The Bridge

January 6, 2023

The Mission of St. John’s is to be a community of God’s people who heal brokenness, build bridges, and exemplify borderless kindness.

Events and Announcements

Baptism of our Lord Celebration,

January 8

St. John's is excited to welcome Catherine to our community of baptized Christians at the 11am Service. We will celebrate with our traditional Trifles and Rosca Party after the

11:00 a.m. service and 1:00 p.m. service. Join us as we sample some traditional and not-so-traditional but always delicious treats! If you have never made a trifle, or if you have and wish to use your imagination, please feel free to bring your creations to share. We will have “king cake” too!

Ungreening of the Church,

January 8

What goes up, must come down! We will ungreen, undecorate, put the church back to "normal" Sunday, January 8th at 2:00 pm. We invite any and all who can be with us to help - many hands make light work. We will especially need "strong young men" to climb ladders and carry boxes back to the Annex.

Parish Hall Update

We are waiting to hear from the Insurance Adjuster as to his determination. We need his determination before we proceed further. Until then we are monitoring the building and planning on our next steps as we move forward. Eventually we'll hire a contractor to re-build when the time is right.

Re-building the Parish Hall will take time, probably 3-5 months. All depends on availability of supplies necessary as speaking with contractors. We have a lot of work ahead of us, a lot of decisions to make.

Thanks to our Parish Administrator, Treasurer's, Office Personnel and Vergers as they are doing a yeoman's job working under less than perfect conditions.

Right now we are on pause till we get more information on how we need to proceed and plan our next steps.

Stewardship Campaign

We are very thankful for the generosity

If you haven't already pledged please fill out a form from the narthex or parish hall, or press the button below.

Please bring your pledge card on Sunday or mail it to

P. O. Box 81493, Austin, TX 78708-1493

Fill out a pledge card here!

Save the Date

Parish Annual Meeting,

Sunday January 29

On Sunday, January 29, 2023,

St. John's will convene the Annual Meeting. More information to come.

Our Community

Farmshare Austin

Sunday, from

11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Come shop for fresh, delicious, and affordable fruits and vegetables, local eggs and honey, and a variety of pantry staples!

The market accepts cash, credit, debit, SNAP, and Double Up Food Bucks.

Coffee and Fellowship

The Narthex is open for coffee and fellowship after each Sunday service!

Thanks to our volunteers who make the coffee, set it up, and clean up after.

Worship at St. John's

Our Sunday morning worship and education schedule:

8:30 a.m. - The Holy Eucharist Rite I (English)
9:45 a.m. - Adult Christian Formation Class
11:00 a.m. - The Holy Eucharist Rite II (English)
1:00 p.m. - La Santa Eucaristía Rito Dos (Spanish)

To participate in our virtual Sunday services, you do not need to have a Zoom account or download Zoom. Simply click the link to join.

Zoom link for 11:00 a.m. service

Meeting ID: 879 9502 6837 No passcode is required

Click here for the Online Bulletin

You may also join the service by telephone - dial (346) 248-7799 and enter the meeting ID when prompted. Meeting ID: 879 9502 6837

The video recording of the 11:00 a.m. service will be posted on the St. John's Facebook page, YouTube, and the St. John's website later in the day. Additionally, recordings of the English and Spanish sermons will be available. Links to the recordings will be posted on our website (www.austinstjohns.org).

Christian Formation

Sunday Morning Christian Formation

Lectionary class will resume when we have an appropriate gathering space

Cornerstone Literary Circle -

Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

Cornerstone Literary Circle is taking a brief hiatus for the holidays, but will start up again January 4th with a gripping new work by Javier Zamora entitled Solito. The New York Times reviewed this book in September and October this year. The Times said, “Zamora writes in such a way that you never forget that this harrowing journey is being experienced by a child … In telling this story from a child’s perspective, describing his surroundings with plainness, presenting his survival without bluster, he reveals the true horrors of migration.”

If you would like to join us for this book discussion, please contact Laurie Williams.

Zoom Link to Cornerstone Literary Circle

Meeting ID: 865 2855 1870

Passcode 446185

Wednesday Night Bible Study - 7:00 p.m.

We will study the lectionary readings for the upcoming Sunday:

The class meets via Zoom:

Zoom Link to Wednesday Night Class

Meeting ID: 886 3246 7047

Passcode: 980365

Thursday Morning Bible Study

Thursday Morning Bible study will resume when we have an appropriate gathering space

Please refer to our website www.austinstjohns.or or to the Christian Formation email sent every Tuesday for more information and links.

Ministries

Wednesday Morning Grounds Crew

For more information about this ministry, please contact Kevin Flegal.

Labyrinth Community Garden

To learn about how our Labyrinth Community Garden serves the community, or for information about obtaining a bed in the Garden for you and your family, please contact Patty Arnold.

Card Ministry

St. John’s Episcopal Church is starting a new card ministry that will involve sending handwritten cards to our members who are suffering illness and/or bereavement.

Please let Henry Welles, Sandra Ward or Christi Crow know if you have a need or if you know of someone who does. Thank you.

Caring for

Each Other

For Prayer and Pastoral Care

If you find that your situation is causing financial, spiritual, or emotional difficulties, or if you are in need of food, do not hesitate to email Mother Minerva.

We are a church family; when a family member needs assistance we want to try and help that member.

Click on the link below for Prayer for Ukraine.

Prayers for Ukraine

Donations

Please visit our website (austinstjohns.org) for other ways to make a donation.

Please send mail to the Church post office box:

St. John’s Episcopal Church

P. O. Box 81493

Austin, TX 78708-1493

If you are having problems with the online donation system, please contact the treasurer at Treasurer@austinstjohns.org and someone will help you resolve the problem.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO ST. JOHNS. THANK YOU!

Gathering Policy

Masks are optional on the St. John's campus. The CDC guidelines highly recommend that all persons who are not fully vaccinated wear masks while indoors. Thank you for your cooperation in these efforts to keep our St. John’s community safe and healthy.

Austin-Travis County's COVID-19 Community Level is currently low.

For more information: Austin Public Health

Submit to the Bridge

You are invited to send pictures and articles to the Bridge! Please note the deadline: Noon, Wednesday preceding the Friday of publication.

Send to mariaangie@austinstjohns.org with "For the Bridge" in the subject line. Be sure to note the date of the issue in which you want to publish the information or article.