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March
2005
Rector’s
Message
Dear
Friends,
I find that I tend to feel that, if I don't do something perfectly, it
probably
is not worth doing. This is a failing on my part. If you happen
to share
the tendency with me, I urge you to reconsider. I particularly
urge you
to do so, if you have decided that, since Lent is already partly over,
and you
did not get started on it in a way which seems appropriate to you,
there is no
sense in trying to begin now.
To seek to keep a Holy Lent by self-examination, reflection, and prayer
is not
something which needs to be undertaken "perfectly" but which simply
needs to be undertaken to the best of one's ability. Perhaps for
those of
us who fall prey to "perfectionist tendencies,” it is wise to be
reminded
of the old saw, "Better late than never.” Much of Lent and Holy
Week
still lie before us and can be put to use in understanding what it is
God
created us to be and to what it is God calls us. I pray that each
of us
will make use of the days ahead in order that, as we celebrate the
Feast of the
Resurrection on the 27th of the month, we sense the new life promised
each of
us as we journey with Christ along those paths which are our
lives.
Faithfully,
The Revd
RL Ficks III
Rector
Evensong
will be
sung on Sunday, February 27th
for the
Third
Sunday in Lent
as well
as Palm
Sunday, March 20th.
We hope
that many
members of the Parish
will
take this
opportunity at 5.00pm on each
date
to close
their
Sabbath in the midst of this
ancient
service of music and prayer.
Loaves
and Fishes ~ Saint
John’s is next
scheduled
to serve at Loaves and Fishes on March 18th. Please sign up on the
Parish Hall
bulletin board to help and pick up a pan from the table in the Parish
Hall,
fill it with a hearty concoction, and return it to Saint
John’s no
later than Noon on the
18th. You
may also feel free to bring the pan back at any time convenient for you
prior
to that and put it in the refrigerator or freezer as may be most
appropriate.
Mite Box
Sunday ~ On
Easter
Sunday, March 27th, during the 10.00 am
service, the
children of the Church School are
invited to be
in Church with their families as part of the Easter Liturgy. They will
present
their Mite Boxes during this service. They received these boxes during
Lent and
have been putting an offering in them during the course of this season.
The
gifts will be collected and sent to an organization chosen by the
children that
assists those in need. It is a wonderful thing which the young people
do in
this regard, and we urge all of you to be here to mark this moment with
them
and to congratulate them on their efforts.
Easter
Flowers ~
Please contact
the Office by March 21st to indicate your desire to have a
loved one
remembered at Easter and/or to make a donation to help with the Easter
decorations for the Church.
Altar
Guild ~
Please mark you
calendar now in order to be present to assist with Spring cleaning in
preparation for Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter. We will gather at 9.00am on
Saturday, March
19th in the Sacristy in order to accomplish this important
work. We
hope you will be present, for many hands do, indeed, make light
work.
On
Saturday, March 5th at noon in the
Parish
House the Altar Guild will be having a Pot Luck Lunch to which all
members are
cordially invited.
Services
of Holy Week
Maundy
Thursday ~ On
Maundy
Thursday, the service will take place with Communion and the Stripping
of the
Altar at 7:30 p.m.
Following the
Service, the Vigil before the Reserved Sacrament will begin at 10:00
p.m.
As you recall from previous years’ discussion of the Vigil, the
Tabernacle
which stands in the corner of the Chapel contains the Reserved
Sacrament…communion
hosts consecrated at previous Eucharists and used with each Eucharist
that
takes place at Saint John’s in a literal and figurative commingling of
all that
has gone before with all that is happening immediately. The presence of
this Sacrament,
the body of Christ, is marked by the light which burns over the
Tabernacle
signifying the presence of Christ in our midst. This light is known as
the
Light of the Presence. During the hours of this particular night, which
remembers our Lord’s betrayal, trial, and eventual murder, it is
customary in
many places throughout the Church for members of the congregation to
keep watch
in the Chapel by the Reserved Sacrament. This watching with Christ is,
for
many, a most powerful moment in the course of the year…one of silence,
reflection, and prayer on the oft times painful realities of the human
journey.
The idea is that members of the Parish sign up for one hour “shifts” of
keeping
watch in the Chapel. It is perfectly reasonable to have more than one
person in
the Chapel at any one time and we hope a response of such a magnitude
might
well be the case. Feel free to sign-up on the sheet provided at Sunday
Services, return the form attached on the pink sheet (by mail or in the
offering plate), call the Office, or simply to come to the Chapel
during the
hours of the Vigil. If you have any questions about this please feel
free to
give the Rector a call (868-2527).
