Sunday, May 6
Sixth Sunday of Easter
8:00 a.m. Spoken Holy Eucharist
9:30 a.m. Christian education for children and youth, Faith Forum for adults
10:30 a.m. Choral Holy Eucharist with Blessing of the Garden
11:45 a.m. Roundtable discussion on children’s religious ed programs
11:45 a.m. Soup lunch
12:30 p.m. Pipes Alive! organ concert with Ezequiel Melendez
4:30 p.m. Monthly Celtic worship service
Preacher: Rabbi Stephen Fuchs
  • Child care will be provided from 10:15 a.m. to noon. There will be Christian education for children and youth at 9:30, and Word Alive during the service.
  • Stephen Fuchs, rabbi emeritus at Congregation Beth Israel, will be our guest preacher and also lead a 9:30 Faith Forum on his newest book, Who Created God? and Other Essays. He will have books available to purchase and get signed. Please bring cash or check (payable to him) if you wish to purchase a book.
  • The 10:30 service will close with a procession out to the new Community Gardenand a blessing of the garden.
  • The final Christian education roundtable discussion will be held in the Education Wing immediately after the 10:30 service/garden blessing. Parents and other parishioners are all welcome to come brainstorm about the future of our children’s education program.
  • Lissie Brooks is providing a simple soup lunch for those staying after church for Pipes Alive!
  • Pipes Alive! is a series of short organ concerts by local musicians. This week’s concert features Ezequiel Melendez of Christ Church Cathedral, and starts at 12:30 p.m. Free and open to the public; donations accepted.
  • The monthly Celtic worship service, held at St. John’s in partnership with St. James’s, begins with a period of silence at 4:30 p.m. Celtic services include reflection, meditation, chanting, live music from a variety of traditions, prayer and silence. All are welcome.
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.
In collaboration with a local non-profit, Jessie’s Community Garden, we are in the beginning stages of starting our own community garden. Using the ample space south of the sexton’s home behind our church, we will be planting seedlings in six raised beds in mid-May. The beds are a generous gift from one of our parish families, for which we are most grateful.
There will be a planning meeting for all interested volunteers this Saturday, May 5, at 11 a.m. in the Reception Room. Whether you’d like to take on an ongoing job, such as scheduling volunteers or helping with publicity, or spend a few hours planting, weeding, watering and harvesting, we need your participation! If you cannot come to the meeting, but wish to help, please sign up to help at coffee hour (look for a clipboard with a sign-up sheet) or contact the parish office.
A garden blessing will take place at the end of our 10:30 a.m. service this Sunday, May 6.
Spring 2018 Music at the Red Door Events
The Whiffenpoofs from Yale University, the best known and oldest college a cappella group, will perform tomorrow, Friday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m.
The next Pipes Alive! organ concert this Sunday, May 6 at 12:30 p.m. features Ezequiel Melendez from the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford. The final Pipes Alive! concert on June 3 will feature Susan Carroll from Asylum Hill Congregational Church.
All Music at the Red Door events are free and open to the public, and donations are accepted. Please come and invite a friend.
Click on photo above to see a promo video for the Whiffenpoofs concert on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. This is expected to be a very popular event, so come early if you want to be sure to get a parking place and a seat!
Food Pantry donations: This Sunday is the first Sunday of the month, our designated day for nonperishable food donations. The food is delivered once a month to the Grace Seventh Day Adventist Food Pantry on Prospect Avenue. They particularly need protein sources (such as peanut butter and tuna), dry cereal, and canned fruit and vegetables. They also have limited refrigerated space for donations of fresh fruit and vegetables. If you’d like to donate fresh produce, please let Ellen in the parish office know so that we can make sure that a St. John’s volunteer can deliver it to the food pantry ASAP. Please leave non-perishable food donations in the wagon in the back of the church.
Blessing Bag donations: Blessing Bags are small bags of necessities that we offer to people in need who come to St. John’s looking for help. We are always in need of the following:
  • Small size toiletries: Toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, body wash, soap, deodorant, wet wipes
  • Non-perishable single-serving snacks: Fruit sauce, dried fruit, trail mix, granola bars, cookies, crackers, candy bars, small bottles of water or juice.
  • Clothing accessories for both men and women: Durable socks, and hats and gloves in cold weather
Please leave Blessing Bag donations in the marked bin in Hubbard Hall.
 
Community events this Saturday, May 5
Syrian Ma’amoul Cookie Making Class, May 5, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. James’s Episcopal Church: Syrian refugee Ghosoun Alansari will teach you how to make traditional ma’amoul cookies. A suggested donation of $25 covers the class along with tea, a cookie mold and extra dough to bake at home. RSVP by emailing [email protected] by May 2.
Grace Episcopal Church Dance Party: Our Episcopal sisters and brothers at Grace Episcopal (55 New Park Avenue) are celebrating their 150th anniversary with a dance party on May 5 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The Ray Gonzalez Salsa Orchestra will provide music, and the Glastonbury Arthur Murray Dance Studio will provide dance instruction. All ages are welcome, and light refreshments will be served.