December at St. John felt full of life and good energy. As we head into a new calendar year, let us take a quick look back at how we started our church year.
Faith:
Advent is a time to focus on our faith practices. Advent is also a time that these things can be difficult as our cultural holiday celebrations ramp up. With the fourth week of Advent lasting all of a few hours, our three weeks of devotional materials guided us through Pause, Ponder, and Prepare.
Peace:
Wednesday evenings we gathered together for an intimate service of the Holden Evening Prayer in the sanctuary. The ambiance created by the beautiful music, subdued lighting, and incense filled the space with a relaxing peaceful quality, offering a moment of tranquility to those who attended.
Hope:
On the evening of December 16th, our Christmas Peace service shared messages of hope, including reflections and poems from Ashleigh Altemann, Catherine Federspill, and Pastor Mark. The reflective energy was enhanced by a contemporary trio led by Sean Michael Jackman. Rebecca Parker and Julie Cyrus coordinated a festive and filling afterglow. If you missed the service, you can stream it on our YouTube channel.
Love:
The title of this post and its format were inspired by a card, handmade by one of the Reed girls during our Greeting Card Sunday event. With the help of Nancy Janik, members of St. John flexed their creative muscles to create handmade messages of love to share with our friends at the MediLodge, in partnership with our Pathways in Compassion ministry. While those less artistically inclined got in on the love game using pre-made cards.
But wait! There's more!
The season just does not have the same feel without a healthy dose of decorations. The first Saturday of December a crew from St. John, plus some help from Succoth, filled our space with the trappings of holiday cheer.
The Advent season kicked off with wreath making after service. Many thanks to the Reed family for their donation of supplies, and to Beth Fisher for helping man the glue gun.
Festivities continued with the Hearts, Hands and Voices program, showcasing the growth of these young musicians, including some St. John members.
Of course, the love at St. John didn't stop with the greeting cards. In this season of giving, we hosted a Red Cross blood drive, coordinated by Cindi Sailus, that collected 27 units - surpassing our goal. The giving continued with the Adopt-a-Family project through Neighborhood House. Thanks to the leadership of Patty Oats, St. John helped provide a Christmas to 3 adopted families with 70 gifts, and $750 in Kroger gift cards and utility assistance collected.
The love, peace, hope, and faith came together Sunday evening. The fog was thick and the pews were nearly full for our Christmas Eve service. Nearly 200 people joined us for a joyous celebration of Christ's birth. The special service made more so with guest musicians Joanna Percy and Lexi and Fletcher Tilton, music from the handbell choir, and multiple pieces from the St. John choir. Pastor Mark shared the message of shalom at the heart of the teachings of Jesus.