News & Notes
Greetings, My Friends!
Summer has arrived - according to the calendar at least. The thermometer and humidity indicator will catch up, I’m sure! (You know, I couldn’t find the word for “humidity indicator.” A “temperature indicator” is a thermometer. What’s a “humidity indicator” called?)
What a terrific worship service we had this past Sunday! And it’s not just because I wasn’t preaching!! Although . . . . . What I was really referring to was the worship that our Sunday School children/youth/staff led us in! It was great, and I am thankful for the witness of faith that was shared with us.
I had intended to “share a brief comment” during the service, but since there was so much going on, I decided not to - but to save it for this venue. A little over a year ago, in one of the Confirmation Classes, it became apparent that our youth didn’t know what worship was - how we “did” it - or why we “do” what we do. This is to be expected, I think, since our children normally go to Sunday School just a few minutes into our first service - and most don’t stay to attend the second service. I feel strongly that we are not serving our children well, by not teaching them how to worship. Please don’t here me diminish the importance of Sunday School in any way. I’m trying, rather, to lift up the importance of worship - not in competition, but in concert with education. To that end I encourage you who have children still living at home to consider making Sunday worship at St. John’s a priority this Summer - first, for the sake of worship; and secondly for the sake of raising our children in the faith. I suspect that no one will make it to church every Sunday, but I’m hoping many of us will come as often as possible when we’re in town. I promise that I will do my level best to lead worship in a way that holds the attention of our children and youth. I need to acknowledge that this impacts the members of our congregation who do not have children at home. I ask grace of that group - to put up with some more activity in the pew around you - and to reach out and help the children and youth feel welcome. Remember the vows we make every time we baptize a child? This is a great way to live out those vows! Please give this your consideration!
Are you feeling like some BBQ’d chicken? Well, is your timing every wonderful! There just happens to be a Public BBQ Chicken supper happenin’ at St. John’s this Saturday, from 4:30 till 6:30 PM!! And a great time is to be had by all! But of course there’s also a need for the food items, as well as help. I think I’m going to suggest that if you would like to donate toward the food that you make a financial contribution. Otherwise if I said we needed two more heads of lettuce, we’d have five people buy two heads of lettuce! And you know we’d have more heads than we would ever need - but not so many brains!! Person-power is needed Friday for some prep work, Saturday morning for set-up, and Saturday evening - both to serve and especially to clean-up. Call the church if you have any questions, or would like to have your name written on the sign-up sheet (so the committee will know how many folks they can expect). Thanks!!
The Korth, Borchers and Capern families invite you to join us between services this Sunday, June 24, for a brunch in honor of our new high school graduates, Lisa, Cathy and Carolyn! Come and wish them well and enjoy some food and fellowship, with our thanks for being the wonderful church family you are. Everyone is welcome and we hope to see you there - pass the word along to others!
Last week Lenny Colongione and Drew Williams did some updating and repairs to the walls in the two upstairs bathrooms in Hartford Hall. And this week Lenny and a friend painted the bathrooms out. There’s just one more piece of finish board to install and the bathrooms will be all “spit ‘n polish.” Check ‘em out the next time you’re at church. They look great! Thanks, guys!
We have grass! . . . the legal kind! The two areas of our lawn that have been repaired and reseeded have begun to grow, and it’s looking great. The Trustees are still looking for four individuals to come on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (one on each day) - early in the day is preferable - to turn the sprinklers on, let them run for half-an-hour and turn them off. It’s that simple! If you can help, please give Lenny Colongione a call.
Since I’m on the subject of the Trustees asking for your help, let me mention the two “painting party days” that have been scheduled for July 14 and 21 (I think I mentioned them in News & Notes a couple weeks ago.). In an attempt to save the church some money the Trustees would love YOUR volunteer help to paint the “easily reachable” sections of the church buildings - to scrape, prime and paint. If we had ten to twenty people each Saturday morning (we’ll be here from 8 AM till Noon), we’d get this done in a flash. I know these are Saturday’s in the summer - and those are rare birds - but your help could make a huge difference in what we have to pay to care well for our buildings. If everybody was too busy we’d never get anything done. If we all pitched in a little, it would be wonderful. Men, women, youth! Y’all come, now.
