The Bridge
September 17, 2021
The Mission of St. John’s is to be a community of God’s people who heal brokenness, build bridges, and exemplify borderless kindness.
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ST. JOHN’S GATHERING POLICY:
St. John’s requires masks and social distancing
for all indoor worship services and gatherings.
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Austin Public Health is encouraging everyone to wear a mask and stay at home as much as possible. With that in mind, if you are not vaccinated or you are at high-risk because of medical issues, we encourage you to come to the 10:30 service via Zoom. The Zoom link is also provided further down below.
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Sunday Service Times
9:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite I (in person)
10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite II (in person and Zoom)
1:00 p.m. Santa Eucaristía, Rito II (en persona)
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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.
You may also join the service by telephone -
dial (346) 248-7799 and enter the meeting ID when prompted.
Meeting ID: 879 9502 6837
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The Waiting Room is enabled for this event and is monitored by the Host of the day.
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Please note: In order to minimize background noise, everyone except those people who have an active role in the service will be muted. You are invited to put personal prayer requests into the "Chat" to be read at the appropriate time during the Prayers of the People.
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The video recording of the 10:30 a.m. English 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).
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Virtual Coffee and Fellowship
Our virtual coffee "hour" provides a time to greet those who do not feel comfortable attending in person. Stay on Zoom when the service ends or click on this button to say hello:
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St. John's back pack tag traveling with member Carol Acurso |
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Invite, Welcome, Connect!
Check the calendar on our website, and you will see just some of the reasons we love St. John's! Warm and Spirit-filled relationships are beneath and around all the activities on the calendar. You are each invited to invite others to be a part of this loving and supportive community. While you are in church, take a moment to share your experience on Facebook; take a photo of our lovely grounds to add to your post - Labyrinth, Garden, or the church building itself. If you know of someone who is searching for a church home, invite them to come and experience the joy and blessing we receive during our worship and service opportunities. Share our website www.austinstjohns.org. Forward The Bridge to a friend.
You will be doubly blessed!
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St. John's Notices and Activities |
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Helping Afghan Refugees
We are renewing our commitment to assist refugees, especially those who evacuated Afghanistan. Ten parishioners and the clergy met on September 9 to explore how St. John’s can assist Afghan refugees. The Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) is working with Refugee Services of Texas (RST) to coordinate services for families arriving in Austin. We identified specific needs and actions that can be pursued immediately.
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Donations: We learned from RST that the immediate need is for VISA cards, hotel cards, and financial donations. For the moment, there are two ways to make a financial donation:
1) Write a check or make an online donation to St. John’s and designate “Afghan Refugees”
2) Use this link to the Refugee Services of Texas - Austin web page: Refugee Services of Texas, click on “Amazon Wishlist” and select the appropriate VISA card amount. For your convenience, click here to go directly to the wish list: RST Wishlist
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Refugee Shed: RST placed a hold on receiving furniture and household goods until they assess what they may need. In the meantime, we need to clear out the items in the Refugee shed to make room for the items that will be needed the most by refugee families. We scheduled a workday to inventory and assess which items will be kept, donated to Goodwill, or thrown away. We would like to empty the shed as much as possible to make room for new donations.
Some of our parishioners have friends or families who recently immigrated to Austin and need household items for their new home. We invite and encourage them to select items that they could use in their homes.
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Workday Details: Saturday, September 25, 9am to 12 noon
Needs: We need plastic bins to organize the items in the shed. We need a couple of trucks (and their drivers) to haul items to either Goodwill or the dump.
Contact Person for the Workday: Mary Anne O’Brien graciously offered to be the contact person for this event.
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PET BLESSING
Saturday, October 2; 8:30-11:30 A.M.
You are invited to bring your pet(s) to the lawn or drive your car around for a blessing or a special prayer by Mthr. Minerva and Deacon Victoria.
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Parish Wide Meeting - October 3 at 11:45 a.m.
The vestry and the diocese have approved the proposed new bylaws for St. John's. There will be a parish wide meeting at 11:45 a.m. on Sunday, October 3, so the congregation can vote on these proposed new bylaws. The bylaws are available here (St. John's Proposed Bylaws). A summary of the changes is here (Summary of Changes).
