The latest from St. John's, Clearwater

St. John's Episcopal Church

To love, To serve, To grow in Christ

Sept. 17, 2026

The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

September 20, 2026

9:00 a.m.

Celebrant and Preacher: The Rev. Alicia Gomes
Jim May, Music Director
Lessons and YouTube link listed below.

Please enter the church quietly and spend time in prayer before the service.

Celebrating St. John's at 60

Thank you to everyone who joined in the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the first service of St. John's that was held 9/11/1966 at Belcher School. A special thank you to our Bishop Doug Scharf for being with us on this special day, for celebrating, preaching, and confirming Janice Boutin, St. John's, and Joree Jensen, St. Andrew's, Spring Hill.

The choirs, both vocal and bell, under the direction of Jim May, returned to rehearsals in August in order to provide beautiful music.

Thank you to Pastor Anne and St. Paul's Lutheran Church for the poster, the delicious cake, and for volunteering to worship off-site so that we could hold our service at 10.

The Parish Hall smelled wonderful when we entered, thanks to chefs Thomas Wats and Deb Hladky and her students from the culinary department of Leto High School. We were treated to several kinds of quiche and eggs benedict, just to mention a few of the many dishes. Thanks to everyone who set-up and cleaned-up.

It was a great celebration!

Replanting Pinellas Task Force

The Diocese is putting together a Task Force made up of 2 representatives from each of the 6 churches involved in the replant, as well as other clergy and community representatives.

What will the Task Force be doing?

Working closely with the Bishop and diocesan leaders to further refine timeline and goals, including transition planning for each congregation.
Creating a "Mission Statement" for Replanting Pinellas
Making recommendations regarding land use and future development opportunities
Designing and implementing a plan for building community and collaboration through prayer, worship and fellowship
Writing a prayer that can be prayed in the six congregations throughout the process.

If you are interested in being a part of the Task Force, below is a link to the application. The deadline for applying is September 30.

https://episcopalflorida.wufoo.com/forms/replanting-pinellas-task-force-application/

Blessing of our Pets - Saturday, October 3, 9 a.m.

Bring all your pets to be blessed in honor of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Invite friends and relatives who have pets - "all creatures great and small." . We will meet in front of the church.

Caregiver Support Group at St. Alfred's Episcopal Church

If you are caring for a loved one - a parent, spouse, child, or dear friend, regardless of their medical condition (dementia, disability, hospice, long-term recovery) who is caring for you? Providing support and care for a loved one can seem like an overwhelming job, but you are not alone. We are here to offer you support, understanding, learning and the hope you need to carry on with this difficult responsibility. The first group session will begin on Wednesday, September 23rd at 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in the Parish Library (Building D), at St. Alfred’s Episcopal Church, 1601 Curlew Road in Palm Harbor. We will continue meeting every Wednesday, same time, same place. For more information, contact Cindy at ar@stalfreds.net or call 727-785-1601.

Yom Kippur begins at sundown on Sunday

Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, marks the culmination of the 10 days of repentance that began on Rosh Hashanah and is when Jews reflect on their sins or wrongdoings from the previous year, ask for forgiveness, and think about how to improve in the new year. It is a day of fasting, and many Jews attend services at synagogues or other congregations, reciting prayers and singing songs.

Five distinct prayer services take place on Yom Kippur, and rabbis read from a special prayer book known as the machzor. The day is devoted to introspection, prayer and asking for forgiveness.

According to the Talmud, "Yom Kippur atones for sins done against God, but does not atone for sins done against other human beings until the other person has been appeased." Therefore, it is considered imperative to repair the harm that one has done to others before or during Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is described in the prayers as "a day of creating love and brotherhood, a day of abandoning jealousy and strife". It is said that "if one does not remove hatred [from their heart] on Yom Kippur, their prayers are not heard".

Yom Kippur is the most sacred day of the year in Judaism and even Jews who may not ordinarily observe other traditions often observe it.

Looking for a simple way to serve St. John's and the community?

