Friday, October 16, 2026-----

This Sunday's Sermon: "The Two Great Certainties of Life:

Death and Taxes"

Sunday @ 10:00 am

In this Sunday's gospel (Matthew 22:15-22) Jesus is asked about paying taxes.

Join us in the pews, in the Zoom or streamed on facebook. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Zoom Meeting ID: 753 4674 0584 or Zoom in here.​ Preview the service here.

Trunk or Treat!

THIS SUNDAY, October 18 @ 3:00 pm

Wear your costume and join us for a unique Trunk or Treat experience! Follow the trail through the church building, out to the garden. Collect treats from decorated trunks along the winding path. End your journey in the laser swamp. (There are also rumors of an alien invasion!) 

"The best trunk or treat I've ever been to!"

- - overheard from a child at our 2025 event

Want to include your car in the "Trunk" portion of the event? Can you assist with greeting and directing people? Click here to sign up.

CAN YOU HELP SET UP ON SATURDAY? Decorator in Chief Chris Fischer needs some folks to help carry stuff in, hang stuff on the walls, cover the windows, inflate the crocodiles that will inhabit the swamp, etc. We will start about 10:00 am, finish when we're done. Click the same link to sign up!


Bring your friends! Here's a flyer to share. Questions? Please contact Ashleigh Altemann.

All Saints Day

Sunday, November 1

It has been our tradition at St. John to remember loved ones who have passed away in the past 12 months. Please use this form to send names of family members or friends whom you wish to remember to Marie in the church office by Monday, October 26.

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It also has been our practice to light a candle in memory of our loved ones during the service. If you are worshipping online, you may wish to have a candle available at home to light at the appropriate time.

Angels and All Saints

Sunday, November 8 @ 4:00 pm

All are welcome to enjoy this special concert in honor of All Saints Day, featuring ethereal music for violin, viola and keyboard. Come and be uplifted by heavenly masterpieces of the repertoire by Bach, Mozart, Debussy and others.

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Music is presented by Jerusha Taylor, violin; Jeffrey Wilkinson, viola; and Sean Michael Jackman, piano and organ.

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A reception follows the concert, hosted by Rebecca Parker, Julie Cyrus and friends. This event is FREE and open to everyone!


Invite your friends! Here's a flyer to share.

Quilters Need Fabric!

Did you see all the beautiful quilts that were blessed during the service last week? Those have all been made from donated fabric. But they need more! Do you have a box of fabric in your basement that you were planning on making into... um... can't remember? Do you have some GENTLY USED bedsheets taking up space in your linen closet? They make great quilt backs! Please bring them to church for the quilters. Anything they can't use will be found a good home. Contact Rebecca Parker if you have questions.

Where do you volunteer?

Pastor Mark and the Board would like to assess the impact of St. John on our local community, beyond what we do as a congregation. Do you volunteer for Neighborhood House? CARES? Your local school? Other organizations?

If you do, please send an email to Carole Pavolich and tell her what the organization is and what you do!

Could You be a Tutor?

School has started! Some children have not quite mastered the basic skills of the last grade before they are moved up to the next. As they get older, they will get farther and farther behind.

YOU CAN HELP! Join our tutoring program! Once a week for one hour, meet with a student after school to help them with their reading or math. They will reap huge benefits, and so will you! Contact Shirley George at 678-478-8642.

Church Directory App

Have you got the app? Go to Google Play or the App Store and download Instant Church Directory app. Follow the setup instructions and you will have an up-to-date directory at your fingertips!

Do we have your picture? If not, please send to Gilda Bingham.

THANK YOU!

Thanks to everyone who helped to make it another successful year for our Lutheran World Relief Kits project. We were able to assemble and send 152 School Kits and 108 Personal Care Kits. Our quilters were also able to make and send 24 quilts.

• Our Kit assemblers and packers this year were Elaine & George Anderson, Keven Blaker, Penny Brugman, Allan Charlton, Maria Gilligan, Marsha Grimstad, Sue Haapaniemi, Nancy Janik, Nancy &Al Leszczynski, Sue Lidums, Phyllis Ming, Patty, Bob and Rob Oates, Loraine Stear and Tom Taepke. Many thanks to all of these hard workers.
• Our Monday Morning Quilters were Penny Brugman, Maria Gillligan and Rebecca Parker. If you have a sewing machine, you should consider joining this group. You can work at home if you prefer.
• Thanks also to Peter Haapaniemi and Bob Oates for delivering all the boxes to Lutheran High Westland where they were loaded onto trucks to begin the next leg of their journey.
• We also thank Thrivent for their generous donation of a $250 gift card which was used to purchase notebooks and other school supplies.
• And a special thanks to all our diligent shoppers who go without individual recognition but without whom there would be no kits!

The First Thursday

Thursday, November 5
@ 6:00 pm

We gather on the first Thursday of each month for fellowship, food and conversation. Please bring:

• a dish to share
• a beverage
• friends! 

Support Our Neighbors in Need!

Thank you for your food/personal care/cleaning product contributions for our neighbors in need. Please continue to buy a couple of items each week and bring them to the shelf by the coffee area. If you are a Meijer shopper, they have gone to a pricing policy where you need to buy two (or 3) of an item to get a good sale price. Why not bring the extra? Thank you for your participation in this important ministry.

Your gifts are distributed through both CARES and Neighborhood House.

Men's Breakfast

Thursdays @ 7:00 am

All men are welcome! We gather every Thursday morning at 7:00 am for fellowship. We order breakfast at 8:00 and begin Bible study shortly after. Please join us at:

L. George's Restaurant

24250 Sinacola

Farmington 48335 map

Commemorations This Week

Saturday, October 17, 2026

Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, martyr, died around 115

Ignatius was the second bishop of Antioch in Syria, the city where the name "Christians" originated. Ignatius is known to us from his letters, which encouraged Christians to live in love, yet stand firm in true doctrine.

Sunday, October 18, 2026

Luke, Evangelist

Identified as the author of both Luke and Acts, Luke was careful to place the events of Jesus' life in their social and religious contexts. His gospel gives us some of the most beloved parables, as well as the songs of Zechariah, Mary, the angels, and Simeon.

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