Wild Geese (from Dream Work by Mary Oliver)

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

This past week, we had a beautiful barbeque after the Sunday service. Fran noticed that it was the best attendance that she could remember. Dave and the breakfast group cooked corn, burgers, and hot dogs. Each member brought a salad or a dessert. The tables were filled with a combination of homemade dishes and delights from local stores. Fr. James organized the youth and Deacon Claire organized the prayer ties with Dr. Ric Statler and

Qi Gong with Leslie Martin. Sunday was an amazing example of the deep love that this community has for one another and Jesus Christ.

We are made whole when we realize that everything comes through the mercy and grace of God. Jesus Christ came that you may have life and live it more abundantly. Abundant life is a life lived in thankfulness. But that does not mean that our lives are perfect. At times, we need to share our despair with others and listen to their despair in return. We are created in the image of God to follow God’s path of mercy, forgiveness, and love. Let your love flow in your life in everything you do. Give thanks for everything you have.

Join us this fall in volunteering for the Harvest Fair on Saturday October 22nd from 10:00-4:00. St. John’s has been doing ministry in Huntington for 277 years and we know that what Christ is doing here is vitally important. Our ECW will support Long Island Cares, Helping Hands Mission, the Community Food Council, Family Service League, and many other vital local charities. Please participate in any way you can to this important event. The harvest is great and the laborers are few. Let your light shine even if you are surrounded by darkness.

We need to continue to transform our growing congregation through an experience with the living God to an authentic faith which sends us into the world to be the light of Christ and to be the leaven that transforms the world around us. Our focus this fall is on our children, youth and young adults and on creation care. We will continue our work on racial reconciliation and justice. We need to continually grow our outreach to the poor, the sick, the lonely, the disenfranchised, and the powerless. We are the arms and feet of Jesus Christ to a hurting world.

I believe that finding your place in the family of things is important. If you choose the path of Jesus Christ, then you will be blessed with a thankful heart and abundant life. Robert Frost said, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled and that has made all the difference. “ 

In Christ’s love, Fr. Duncan

Join us for Sunday Worship at 8:00 am and 10:00 am in the church or remotely on Zoom and Facebook.

8:00 am - Rite I Holy Eucharist

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83803451202

Facebook Live Stream: https://www.facebook.com/stjohns1745/live_videos/

Bulletin: Rite I After Pentecost

9:40 am - Sunday School in the Canterbury Corner

10:00 am – Rite II Choral Eucharist

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86739553648

Facebook Live Stream: https://www.facebook.com/stjohns1745/live_videos

Bulletin: Rite II After Pentecost - Fall

The Music

Opening Hymn: 8 Morning has broken

Sequence Hymn: 552 Fight the good fight, vs 1-2

Offertory Hymn: L 135 Is Your All on the Altar

Communion Hymn: L 65 Bless the Lord, O my soul

Closing Hymn: 437 Tell out, my soul

Our annual Harvest Fair will take place on Saturday, October 22nd, 10am to 4pm.

Raffle books were sent out last week. If you did not receive them in the mail or need extra books, please contact the Parish Office.

Merchant donation letters are also now available: CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Other ways you can HELP US TO HELP OTHERS:

• Invite your friend and families to shop, dine and visit our beautiful, historic church
• Make a craft – woodworking items, Christmas decorations, homemade soap, sachets or potpourri are just suggestions. Use your creativity!
• Offer your vacation home\timeshare week for the Silent Auction.
• Donate new unused gifts you have received for the Silent Auction.
• Request a donation for a Corporate Sponsorship from the place where you work. Contact Chris Boccia for more information and a form at 1234smile@optonline.net.
• Ask stores, restaurants, etc. for gift certificates for a gift basket or donate $$ to create one.
• Give your gently used clothing or bric-a-brac a second life at the Thrift Shop and White Elephant.
• Volunteer to work a table, or help before and after to set up/clean up.
• Become a Harvest Fair Patron.

