Annual Parish Meeting

December 15, 9-9:45 a.m.

Parish Hall

Live streamed on YouTube.

Click here to watch.

Click here to read the 2024 Annual Report.

Join us for our annual meeting and for Eric’s State of the Parish talk, and cast your vote for this coming year’s vestry slate.

Join us at St. John’s for parking, chocolate chip cookies, and hot chocolate!

The Roanoke Christmas parade starts tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.

Jefferson will be closed for the parade, but our parking lots along Mountain will be available. This will give you a great place to park, enjoy watching the parade from the Jefferson Parking lot, and share in cookies and hot chocolate, as well as restroom access for yourself and the community.

Hope to see you there!

Christmas at St. John’s

Children’s Christmas Pageant

Sunday, December 22 at 5 p.m.*

Christmas Eve

Tuesday, December 24

4 p.m. Family Holy Eucharist, Rite II * 

5:45 p.m. Festival Music for Christmas Eve 

6 p.m. Festival Holy Eucharist, Rite II * 

 9:45 p.m. Festival Music for Christmas Eve

10 p.m. Festival Holy Eucharist, Rite II

Christmas Day

Wednesday, December 25

10 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite II

First Sunday After Christmas

Sunday, December 29

10 a.m. Lessons and Carols with Eucharist *

* Child Care Center open

St. John's Book Club

The St. John's Book Club will meet the first Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the conference room to discuss each book. All are welcome.

January 2: The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

February 6: Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

March 6: Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

Contact the Rev. Mary Mackin mkruetten@gmail.com for more information.

Meal Ministry

Do you know someone in the church who would appreciate some meals delivered to them (and their family)? Are they recovering from a hospital stay, illness, or grieving? Or would meals be helpful to you? Please reach out to Ann Marie Wood (amwood2@cox.net) or Alison Blanton (alisonsblanton@gmail.com)  so the St. John’s Meal Ministry Team can deliver some meals and ease your burden for a couple of weeks.

Eucharistic Visits

If you are unable to come to church and would like to have communion brought to you, please contact Kristi Brown in the Church office. (540-343-9341)

Parish Directory Now Available

The parish directory is now available. We have upgraded our parish software, which allows us to provide you with a printed and online pictorial directory. Click this link to get started. Once you are on the website, click the link next to, "Need a login?" Your e-mail address is the one we have on file. Enter your e-mail and name and you will be prompted to create a password. If you have the ChurchLife app, use the newly created login to gain access. The app is only available on the Apple App Store. For those without the app, bookmark the link above to view the browser version of the directory. Paper copies of the directory are available in the Parish Office.

We still need pictures and updated information for the directory. Please visit stjohnsroanoke.org/parish-directory-form to fill out your information. It is important for us to have your correct addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses. You can upload the photo of your choice for the pictorial directory as well. If you do not have online access you may contact Kristi Brown at 540-343-9341 or kbrown@stjohnsroanoke.org to be sure your information we have on file is current.

St. John’s 2025 Women’s Retreat: Finding God in the Wilderness

Where: Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing, New Castle, Virginia

(40 minutes from Roanoke)

When: March 7- March 9, 2025 (Friday evening to Sunday midday)

Cost: $224/person (includes 2 full breakfasts, two dinners, and a lunch). Scholarships are available.

We will be staying in the gorgeous main lodge), with its large fireplace, sitting areas, breakout rooms, extensive dining room, huge wraparound porch overlooking the pond, creek, and fields. Wilderness Adventures is on 500 gorgeous acres, so there will be plenty of wilderness to enjoy and rest and relax in!

Register today at the following link:

https://www.cognitoforms.com/StJohnsEpiscopalChurch1/WomensRetreat2025MeetingGodInTheWilderness

To help us plan, please register as soon as possible.

The women’s retreat is open to all. If you have friends who’d like to join (including friends who do not attend St. John’s), please invite them!

Don’t hesitate to reach out to one of us with any questions or ideas. We look forward to a wonderful weekend with you.

