| | Weekly Dispatch, April 5th, 2023 |
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| |  | | St. John's Schedule- Catechesis Hour – Sundays at 9:00am before Church
- Holy Eucharist – Sundays at 10:30am at Church and via Facebook
- Midday Prayer – Tuesdays at 11:00am in Malone University's Cafeteria
- Choristers/Bible Study/Evening Prayer – Wednesdays at 6:30pm at Church
- **No Choristers on Wed. April 5th; resumes the following week**
- Maundy Thursday – Thursday, April 6th at 6:30pm at Church
- Good Friday Services – Friday, April 7th at 12:00pm (Dying Words of Jesus) and 6:30pm at Church
- Easter Vigil with Baptisms – Saturday, April 8th at 8:00pm at Church
- Easter Sunday – Sunday, April 9th at 10:30am at Church
- Easter Sunday – No Catechesis. Easter Egg Hunt to follow worship service
- Eagle and Child – Thursday, April 13th, 7:00pm at TBD
| | A Message from Fr. Joe |
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| We officially began Holy Week this past Sunday, and it is powerful to keep each day holy to the Lord with our Midday Eucharists. They truly feel like they are leading us towards the Holy Three Days; Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. Again, I hope you can join us for these powerful nights of worship. I thought I would highlight the best one of the three, which is of course, the Easter Vigil. Did you pick up that it’s my favorite? While the best way to understand its significance is to experience it, I thought it would be helpful to break down some of the significant parts of the service that make it unique.
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First, we begin outside with gathered around a fire. We anticipate the light of Christ breaking forth from the empty tomb, and the great revelation of our salvation in the face of Jesus Christ. We process with our lite candles into a darkened worship space. As we come together, the deacon prepares us with the purpose of this night, which leads us to hear the biblical narrative of God’s mighty acts from creation to the fall to the promises of redemption with the prophets. Each passage of Scripture is responded with appropriate songs and canticles. The Scriptures eventually lead us to the waters of baptism.
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This year we are welcoming two children to the fount where they shall be sealed in Christ forever. Their names shall be brought under the waters and united to the Triune God and His Church. Please pray for them (Rebekah and Conner). As the children are baptized, going from death to life, the lights are turned on and we celebrate the alleluias of Easter. Our Lenten journey is over, and we go from fasting to feasting.
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The core idea of the Easter Vigil is to go from darkness to light, from death to life, and at every Vigil we either baptize or remember our baptism together. This is the night where we remember why we are Christians. For me, it is a night that keeps me in the faith once delivered. I pray, in some measure, this night will break forth the dawn in your own hearts that wherever there may be darkness there will be light, and wherever they be death you will meet life. Continue to keep watch with our Lord throughout this Holy Week and let us meet our risen Lord once again this weekend.
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If you would like to support St. John's during this time, you can give online by clicking the button below. You may also send a check to the following address:
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PO BOX 36591, CANTON OH 44735
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| The Complexities of Palm Sunday by Fr. Joe |  | A message from the series "Sermons from Lectionary Texts." This week began the most holy week of the year. We waved our palms with our hosannas and processed into the church with shouts demanding our Lord’s crucifixion. The sermon focused on the various observation of the Passion narrative next to the complexities of Palm Sunday to the Christian life.
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|  | | Join us every first and third (usually) Thursday night for our Eagle and Child reading group! This is a group that meets to discuss and apply classic works in Christian theology and classical literature from the likes of Lewis, Augustine, Bonhoeffer, and other important authors. We are currently reading Chesterton's The Everlasting Man and discussing his interesting case for the uniqueness of humans, and in particular, Jesus Christ. |
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 | Cana Vox is a discussion group where those who support a classical understanding of marriage can explore the controversial issues in a calm, deliberative setting that is not subject to the hostilities found in today's public discourse on the topic. We seek to discuss thoughtful responses to the confusion surrounding marriage in our culture. We are not meeting currently, but if you have interest, contact Dcn. Chad about starting up another session.
