9:00 a.m. – Holy Eucharist in the church followed by neighborhood veggie giveaway

5:00 p.m. – Holy Eucharist in the Cloister Garden

If you can, please stay for a short time after the 9 a.m. service to staff our giveaway table in front of the church, on the Farmington Avenue side of the property. It’s a great way to connect with neighbors and a great family activity — kids are welcome to help! Word has been spreading about this ministry, and we regularly have 15 or 20 people waiting for vegetables when the 9 a.m. service ends.

Anyone, age 8 and up, is welcome to experience the joy of singing in our choir during the month of August at our 9 a.m. service. This is a great opportunity to see what it is like to sing, without the commitment of a midweek rehearsal. A core of our regular choir members will be present and singing to help you feel confident and welcome.

Why try choir? Singing in the choir has benefits you may have not considered, other than the obvious — using your voice to express praise to God, at the same time helping those who hear you to praise and pray.

• Choir is an amazing, close-knit community

• Singing has proven health benefits, both physical and mental

• Best seat in the house on Sundays

• An activity that children and adults can do together

• Best robes in town!

Join us on any Sunday during August at 8:15 a.m. in the church for a brief rehearsal to learn the Offertory Anthem for the day. You can just show up, or contact Scott at [email protected] for details.

Teach Sunday School. The program year is just around the corner, and we are looking for a few more volunteers to teach! Teachers serve on alternating Sundays, and all materials are provided in advance. Training will be held on Sunday, September 8 after the 10:30 service. Interested? Contact Margie at [email protected] or 860-523-5201 x 312.

Purchase Blessing Bag items from our Amazon wish list. On Sunday, September 8, we’ll fill Blessing Bags to have on hand as the cooler weather arrives. Blessing Bags are given to people in need who come to the church asking for help, and contain toiletries, non-perishable snacks, and warm socks, gloves and hats. While we welcome donations of individual items (such as unused travel toiletries), the most cost-effective and efficient way for you to help is to order items in bulk from Amazon and have them shipped directly to the church. We’ve created a wish list for this purpose, which includes bulk packages of trial-size toiletries, single-serve snacks, and warm accessories for men and women. Go to http://a.co/1bLDv2Q, purchase one of our needed items, and it will automatically be shipped to the church and removed from the wish list.

Help in the community vegetable garden on Wednesday mornings. Our curate, Margie Baker, will be in the garden (which is out back, behind the sexton’s house) from 8 to 10 a.m. on Wednesday mornings, weather permitting. All are welcome to stop by (kids are welcome with an adult) to help weed, water and harvest. You don’t need to sign up ahead of time, and you don’t have to stay for the whole two hours. Just come on by in your gardening clothes, and stay for as long as you can! If you’d like to help but that’s not a good time, contact the parish office to make other arrangements.

Sign up to help prepare or serve food at the Community Block Party. We need people to bake treats ahead of time, as well as cook and serve hot dogs at the event. Sign up here: https://signup.com/go/YtgriwX.

Publicize the Community Block Party with a lawn sign in your yard. Lawn signs for this year’s block party will be available to pick up starting this Sunday. Please help spread the word by putting one in your yard, particularly if you live relatively near the church, and/or on a main street or corner lot where the sign will be highly visible.

Last week, Music Director and Organist Scott Lamlein gave a recital at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts. He is pictured here with Peter Niedmann, organist and music director at the First Church of Christ in Newington, and Christa Rakich, St. John’s organ-artist-in-residence. Scott performed pieces by both of them at the recital.