Saturday, September 24th, 4:30 - 6:30 pm, in the Garden of Blessings, Janice Buckner & Wayne Sayres will play Country, Folk, Rock, Jazz, Traditional & Contemporary Music. In the Garden of Blessings at St. John's Episcopal Church (weather permitting). Rain date: Sunday, September 25th, 4:30-6:60 pm.

The Ingathering for United Thank Offering (UTO) will be on Sunday, October 2.

Please be generous in supporting this great ECW mission. UTO is entrusted to receive the offerings, and to distribute the 100% of what is collected to support innovative mission and ministry throughout The Episcopal Church and Provinces of the Anglican Communion:

GRATITUDE

“In ordinary life, we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.”

–Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Gratitude is a Christian virtue. It helps us love more deeply and be more present to the Holy Spirit at work in the world.

GIVE thanks to God for your blessings.

MAKE an offering for each blessing.

YOUR BLESSING becomes a blessing for others.

2022 Grant Awards Given

Please make checks payable to “St. John's Church" with "UTO" written in memo. Envelopes for UTO can be found on the table at the back of the church or in your bulletins on Sunday, October 2nd.

Sunday, October 9th at 7:00 pm

Pianist Alex Pryrodny, our very own Artist-in-Residence, teams up with award-winning tap dancer, Alex MacDonald for an evening of piano and tap in our beautiful, historic church.

There is a suggested donation of $20 at the door or presale using the following link:

TAPS & KEYS TICKETS

Spread the word. Invite a friend: POSTER (please share)

Help us Help our Friends in Christ

Donations Needed - Beginning September 18

There will be an open suitcase in the back of the church for the following much needed items which we will bring with us on our journey:

• Toiletries – hotel size – small – we have to carry with us
• Toothpaste/toothbrushes/shampoos/soap/lotions/ deodorant/sunscreen
• Masks
• Socks (all sizes, preferably white)

 MISSION TRIP to Arizona

October 24 – 30 2022

Thank you for keeping the 9 of us who are traveling in your prayers:

Deacon Claire

Fr. James Reiss

Ken Denker

Paula Dodge

Barbara Hinton

Bob McGonagle

Jan Stebbins

Stephanie West

Judy Wohrle 

"The ultimately responsible question is not how I extricate myself heroically from a situation, but how a coming generation is to go on living." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Creation Care Retreat 10/1, 8:30am-4pm at Mercer: All are warmly invited to join the Creation Care Community for our first Green Team Retreat, coming up on Saturday, October 1 at the Mercer School of Theology in Garden City. This is an opportunity to get to know people from across the diocese who share your concern for the earth, and to discern your own call to Creation Care. If you’ve been looking for a way to jump-start Creation Care ministry in your parish, this is it!

To register for the retreat, please follow this link. If you have any questions, please email The Rev. Matthew Moore (mmoore@diocesli.org).

Join St. John's and other local faith partners at the Huntington Interfaith Beach Clean-up on Sunday, October 2nd, at 2pm, West Neck Beach, Huntington.

RSVP to HumusPartnership@gmail.com

Sunday, October 2nd at 12 to 5 pm

in the Garden of Blessings

Leslie Martin of GiGong for Vitality & Joy will lead QiGong in the Garden. Enjoy ancient, meditative, self-care exercises in tradition of Taoist QiGong, the foundation of T'ai Chi Ch'uan. Donations appreciated.

Class Schedule: 

CLASS from 12 to 1 followed by Q&A from 1 to 1:30

CLASS from  2 to 3 followed by Q&A from 3 to 3:30

CLASS from  4 to 5 followed by Q&A from 5 to 5:15

Stop by as you enjoy the Huntington Art Walk! From 12–5 enjoy Heckscher Museum at 2 Prime Avenue & the Galleries towards the east end of town. Your QiGong practice with us will help your day’s inspirations settle gracefully into your mind and heart. Learn more at: www.heckscher.org.