To participate in this meeting join us on Zoom at (Parish Meeting). We have scheduled the meeting at 11:45 a.m. so people will have enough time to get home if they are worshiping in person.
Those who are already on Zoom for worship and coffee hour can just stay on the same Zoom meeting.
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Save the Date!
Installation of a New Rector
October 16, 10:00 a.m.
St. John's Episcopal Church
The long anticipated formal installation of Mthr. Minerva as our "new" Rector will be a joyous occasion which you don't want to miss! More details will be in future issues of The Bridge.
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Christian Formation at St. John's |
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Lectionary Bible Study - Zoom
Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m.
All are invited to join our study of the assigned lectionary for the following Sunday.
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Thursday Morning Bible Study - Hybrid
Thursdays at 10:00 a.m.
To participate in person, join us at 9:55am in the Parish Hall. To participate virtually, enter Zoom meeting number 821 5253 7149 in the Zoom app or follow this link to enter the waiting room for the meeting Thursday Morning Bible Study - Zoom.
St. John's Gathering Policy:
- Masks are required for all indoor gatherings.
- No food or drink in the buildings.
- No masks if you are at home zooming!
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(please refer to our website www.austinstjohns.org or to the Christian Formation email sent every Tuesday for more information and links)
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Wednesday Morning Grounds Keepers
As the weather becomes more comfortable, this would be a good time to join the grounds crew as they continue their efforts to keep the St. John's campus looking great! They start about 8:00 a.m. and finish about noon.
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If you have questions about this ministry, please contact Hal Hughes.
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Labyrinth Community Garden
Have you wandered through the garden lately? Maybe walk the Labyrinth and then sit in the gazebo for a bit of quiet time? As the days become cooler, this will be an excellent opportunity to experience the quiet abundance to be found in this place of beauty. Our Labyrinth Community Garden nourishes us body and soul.
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If you are interested in obtaining a bed for you and your family, please contact Patty Arnold.
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The Episcopal Diocese of Texas |
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Diocese of Texas Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month
September 15 kicked off National Hispanic Heritage Month. It runs thru October 15. For those of you unfamiliar with Hispanic Heritage Month, it is a time when people recognize the contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States and celebrate the group's heritage and culture. Hispanic Heritage Week was initially approved by President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period.
click the button to see more from The Episcopal Diocese of Texas:
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Episcopal Church Foundation
Resources for Hispanic Heritage Month
Dear siblings,
¡Hola! My name is Sandra Montes, EdD, Spanish Language Resource Consultant at ECF, and I am your guest editor for this issue.
Latino/Hispanic ministries in the Episcopal church continue to grow rapidly. We are known for our love of great food made with wonderful spices and fresh ingredients, our colorful textiles, our happy music and our culture centered around familia. If you have ever attended an Episcopal service in a largely Latina/Hispanic congregation, you know that we extend familia to anyone within our reach. As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15 because several Latin-American countries celebrate fiestas patrias – national holidays celebrating their independence) we want to introduce some of the work being done by líderes around the church.
click the button to see what Episcopal Church Foundation has to offer:
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ECW Historic Farewell Retreat
Friday, October 15, 2021 at 3:00 PM CDT
-to-
Sunday, October 17, 2021 at 1:00 PM CDT
She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. Proverbs 31:20
Please join us for the Historic Farewell Retreat. We know that you will find the retreat a blessing.
We are looking forward to providing a peaceful, informative, and enjoyable experience!
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Help those affected by the deadly earthquake in Haiti. Your generous support will meet the critical needs of communities as we help them recover. click on the image to go to the Episcopal Relief and Development website and make a financial donation.
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If you would like to make donations of goods and supplies, or help St. Alban's purchase these, you can mail a check to St. Alban's Episcopal Church, 420 Woodward Street, Houston, TX 77009, or contact Marie Seme, 305-467-5178, Marie Seme.
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"Eternal God, hear our prayer for the peoples of Afghanistan. There is a profound humanitarian crisis. Countless people, mostly women and children, are now fleeing and vulnerable. The lives of many are now endangered. The hopes of many are forgone. Send your Spirit, Lord, to rally the resolve of the nations of the earth to find pathways to save human lives, protect human rights, and to resolve the hardships of those seeking refuge, asylum, and safety. Hear our prayer for the peoples of Afghanistan. This we pray as followers of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Amen."
