Saturday, March 28, 2020
Please Note: This is a reissue due to the incorrect link for the Sunday bulletin. Thank you!
During this week we have sadly heard of the deaths of several folks near and dear to St. John's hearts: Diane Stopa, sister of Maureen Ekberg; David Schunk, uncle-in-law of Chelsea DiDonato; and former parishioner JoAnn Greenwood who died in Mexico. JoAnn designed the St. John's Memorial Garden and her husband James Kennish was buried there in 2007. Please keep Diane, David, JoAnn and all of their families in your prayers. May their souls, and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

In our time apart we also ask for your prayers for all on the St. John's Home Prayer List: Fred Andrew, Kathy Arthur, Bearl Bellows, Catherine and Nancy Bourassa, Oscar Buracchi, Matheus Burke, Ray Burke, Fenna Calder and family, Sally Cody, Marion Cloonan, Vickie Corbett, Tony Custodio, Brenda Crawford, Laurie Daniels, Terri and Tony Easter, Bill Eubelhoer, Anne Ide, Adele and Terry Jackson, Dan Kucharski, Linda Lynch, Ed Marlowe, Gail Overbeck, Hannah Roemhild, Ray and Pam Ryan, John Schumacher, Rob Shurer, Trudy and Donna Smith, Tim Tittle, William Wallase, and Ken Way, Sean and Jessica Wheeldon.
Our Sunday service will again be live-streamed at 10 a.m. via the St. John's Youtube channel. You can find our Youtube channel here or go to the https://www.stjohnsessex.org/. There will also be a service bulletin link on the website. Thanks to Fr. Benjamin, we have made some improvements to sound and quality of image. Let us know how this works for you. We will continue to live-stream the midweek Wednesday service at 9 a.m. on Wednesdays.
9:00 Family and Church School Offering!
This week we have a new offering for our younger Church School children and families. St. John's has secured a Zoom account, and we are excited that some gatherings can now be offered via Zoom. At 9 a.m. on Sunday, March 29, Becky Honan will offer a Church School lesson along with Fr. Benjamin's giving a children's sermon on the story of the rising of Lazarus. Becky is sending the Zoom instructions to families, so please check your email and be sure to tune in!
The Discernment Committee will be trying out Zoom conferencing for their Discernment Discussion gatherings. This coming week the Committee will experiment with a small group of parishioners who had originally signed up to gather on March 16, March 22 or March 29. They are contacting folks to volunteer to try on this technology which makes it possible to have a face to face conversation electronically. There will be more to come on this, so stay tuned. 
Join the Contemplative Prayer Group!

The Contemplative Prayer Group normally meets on Wednesday nights at 5 p.m. in the Sanctuary. This week, members met via Zoom conferencing which allowed them to be together in a new holy space. If you are interested in joining them via Zoom, please contact Chelsea at chelsea@stjohnsessex.org and she will put you in contact with the group.
Bishops Laura and Ian Issued New Update on COVID-19

Bishops Laura and Ian issued an update late Friday—COVID-19 Update #5. You can read the entire communication by linking here: ECCT Update: Covid-19 Update #5. All of their updates can be found on the ECCT website at www.episcopalct.org along with any recent COVID-19 resources. The Bishops continue to prayerfully write about the growing health tragedies with this virus as well as the critical economic hardships this virus poses for all in our world, our local communities, our parishes, and our parishioners.

The Bishops are following Governor Lamont's Executive Order of March 26, 2020, which restricts social and recreational gatherings to no more than 5 people. We will comply with their request of us to do all in our power to "stay home and safe." They join us in the disappointment and sorrow of not being able to worship in person, especially during Holy Week and Easter. The Bishops are planning to offer online worship services for Holy Week and Easter for diocesan-wide participation. There will be much more to come on this, and we will keep you advised.

Please know that Linda+ (860-559-5070) and Fr. Benjamin (614-561-8913) are here to help in any way that we can, even though we are physically apart from you. Continue to stay safe by social-distancing and staying home. We appreciate you're keeping your pledge current by mailing in your check to the office as you are able. Know that we are regularly getting mail and making deposits.

Please continue to keep all in your prayers who are impacted by COVID-19 throughout our world, in our country, in our state, in our parishes, and in our own community of St. John's.