Sunday, October 9th at 11:15 am

We are offering Acolyte training for new acolytes. Any child or youth interested in becoming an acolyte please meet Fr. James on October 9th at the front of the church by the piano following the 10 am service.

New acolytes learn by shadowing experienced acolytes at the 10:00 am services. This is a wonderful way for our youth to serve our parish and received community service hours.

Join St. John's Youth Group! 

Our first meeting will be on Sunday, September 25th, 6:30-8:00 pm in the Great Hall at St. John's.

Anyone in grades 7 through 12 are welcome to participate in Youth Group activities at St. John's and our youth partner parishes, Trinity, Northport and St. John's, Cold Spring Harbor. Here's what coming up for our youth:

Meetings, 6:30- 8:00pm, location indicated below 

Sunday, September 25th - St. John's, Huntington 

Sunday, October 2nd - St. John's, CSH 

Sunday, October 16th - Trinity, Northport 

Sunday, November 6th - St. John's, Huntington

Sunday, December 11th - St. John's, Huntington 

St. John’s Huntington Youth Group Events

Saturday, October 15th - Drive upstate to pick apples for Harvest Fair 

Saturday, October 22nd - Harvest Fair 

Saturday, November 19th - Rotary Club Food Drive, 10am - 4pm 

Sunday, November 20th - Rotary Club Food Drive, 10 am - 4pm

Saturday, December 3rd - Youth Group Wreath Making & Selling

Sunday, December 4th - Youth Group Wreath Selling

Please contact Fr. James at jreiss@stjohnshuntington.org or Ford Spilsbury at fordspils@gmail.com for more info about Youth Group.

Sign-up for Youth Group using this link:

https://forms.gle/qUbsrEEDwvxyBzRP6 

Confirmation is the sacrament when individuals choose to confirm the promises that were made for them at their baptism. The church recognizes one’s full membership and it is the day a bishop seals one with gift of the Holy Spirit. 

Confirmation classes start in January, meeting an hour before Youth Group, and the Rite of Confirmation will take place at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City this May. Anyone interested in Confirmation in the Spring of 2023 should attend Youth Group meetings and activities. For information about Confirmation, please contact the Parish Office, info@stjohns1745.org.

This joint ministry with St. John's, Cold Spring Harbor and Trinity, Northport, of fostering relationships amongst young adults within our community is not a simple project, but one we’re willing to take on. We plan on starting slow this Fall with monthly brunches, the first Sunday of the month. This is geared towards young adults who are 21 and older. This will later be accompanied by Spirituality on Tap/Pub Theology events to be released at a later date.

For the Fall, the brunches will be:

• October 2^nd
• November 6^th

They will all start at 12:00pm, at different brunch locations throughout the township. 

Contact Fr. James at jreiss@stjohnshuntington.org to learn more and sign up for notifications.

St. John's Spirituality Group labyrinth walk will be on Saturday, October 8th. We will meet at St. John's at 10 am to carpool to St. Philip Neri Church in Northport to walk their labyrinth. Afterwards, we will have lunch in Northport. Everyone will pay for their own lunch. There is no cost for the labyrinth walk. 

To RSVP, please contact Patti Aliperti at silverymoon33@yahoo.com, or click on the following link to register:

LABYRINTH WALK REGISTRATION FORM

Please join us in the Canterbury Corner at 9:40 am for Sunday School! There is a remote, Zoom option, so please register your child to receive a weekly email with the link.

SUNDAY SCHOOL REGISTRATION FORM

SUNDAY SCHOOL CALENDAR

St. John's Chldren's Choir sings for special services during the year. If your child enjoys singing with others or solo, plays an instrument, or just loves to worship through song, please reach out to our music director, Alex Pryrodny at rurikbird@gmail.com, or use the following link to sign up:

SIGN UP FOR CHILDREN'S CHOIR

Bible Study meets Mondays at 6:30 pm and on Tuesdays at 11:00 am on Zoom with Fr. Duncan and Fr. John.

