I would like to thank all our parishioners who made this year deeply spiritual for one another. The Rev. Claire Mis, Deacon has certainly been an inspiration to all of us. Thank you to everyone who attended her ordination at the cathedral or on Zoom. Our Morning Prayer group mets every weekday at 9 AM and prayed for our friends, neighbors, and for all in need. Prayer is the foundation of everything we do at St. John’s. Thank you for your leadership, your generosity, your ministry, and your continued faith in Jesus Christ. We are very blessed by your presence. I would also like to thank Coral, who has done an outstanding job as our administrator, Alex our talented musician and choir director, Jen, our St. John’s Nursery School superintendent, and our warden, Scott, who has led this parish with our vestry and committee chairs. May God continue to bless your ministries!

This week our service times on Sunday are 8:00 am and 10:00 am and we will have our annual meeting after the late service. Please join us for our annual meeting on Zoom. We will elect two wardens and three vestry members. Please let me know if you would like to be a delegate to Diocesan Convention. Our theme for this year’s Annual Meeting is from Philippians 2:1-11. I ask you to read this passage before our service and Annual Meeting on Sunday and think about the question: “What does it mean to be of one mind in Jesus Christ?” My hope for the coming year is that you will deepen your faith and love in Jesus Christ and deepen your fellowship at St. John’s. Please live out your Baptismal Covenant by coming to church, worshiping with us on Zoom, helping those in need in our community, donating to our Thrift Shop, volunteering in our Thrift Shop, striving for justice by supporting our racial reconciliation and social justice committee, and getting involved in a ministry of St. John’s such as our Altar Guild.

I ask each committee to personally invite new members to join their group. If you are a new member or would like to help out please consider joining our Altar Guild, EFM, Racial Reconciliation and Justice Committee, HiHi, Thrift Shop, ECW, Lay Eucharistic Ministers, Youth Group, Christian Education, Readers, Spirituality Group, Nursery School Steering Committee, Ushers, Lay Eucharistic Visitors, Prayer Shawl Ministry, St. Hilda’s Guild, Laundry Love, or one of our other committees. Please talk to Deacon Claire about joining our mission team as we prepare for our trip to the Arizona border on October 24-31. In 2023 we will travel to Puerto Rico in early July and to Iona Scotland in the fall for a wonderful pilgrimage with Leslie Valentine.

Our Sunday school starts again next week at 9:45am in the St. Hilda’s Guild Room. 1^st Communion classes are beginning soon with Sue McGinnis on Wednesdays at 5:00 and 1^st Communion will be May 1st at the 10:00 service. Confirmation classes start on Sunday February 27th at 5:30pm. Confirmation is April 30^th at 10:00am at our Cathedral in Garden City.

Next Week, February 13th is the Souper Bowl of Caring and our Youth Group is collecting donations to fight hunger in the Huntington Community. Please donate for our local food pantries, bring in food for the Food Pantry, or drop off Feminine Products. If you are interested in volunteering for the Thrift shop on Tuesdays, Thursdays or Saturdays, please drop by from 12-3.

In Christ’s love,

Rev. Duncan Burns

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

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

Bulletin: Rite I HE Epiphany

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

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

Bulletin: Rite II HE Epiphany

All are welcome at Morning Prayer. We meet Monday through Friday at 9:00 am via Zoom.

Our short prayer service is followed by some fellowship and discussion. Feel free to join us occassionally to listen and pray, or come more often to participate as a leader or reader, and to start your day with your focus on Christ and a deeper connection with your friends at St. John's.

Join us via Zoom (NEW LINK): https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86041146543

The Annual Meeting will take place on Sunday, February 6, 2022 at 11:15 am via Zoom immediately following the 10:00 am service.

Please use the following Zoom Link (same at 10am service):

“February was chosen primarily because the second week of the month coincides with the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Lincoln was influential in the emancipation of slaves, and Douglass, a former slave, was a prominent leader in the abolitionist movement, which fought to end slavery.

“It was Carter G. Woodson, the "father of Black history," who first set out in 1926 to designate a time to promote and educate people about Black history and culture, according to W. Marvin Dulaney. He is a historian and the president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). Woodson envisioned a weeklong celebration to encourage the coordinated teaching of Black history in public schools. He designated the second week of February as Negro History Week.”

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/02/01/1075623826/why-is-february-black-history-month 

“(February 14, 1760 – March 26, 1831) was a minister, educator, writer, and one of America's most active and influential Black leaders. In 1794, he founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), the first independent Black denomination in the United States. He opened his first AME church in 1794 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[2]

“He was born into slavery on February 14, 1760, on the Delaware property of Benjamin Chew. When he was a child, Allen and his family were sold to Stokley Sturgis, who had a plantation. Because of financial problems he sold Richard's mother and two of his five siblings. Allen had an older brother and sister left with him and the three began to attend meetings of the local Methodist Society, which was welcoming to enslaved and free Black people. They were encouraged by their master Sturgis although he was unconverted. Richard taught himself to read and write. He joined the Methodists at 17. He began evangelizing and attracted criticism from local slave owners. The slave owners were angered by his actions. Allen and his brother redoubled their efforts for Sturgis so that no one could say enslaved people did not do well because of religion.”

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Allen_(bishop)

LOCAL HISTORY NOTE: The Bethel AME Church, located on Park Avenue across from Huntington Hospital, is the oldest African American Church in Huntington, having been founded in 1843. The first Bethel church was in a building that was purchased from the Huntington Methodist Church on property that was adjacent to the cemetery of St. John’s Episcopal Church of Huntington.

