8:00 a.m. – Spoken Holy Eucharist

9:30 a.m. – Sunday School & Faith Forum: Prayer as “Holy Navigation”

10:30 a.m. – Choral Holy Eucharist sung by the Adult Choir,

sermon by the Rev’d Hope Eakins

12:00 p.m. – Lunch Lecture Series Part 2 – Please RSVP (details below)

12:00 p.m. – Acolyte Training (with lunch) followed by Acolyte Olympics

Not so! Continue your education and deepen your faith every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. at the Faith Forum in Hubbard Hall. Topics and formats are varied, and coffee and bagels are provided. Join us!

This Sunday, September 29: Prayer as “Holy Navigation”

This week’s Faith Forum features our rector, Susan Pinkerton, continuing our “journeys of faith” theme by discussing the role that prayer can play in guiding our lives and decisions.

Next Sunday, October 6: St. John’s ESOL partnership

Our special guests will be Andy Tyskiewicz, program director for the Town of West Hartford’s ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes, including the classes held here at St. John’s. Andy will be joined by two students who participate in the St. John’s ESOL program; they will share how this program is improving lives and some exciting plans for the future.

St. John’s will host a three-part luncheon lecture series on The Art & Architecture of Faith, at which Michael J. Crosbie, Ph.D., FAIA, will offer a series of presentations on the roles that architecture and art play in the lives of faith communities. Dr. Crosbie is professor of architecture at the University of Hartford’s College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture, and former chair of the Department of Architecture and associate dean. He is editor-in-chief of Faith & Form, a quarterly journal on religious art and architecture. He is also a frequent contributor to Architectural Record and writes about architecture and design for the Hartford Courant.

Dr. Crosbie’s programs will continue after the 10:30 service on September 29 and October 6, in Hubbard Hall. Lunch will be served free of charge, with donations accepted. Please RSVP to the parish office so we have an accurate count for lunch, and invite a friend!

Acolyte Training is scheduled for this Sunday, September 29 from 12:00-2:00. Lunch will be provided. New and returning acolytes should attend! Children and Youth grades 5-12 are eligible to acolyte. Acolytes serve on a rotating basis at the 10:30 service and at other important services throughout the church year.

After Acolyte Training, stick around for ACOLYTE OLYMPICS with the EYC, from 2PM to 4PM. You do not have to be an acolyte to come to Acolyte Olympics! It will be silly and fun.

Please RSVP for the acolyte training using this form. The RSVP form also includes a poll where you can give your Sunday availability from September through January, to help with acolyte scheduling.

Blessing of the Animals, Sunday, October 6, 10:30 a.m.

Next Sunday’s 10:30 a.m. service will honor St. Francis of Assisi with a Blessing of the Animals. Bring your pet for a blessing; stuffed animals and photos of beloved pets are also welcome. For everyone’s safety, please bring your pet with a leash or crate.

Celtic Contemplative Service, Sunday, October 6, 4:30 p.m.

The monthly Celtic service resumes on the first Sunday of October at 4:30 p.m. Celtic services include prayer, reflection, live music from a variety of traditions, and chant. The service begins with an extended period of silence.

WeHa Youth Group, Sunday, October 6, 5 to 7 p.m.

On the first Sunday of the month, St. John’s youth group pairs up with Westminster Presbyterian and First Congregational Church for fellowship and service. This month, we will meet at Westminster Presbyterian (Farmington Ave. and Mountain Rd., West Hartford) for Christmas in October! We will eat, play games, and also make Christmas cards for veterans, to be delivered in December by the Red Cross. Bring a friend!

We meet every Thursday, 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. in the Reception Room. This fall, we will be studying the life and story of David in 1 and 2 Samuel. Gentlemen, start your day out right; join us!

Sign up to provide a meal for the EYC (Episcopal Youth Community). We also need volunteers to be present during EYC (5-7 pm most Sundays). Here is a link to the sign up. It’s a fantastic way to support our teens!

We are still giving away vegetables from our community garden on Sundays, after the 10:30 service, until the growing season ends. Please stay and help out — we regularly have a dozen or more people waiting to receive veggies, and it only takes 20 or 30 minutes to give out everything we have. If you have an abundance of vegetables from your own garden, you’re welcome to bring them to church and add them to the giveaway!

Join the all parish Dine Around! Friday, October 18 at 6:30 p.m. All parishioners are invited to enjoy casual potluck dinners at the home of a fellow parishioner. There will be 5 locations – 4 homes and 1 gathering at St. John’s (for families of young children or those who wish to join that group.). Please sign up at the coffee hour or call the parish office to sign up. You will be asked to bring a side dish by your dinner host. *Transportation can be arranged for those who need it. Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity for fellowship and fun!

Join fellow parishioners on Sunday, October 20th at 9:30 a.m. in Hubbard Hall, to share what St. John’s means to you, and why you give to the church. We are now in our 3rd year of a new approach to Stewardship and annual pledging. Parishioners can chose from beautiful photo cards of St. John’s and write a fellow parishioner a message about what St. John’s means to them. Please join this important ministry of sharing and giving.

Bring in non-perishable food donations. Donations go to the Seventh Day Adventist Church Food Pantry on Prospect Avenue, which is open every Wednesday to anyone who needs food: no ID check, no lists, no limits on how often patrons can visit. New this fall! – Children will begin bringing up food pantry items during the Offertory on Sunday, September 22. This serves two important purposes: it shows that the food collected is an offering to God, to be shared among the needy in our community; and, it involves the children more fully in the service. What will this look like? At the Offertory sentence, children may go to the back of the nave and pick up a food pantry item. They will walk with their item up the central isle and place the item in a basket on the chancel steps. Each child will carry one item at a time but may make multiple trips, until there are no more items to take up. Then an acolyte will move the baskets off the chancel steps. This is both a small change (it doesn’t require a rota, or planning meetings, or a budget) and a big change (added movement during the Offertory; children out of their seats). How can you help? Add the food pantry to your shopping list. Bring in food as often as you’d like. There is always a need. Invite your children or grandchildren to bring up food pantry items.

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 8:30 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.

Give to vulnerable communities affected by Hurricane Dorian. Episcopal Relief and Development has established a Hurricane Relief Fund to allow them to respond quickly to communities affected by Dorian. Give online at www.episcopalrelief.org.

Youth grades 9-12 (or equivalent) are invited to participate in Convention this year! This is a diocesan-sponsored event (meaning: Margie will not be in charge). From the website: “High school age youth from across the Episcopal Church in Connecticut are invited to be a part of the youth presence at our Annual Convention in Hartford this year! Come participate in the work of ECCT, learn how our church runs, and spend time in fellowship and prayer with other high school students from churches all over our state.” Interested? Sign up here!

Accomplished pianist and Hartt faculty member Patrick Miller will provide live improvised accompaniment for the silent films The Marathon and Safety Last!, as part of the upcoming Harold Lloyd Project, Forum & Screening, at the University of Hartford on Friday and Saturday, September 27 and 28. Click here for details.