The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church
Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs
Posted Aug 17, 2021
"Contact your representatives to ask them to press the Biden administration to implement new reforms to the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program to process these visas as quickly as possible and designate Afghans facing danger in the country as P-1 priorities for refugee resettlement. Although the scope of this challenge is large, our members can contribute to the broad voices asking Congress and the administration to do well by our allies and bring them to the United States to honor their service."
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For other ways to support The Episcopal Church’s efforts to resettle and provide direct assistance to our Afghan allies, please visit Support our Afghan Allies
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COVID-19 Related Information |
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Austin-Travis County is currently in Stage 5
Austin Public Health (APH) has published a color-coded chart to help residents of Austin-Travis County understand the stages of risk and provide recommendations on what people should do to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gathering Is Discouraged
Cases and hospitalizations continue to increase in Travis County as new variants, such as the Delta variant, spread throughout the community. For Stage 5, High-risk vaccinated people as well as for partially vaccinated and unvaccinated people, private indoor gatherings are not recommended at all, with or without masks.
As we obtain more information about the variants, we will update the recommendations.
Full recommendations and to see the new Risk-Based Guidelines charts regarding actions for vaccinated and unvaccinated/partially vaccinated individuals please visit the City of Austin COVID-19 website.
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COVID-19 Testing
Anyone with any signs or symptoms of COVID-19 should get tested, regardless of vaccination status or prior infection. If you get tested because you have symptoms or were potentially exposed to the virus, you should stay away from others pending test results and follow the advice of your health care provider.
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Community Notices and Activities |
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Additional COVID Shots (Moderna) - Auro Pharmacy
The CDC has approved an additional COVID shot for cancer patients and immunocompromised people.
Auro Pharmacy has notified us that they are giving this additional shot to eligible people (cancer patients and immunocompromised people) who had the Moderna vaccine. You did not have to receive the Moderna vaccine at Auro Pharmacy to receive this additional shot. There is a questionnaire which must be completed to determine eligibility.
No appointment is necessary - walk ins accepted. There is no charge.
Monday - Friday: 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday - Sunday: 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM
1139 W Braker Lane #102 Austin, TX 78758
(512) 206-3150
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For Prayer and Pastoral Care |
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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 call Deacon Victoria (512-297-5953) or email Mthr. Minerva (RevMinerva@austinstjohns.org).
We are a church family; when a family member needs assistance we want to try and help that member.
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St. John's gathering policy continues to be updated as conditions change relative to the COVID pandemic. St. John's holds the health and safety of our community as a top priority.
Your understanding and cooperation are very much appreciated.
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Ms. Paula Foy, Senior Warden
Mr. Hal Hughes, Junior Warden
Ms. Sandra Welles, Treasurer
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Class of 2022
Ms. Paula Foy
Mr. Hal Hughes
Sra. Rosalinda Rodriguez
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Class of 2023
Ms. Jessica Glasebrook, Clerk
Mr. Steve Kriechbaum
Ms. Sandra Welles
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Class of 2024
Ms. Maria Caballero
Sr. Alfonso Hernandez
Ms. Sandra Ward
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The Rev. Minerva Camarena Skeith, Rector
The Rev. Victoria Mason, Deacon
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Ms. Fay Jones, Director of Communications
Mr. Philip Riley, Choirmaster and Organist
Sr. Alfonso Hernandez, Spanish Music
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for other ways to make a donation.
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Stories and Photos for The Bridge
You are invited to send photos and stories about yourself, your family, and our parish for inclusion in The Bridge. As we come back together, let's share our experiences! Please send your ideas, stories, and photos to Fay Jones, (newsletter editor) by 12:00 pm on Wednesdays.
Running event announcements two weeks prior to the date is recommended.
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Fay Jones, Editor (fay@austinstjohns.org) |
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St. John's Episcopal Church
11201 Parkfield Drive
P. O. Box 81493, Austin, TX 78708-1493
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Sunday Services
9:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite I
10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite II hybrid (in-person & Zoom)
1:00 p.m. Santa Eucaristía, Rito II
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The Parish Office is open Tuesday through Friday
from 10am - 12Noon.
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For more information about St. John’s Episcopal Church, please visit our website at www.austinstjohns.org
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