Good Neighbors is in urgent need of strong, dependable volunteers to help receive, sort, and load food for our community. Even 1, 2, or 3 hours of your time can make a real difference in helping feed families, seniors, and children across Tampa Bay.

www.goodneighbors.org/volunteer-application-fl

St. John's is in need of ushers. The job consisists of arriving at 8:30 on Sunday, greeting people as they arrive, asking visitors to sign the guest book, handing out bulletins. taking up the offering, and guiding people to the communion rail. Training is provided, along with serving alongside an experienced usher. Contact Ellen Seto

There is a need for assistance for Sunday coffee hour - set up, clean up. There is also a need for "goodies" for coffee hour.

The Episcopal Zone

Altar Guild

The Altar Guild may be the hardest working group in a church. Organized for the purpose of preparing the altar for celebrations of the Eucharist, their work includes making sure that altar hangings are the right color, preparing the chalice, purificators, corporal and burse, and cleaning up afterwards. Members of the Altar Guild are a valuable resource for the parish, both for the work that they do and because they always have the best techniques for getting wine and lipstick stains out of fabric. Since they know where all the hangings, flower containers, and similar church furnishings are stored, they also are the ones who prepare the church for weddings, funerals, and other ceremonies.

Information taken from A New Dictionary for E-pis-co-pa-lains

St. John's Facebook Page and Website

Are you aware that St. John's has a Facebook page? As of today, our Facebook page has 751 followers! It grows weekly. Are you one of them? If not, please go to Facebook.com and search for St. John's Episcopal Church, Clearwater, FL. Then either "like" or "follow" the page. We post not only events of local interest, but also information from the wider Episcopal Church.

St. John's website, www.stjohnsclearwater.org, is one of the ways that we communicate who we are as a community. If you are interested in learning and helping with the website, please contact Jim May, jimmay.stjohns@gmail.com

Visit our Website

Scan the QR code below to make a donation to St. John's, via Faithstreet. Your generous donations help to continue our mission of loving and serving God in our community and the world.

Worship

Our services are live streamed on Facebook and YouTube. The YouTube link is listed below. For Facebook, go to the St. John's Facebook page and click on "videos".

The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

9:00 a.m.

Readings:

Exodus 16:2-15

Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45

Philippians 1:21-30

Matthew 20:1-16

Readers:

First Reading: Ellen Seto

Second Reading: Jessi Griffin

Prayers of the People: Peri Worrel

To watch on YouTube: Click HERE

Weekly Schedule

Choir Rehearsals

6:00 pm. Bell Choir

7:00 pm Vocal Choir

Thrift Shop schedule:

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday 9:30- 3:30

Wednesday Morning Bible Study -

10 a.m. in the Parish Hall; for more information, contact Charlie Stupia

Rug Hookers - Parish Hall

Thursdays 10:00 am.

Men's Cursillo Grouping- Parish Hall

Thursdays 7:00 am.

Dates for your Calendar

September 20 Yom Kippur

October 3 Blessing of Pets, 9 a.m., in front of the church

October 9-10 Diocesan Convention

October 13 56th Anniversary of the Dedication of our church building

November 11 Veteran's Day

November 26 Thanksgiving

Contact Information

Church Office: 727-531-6020, jandavis.stjohns@gmail.com

Priest: revalicia.stjohns@gmail.com

Senior Warden: seniorwarden2024.stjohns@gmail.com

VIEW ENTIRE MESSAGE

The eNews document is frequently cut off at a certain point to better fit on a page of your phone, tablet, etc. Please scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click on VIEW ENTIRE MESSAGE.

Hurricane Preparedness

It is important to us that we know your plans in case of a hurricane. Are you in an evacuation zone? Many zones have changed this year, so be sure to check on yours.If you are in an evac zone, will you evacuate and where will you go? If you aren't, can you take in a parishioner or two?

We also need your emergency contact, preferably someone who is not local and won't be afftected by a hurricane. Please fill out the form and return it to church or email it to jandavis.stjohns@gmail.com.

LINK TO FORM

Pinellas County now has an app that can be downloaded to your phone or computer which put all storm information such as zones, shelters, emergency response, and more at your finger tips. It can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play

CLICK HERE for the Ready Pinellas App information

CLICK HERE for The Pinellas County Hurricane Guide

eNews

What you would like to see in eNews? We need your input to keep it fresh and relevant. Is your ministry area doing something that you would like to share? Please send your news, ideas, articles, photos, etc. to me at seniorwarden2024.stjohns@gmail.com

The deadline submission for the Thursday enews is Wednesday noon.

Marlene Eichelberger