Good
Friday Services ~ On
Good Friday,
the service at Saint
John’s will
take place
from Noon until 1:30. We
will be using
the liturgy from the Prayer Book for Good Friday allowing Communion to
be
received from the Reserved Sacrament. The Choir will be present for
this
service. We hope that you will mark your calendar now to be at Saint
John’s for the
full 1 l/2
hours from Noon until 1:30 p.m.
to mark the hours of our Lord’s passion and death and to share with him
in this
time of anguish.
Easter
Eve ~ There
will be
traditional Easter Vigils at Saint Michael’s Church, Litchfield at 7.30 p.m.
and at Trinity Church, Torrington at 8.00pm. All
members of Saint
John’s are
most cordially
invited to either of these Services.
Easter
Day Services ~ On
Easter Day,
services at Saint
John’s will
take place at 8:00 and 10:00
a.m. The 8:00 a.m.
Eucharist is celebrated without music and, at 10:00
a.m.,
the Eucharist will be a most festive celebration with music and an egg
hunt
afterwards. Please note that, at the 10:00
a.m.
service, families
are invited to bring their children. There is no Church School that
day. There
will be some snacks and juice set out in the Undercroft in case parents
have a
child who becomes very unhappy, and they would like to take them down
stairs
for a “break” for a few moments. Otherwise, it is our belief, on this
day of
days, the entire Parish Family ought to be together to mark the
greatest gift
we know as Christians.
Vestry
News ~ At
its regularly scheduled meeting of February
20, 2005
the following received attention:
The
minutes of the January
16, 2005
were accepted as presented.
The
Treasurer’s Report and Stewardship
Report were received as submitted.
The
meeting then continued in a most
noteworthy vein. It was a meeting taking place at the home of Steven
and Mary
Schinke and was a gathering, not only of Vestry members, but their
spouses and
partners. Members joining the Vestry and members leaving the Vestry
were all
included. The gathering offered a wonderful opportunity for members to
get to
know one another better in a relaxed setting. A wonderful meal had been
prepared and it was a most delightful time. In addition, it offered the
chance
for considerable thought to be given to the Vestry’s role in the life
of Saint
John’s and
possible
initiatives and new areas with which it might concern itself. Great
enthusiasm
for this task was evidenced by all present and this meeting will,
hopefully,
provide a prototype for the “first” Vestry Meeting of each year.
Special thanks
go to Mary Schinke, Jeanne Reid and Winston Fowlkes who worked most
diligently
to make this a successful gathering.
The next
meeting of the Vestry will be March
20, 2005.
Sunday
School News ~
1) There
is a modest effort
underway to move ahead in the process of finding a sound
manner
in which to begin to differentiate the "older" children in the Sunday
School from the "younger" children in the Sunday School.
There is a concerted and most
dedicated effort being made by the Sunday School
Steering Committee to address this matter, and we
are confident a
satisfactory program will be in place as we begin the next Sunday
School
"year."
In the meantime, we are
asking that young persons, age 10 and above, be
part of the entire 10.00am service
in the Church on Sunday mornings. This
seems to offer a good opportunity for the work in the Undercroft to be
a bit
more age specific for the younger children and to allow the older ones
to
experience the worship life of this community in company with older
members of
the Parish. We believe they will benefit from this in the sense
that they
will have a chance to become more familiar with the liturgy as well as
seeing,
and being with, the large number of "grownups" who take this
part of their lives seriously.
We hope you find this to
be a constructive step. Please feel free to
contact the Rector if you have any questions or comments.
2)
This Sunday (2/27) is Family
Sunday. We hope everyone will be present at 10am to
share
this service.
3)
If you haven't picked up Mite Boxes, please
take a moment to go down to the Under-croft and do so. The young people
will be
presenting their Mite Boxes at the 10.00am service
on Easter morning.
Stewardship
for the year 2005 ~ In
October you
should have received the request of the Vestry for your support of
Saint John’s
Operating Budget during fiscal year 2005. If you have not yet done so,
we ask
that you take time to review this request with care and prayerfully
make the
decision regarding how you will respond. Your support of Saint
John’s is
essential to
our continued strength, and we pray that your response will be
generous. If you
did not receive this letter and wish to receive one, please call the
Office
(868-2527) and let us know. We will send it right along.
