough to lift hope itself!
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Depression Support Group
Join the St. John’s Depression Support Group! Contact Rev. Kathy Turner (919-225-2749) to learn more about a regular meeting to provide support for people coping with depression; to foster honest conversations in our daily lives with others who can relate; and to help us hold one another accountable so we feel supported and not judged.
The first meeting will be on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. at the church in room 104 (Cheers Classroom). Please note: This is intended to provide a support network. It is not a therapy session.
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Real Estate Task Force Listening Session
The Real Estate Task Force (RETF) will be holding a listening session on Sunday, November 16th at 8:15 AM in Broach Hall. During this session, we will update our congregation on our activities over the summer and seek your feedback on the next steps.
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Friendsgiving Potluck - November 16
Join us on Sunday, November 16, 11:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., in Broach Hall for a special Friendsgiving celebration at St. John’s Baptist Church as we gather to reconnect, share a potluck meal, and celebrate the enduring bonds between our church and the Lost Boys of South Sudan. This event marks the beginning of a year-long commemoration of the former Lost Boys of Sudan’s arrival in the U.S. in 2001; our shared story of faith, friendship, and hope; and the enduring connections between St. John’s and South Sudan.
Bring a dish that represents your family’s story and an appetite hungry for good food and fellowship! Linger longer after lunch and join us for an epic basketball game!
Please register by November 14th.
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Basketball Registration is Live!
St. John’s Basketball registration is now live for children and youth. We will have teams for boys and girls ages 4-12. Please click on the link to register and see all the details pertaining to the upcoming basketball season. Click here to learn more and register now. Contact Lee Gray at LGray@sjcharlotte.org if you have any questions.
Two free pre-season clinics open to all boys and girls 8 years old and under will be held on Monday, October 13 at 5:00 pm & Tuesday, October, 28 at 5:00 pm.
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Christmas Painting Party at Noah's Art
Kids, let’s make Christmas 2025 colorful with a painting party at Noah’s Art of South Park on Saturday, November 22, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.! Bring a friend. The cost is only $10 per child. Register here by
Sunday, November 16.
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Coat Drive Collection in November
Nourish Up at the Galilee Center is having a Coat Drive for all ages, Children through Adults for the month of November. St. John’s is participating in this drive. If you have any gently used or new coats you would like to donate to help our neighbors please leave them in the Giving Nook at the main entrance. Also if you might have some hats, scarves and gloves those would also be appreciated. Thank you for supporting this worthy cause.
- MRT Team
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Rise Against Hunger
On Sunday, September 28, we rolled up our sleeves, crowned our heads with hairnets, and packed 15,000 meals. Those meals are now bound for Tanzania, a country that The Global Hunger Index, has categorized as having a “serious” level of hunger due to undernourishment and undernutrition.
To address some of the food and nutrition security challenges in Tanzania, Rise Against Hunger collaborates with organizations working to provide meals to children, pregnant women, and new mothers. The meals SJBC packaged will be distributed through programs working to improve the long-term health of children by focusing on nutrition throughout pregnancy and in early childhood.
Thank you, SJBC, for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the gift of food!
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CROP Walk
The 2025 Charlotte CROP Hunger Walk is done, and it was a great success! Despite some wild wind, the rain held off, and the turnout was amazing—we saw 400+ walkers and several hundred more across the city! That’s at least 150 more participants than last year, and fundraising is going strong. We’re on track to meet (or beat!) our $200,000 goal!
St. John’s showed up in style with 18 walkers. Online fundraising is going well and a whopping $2,300 has been raised by our Sunday School classes in the Sunday School Challenge! It’s a tight race between the classes for first place, we’re inching toward our SJBC goal of $10,000 goal, and it’s not over yet—donations are open through October 31.
If you haven’t donated yet, there’s still time! Give on Realm, donate to the St. John’s team online (button below), or drop off cash/checks made out to Charlotte CROP Walk (see James Laney or Debbie Pittman).
Final totals and winners of the Sunday School Challenge will be announced at the November recap. Stay tuned!
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Save the Date: Christmas Gathering
St. John's Senior Adults (75 and older)
Please mark your calendars now and plan to attend our annual Christmas Gathering on Thursday, December 4th in Broach Hall at 11:30 am. Details to follow soon!
| | | 2025 Churchwide Save The Dates: |
- All Saints Sunday, November 2
- Commitment Sunday, November 9
- WDAV Lessons & Carols, December 2
- Senior Adult Christmas Gathering, December 4
- Hanging of the Green & Nativity Play with Lunch, December 7
- Christmas Cantata, December 14
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Prayer List, Sympathy, Thanks, and Celebrations | |
Current Prayer Concerns:
Mary Jo Breckenridge, Carol Drye, Dale Johnson, Fredda Kimball, Anne Sutton, Joe Trull
Continuing Prayer:
Anna Lynn Kearse, Mary Rickenbaker
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2025 Full Year Budget – $1,241,000
September Financials
Budgeted Income thru September - $930,750
Actual Income Received - $904,745
Income over(under) budget - ($26,005)
Actual Expenses paid - $945,123
Income/Expense Surplus (Deficit) - ($40,378)
| | Minister On Call Schedule |
- Oct. 20 - 26: Don
- Oct. 27-Nov. 2: Kheresa
- Nov. 3-9: Lee
| | After Hours On Call Schedule | - Todd Stillerman - (704) 763-6611
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Staff Contact Information
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Dr. Don Gordon, Interim Minister - 704-333-5428, ext. 2012; 919-972-1933 (cell)
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Rev. Lee Gray, Minister for Congregational Care - 704-333-5428, ext. 2015; 704-451-1309 (cell)
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Rev. Kheresa Harmon, Minister for Children & their Families - 704-333-5428, ext. 2018; 910-890-3392 (cell)
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Noel Lance, Minister for Worship & Music
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Amanda Morrison, Church Administrator - 704-333-5428, ext. 0
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Lydia Olmsted, Weekday School Director - 704-333-5428, ext. 2039
- Chloe Salmeron, Children's Choir Director
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Liza Wade, Media Coordinator
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