Shelley Long, Stace Todd, Chesley Fobare, Chrissy Oiler

St. John’s Women’s Retreat Planning Team

Vision Statement

Honoring and preserving this sacred place for remembrance and reflection

Mission Statement

To restore, reclaim, and maintain the Old Lick Cemetery and provide a place for visitors to learn, remember, and reflect on the people buried here and the injustice to those removed

Saturday, December 14 at 10 am Friends of Old Lick Cemetery Clean up Day

We will work this upcoming Saturday from 10:00-12:00. The weather looks chilly (high 30s) but clear. We will haul any remaining brush and logs from last month's workday as well as any fallen limbs from all the recent wind.

It is exciting to be moving towards a new focus.

· Remove small stumps

· Work on grading, widening, and preparing the path for railroad tie stairs to ease the entrance to the top of the hill

· Work to set and level some of the headstones that are further back in what used to be the brush

· Bring shovels and picks  

We greatly appreciate your support and prayers!

***

2024 at Old Lick Cemetery has been a fantastic year for us! We were very busy with becoming an official Association with an executive board, making amazing progress clearing the wooded areas, cutting a new access trail, cleaning and straightening over twenty headstones, documenting the lives of many beloved souls buried in the cemetery, creating a FaceBook page, having articles/segments in all of the local print and online newspapers plus WDBJ7 and WSLS 10 spotlighting our work.

We look at 2025 with excitement and anticipation as we prepare for a Capital Campaign, the installation of a meditation area with benches and a narrative sign, a new entrance sign with a Crepe Myrtle bush, and replacing the existing fence with attractive black metal fencing, and adding butterfly bushes.

As you prepare for the end of 2024, we are asking for you to consider Friends of Old Lick Cemetery when making end of the year donations. Our partners and friends at Points of Diversity have managed an account for us for the past three years. Donations need to go into the POD account. Details below will guide you through options for supporting Friends of Old Lick Cemetery with any contribution you are able to make.

Write a check to POINTS OF DIVERSITY and write on the memo line Donation for Friends of Old Lick Cemetery 

Mail your check to:

Points of Diversity

2389 Howard RD SW

Roanoke, VA 24015

OR

Make an Electronic Donation at https://www.pointsofdiversity.org/donate

• You will be directed to the Donation Page of their website.
• Click the DONATE button at the bottom of that page.
• Place the amount you wish to donate in the AMOUNT space.
• IMPORTANT...Type: Donation for Friends of Old Lick Cemetery in the "Write a Note Box" so that your donation will go into the Friends of Old Lick Cemetery Fund that Points of Diversity manages for our organization. 

I will be notified of this donation (electronic or by mailed check) and send you a letter of recognition to apply to your 2024 taxable donations for the IRS.  

We are so very blessed with faithful volunteers and the prayers and support of many partners both near and far. Thank you to all of you.

May your holiday season be joyful and carry you into 2025 with good health and peace.  



Gratefully yours,

Ellen

Click here for more information and to register.

Register Online at: 

www.christroanoke.org    OR  https://cec1101franklin.wufoo.com/forms/qtxmpac0j865at

Questions? Contact Virginia Sweet: Virginiasweet2010@gmail.com

Dear friends at St John's,

I want to let you know that I published a book this year through Church Publishing, the Episcopal publishing house. Blessings for your Students: Prayers for Interfaith Communities in Higher Education(2024) is a collection of prayers and blessings written over my career as a university chaplain. Originally aimed to the needs of students, I realized that they are prayers for all of us, in many different contexts and settings. I want to invite you to find and enjoy the book. You can access them at church publishing.org, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other book sellers. It was endorsed by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, among others.

It is the gift giving season, and these books make wonderful gifts for your friends and family who are spiritually inclusive and motivated by wonder.  

If you want signed copies, I can mail you books for the cost and mailing fees ($29.63). Church publishing (churchpublishing.org) has a Christmas promotion of the book using the code HOLIDAY25 at the check out until December 31.

Many readers have enjoyed the book and I believe you will too!

Blessings on all of you!

The Rev. Dr. Jan Fuller

Co-Director, Master of Arts in Chaplaincy, Hartford International University

Elon University Chaplain, Dean of Multifaith Engagement, Emeritx

Author of Blessings for your Students: Prayers for Interfaith Communities in Higher Education

St. John's Episcopal Church

The Corner of Jefferson and Elm

stjohnsroanoke.org

Roanoke, Virginia, 24016

Connect with us