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| | Easter Lillies| It is that time again! If you are interested in adorning the Lord’s Table and His House with Easter Lilies, please contact Alyssa to let her know how much. I believe last year the cost was somewhere between $5-$10. Any donation is helpful to beautify and celebrate our risen Lord. Her email is Alyssagasbarre@gmail.com |
| | Hottel Moving Dates – Help Needed!| The Hottels are finally moving into their new home in Doylestown, OH. They are requesting assistance from their church family in their transition. They are doing a partial self-move with the heavy boxes and all the furniture they are keeping to be taken by professional movers. The two day they are setting aside for the self-move portion are Saturday, April 15th and Saturday, April 22nd. Please reach out to them if you are able and willing to assist on either of these two days. |
| | Holy Week Offerings Holy Week is coming upon us! It is certainly the most significant week of the whole year, and I encourage you to participate as much as you are able. Please consider the following services:
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- Palm Sunday (April 2nd): We will gather our bulletins and palms to begin outside (rain or shine), then process our way into the church reenacting Jesus’ procession into Jerusalem. As we enter into the worship space, our reenactment continues with the dramatic reading of the Passion of our Lord.
- Simple Holy Week Eucharist (April 3rd, 4th, 5th): Please consider fasting your lunch these days and join us for a very brief and simple Eucharist the next three days of Holy Week. They will begin at 12:00pm and wraps up within half an hour.
- Maundy Thursday (April 6th): A moving service focusing upon the last hours between Jesus and His disciples before His arrest and crucifixion. We will experience the Stripping of the Altar signifying Jesus being arrested, stripped and beaten, and sent away to be crucified.
- Good Friday (April 7th): We are offering two services on Good Friday, and each are unique. The first will be Reflections on the Dying Words of Jesus at 12:00pm. This hour-long service will include prayers, silence, and reflections from various parishioners of St. John’s. Our second service will be our classic Prayer Book Good Friday service at 6:30pm.
- The Great Easter Vigil (April 8th): One of the most significant services of the whole Church calendar. We begin in darkness where we hear the mighty works of God throughout Holy Scripture, bring those seeking baptism to the fount, and usher light into darkness with our first alleluias! It will be a grand service starting at 8:00pm.
| | Easter Catechesis| We are starting a whole new Eastertide Catechesis on April 16th! The focus will be on Paul’s letter to the Colossians. In keeping the feast, we will continue to offer Morning Prayer for the first half of catechesis, with teaching to follow afterwards. Our youth are encouraged to stay for Morning Prayer, and they will continue their focus upstairs. Our children will continue with Gospel play with special attention on the post-resurrection narratives of Jesus with His disciples, but also special attention on the beginnings of the Church. |
| | Breeze Online Giving and Giving to Chad’s Curacy| Thank you to all who give to St. John’s Anglican Church. We are so grateful for your support to continue the mission of the Church. As an update to online giving through Breeze, you may or may not know that they charge a processing fee whenever you give online. It is a small percentage of your gift. However, there is an option for you to cover the processing fee in your giving if you so choose. This allows St. John’s to keep 100% of what you give online. You should be able to see the option when you choose to give on the website or on Breeze. Also, there is an option on our website to give to Chad’s Curacy. Simply click donate and you should see the option. Thank you again for your generosity! |
| | Midday Prayer at Malone| All are welcome to Midday Prayer on Malone’s campus at 11am. We will meet in the cafeteria for lunch and prayers. We are typically done within the hour. |
| | How Can I Serve at St. John's? There are plenty of ways to serve at St. John’s and we would love for you to join in on what God is doing in the church. Below you can see all the different ways to serve. No special skills required, simply a willingness to learn and grow in service.
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| Acolyte Ministry – Carrying the cross, assisting at the table, and learning more about the Anglican Way. |
Altar Guild – Preparing the Lord’s Table for Holy Communion before the service and developing a sense of holiness in worship.
Readers – Approaching God’s Word with boldness and declaring it to the people.
Hospitality – Providing food, setting up and cleaning up the area, and making space for all people to feel welcome and belong. We also hold special events throughout the Church calendar preparing feasts together.
Gospel Play – Experience catechesis with our children with interactive materials enhancing biblical narratives within the liturgical calendar. It is a lot of fun!
Ushers/Greeters – Welcome people as they come to church, especially newcomers, handing out bulletins, and passing the plates for the offering. |
| Music – We would love to expand our music ministry with your various gifts. Do you play an instrument? Are you a gifted singer? Come join the team! |
We hope to develop these ministries with more lay leadership. In the meantime you can contact Fr. Joe, Dcn. Chad, or Maggie if you interested in participating or even taking leadership in these various ministries. |
| | The Daily Office| Interested in a simple way to pray the daily office from the Book of Common Prayer? Follow this link for text and audio versions of the morning, noon, and evening prayer services taken directly from the 2019 ACNA BCP. |
| | Contact Fr. Joe
| I am here for you. If you would like to grab some coffee or other beverages, or would like a home visit, please don’t hesitate to contact me at: frjoe@stjohnscanton.org |
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