The Eagle - June 2007

As we approach the months of Summer, this is perhaps a predictable message, yet it seems important to deliver it. With a quieting down of various activities which consume a considerable amount of our time at Saint John's, I wonder how many of us may begin to sense a decreasing need to be in Church on Sunday morning. To feel in such a manner is perhaps, not totally surprising...but it might give us pause for thought.

For you see, if we do find ourselves feeling this way, we would be wise to spend some time reflecting on why we are in Church in the first place. The Gospel is as true, and must be as central to us, in the "dog days" of Summer as it is on Christmas Eve or Easter Day. Indeed I might suggest that it is more important that we set aside time to center ourselves in the Gospel during the coming "quiet" time of the year than at the great (and often frantic) Feasts when we simply assume we will be together to hear the message of Salvation proclaimed.

May your Summer be filled with peace and good news...and know that the Good News of the Faith goes on being proclaimed Sunday after Sunday is this place. And you may need to hear it more than you imagine.

Year End Youth Sunday

A time of recognizing the completion of a year of youth activities and a chance to express our gratitude to those who have overseen these programs will take place at the 10.00am service on Sunday, June 3^rd. We have gifts for the young people to commemorate the day, and the Rector is most desirous of having one final opportunity in his tenure here to be with the young people as a group. He will use his sermon as a chance to speak to them this last time. We hope that as many members of the Parish as possible will be present to mark this moment in the life of our Parish.

Childcare in the Undercroft ~ During the summer it is our intention to have childcare during the 10.00am service in the Undercroft in order to allow as many families with young children as possible to attend church. We hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity.

Summer Coffee Hours ~ Please do take a minute to sign up to do Coffee Hour once during the Summer. These need not be elaborate affairs. Lemonade and cookies on the terrace would be a wonderful way to have a chance to greet one another after the 10.00am service. A sign-up sheet to indicate your willingness to do this is on the bulletin board.

Loaves & Fishes ~ Our day for Loaves & Fishes is Friday, June 15^th. Please sign up for cooking food or delivering it and serving it at Loaves & Fishes. The sign-up sheet is in the Parish House. Please have the pans of food delivered by Noon on the 15^th. Please note: we are needful of volunteers to help with serving on that day. It will not take a great deal of your time, but it will be a tremendous help at the Soup Kitchen.

Thank you ~ A special thank you to Quality Service Cleaners in Woodbury for their kindness in beautifully cleaning the frontal for the Sunday School altar and doing free of charge.

Important News about the Silent Auction for the Bazaar ~ There is an effort underway to encourage members of the parish to “put on their thinking caps” about how they might support the Silent Auction. We are ready to begin receiving items for the Silent Auction and ask that you contact Ann Burton (868-2003) or Chris Boshears (868-9340) to let them know what it is you have and when you might like to bring it by. What is very important this year is for us to begin now to think about various goods and services that might be very attractive parts of the Silent Auction. By this we refer to the possibility of members of the Parish offering a stay in homes they may have in other parts of the country or the world; tickets to various sporting events; the opportunity to attend the opera or a symphony (perhaps with an opportunity to stay overnight in an apartment in New York); etc, etc. Items such as these have tremendous appeal to all sorts of people, and, in addition to all of the usual wonderful parts of our Bazaar, will do much to enhance the undertaking.

As we all know, St. John's is famous for its wonderful cooks. Now we're putting together a St. John's cookbook to spread that fame a little wider--and to raise money for St. John's as well.

We're looking for all your best recipes, of all kinds: beverages, appetizers, bread and breakfast items, side dishes, main dishes, desserts, chutneys and preserves, candies...whatever you like. We'd also love it if you included interesting notes, anecdotes, or histories with your recipes, since those are what make it so much fun to read a cookbook.

We will be kicking into high gear with this project over the summer with the plan to have the cookbook available at this October's Bazaar. To meet that deadline, we need all recipes by August 15. You'll shortly be receiving a paper mailing about the cookbook, with a self-addressed stamped envelope included, if you want to send your recipes by the regular mail. You can also email recipes to Laura and Ann at:

Please send the emails to both addresses. And feel free to call us with any questions you may have about this project.

Feel free, too, to submit as many recipes as you like. We're a small parish, so multiple entries will be fine. And if you have friends or relatives with a recipe you've always wanted, now is the time to ask them!

Look for further information and updates on this project in each week's Bulletin. Thank you all for your help. It's an exciting project and one that will bring lots of positive attention to St. John's.

Bazaar Crafts ~ Leah Pullaro is in need of assistance for this year’s Craft Table at the Bazaar. She will produce all the craft items but needs help from one or two people who would be willing to set up the table and be present at the Preview Party and/or for the day of the Bazaar. Please call Leah (868-9011) if you have questions or if you would like to volunteer for either or both days.

Vestry News ~ The regularly scheduled meeting of the Vestry took place on May 20, 2007.

Mr Fowlkes reported that, while cash flow was tight, bills were being paid on time.

Ms Schinke reported that we had reached our pledge goal for 2007 and that, with a number of pledges outstanding, we might hope to exceed our revised goal and reinstate some of the reductions made in preparing for the year.

Mr Steven Morris has agreed to Chair the Building and Grounds Committee. Fr Ficks requested and received approval to increase Andrew Narciso (our Sexton’s) hours from 20 to 30 per week and to make him an employee rather than an independent contractor.

Old Business: Mr Fowlkes was thanked for his considerable work in organizing and codifying use and charges for the Parish Hall facilities by a number of outside groups.

The 5^th -8^th Grade Group, which has been funded through the generosity of a Parish family will need to be funded next year through the Operating Budget.

$1000 was approved for outreach distribution to Literacy Volunteers of new Milford.

Transition: Ms Schinke and Mr Boshears reported that they are actively involved in discussions with a possible Interim Rector. Details will be distributed to the parish community as firm decisions are reached.

Music Notes ~ Now that the Saint John’s Chorale spring concerts are over, and the final Evensong of the current season has been sung, June seems to present itself as a relatively placid, well-behaved little month. The regular Sunday morning choral services will continue during June, of course, but there are none of those little musical ‘extras’ that tend to characterize most months at Saint John’s. (Well, there is just one – a sort of late evening Salon/Cabaret event – later in the month. But this is still in the planning stage. I’ll keep you posted.)

However, although I have little to report in this issue of the Eagle with regard to upcoming events, this article does give me an admirable opportunity to extend an end-of-season tribute to the members of our choir. Providing week after week the high quality of music which is the hallmark of Saint John’s Church is a responsibility that puts an enormous amount of work on the shoulders of each of our singers - far more than the casual observer might expect. The way this group manages to juggle the musical demands put upon them, along with the additional demands inherent in their busy professional and family lives is a constant source of amazement to me. Yet they do it. What it amounts to is a truly herculean labor of love. But no matter how euphoric the feeling at the end of a splendid Evensong (for example), there’s no getting around the fact that a lot of very hard work had to be put in to arrive at that point.

We all of us owe them our deepest gratitude. For no matter what I personally can do, and no matter how noble our musical hopes and intentions as a parish may be, the fact remains that without the week-in week-out efforts of our choral musicians none of it would be possible.

My thanks to them, and to all of you who so energetically support and appreciate our efforts.