8:00 a.m. Spoken Holy Eucharist

9:30 a.m. Faith Forum: Dr. Ron Casey on anxiety, depression & suicide

10:30 a.m. Choral Holy Eucharist

Preacher: The Reverend Hope Eakins

The Grace Academy Girl Scouts will be selling cookies in Hubbard Hall after the 10:30 service. Cookies are $5/box, payable by cash or check. Grace Academy is a school for girls in Hartford and one of St. John’s community partners. Parishioner Mary Hardy leads the Girl Scout troop.

Click here for a service preview – Besides a preview of the service music and bulletin for upcoming services, this link also provides access to sermon texts, podcasts and live-stream service videos.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As many of you know, I’ve been away the last two weeks due to a family emergency involving the difficult and complex challenges that arise with serious illness.

With the compassionate support of Bishop Ian Douglas, our Wardens Buffy Ineson and Wes Winterbottom, our Priest Associates Bill and Hope Eakins, our Deacon Walter McKenney, and our outstanding staff, I plan to remain away for the next few weeks to assist my family during this most trying time. I am able to do this because we are extremely fortunate to have very talented leadership at St. John’s. You are in very good hands.

Each day, I give thanks for being part of our loving faith community. I ask you to please continue to hold us in prayer, knowing that God is very much present in our lives, holding it all, with the assurance of love and the peace that passes all understanding.

In deep gratitude for each and every one of you,

Susan+

This Sunday at 9:30 a.m., special guest Dr. Ron Casey will continue the conversation begun last Sunday about prevalent mental health concerns. Dr. Casey, consulting psychologist to the Episcopal Church in CT and a practicing therapist, believes that open and honest conversations are a first step toward addressing these difficult issues, which affect so many American families. Dr. Casey invites submission of questions ahead of time so he can steer the conversation toward issues of most concern to participants. To submit a question, email Ellen in the parish office. Questions will remain anonymous. Members of the public are welcome, so if you know someone who might benefit from these conversations, please invite them to join you.

Click on the image to see a brief video featuring Dr. Casey.

St. John’s will once again sponsor 60 children in the Nurturing Families Network with Christmas gift bags. You’re invited to pick up a tag with a child’s wish list, fill a gift bag with some items from the list, and make a child’s Christmas brighter! Sign-up sheets and gift tags will be available outside Hubbard Hall every Sunday in November. Please shop and place unwrapped items in a large gift bag or reusable shopping bag, then return your bag (labeled with the gift tag itself or its tracking number) to St. John’s by Monday, November 26. You may deliver your bag to the office during the week or to our gift bag table on Sunday mornings. Thanks in advance for your generosity! For more information, contact Jillian Puzzo at [email protected] or Leah Murchie at [email protected].

Sacred Circle is a small committed group of women who meet once a month to explore our relationship to the sacred and to honor the divine in everyday life. Our meeting this month will be on Tuesday, November 13 at 7 p.m. in the Reception Room. This month our topic will be “Practical Spiritual Practices.” We will explore how we can refocus during each busy day to reset, reframe, or refocus on God’s will for us. Please come. All women are welcome!

Putting the “men” in ecumenical since 2016. This week, we’re reading Matt 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-12. Thursday, 6:30 AM, Reception Room. Join us!

P.D. James’s novel The Children of Men will be the subject of an Advent book discussion. The story is filled with Advent’s themes: life and death, courage in the face of destruction, how to find hope even in darkness and loss, the enduring promises of God, and the miracle of the Word become flesh and dwelling among us. The novel is set in a future world where no children have been born for 25 years. This world is dispirited, without a reason to build libraries and museums, to compose poems or write books, to do research or care for gardens. People dream only of safety from crime, a full larder, and a peaceful death. In this bleak and cheerless place, the novel provides a surprising retelling of the Christmas story. The book is readily available from online retailers or your favorite book store. It is gripping, moves along quickly, and has contemporary relevance. So get reading and come and join Hope and Bill Eakins in the Reception Room from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. on December 16.

St. John’s community vegetable garden is featured in an article by Priest Associate Bill Eakins in the latest issue of Vestry Papers. Bill writes, “If, as Jesus commands, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, surely we have got to begin to know who those neighbors are. And our neighbors have got to begin to know who we are. The relationships that have begun at the vegetable table this summer are a step in that direction.” Read the entire article here.

On Sunday, November 11, 2018 from 12-4 p.m., all are invited to tour the interiors of six private homes in the “Vanderbilt Hill” neighborhood. This encompasses West Hill Drive and Walbridge Road, just a couple of blocks from St. John’s. The West Hartford House Tour is a fundraiser to benefit the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society, and will feature several homes that belong to St. John’s members. The event will close with a reception at St. John’s, including tours of the church and live piano music.

Tickets for the West Hartford House Tour are $30 in advance ($25 for museum members). Tickets are $35 after Friday, November 9 and at the door (tickets will be for sale the day of the event at 5 West Hill Drive and 28 Walbridge Road). Tickets to the reception at St. John’s Episcopal Church are $15 (purchase by Nov. 9). For tickets and additional information visit www.noahwebsterhouse.org or call (860) 521-5362. This event is held rain or shine.