The Bridge

October 28, 2022

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

Meeting ID: 879 9502 6837

Zoom link for 11:00 a.m. service

Click here for the Online Bulletin

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.

Events and Announcements

Stewardship Campaign 2022

October 30th Ingathering Sunday

Please bring your pledge card this Sunday or mail it to

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

Stewardship Testimonial by Patricia Mata

There are very varied reasons why people emigrate to the United States. Problems with the system of government in our country. Insecurity due to violence, extortion, direct threats against the physical integrity of our families, and so on, I could go on listing many more reasons. In my case, the trigger for leaving my country, Mexico, was age. I came to this country because at the age of 37 and after dedicating myself to taking care of my family for 12 years, I couldn't join the working life. According to the standards I was too old for a position according to my academic preparation. And as a worker I couldn't earn enough to take care of my children's needs and by then I could consider myself a single mother since my husband at that time had already been in this country for 9 months but unfortunately he left our children financially, so it was time to decide for our future. The presence of God has always been in my life and this time was no exception. I was able to come without any problem. I left my country on December 1, 2000 and arrived in the USA the following day. And with the grace of God I started working on the 4th of the same month. The hardest thing about emigrating was having to leave my children in Mexico for seven months before I could bring them with me, which finally happened. In this country I have had a good life in general but one of the big problems has been the language and the ignorance regarding the resources that exist to support us in our needs. I joined St. John's Episcopal Church approximately 16 years ago and it was one of the best decisions I have made in this country as I have faced challenges in my life where the knowledge and guidance of the spiritual family has supported me to face them. and overcome them. One of them was that after divorcing me I had to go before a judge to fight for the right to support my children even though I was not requesting it (it is the law they told me and you cannot waive it). I don't speak English and if I wanted a translator I had to pay for it because the court only provides a translator for the accused and that was not my case. A member from St. John's walked me through the process and made sure I understood the entire process. On another occasion and more recently my son and I had problems updating our taxes correctly and again the disposition of the St. John's staff was present. He provided me with several options and finally got me an appointment with a group of professionals who helped us with our big problem and helped us solve it. In this time of committing ourselves to our promises of stewardship with our church, I thank the people who, in addition to their money, also contribute their time and their knowledge to help us and support us to solve many of the situations that as immigrants and due to ignorance of the system of country we constantly face. I cannot mention all those who in one way or another have helped me on the path I have had to travel because there are many and I run the risk of omitting some. I can only summarize my feelings in three words that, in my opinion, encompass them all. THANK YOU ST.JOHN'S

Remember to GO OUT AND VOTE!

Early voting begins on Monday, Oct. 24, and ends on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022.

ELECTION DAY: Tuesday, November 8, from 7 am to 7 pm.

For Early Voting Locations CLICK HERE!

Do you have Student Debt? Apply for Student Loan Debt Relief

The recent announcement from the Biden Administration to forgive up to $10,000 for student borrowers with an individual income under $125,000 or a household income of under $250,000 and an additional $10,000 for borrowers who received a Pell Grant while in college also included updates to the PSLF.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY!

HJAN Voting Challenge

The Health and Justice Advocacy Network (HJAN) invites you to participate in the HJAN voting challenge for the upcoming Mid Term Election!

The challenge is to see how many people your church can get to the polls by election day November 8!

•Then, take a picture of your “I Voted” sticker. (OR a picture of your vote by mail ballot).

•Email the picture to Mariaangie@austinstjohns.org

•We will tally our number of voters and submit the number to HJAN.

It’s a CONTEST and there are THREE ways to win:

•Greatest number of voters in a parish.

•Highest percentage of voters in a parish.

•Most creative and encouraging voting outreach video as decided by a panel of EDOT Celebrity Judges.

The PRIZE?

BLUE BELL ICE CREAM

Shoe Lovers of St. John's: The Daughters of the King need adult size, empty shoe boxes for the annual Christmas service project. The DOK will provide filled and wrapped shoe boxes to the residents leaving Austin State Hospital rehabilitation center.

Starting Sunday, October 30, 2022 through Sunday, November 20, 2022, bring the empty shoe boxes to the Parish Hall. Mark or tag the boxes with "DOK". Place the boxes under the stairs near the kitchen.

Any questions, please contact Sandra Ward, DOK President, at 916.501.4719.

Save the Dates

Altar de los Muertos

Set Up Day

Altar de los Muertos will be setup on Sunday, October 30th after the 1:00PM service. Everyone is welcome to participate!

Central Texas Interfaith and St. John's Episcopal Church urges you to vote in the coming election. Early voting begins next week on Monday October 24th and will go until Friday November 4^th. The last day to vote is Tuesday November 8^th. You can find the location of an early-voting site near you at https://www.votetexas.gov/. Please consider getting all the eligible voters in your family to vote. Remember: your vote is your voice.

Our Community

Farmshare Austin

Sunday, from 11am-1pm.

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 Parish Hall 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.

If you would like to bring snacks, you are invited to do so.

Worship at St. John's

Our Sunday morning worship and education schedule:

8:30am - The Holy Eucharist Rite I (English)
9:45am - Adult Christian Formation Class
11:00am - The Holy Eucharist Rite II (English)
1:00pm - 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

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

WALK THROUGH THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS with Fr David Beer

During our classes we will briefly look at every book in the Old and New Testaments. We’ll consider the origins of these books and the purposes of their authors. We’ll look at how the Bible is arranged and the kinds of literatures it contains. Also, we will enumerate the major themes of the books and how these are meaningful to us today as Christians. Be sure to bring your Bible (any translation) to class.

Each hybrid session will occur from 9:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Meeting ID: 840 2173 3267

Passcode: 295084

Zoom Link to Sunday Morning Christian Ed

Cornerstone Literary Circle -

Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

Ann and Glenda are hosting the next book. It comes in 3 formats.

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century

Paperback, Kindle, Audiobook – June 30, 2020 by Alice Wong

Our hosts have provided a syllabus for this. So if you have not been part of Cornerstone before, but would like to join us as Ann Foxworth and Glenda Born host the reading, please contact Laurie Williams so that she can send the syllabus to you.

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

We will continue meeting in person and via Zoom on Thursday, at 10:00am.

For more information, please contact Elaine Jackson .

Link to Thursday Morning Bible Study

Meeting ID: 821 5253 7149

No passcode is required

Please refer to our website www.austinstjohns.org 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.

Recently we asked for donations of cards for Henry Welles to send bereavement or get well card to parish members.

Please let Henry, 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 links below for Prayers for Uvalde and the 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