NOTE: Worship services this weekend:
   + Saturday, 5 p.m., in-person with music
   + Sunday, 8 a.m., in-person. Infant care in the nursery.
   + Sunday, 10 a.m., in-person, and ZOOM, music. Godly Play for pre-school and Kindergarten. Infant care in the nursery.

+ + +

by the Rev. Christopher Potter, Vicar

This weekend, I share with you the spiritual reflection from Wednesday’s Bishop’s Committee meeting. Expertly presented and lead by Mike DeVries, it produced much discussion and keen insights into our relationships with each other and with God. It is taken from Bishop Michael Curry’s book Love is the Way, pp. 143–45.

“In college I read a book called I and Thou by the Jewish rabbi and existentialist Martin Buber. The wisdom of the rabbi came home to me in that moment as it never had before. He wrote that there are two possible ways we can relate to the world around us: I-It and I-Thou. Relate to other people as Its and you make yourself the Supreme being—meanwhile, we know that no human is supreme. There’s that reverse Copernican revolution all over again. Worse, it makes the It your object, a thing instead of a beautiful fellow child of God.

“I-Thou is different. Thou recognizes the other as an active subject—a human spirit whose truth can be understood only through a relationship. You can’t own a Thou. You can’t stereotype a Thou. You can’t ignore a Thou. You can’t throw a Thou away. “All real living is meeting,” wrote Buber. The loving way to experience others is through a relationship, which requires you to forget what you think you may already know and open yourself to new possibilities.

“Stop, look, listen, learn. The key is to pause deliberately, to give yourself time to notice. The Buddhist tradition speaks of the importance of mindfulness. Psalm 46 says it his way: “Be still, and know that I am God.” The wisdom of the Sabbath is that it provides the opportunity to stop, pause, and notice the presence of God in the world, God in the other, God in ourselves.

“People are not things. No one is an It, an object, a thing… As Dr. King often said, the human being is of infinite worth and dignity — not by vote of parliament or congress, not by edict or prince, potentate, prime minister, or president, but by the divine decree of God.”

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Here’s the Worship Bulletin for Sunday, September 19

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You’re invited to our annual fellowship and fundraiser event Saturday, November 6 at St. John’s!

The evening’s top flight musical entertainment, in a transformed Cardinal Gym, will be provided by Johannes and Clara Stosch, Diana Farrell, and our section leads Erin Baker Pence, Lisa Naulls, Nick Fuller, and Michael B. O’Halloran.

Available at the event:
• a wine wall where you can purchase a bottle or two to drink at the event, or take home and enjoy at your leisure.
• For your dining pleasure we’re offering complementary charcuterie boards and desserts.
• silent auction featuring select offerings as well as experiences crafted by church members.

While set now in the Cardinal Gym, we have plans in place to move to the courtyard — with heaters! — if COVID guidelines change.

If you’d like to attend, but are unable at the moment to purchase a ticket, we have a complementary ticket for you. Please contact Cindy in the church office.

Here’s how to get your tickets using PayPal: on the website home page go to “Online Giving”, click “Donate” and note that your $50/adult ticket payment is for the November 6 fundraiser.

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Here’s What Else is Happening at St. John’s
+ Saturday evening In-person worship is at 5 p.m. today. Join us!
+ Service time change for Sundays!
Sunday, 8 a.m., in-person. Infant care in the nursery.
Sunday, 10 a.m., in-person, and ZOOM, music. Godly Play for pre-school and Kindergarten. Infant care in the nursery.
+ Join the Choir! Get all the details in the NEWS.

+ Dates to Save:
• Saturday, November 6 our annual fellowship event and fundraiser. Details for all the events in the News. 
+ Red Cross Blood Drive, Sunday, November 7, 8:15 a.m. to 2 p.m. Logon to the Red Cross website, and use sponsor code St. John to sign up.
+ Festival Singers seeks new members during September. Details in the NEWS.
+ You can drop food donations for RSM Cares Food Pantry at church on Sundays. Items needed include soup, chili, beans; pasta, pasta sauce; peanut butter, jelly, and also grocery store gift cards. Next distribution day is this Wednesday, September 15.
+ Join the Altar Guild! Learn more by contacting Robin Nelson.
+ Youth Group Update:
High School and College meeting on Tuesdays via ZOOM at 7:30 p.m. College members are graduates of St. John’s Youth Group who continue to enjoy the fellowship. Awesome!

Junior high — grades six through eight — meeting on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. for 45 minutes via ZOOM. But next week, September 22, at 6 p.m., the JHYG meets at the Lake RSM Starbucks for two loops of the lake and a time to meet in person and fellowship.
Get more YG info from Patti Peebles, our Youth Pastor and School Chaplain.
+ Women’s Hybrid Bible Study meets Wednesdays from 10:15 – 11:30 a.m. at DJ Gomer’s home. Hybrid = in-person and on ZOOM.
+ Women’s book club, Book It On Mondays!, meets next September 27, 7 p.m. on ZOOM. Details, including book title, in the News.
+ Children’s Ministry: become a Godly Play teacher for our littlest members on Sunday mornings. Details in the News.
+ Join us for coffee after the Sunday service on the lower courtyard (Learning Commons Courtyard) which is the perfect spot to hold coffee hour where tables, comfortable seating, and shade abound. We even have an elevator you can use to get there!
+ Women’s Ministry scheduled to meet Saturday, September 18, Kathy O’Connor’s home in Pasadena has been postponed by the author until 2022.

+     +     +

We’re back on campus:
Clergy and staff are back in the Church Office. Schedule a time to come to the church office and meet face-to-face. Contact Rev. Christopher or 949.888.4568, or Rev. Karen or 949.888.4595, x239.

In-Person Worship Schedule:
• Evening Prayer or Compline ZOOM services continue to be held Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m.
• Sunday, 8 a.m., in-person. Infant care in the nursery.
• Sunday, 10 a.m., in-person, and ZOOM, music. Godly Play for pre-school and Kindergarten. Infant care in the nursery.
• Saturday in-person worship in the church TODAY at 5 p.m.

We’ll see you at St. John’s!