St. John's
is a thriving and growing parish. We are blessed with wonderful
Youth Group, who not only enjoy each other and their strong leadership.
but also enjoy serving, worshiping and learning more about God
and how He works in their lives. This summer the St. John's Youth
Group will be going on two mission trips, one to Ocean Grove,
N.J. and a second to the Appalachian Mountains; they have been
fundraising for both of these endeavours.
Our parish
has a fairly young median age, but we are blessed with quite a
few multi-generational families that have grown up in our parish.
How beautiful it is to see grandparents, parents and grandchildren
all attending Sunday Services together. We
recently hosted our third Newcomers Brunch, this time welcoming
32 new members who have joined us.
Also our Thursday
morning Eucharist, which is held at 10 a.m. continues to grow.
The liturgy and "coffee hour" afterwards has become
a great source of comfort and help to many.
Our Women's
Group, known as JOY Fellowship, are extremely active and work
together throughout the year to support outreach in their leadership
of the Holiday Bazaar. They have taken on their own particular
mission to support the Vincent De Paul Shelter, but their outreach
is certainly not limited to this project. They are supportive
of all the church endeavors and also have a lot of fun together.
The JOY Fellowship meets on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 7pm
in the parish hall.
Our Sunday
School - up to and including 5th grade, is also vibrant and involved.
Following church school on Sunday mornings, the children join
the Vicar for a Children's Homily, or a "Gathering of the
Children" as we call it, and then join their families for
the Holy Eucharist. The young children also look forward to taking
up the collection of food for the Talbot's Food Pantry each Sunday.
St. John's
is dedicated to mission and we continue to participate in the
cooking and serving of meals at the local Soup Kitchen, an ecumenical
project. The young people also take leadership in this event at
least two or three times a year.
We are excited
to have recently begun a new parish ministry; our Parish Nurses
Ministry, which is an extension of our wish to have a full caring
ministry for the people of our church. We have two registered
nurses and two licensed practical nurses who have taken the leadership
in this ministry, ready to help those who need them, doing regular
blood pressure screenings and offering at home help.
All of our
people in leadership roles (clergy, vestry members, youth leaders,
church school teachers and all church employees) have undergone
Safe Church Training, which has been a wonderful learning experience
for each one of them.
Our Vicar,
Audrey, who has been with us for three years, is supportive of
all our ministries and continues to look forward to leading us
as we continue to learn more of the all-encompassing love of God
in our own lives, in our parish, in our community and in the wider
world. Audrey has taken on the monthly Protestant Service at The
Pines in Bristol, and St. Johns parishioners join her for that.
Audrey's dog, Daisy, has also been specially invited and enjoys
the treats the patients give her!
We are a welcoming
community, excited about our journey of faith together and we
hope that you will consider joining us for worship and maybe a
cup of coffee after our service. We look forward to meeting you
and welcoming you to our parish family!
