Vol. 80 Issue 6 | Week of February 7-13, 2022 |
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Celebrating Youth Sunday
February 13, 2022
Hearing God’s Message of Unity through Diverse Voices
This Sunday, our youth will lead every aspect of worship. Throughout our first century, we have consistently valued our youth and their families. We not only see our youth as the Church of tomorrow; we see them as part of today’s Church. As we look at the world through local and global eyes, we do so intergenerationally!
Please be present to support these young people. I am so proud of them and the adults who are guiding them. They have put in hours of preparation. Some parents of youth and ministers have worked with them. The youth have written a new song with Kevin entitled, We Are One.
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They will call us to worship, read scriptures, lead us in prayers, receive our tithes and offerings, provide a story for our children, and proclaim the sermons. They will also be at the exit doors following worship to receive our gifts to the Souper Bowl of Caring. This year’s proceeds will be given to Charlotte Rescue Mission. More than twenty of our youth will have leadership roles in Sunday’s worship.
Please wear BRIGHT COLORS to celebrate with them. Socks, ties, dresses, jewelry, blouses, accessories...anything colorful and bright.
Our worship theme calls us to remember how God creates unity out of diversity. Uniformity is the opposite of unity. Each voice, each life is to be valued, embraced, and included as we live in the world as God’s people. Ours is a communal faith, not an individualistic one. Our individuality is expressed as diversity through our unity in Jesus Christ. This Sunday, our youth will help us remember this foundational truth in the sanctuary.
See you there.
Shalom,
Dennis
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Welcoming Rev. Jonathan Lee Walton, PhD
We are a founding church for Wake Forest University School of Divinity and are privileged to welcome the Dean of the School of Divinity, Rev. Jonathan Lee Walton, PhD, into the St. John’s Pulpit on Sunday, February 20.
We look forward to welcoming Dean Walton to St. John's on February 20!
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36th Annual Elizabeth 8K Road Race
Register TODAY to run in this year's Elizabeth 8K Road Race through the beautiful Elizabeth neighborhood that surrounds St. John's!
Interested in a code to register for FREE or at a discount? All codes are first come first serve. Contact Mallory Brown for more info!
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From the Heritage Room – Youth Sunday and The Jerusalem Bible
For almost 75 years, St. John's has recognized the difference that our Youth make in our community of faith by setting aside one Sunday in February as Youth Sunday. On that day, the Youth Ministers for the day sign the pulpit Bible.
From 1947 to 1974, there was a different Bible - an olive wood-covered Bible that Dr. Claude Broach purchased in Jerusalem in 1937. After Dr. Broach preached his last sermon before retiring as Senior Minister in 1974, he called a nine-year-old member of the church to the pulpit and gave him the Bible as a symbol of his trust and confidence in the future of St. John's.
This Bible was returned to the church several years ago by the recipient along with a letter expressing what having and holding the Bible for the church has meant to him as well as reiterating the continued optimism in youth and the future of St. John's which Dr. Broach intended it to represent.
The Bible is now on a stand in the break-front cabinet at the end of the hallway behind the sanctuary The letter that accompanied the Bible is also in the cabinet.
Thanks again to that 9-year-old, Lee Hogewood, son of Ashley and Wanny Hogewood, for returning this Bible to us such that it can continue to be a symbol of optimism to the ways in which St. John's makes a difference in the lives of our members and others in our community.
Note—After Dr. Broach’s gift to Lee of the Jerusalem Bible, a new Bible was acquired and used on subsequent Youth Sundays. This Bible will be used in the Youth Sunday service this coming Sunday.
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Room in the Inn 2022
Room in the Inn (RITI) at St. John's begins a limited-edition rollout (with our partners from Caldwell Presbyterian) on two SATURDAY nights in February and on four FRIDAY nights in March.
The first RITI hosting night at St. John’s will be SATURDAY, February 19.
We have several of our volunteer slots filled now but we're looking for a few more volunteers to help with setup (on 3/4 and 3/18) or to be overnight hosts (on 2/19 and 3/18). We also need laundry delivery assistants (on 3/18). This season, laundry assistants are asked to either take our weekly dirty laundry collection to Hope Haven (located at 3815 North Tryon Street) for cleaning on Monday OR to pickup/deliver the clean bed linens to the RITI closet in the gym later in the week.
Note that ALL eight homeless neighbors we will house weekly are FULLY vaccinated and vetted by Roof Above. Masking and social distancing will be enforced each week.
If you are available to help, sign up by clicking on the Signup Genius link below:
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The Wholeness of God: God Beyond Gender
Women's Retreat, March 4-5, 2022
Women of all ages are invited to participate in this year's Women's Retreat on March 4-5 in Broach Hall at St. John's! This year, our facilitator will be our own, beloved, Martha Kearse, D.Min.! Dr. Kearse will be our guide through the retreat as we explore the Wholeness of God: God Beyond Gender.
Beginning at 6:30pm until 9:00pm on Friday, March 4 and going from 9:00am-3:30pm on Saturday, March 5, we will gather to travel from the ways God has been historically presented through the traditional, patriarchal language, into the under-represented feminine expression of Divine Wisdom, and ultimately beyond either of these dualities of God. We will consider how God is far beyond our conception of male or female and yet inherently expressed through infinite, individualized versions of being human.
The registration cost is $40 and we ask that you please register on Realm by February 25! If you need assistance registering, please contact Mallory Brown at 704-477-3349 or mbrown@sjcharlotte.org. When you register on Realm, be sure to click through each of the steps of the registration process. You are successfully registered when you receive a confirmation email.
Register at the button below!
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Prayer Concerns, Thanks, Sympathy |
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Shirley Ballard, Katherine Barr, Tamara Edwards, Caroline Godsey, Bill Hartsell, Ken Hungate
Maddie Minogue, Tish Philemon, Carole Ann Simpson, Jerry Stephens, Don Swofford,
Elma Thomas, Dee Turner
Sympathy to Kim Allen in the passing of her father, Fred Pendley, on February 5
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Financial Ministry Plan Report |
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Week of February 1-7: $23,293
Income through February 7: $130,922
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You can make contributions, view your giving history and pledge status, as well as update your pledge and giving information anytime by accessing your personal Realm profile online or via the Connect App. |
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Ministers On-Call Schedule
Feb. 7-13- Lee Gray
Feb. 14-20- Allison Benfield
Feb. 21-27- Dennis Foust
Staff Contact Information
Dennis Foust, Senior Minister - 704-359-7234 (cell); 704-333-5428, ext. 12
Lee Gray, Minister for Congregational Care - 704-451-1309 (cell); 704-333-5428, ext. 15
Allison Benfield, Minister for Spiritual Growth - 828-448-8412 (cell); 704-333-5428, ext. 18
Kevin Gray, Minister for Music and Worship - 803-524-0287 (cell); 704-333-5428, ext. 14
Jacquelyn McAbee, Church Administrator - 434-579-1177 (cell); 704-333-5428, ext. 20
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