Donna Balser, our Administrative Assistant is putting together and printing our Eagle News, Philip Wells is editing for us. All information and articles are due in the church office no later than the 20^th of each month.  Early items are always accepted. Thank you for being kind and on time.

 

 

July 20, is the deadline for the

 

August Issue of the Eagle News

 

 

Faith and Life Lived

 

 

We have had our faith tried since this past April.  We have cried, coped, and cared as we celebrated the lives of Shirley Kappes, Rea Shifflett, Glenn Anderson, and the Reverend Lou Fracher.  We also buried Robbins Gates in our columbarium.  Death is the great equalizer but death is also the crucible in which our faith can be forged.  Each time we pause to celebrate a life we are forced to contemplate our own life.  I can not tell you how many people have come by the parish office to make their final arrangements or plan their own funerals. 

 

Planning is a great gift to those we leave behind.  It takes all the guess work out of what our loved ones wanted or did not want.  If you make your plans and place them in the parish office, I will follow them exactly as you made them.  It is important to remember, as you plan your final arrangements, that you must still live your life.  In the Book of Common Prayer a parish priest is told to remind the faithful to make plans for themselves and not to forget your family and any charitable institutions that you wish to remember.  Your Vestry has been working to make giving to the parish focused and easy to do.  In our parish-wide meetings we will give you more information about our planned giving and Mr. Mike Reno, the chair of our Finance Committee will give you information on the vestry’s recent efforts to streamline giving, on the cover of our August Eagle News.  Faithful living and faithful dying is what we Christians are called to do. 

 

How can we be faithful as we live? First be generous with your time, your talent, and your treasure.  It is a true statement that the more you give away the more you will receive.  Second, make sure that you tell those you love how much you love them every day.  Visitors, other clergy, and our guests have told me often how much they feel the love in our parish.  We are indeed a family.  As a family we are able to laugh and cry together, we are able to confront one another in love, and we are called to support one another. 

 

As we move into our new life together as rector and parish, I pray that we can all grow in love and service, that we can confront one another in honesty and openness, and that we will continue to show the community that we are Christians by how we love one another. 

 

May your summer be restful and fun.  May God grant you safe travels and a safe return to your homes.  May our fall be a time of learning and life-giving love.

 

 

Love One Another,

 

Kim+

 

Zone Meetings

 

From Fr. Kim

In the June Eagle News I asked folks to volunteer to host home meetings in late August.  As of this writing, I have two volunteers and I still need at least four more.  We will have one larger meeting in the Parish Hall but we really need at least six homes in which to meet.  The meetings are to discuss our current Mission Statement and to answer any questions you may have of the parish leadership.  We will also provide you with information about our new financial model for utilizing our invested funds to fund ministry in the parish, the community, and the world.  Mike Reno will be writing the cover for the August Eagle News to provide you with this information.

 

Pilgrim’s Progress

 

From the Office

Our Journey to Adulthood pilgrims returned from Alabama and the Gulf Coast on Sunday, June 22.  Please take some time to ask our youth, Emily Day, Adam Siebken, Charlie Eckman, and Kyle Vernier about their experience.  You may also want to chat with Sally Day and Marty Siebken our adult leaders.  We have sent two different classes on pilgrimages.  It is an honor to support our youth in their faith journey. 

 

Bathroom Partitions

 

From the Office

 

We are sure that you have noticed that the bathroom renovations are essentially done except for the partitions.  Please know that our contractor told us when we signed the contract that the bathroom partitions were back ordered 8 to 10 weeks.  We know the economy may not be as strong as it could be but apparently the bathroom partition business is booming!  Please be patient and know that soon the bathrooms will be complete and beautiful.

 

Thank You All

 

From Fr. Kim

Thank you all very much for a beautiful Celebration of New Ministry.  The day was a liturgical celebration of an existing reality of our relationship as rector and parish.  On behalf of my family Carol, Sean, Scott, and I, thank you.