Monday Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83373971746

Tuesday Zoom link:https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82553627635

Knowing God in the Created World - For hundreds of years, people have wondered what we can know about God based on the evidence of the world in which we live. Prof. N.T. Wright asserts that to answer this question with fidelity requires putting Jesus back in the middle of the question. The line of thought explored in this course seeks to do just that.

To preview to the course go to:

https://www.udemy.com/course/knowing-god-in-the-created-world

Login: dbu632@gmail.com

Password: GodsLove12

Please join us at St. John's for Evensong, an ancient traditional Anglican/Episcopal service of evening prayers, psalms, biblical readings and canticles, chanted in a choral setting. In collaboration with Alex Pryrodny and St. John's Choir, Fr. James will officiate our monthly Service of Evensong on the fourth Thursday of the month. Please join us Thursday, October 20 at 7:00 pm in the church.

All are welcome! Join us to pray for our broken world in need of healing, through the gift of music!

Saturday, October 1st at 5:00 pm in the Garden of Blessings

We invite you and your leashed or small caged animal companions (or bring a photo of your pet) for a special blessing in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, Patron Saint of Animals. Join us in the Garden of Blessings. All are welcome!

St. John's Thrift Shop is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, & Saturdays, 12-3pm.

HELP! Volunteers continue to be needed - If you wish to become a volunteer, please contact Mary Beth Dieterle, (631) 427-1752, ext 106.

Donations welcome. We accept donations of new or gently used clothing, accessories, and household items. Please no books, furniture, out-dated electronics, or damaged items.

We believe that not only does Jesus still heal today, but that healing is one of the most powerful ministries of evangelization. Jesus never preached the Gospel of the kingdom of God without demonstrating the kingdom through signs, wonders, and miracles, with healing as the most frequent demonstration of God’s love.

Healing services at St. John’s will include a time of worship and praise, proclamation of the Gospel and preaching, corporate prayer for healing ending with individual prayer teams for healing. Come prepared for breakthrough!

Please join us for a safe and loving offering of prayer and healing on the following dates. All Services will begin at 7:00 p.m.

October 13

November 10

December 8: Special Blue Christmas Healing Liturgy

Wednesdays & Thursdays at 12 - 1pm

To continue to be welcoming neighbors in the village, St. John's Church opens its doors to Huntington during the week!

On Wednesdays - Noonday Prayer will start at 12:15 for any who are interested in attending this brief in person service.

On Thursdays - The sanctuary will be open for individual prayer and quiet contemplation. Our Music Director and Artist-in-Residence, Alex Pryrodny, will offer a brief interlude of contemplative music.

If any one feels called to join in this ministry and help expand it, please reach out to Fr. James at jreiss@stjohnshuntington.org . All are welcome!

Just a reminder that all parish events and building use must be submitted to the Parish Office. Notices for events to run in the Chalice, to post on the website and social media must be received by the Parish Administrator by noon on Tuesdays. We are looking to finalize the fall calendar to coordinated our many events and start to spread the word about all the great programs and ministries here at St. John's.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ST. JOHN'S CALENDAR

We pray for Susan, Jack, Charise, Spencer, Matt, Ernest, Sue, Wylie, Tom, Debra, Christina, Ursula, Victor, Melissa, Olivia, Annie, Tom, Allison, Chyah, Mary, James, Dylan, Jake, Jeff, Shannon, Kelsey, Justin, Patti, Richard, Cole, Edward, Christine, Fred, Patricia, Hal, Carmen, Ignacio, Anita, Amy, Katherine, Briton, Cheryl, Edith, George, Patty, Gabriel, Siobhan, Danielle, Matt, Jane, Harry, Denise, Barbara, Edith, Ana, Angel, Gladys, Richard, Christian, Anthony, Barbara

Altar flowers are given this week in loving memory of James D. Hockett by Sue Hockett.

Please send your prayers or updates to prayers@stjohns1745.org or call Coral in the Parish Office, 631-427-1752, ext. 101.