My sisters and brothers in Christ:

We will not exactly worship as usual this weekend! At our 8 and 10 a.m. services on Sunday, June 28 (the fifth Sunday after Pentecost), we’ll hear the psalmist (Psalm 30) invoke God’s promise to “make me as strong as the mountains” — an apt prayer indeed, since congregants will behold a temporary altar in front of our magnificent “Everest” Vacation Bible School set. Otherwise, the main difference is that we’ll line up rather than kneel to receive Holy Communion (after hearing the profoundly moving gospel story about Jesus’s raising of Jairus’s daughter [Mark 5:21-43].)

We will not offer a service this Saturday, June 27 to enable our VBS staff and volunteers to add the final boulders, forests, and critters to the epic manifestation of Mt. Everest in our sanctuary (and to enable a 90-strong delegation of St. John’s Anaheim Angels fans to attend Saturday afternoon’s game v. Seattle at the Big Not-LA, thanks to our men’s ministry).

Speaking of VBS, we can use volunteers on Saturday between 8:30 a.m. and noon to assist with the set’s move-in and initial installation. No need to sign up. And if you offered to bring something from The Very Special List With Odd Things On It, please bring your donations to church Sunday morning. VBS begins Sunday afternoon and continues through Thursday, July 2. Please keep our mountain-climbing students, volunteers, and staff in your prayers.

Yours in Christ’s love, which always reaches the heights,
Fr. John

P.S.: This weekend, please sign up to teach Summer Funday School on just one Sunday between July 5-Sept. 6…put your name down to give blood when the Red Cross visits on July 26…and (if you’re a Twentysomething) plan to hang out with Kathy and me at the Lowe’s Center Starbucks starting at 11:45 a.m. Sunday.

P.P.S.: The summer edition of the Vaya Con Dios will be published late tonight, so watch your mailbox. Our thanks to our editor, Linda Allport.