Confirmation ~ On
Saturday,
June 4th, Confirmation will be offered for members of this
Parish.
If you have a child in his or her thirteenth year or up who might wish
to be
confirmed at this next opportunity or are an adult who would wish to be
confirmed or reaffirm their baptismal promises in the presence of the
Bishop,
please give the Rector a call (868-2527) and let him know of your
interest. We
will begin to work out a schedule of meetings in preparation for this
event
once we have a better idea how many might wish to be involved.
Youth
Group News ~ Members
of the
Youth Group from Trinity, Torrington joined
us for
pizza at lunchtime last Sunday, February 20. Unfortunately, almost all
of our
Youth Group was out of town!! Anyway, we talked a lot about the
trip to Appalachia, and
they have
four or five people interested in going. Our next step, when everyone
is back
from long weekends, etc., is to settle on a time to do something with
them so
we can all get better acquainted. They won't be doing any
fundraisers as
they have already raised money for a trip, but they thought it would be
fun to
come and help us with something like a Ziti Dinner. I'm just
throwing
that out as a suggestion. Perhaps the Saturday right after Easter
(April
2) would be good?
Please
email me at fchamberlain7475@charter.net or call me at
860-868-7475 and give me your thoughts about the type of event and date
and
we'll start to make plans.
I will
also be scheduling a Youth Group meeting for sometime in the next few
weeks
with a guest speaker. This has nothing to do with Appalachia, or
fundraisers,
or anything of the sort. The meeting will take place during our usual
time (10:00 to
10:45)
and as soon as I have confirmed the speaker, I'll let you all
know. I
guarantee that it will be a fascinating talk and well worth your
investment of
45 minutes. Details will follow!!!
Faithfully
yours,
~ Frances
Frances
Chamberlain
Music
Notes ~
Right. I suspected it from the start, but now I’m absolutely
convinced
that any given month in Washington, CT has far
fewer days
in it than it has anywhere else. Of course I realize that brevity
has
long been one of February's most charming attributes, but even
so...! I
could hardly believe it when Maureen reminded me that the March Eagle
Article
was already due, not that there hasn’t been a at least a month’s worth
of
incident in the past 28 days.
Candlemas
Evensong, my first here at St. John’s, was a memorably beautiful one,
and while
it technically did not occur in February (well, let’s be honest,
there’s no
‘technically’ about it; the Evensong in question took place on the 30th
of
January), I mention it here because it took place just too late to make
it into
last month’s notes. The choir sang superbly, and the warm,
peaceful glow
of the Sanctuary evoked all the reflective and prayerful atmosphere
that an
Evensong should.
On the
8th
of February, we put the Epiphany Season behind us with a traditional
pancake
supper cum talent show extraordinaire, featuring the piano stylings of
David
Cregeau and Gwenn Gurnack, Claiborne White’s smoky rendition of ‘I’ve
Got You
Under My Skin’, and the inimitable Swing Sound of Laura Daly, Ann
Martindale,
and Zemma White - aka: The Penultimates.
Two
nights
later, St. John’s Parish Hall was the scene of what we hope will become
something of an occasional tradition (insofar as a tradition can ever
be
occasional): The Thursday Evening Salon. A gourmet meal
prepared by
the Rector (assisted by Jane Conn, Mary and Steven Schinke, Marlene
Smith and
Ann Hodgman) was followed by a program of music for Piano-Four Hands
given by
myself and my cohort in such musical hijinks, Michael Bawtree, who just
happened to be over here from Glasgow for a
leisurely
36-hour visit. It appeared that everyone who attended this
sell-out event
had a great time, and I can assure you that Michael and I most
certainly
did. We’re hoping for a return engagement sometime this summer.
As of
this
writing, we are looking forward to our mid-Lenten Evensong, which will
take
place on the 27th of February. Services of Evensong, unique to
our
Anglican tradition, continue to form a significant and profoundly
spiritual
part of our musical life at St.
John’s.
We of the
choir hope always to be joined by as many of you as possible in the
celebration
of them.
After
that, we prepare for Holy Week and Easter, towards which, in true Washington
fashion, we are
rushing headlong!
In the
happy realization that each day is now bringing increased minutes of
daylight
and greater distance from the bleak mid-winter, I remain
Yours
truly,
Richard
Busch
Parish
Register
Transfer
Out
Ray and
Cathy Boas
~ February
7, 2005
Baptism
Charlotte Saint
Clair Davis
~ February
19, 2005
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