Welcome to St. John's Episcopal Church!
On Sunday, Oct 20th at both services, we will have an instructed Eucharist. This means instead of having a sermon, Deacon Scott or I will be interrupting the liturgy to share with you what we are doing and why. Understanding the liturgy is an important part of Christian formation, which literally means the work of the people. I do understand that there is a lot of information coming very quickly. This will not be the last time we ever do it. Also, every few years, I publish a series of articles on the Eucharist that covers the same material in a different way (last done in 2022 and I will probably do again next program year). I also know that instructed Eucharists can be disruptive to the usual rhythm of prayer. This can be a good thing to make us dwell on parts of the liturgy on which we might not normally focus. I encourage you to bring a writing utensil to jot a note, or two.
Our Episcopal liturgy is beautiful and grounded in two thousand years of tradition. As I have shared with you before, our one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church runs on two axis. The horizontal represents the universal church as practiced everywhere in the world. We do not have exclusive access to Jesus. Jesus is worshiped on every continent. The vertical axis is the church through time. Our own particular era and its concerns also does not have an exclusive right to Jesus. Jesus will be there in the future and was there in the past. The fourth century church did things we might not like, but also had practices that were probably better than ours. We can learn about the church from how Christianity is understood across the world, and we can understand our faith more by engaging in its history and what was important to people who lived long ago. I hope you will join us for this look into what we are praying and why.
Blessings,
Fr. Marc
St. John’s Episcopal Church in Vernon is a vibrant parish that shares the love of God with our community while caring for those within and outside of our parish. We are a congregation that prays both with our words and our actions.
Please join us for worship in-person or online. Our Sunday services are usually at 8:00 and 10:00. We stream on facebook live; the link is in the menu above. We hope to see you soon.
• Do you have to work many Sunday mornings?
• Does your anxiety and shyness make it a challenge for you to "risk" attending a typical Sunday morning service?
• Does your spiritual inclination tend toward the quiet and contemplative rather than the loud and musical?
Perhaps it is worth checking out our weekly mid-week Eucharist every Wednesday at 10:30 am. This is a small but faithful congregation that comes together every week to pray together in relative quiet. There is no music. No one will demand that you join a committee or any other part of our vibrant community. We do a monthly Healing Service as part of this Eucharist and occasionally have a completely optional "Coffee Hour" opportunity for fellowship. Check it out! If you would like more information, you can use the website's "Contact" page (https://www.stjohnsvernonct.org/contact ) or send a message directly HERE.
Life at St. John's
Have questions that are not answered on this site? You can use the website's "Contact" page shown on the tab above (https://www.stjohnsvernonct.org/contact ) or send a message directly: HERE
For more information about service and fellowship opportunities, please click on the "Ministries" tab above or click the button below.
Arm2Arm for Haitian relief . . . . . . . Weekly serving Sunday dinner at Cornerstone Community Kitchen
Eclipse glasses sent to South America for their use in next eclipse . . . . . . . . . Sneaker Drive to support Smiloh Cancer Center
Hawkwing to support Cheyenne River Sioux/Lakota Tribe in South Dakota . . . . . . . . . Tree of Life to support Hospice
Helping Hands Ministry providing small repairs, transportation, errands, etc.
Our Emergency Food Pantry . . . . . . . . . Holiday Bazaar to support various agencies such as MACC Charities and Cornerstone
Undie Sunday - Undergarments sent to MACC Charities and the 5 Vernon elementary schools . . . . . . . . . . Hosting American Red Cross Blood Drive
Christmas Toy and Coat collection . . . . . . . . . . Many pounds of organic vegetables from our garden to Cornerstone Community Kitchen
Diaper drive for Gentle Love Diaper Pantry . . . . . . . . . . Collection of backpacks and school supplies for local students and teachers.
Delivery of Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets for food-insecure families . . . . . . . . . Volunteering at MACC; food pantry, thrift store and community kitchen
Sermons
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The plain blue dots are addresses of many of our members. The blue dot with the white outline in the center is the church.