| | Weekly Dispatch, May 18th, 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
- Bible Study/Evening Prayer – Wednesdays at 6:30pm at Church
- Feast of the Ascension – Thursday, May 18th, 6:00pm Potluck Dinner and Eucharist at Church
- Acolyte/Altar Guild Training – Sunday, May 21st after church
- Chad Sanner’s Ordination to the Priesthood – Friday, May 26th,at 6:30pm at Zion United Church of Christ
- Bishop Visitation/Confirmations – Sunday, May 28th at Church
- Eagle and Child – Thursday, June 1st, 7:00pm at TBD
| | A Message from Fr. Joe |
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| Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
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Tonight, we are gathering to keep a major feast in the life of the Church. It is the Feast of the Ascension! After 40 days of being with the disciples, the resurrected Jesus bodily ascends to the right hand of the Father. We will explore more of the significance of this event for our salvation and the Christian life later tonight, but for now I wanted to both invite you to the feast and share some thoughts.
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| First, we will share dinner together at 6pm. Thank you to Megan Tennant for organizing and communicating these things. Even if you cannot bring anything, please come anyway and we would love to fellowship together. There will be plenty to go around. The service will follow around 7pm for a simple celebration of Holy Communion with the singing of our Choristers. This will be their last offertory anthem until the Fall. |
Now for some thoughts on the feast day which will hopefully draw you closer towards keeping the feast with us! Ascension Day always falls on a Thursday because it is ten days before Pentecost. In the Scriptures, it reads that Jesus exhorts the apostles to watch and pray before the Holy Spirit descends upon them. This span of time was, of course, ten days which culminated with the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. The Ascension is truly the detonator to the Pentecost bomb. It is the event which makes Pentecost happen.
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Jesus takes significant time with His farewell discourses in the Gospel of John (texts we have been hearing these past few weeks) revealing that it is for their benefit that He departs. This is not only departure in the cross for our redemption, but specifically His departure in the ascension. It is for their (our) benefit so that the Helper would come. Truly, the significance of the Ascension is intimately tied to the birth of the Church and her mission in the world. There is much more to say, but let’s hold off and enjoy the feast together. Hope to see you there!
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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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| Abide With Me by Fr. Joe |  | A message from the series "Sermons from Lectionary Texts." In Jesus’ last “I am” statements from the Gospel of John, He declares that He is the true vine, and we are the branches. The key word we hear from Jesus in the relationship He seeks with us is “abide.” This is the only way towards real, genuine fruit in our lives where Jesus seeks union with us. Come and hear the grace and goodness of such a relationship we can have with the Triune God.
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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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| | Feast of the Ascension| Ten days before Pentecost is always the feast of the ascension. It is one of the high holy days in the Church calendar signifying the ascension of the resurrected Christ to the right hand of the Father. Therefore, let us keep the feast! Please join us May 18th at 6pm. Be on the lookout for an email sign-up for the meal building up our fellowship and worship together or check with Megan Tennant with what to bring. |
| | Living The “Ordinary” Christian Life (Summer Catechesis Beginning June 11th)
Our focus throughout the summer will be Implications of the Gospel; How Shall We Live? What does it mean for the Gospel to be expressed in our lives, specifically in how we handle vices and virtues in the Christian life? Each Sunday will be a different conversation on vices/virtues from a variety of voices from the congregation.
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Youth will be exploring similar topics, but in the areas they currently face or will encounter down the road such as identity, technology, relationships, etc. All with the question of how to integrate the Gospel into everyday life.
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| Our children will begin a new summer Storymakers curriculum focusing on God’s people going through the wilderness. They will learn more about God’s faithfulness to us, even when life is hard! |
| | Acolyte/Altar Guild Training| As we search for some new volunteers to serve in the Acolyte and Altar Guild ministries at St. John's, we wanted to offer an opportunity for those interested to get deep training not just in the "how" of the liturgy, but the "why" also. To this end, we will be hosting an Acolyte/Altar Guild training shortly after church on Sunday, May 21st for anyone interested in these ministries, anyone currenntly serving in these ministries, or just anyone curious about the why and the how of Anglican liturgy. All are welcome! We will try to keep this training to an hour or so. |
| | Wednesday Book Study/Evening Prayer/Choristers| In this season of Easter, our Wednesday group will be reading the book, “Seculosity.” It focuses on how everyday secularism has become our new religion and how the Gospel speaks the delivering word towards us. If you are interested, please contact Fr. Joe for a book. We begin opening discussions this week. |
| | Confirmation| We are looking forward to the Bishop’s visit on Pentecost Sunday (May 28th) where we will celebrate the birth of the Church with those seeking to be confirmed in the Anglican Church of North America. If you are interested in pursuing confirmation or even curious to know what it’s all about, please contact Fr. Joe ASAP to chat over coffee or other beverages. |
| | Chad’s (Lord willing) Ordination to the Priesthood| Mark the date down now! May 26th for Chad’s, Lord willing, Ordination to the Priesthood. This is an exciting day for both Chad, but especially the life of St. John’s Anglican Church. We would love for all of us to come together and celebrate a historic day with him. We are currently working through all the details, but for now, please mark the date, plan to attend, and pray for Chad in this new phase of ministry for him. |
| | Trinity Sunday Catechesis| June 4th is Trinity Sunday marking our transition into what is commonly called Ordinary Time. Join us for a special focus in catechesis on why the doctrine of the Trinity matters for the Christian life. |
| | 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! |
| | 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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