Dear St. John’s, This Lent, I am encouraging our entire congregation to join me in reading a short but profound book called Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity by Adam Hamilton. Hamilton is the Senior Pastor of Church of the Resurrection, the largest United Methodist Church in America. In his book, Hamilton uses […]
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St. Barnabas Has Found A New Home
Dear St. John’s, As most of you know, St. Barnabas’ Deaf Church has called St. John’s “home” for the last 45 years. Every Sunday at 10 am, St. Barnabas has held its Sunday service in our chapel, and, on occasion, has joined us for our 11:15 worship service with the assistance of an ASL interpreter. […]
Read morePrayer, Education, Action: St. John’s Approach to Gun Violence Prevention
Two months ago, in the aftermath of a series of mass shootings in our nation, I sent out a notice to the parish (dated November 8) in which I committed to exploring with you a way for us to take intentional steps toward becoming more involved in the struggle toward gun violence prevention (GVP) in […]
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by John Ross The Episcopal News Service recently published an online feature about how St. John’s Norwood led the charge in raising funds to buy an ambulance for St. Luke’s in the West Bank city of Nablus. Both Sari and our deacon, Anne Derse, were quoted. Ever since our first Holy Land pilgrimage in 2014, […]
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Context Is Everything: Learning About the Democratic Republic of Congo
Dear St. John’s, One of the first things I thought to myself when I learned that we would be sponsoring a refugee family from the Democratic Republic of Congo was, “I hardly know anything about the DRC!” We are now well into the second month of our mutually-edifying relationship with the Kabira/Kambere family who entered […]
Read moreAnd A Little Child Will Lead Them
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. Isaiah 11:6 It was a child that changed the course of this world forever. It was a little baby – born in a stable […]
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Thanksgiving Month
Dear friends, As we wrap up the month of November in which we’ve been hearing and sharing anecdotes of St. John’s in our lives for which we are grateful, I want to say thank you to everyone who has shared their story, and to say even more how much I hope we can continue to […]
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Blessing of the Animals on October 7th, 5 pm
By Liz Luck Our pets are important parts of our family and a regular reminder that we are part of God’s cosmic family. St. Francis of Assisi knew that well. As a merchant’s son-turned-monk in the early 1200s, St. Francis prophetically argued that humanity was neglecting the importance of experiencing God through creation. As the […]
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Introducing Our New Office and Communications Assistant, Alex Duncan
Dear St. John’s, Please join me in welcoming Alex Duncan, our newest staff member. Alex will be serving as our Office and Communications Assistant, and I am delighted for you to meet her. As a first introduction, please see Alex’s letter to the congregation below. I hope you will join me in giving her a […]
Read moreVocation
Sari Ateek, Rector Two Sundays ago, I preached a sermon on vocation using the story of Isaiah’s calling (Isaiah 6:1-8). The word vocation comes from the Latin word “vox” meaning “voice,” and the related word “vocare” meaning “to call.” This is one of the reasons why we often refer to one’s vocation as a calling. […]
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