Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, July 5, 2020 Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. With Liberty and Justice for all. It is the fourth of July. It is a national holiday when many will gather (with masks and proper distancing) to celebrate the […]
We are, most of us, possessed of joyful memories of the mid-summer rituals celebrated as “The Fourth of July.” Family gatherings, parades, picnics in the park, food cooked over an open flame, patriotic music and the loud claps of fireworks exploding overhead make up the elements of these rituals. This is how Americans celebrate and […]
Here’s the lineup: Saturday, June 27, 8 p.m., is our regular evening worship ZOOM gathering for St. John’s. You’ll have the link in the e-blast Rev. Christopher sent Saturday, June 20. If you didn’t receive that email, contact him here, and he’ll send you the link: cpotter@stjohns-es.org. + + + + + + + Sunday, […]
Do you remember the song, “Where Did Our Love Go?” by The Supremes? Released in 1964, it became part of my playlist — you know, the kind you put on your 4-inch reel-to-reel recorder after holding the microphone too close to the radio speaker? If you don’t recall (or weren’t around for its initial release), […]
People of St. John’s: Blessings and peace in the name of Jesus Christ! Preparations are underway to start in-person worship together at St. John’s in the near future. The “Return to In-Person Worship Task Force” and the Bishop’s Committee would like to provide you with a view of what Sunday worship will look like and […]
Happy Saturday, and Blessings on this, the upcoming Second Week after Pentecost. Performing my morning constitution in my close-knit neighborhood, I crossed paths today with a couple of women and a child in a stroller. They were well dressed. Perhaps a couple with child, or a mother and child walking with a neighbor – it […]
Our Middle School and High School Youth groups met this week on Zoom and if you are a lover of riddles, see Joe Miramontes who held the Middle School group in thrall while we threw questions at him to solve his riddle: “I have an eye and a leg and no head. What am I?” […]
Rev. Karen Maurer and I are posting our office hours for you. These meetings are, naturally, Zoom conferences where you can do a virtual drop-by to say, “Hi,” or to ask any question on your mind. This will not be a confidential setting. If you wish to have personal time with us, simply speak to […]
Trinity Sunday: A Day of Hope June 7, 2020 What a gorgeous depiction of the Trinity. The serenity of the faces; the love that binds them; the sublime relationship between the three; the equanimity of person; the omniscient look in their eyes; the hope of the universe reflected in their hands. Only — and most […]
Tonight’s Middle School and High School Youth Group meetings dovetailed the opening collect of Psalm 23, offered by co-leaders Mr. and Mrs. Nichols, with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Pentecost Day sermon “Pentecost in a Pandemic”. Psalm 23’s message is that God is good. ALWAYS. PB Curry’s sermon theme was about making room for one another […]
Pentecost May 31, 2020 By Rev. Christopher Potter, Vicar “Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things…” Collect for Pentecost May the Spirit of God, who flooded Jesus’ heart with love for all people on earth, be just as invasive in ours! So much going on. So much news, […]
Heavenly Father, our nation is in crisis. We pray for your intervention so that going forward there may not be any more deaths, nor unprovoked physical attacks; we pray for positive change in our country going forward that […]
Our Youth Group meetings took a page from this week’s Memorial Day observance and asked YG members this question “Who would you honor on Memorial Day?” The answers varied: Grandmother, Grandfather, Dad, Mom, rapper — but the uniting factor was the impact each one had on individual YG members. One member learned from her Dad […]
Seventh Sunday of Easter, May 24, 2020 — the Sunday after the Ascension Caught Between Heaven and Earth We celebrated the Ascension last week. The celebration “makes real” the transition from a ‘God with us’ to a ‘God within us,’ empowering us to do the things that Jesus did — and far greater than he […]
Sometimes Youth Group is about just being present. And so it was last night, Wednesday, May 20, 2020, when middle schoolers and high school Youth Group members got together in their respective meetings to connect after a week apart. So, what happened? Lots of laughter, poking fun, encouragement, games, and more laughter and poking fun. […]
Orange County Needs Food Pantry Donations — Here’s How We Can Help: Our Women’s Ministry is partnering with RSM Cares Food Pantry and Saddleback Community College to donate much needed specific items for our local sisters and brothers. Most of us don’t have to choose between buying groceries or paying the rent. So we’re gathering some specific items in the coming weeks […]
By the Rev. Christopher Potter Rev. Karen Maurer and I are posting our office hours for you. These meetings are, naturally, Zoom conferences where you can do a virtual drop-by to say, “Hi,” or to ask any question on your mind. This will NOT be a confidential setting. If you wish to have personal time […]
While we observe the shelter-in-place guidelines, St. John’s is worshiping online via Zoom: • Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we pray Morning Prayer at 9 a.m. • Nighttime Prayer is prayed on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 8 p.m. To ensure participants’ online security, we don’t publish the Zoom link; if you […]
Morning Prayer for Friday, May 15: Compline for Saturday, May 16:
Sixth Sunday of Easter May 17, 2020 Christopher Potter+ St. John’s Vicar I didn’t grow up on a farm. I can count probably on one hand the number of live chickens I’ve encountered in my life. One recollection about chickens comes from an industrial egg-laying farm where monthly my father would take me when I […]