(Source:https://www.huntingtonny.gov/filestorage/13747/99540/16499/Bethel_A.M.E._Church.pdf) 

If you are interested in exploring your spirituality and deepening your connection to others, consider joining us. To find out more about SJSG, contact Patti Aliperti (silverymoon33@yahoo.com). 

Souper Bowl Sunday collection will be taken up on Sunday, February 13th.

Each year on Super Bowl Sunday, the Youth Group asks parishioners to make a donation to the "Souper Bowl of Caring" to help fight hunger here in the Huntington community. Please donate non-perishable food or feminine hygiene products for our local food pantries. Cash donations in any amount are also appreciated.

On Thursday, February 24th at 7 pm, Town of Huntington Historian, Robert C. Hughes, will present "African American History in Huntington." St. John's Racial Reconciliation & Social Justice Ministry invites you to join us for this informative event on Zoom.

Please contact Heather Kress (hkress44@gmail.com) if you have any questions about this event or St. John's RR&SJM many initiatives.

Giving envolopes are here! They are available for pick up at the back of the church for those who have requested them. If you are unable to pick up your envelopes, we can make arrangements to have them delivered, just let us know.

Giving numbers are still available, so if you would like 2022 envelopes or have any questions, please contact Coral in the Parish Office.

First Holy Communion will take place on Sunday, May 1, 2022 for children 2nd grade and above. First Communion classes will meet on Wednesdays at 5 pm via Zoom beginning March 2, 2022.

If you are interested in First Holy Communion for your child, download the registration form by using the link below. Forms are also available at the back of the church. Please return these to the parish office as soon as possible with proof of Baptism. If you have any questions about First Communion, please feel free to reach out to Fr. Duncan or the Parish Office.

Confirmation classes will meet on Sundays at 5:30 pm via Zoom beginning February 27, 2022 for children 7th grade and above. We are planning on a Confirmation date of April 30, 2022 at 11:00 am at the Catherdral of the Incarnation in Garden City.

If your child is interested in Confirmation, download the registration form using the link below and return it to the parish office with proof of Baptism as soon as possible. Forms are also available at the back of the church. If you have any questions about Confirmation, please reach out to Fr. Duncan or the Parish Office.

March 2, 2022 at 7:00 pm

Lenten Series- "Living Beyond the Borders"

The Rev. Canon David Ulloa Chavez, Canon for Border Ministries for the Diocese of Arizona, will lead a five-part series referencing the book The US Immigration Crisis by Miquel de la Torre. For our 2022 Lenten Series we will partner with St. Francis of the Valley. The program will be offered at 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm to accommodate our different time zones. You are welcome to join at either time. At St. John's, we will begin with Stations of the Cross at 6:00 pm, Evening Prayer at 6:30 pm. The program will be from 7:00-8:30 pm.

Lenten Retreat - Quiet Day with Bishop Wolf

Bible Study meets on Mondays at 6:30 pm and Tuesdays at 11:00 am. The topics covered on Monday will also be covered on Tuesday of the same week.

Zoom Link for Mondays at 6:30 pm - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83373971746

Zoom Link for Tuesdays at 11:00 am - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88183382184

More copies of the book, Paul for Everyone: the Prison Letters by N. T. Wright will be available in the Parish Office on Thursday, January 6th. It is also available at amazon.com in paperback or Kindle versions:

We are also referencing an online program, "Paul and His Letter to the Philippians" at Udemy.com. Here is the log in information if you would like to review them before we meet:

October 24 – 31 2022   

OUTREACH is sharing Christ’s love with all our neighbors! 

All are welcome to attend 

Times: Either 1:00 pm or 7:00 pm

Book: The US Immigration Crisis by Miguel de la Torre

St. John's Prayer Shawl Ministry meets on the 2nd Thursday of each month. Please contact Noelle DeLorenzo (ndelorenzo217@gmail.com) for the Zoom link to join this group.

Your stewardship is a commitment to sustaining St. John’s ministry today and going forward.

Pledge cards are available in the pews and at the back of the church. You may also submit your pledge online using our online pledge form. You may send your regular stewardship payments in the mail, leave them in the collection plate on Sundays, or set up automatic, recurring payments online.

If you would like to remember a loved one or give thanks for an important event with altar flowers or Perpetual Light, please complete an Altar Flower Form and return it to the Parish Office with your check made payable to "St. John's Altar Guild."

We pray for the sick: Fred, Lynn, Jackie, Manny, Cory, Richard, Barbara, Edward, Christine, Patricia, Alberta, Patti, Tom, Allison, Mike, Joann, Patti, Christian, Anthony, Joanne, Harry, Christine, Frank, Theresa, Sue, Spencer, Tom, Stephanie, Matt, Wylie, Susan, Maggie, Ursula, Christina, Bill, Amy, Kate, Cheryl, John Michael, Lauren, Mikey, Marie, Dianne, Ryan, Rich, Preston, Lucy, Irene, Jim, Debra, Rhys, David, Denise, William, Walter, Belle, Jackie, Hal, Ann, Gus, Peter, Diane, David, Irene, Hope, Mike, Michael, Leslie, Jill, Patricia, Doug, Amelia, Dan, Linda, Georgine, Gabe, Janet

Please to add or remove someone from our prayer list, please email prayers@stjohns1745.org or call Coral in the Parish Office, .

For pastoral care and prayer, please contact Fr. Duncan or Claire Mis, directly.