Grace and peace to my parish family:
I hope all are well. Tomorrow morning I leave for a mini- sabbatical and will return around the end of the month. This past week marked my 10 year anniversary and I have been in the ministry around 14 and, while I am supposed to take a sabbatical every seven years, this will be the first. I am taking a kind of American pilgrimage exploring important places and figures in the shaping of American Christianity. I also hope to be able to rest, recover and find inspiration and renewed energy. I will be spending a good deal of time in prayer as well. All and all I am very much looking forward to my time away, knowing that the parish is in good hands. Adam Sauls, our Senior Warden, is ready and willing to handle anything that might come along. Our vestry had been prepped and ready to step and see that things run smoothly. We have a pastoral care guild that will be stepping up and ministering to those in need. We have emergency priest coverage and Fr. Arnold Bush will be joining us for a Sunday or two. So, it seems everything is in place and things should run smoothly.
We are still in need of some folks to teach Sunday School and help facilitate our outreach ministries this Fall, so please prayerfully consider how you can get involved in your parish. Thanks to everyone who is stepping up so that I may take some time away.
See you around the parish
Jeff+
Help Us Support the Laurel Soup Kitchen
In an effort to help feed the hungry in our Community, we will begin collecting CANNED VEGETABLES to support the Laurel Soup Kitchen in feeding the hungry of Jones County. The Laurel Soup Kitchen serves a small breakfast and hot lunch to people who has very little to no food. Please bring your canned vegetables – beans, peas, corn, collard greens, butter beans, carrots, etc. to the church and place them in the box in the nave or the box by the parish office. We will get your donations to the Soup Kitchen for their use in providing meals to those in need. Thank you for helping us help the neediest in Laurel.
Buy a Saint John’s tumbler!
The Altar Guild is comprised of a group of individual who are in the service of the Altar and who serve at the pleasure of the priest. The “normal” care and replacement of altar items are included in our annual budget each year. Yet, there are special “extras” that may not be in the budget and as a group the Altar Guild would love to be able to provide for the church in special ways.
With this in mind, The Altar Guild is selling stainless steel tumblers as a fund-raiser. These high quality mugs are perfect for outdoor activities and travel. Color engraved with Saint John’s Episcopal Church, the Episcopal flag and Laurel, Mississippi they are selling for $25.00 each. Contact any of the Altar Guild members or the church office while supplies last. Supply is limited.
Make checks payable to: SAINT JOHN’S ALTAR GUILD
Interested in becoming a member of the Altar Guild? Join us for our monthly meeting, July 18th at 6:00pm in the Parish Hall and we can answer any questions you may have. We would love to have YOU!
Lauren Rogers Museum Offering Art in the Annex
The museum is offering Art in the Annex on the first and third Monday of each month from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., and it’s free and just for the fun of it. A still life set up is provided to draw or paint, without instruction, using materials brought from home. High school age students and adults from St. John’s Church are welcome. Participants need to call Elizabeth Patterson at the museum, 601-649-6374, to register before attending.
2018 FLOWER CHART
 The Altar Flower Chart for 2018 is on the board in the Sacristy hallway and we need the faithful to sign up to take a Sunday in memory or thanksgiving of someone or an event. If you are unable to come to the parish to sign up, you are more than welcome to call the parish office with a date you would like and we will try our best to accommodate you. When a person takes a Sunday, they contact the parish to make known their thanksgiving/memorial wording for the Sunday bulletin. Mr. Randy Jackson of Flowertyme is a communicant, but you may choose which florist you would like to deal with, or you can make the arrangement yourself and place them in the sanctuary.
An Easy Way to Help St. John’s Day School
Start clipping BOX TOPS for Education! Hundreds of products participate in the program, and you probably already have several in your pantry, freezer and refrigerator. For every Box Top you clip, St. John’s Day School will receive 10 cents!!! That may not sound like a lot, but it adds up quickly. There are no limitations on the money’s use, so St. John’s can spend it as needed.
Grab your scissors and keep an eye out for the Box Tops for Education logo on the products you use every day. Once you have finished the product, clip the Box Top before you throw it away. Be sure to look over the whole box. There is a container labeled for your Box Tops on the table in the hallway.
A Tip O’ The Biretta
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Last week’s Collection- $ 4,106
| For Year |
Actual |
Budget |
Diff |
| Received |
$ 218,626 |
$ 241,722 |
$ 23,096 |
| Spent |
$ 241,746 |
$ 242,471 |
$ 725 |
| Net |
$ 23,120 |
$ 749 |
$ 22,371 |
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O God, our heavenly Father, make the door of this Church wide enough that all who need human love and fellowship and a Fathers care may find it, and narrow enough to shut out all envy, pride and uncharitableness. Here may the tempted find help, and the sorrowing receive comfort. Here may the careless be awakened to repentance, and the penitent be assured of your mercy. And here may all your children renew their strength in You, and go on their way rejoicing. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
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Saint Johns Episcopal Church
541 North 5th Ave./ P.O. Box 1766
Laurel, MS 39441
office@stjohnslaurel.com
http://stjohnslaurel.com
601.428.7252 Office
601.422.7388 Mobile
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