 

Senior Warden:

 

From Pete Marks

In the February Eagle News I commented that life frequently confronts us with the unanticipated.  As 2008 rapidly marches along St. John’s has already experienced the loss thru death of several prominent parishioners, Lou Fracher our Rector Emeritus being the most recent.  While we mourn those who have passed on we can also be grateful for their presence in our church’s life, the contributions they made to our church, their families and their community as well as the many fond memories they leave with us.

 

We take comfort in and celebrate the happy times and accomplishments of the year so far; Fr. Kim’s installation as Rector, the J2A youth pilgrimage, the renovated library and bathrooms, the complete revamping of our non budgeted gift funds by Mike Reno and his committee, the Brotherhood of St. Andrew men’s group and the Episcopal Church Women’s group; the sense of spiritual renewal and mutual caring among parishioners experienced in the events of the year and so many other experiences too numerous to enumerate in this brief commentary.

 

Jr. Warden Report

 

From John Edgecomb

We have a number of projects in progress, and for all of these I am meeting with contractors and getting bids.  Once we have a number of bids we can than determine what each should cost and which of them we should proceed with.  The projects are:  Playground & garden area; painting the nave; refinishing the pews; redoing the church floor; and remodeling the kitchen.  I can honestly say, as I meet with the various contractors, I’m learning a lot in each of these various areas.

 

 

From the Brotherhood of St. Andrew:

 

From Marty Siebken

 

            We would like to thank everyone who made the Taste of New Orleans dinner such a success.  Thanks to those who came and supported this dinner, we raised over $850 to benefit the mission and ministry of the youth of St. John's and our diocese.  We hope you enjoyed the food and fellowship.  Thanks to everyone who helped setup, prepare and serve the food.  It was great to have the youth helping in the kitchen and serving.  Big thanks go out to Kathy Kappes and Sally Day who braved the gauntlet of men and rolled up their sleeves to help out in the kitchen.  Special recognition goes out to Aimee and Hank Bostwick who gave so much of their time to make this event such a success.  Our diocese is indeed fortunate to have them in our midst. 

 

Bradford Bash

 

From Aimee Bostwick

 

Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, August 5^th-6th for our first Bradford Bash. We are asking all youth going into grades 8th-12th to join us at St. John's in Roanoke for a mini-council experience. The youth from our companion diocese of Bradford will be visiting and we want them to see what DioSwVa youth are all about!  Music will be provided by Sam Hensley (our musician for SYE this year). It will be an evening of incredible worship, music, games and building relationships with our friend from across the Big Pond. The cost is $15.00. Registration forms will be available on the youth website at http://dioswvayouth.wordpress.com the deadline to register for this event is Monday, August 4th. Please RSVP to me via email abostwick@dioswva.org for times and so I can get a headcount. Thanks and see you there!

 

PS. Young adults, you are invited to join us also, especially if you have had a Bradford experience!

Sunday Attendance at Services

 

From the Parish Office

                 June 2007                            2008

 

1^st. Sunday            111                                         109

 

2^nd Sunday            100                                         119

 

3 rd Sunday          78                                           97

 

4^th Sunday             84                                           81

 

                We missed you!!!

 

What is the duty of all Christians?

 

According to the Book of Common Prayer page 856 the answer is:

 

The duty of all Christians is to follow Christ; to come together week by week for corporate worship; and to work, pray, and give for the spread of the kingdom of God.

 

 

 

July Birthdays

 

3) Christine Chandler, 5) Dan Jenny, Alexander Maneval, 6) Brendan Taylor, 7) Helen Freeman, Kayla Reynolds, 9) Rebecca Chandler, Natalya Stegura, 10) Virginia Jakszewski, Martha Taylor, 11) Robert Ostrander, 14) Steve Garber, 16) Happy Gilligan, 18) George Middlekauff, 20) Steven Jenny, 21) Anne Williams, 23) Dianne Bassett 24) Shirley Smith, 27) Blair Buzzard Sowards, Nicholas Brookings, Cortney Deputy, 28) Martha Cooley, 29) Connie Kennedy 31) Dottie Johnson

 

July Anniversaries

 

13) Cindy and George Townsend 15) Doran and Doug Stegura       17) Judy and Frank Mead