A Healing Touch Spiritual Ministry Program is being sponsored next weekend - June 30 and July 1st, at Rolling Ridge, in No. Andover, Mass. There’ll be two classes: “Introduction to Healing Ministry” and “Introduction to Judeo-Christian Anointing.” If you have questions, check out the flyer on the bulletin board just inside Hartford Hall, or speak to Jana Marie.
There’s a fun sort of fund raiser coming up in a couple of weeks. On Wednesday evening, July 11th, Friendly Ice Cream, on Central Avenue in Dover, will give St. John’s Church a percentage of all of their sales between 5 and 8 PM! It sounds like an odd thing for them to do, but it’s a way for them to give to the community (while at the same time increasing their sales, I’m sure). So if you happen to be planning to go out to eat - or go out for ice cream - sometime that week, why not make it on Wednesday at Friendly’s? The money we raise will go toward our Current Expense budget.
The next Red Cross Blood Drive at St. John’s will be Friday, July 20th. Got it on your calendar?
Our annual summer tent revival will happen on Sunday, July 29th - with one service on that day - at 9:30 AM. The Reverend Dr. Martin McLee, of Union UMC in Boston, will be our guest preacher. Martin was our preacher four or five years ago. He’s back by popular demand!
Another item for your calendar is Vacation Bible School, which will take place August 13th through 17th. It’s always a great week, and I hope that all our children will be able to participate!
I’m going on too long now, so I’ll close this issue of “News & Notes.” What follows is something shared with me this week. With the crisis in our country’s healthcare system - with so many who have no insurance, or inadequate insurance - with so many who get denied some very important benefits - I think this is a timely subject. It is a matter of justice for our society.
See you in church! Peace, Mark
CANTON, Mass., June 18 /PRNewswire/ — Planning to spark a fundamental change in national healthcare politics, nurses from Massachusetts and throughout New England have joined an unprecedented national coalition of nurses and doctors organizations which today announced plans to rally around the openings of Michael Moore’s “SiCKO” on June 29 to press the campaign for single-payer healthcare, guaranteeing comprehensive, quality healthcare with an expanded and improved Medicare for all. The Coalition is also planning a special preview screening, town hall meeting and press conference with Michael Moore as part of the national “SiCKO” bus tour,which will land in Manchester, New Hampshire on Friday, June 22, beginning at 12 noon.
Calling it “The Scrubs for SiCKO Campaign,” organizers will recruit registered nurses and doctors to every theater in the nation where “SiCKO” opens to ensure that caregivers — in SiCKO scrubs — are in the audience.
The caregivers will distribute information and urge moviegoers to join the drive for a fundamental overhaul of the nation’s dysfunctional healthcare system — as is so brilliantly described in “SiCKO”. They will urge the audience to help pass single-payer/Medicare for all types of legislation such as HR 676 now pending in Congress and several states, and make it a central focus of the Presidential campaign.
Nurses and doctors are serving as co-hosts of “SiCKO” premiers across the nation.
Participating groups include the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, Physicians for a National Health Program, New York State Nurses Association, Massachusetts Nurses Association, United Steelworkers (USW) Health Care Workers Council, Communication Workers of America, Health Professionals and Allied Employees/AFT, United Nurses and Allied Professionals (Rhode Island), United Nurses and Allied Professionals (Rhode Island), and the New England Nurses Association. The Canadian
Federation of Nurses Unions is also working with the coalition.
A delegation of nurses and doctors from across the country will embark Monday on a tour of East Coast cities to help energize the nurse grassroots. The tour will mostly take place in a colorfully wrapped bus encouraging people to see the movie and is being planned in conjunction with premiers of the film in New York, Washington DC, Chicago and New Hampshire.
Tour Comes to Manchester New Hampshire Friday, June 22, 2007
12 Noon - Screening of “SiCKO” at Palace Theater in Manchester, NH
2:15 p.m. - Town Hall Meeting with Moore and RNs, Physicians, Patients
3:30 p.m. - Press Conference with Michael Moore
“SiCKO” profiles a number of Americans with insurance who have been denied needed care by their insurance company, describes how the insurance-based healthcare system is structured to keep it that way, and provides examples of other industrialized nations where insurance companies do not stand in the way of medical care.
The campaign will highlight the need for reforms that prevent insurance companies from denying care, and send a strong signal to politicians in Congress, state capitals, and the Presidential race who are promoting insurance-based reforms.