Author Archives: Saint John's Episcopal Church

A Wonderful B-SAFE Week

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Many volunteers and donors from St. John’s and Old North contributed to another successful B-SAFE week at St. Luke’s/San Lucas Episcopal Church in Chelsea. Each day, lunch was provided for 85 campers and counselors from Chelsea, Everett, and East Boston. Each day we served

Daily lunches included tacos, ziti and meatballs from La Famiglia Giorgio’s, arranged by Old North, pasta, hamburgers and hot dogs prepared by our volunteers from  St. John’s, and pizza from Regina’s (thank you, Danny Spinetto!)  After serving lunch each day, we had a chance to sit down, meet the kids and make friends. On Thursday, Tom led a worship service after lunch, with children hearing the story of how Abraham and Sarah’s children would become as numerous as the  stars in the sky.

Priscilla Burns, in addition to coordinating the efforts of both churches for the whole week,  planned an incredible outdoor field trip for Friday that was changed last minute because of the rain. She worked her magic and created a wonderful morning at the movies followed by lunch at St. John’s with Minute To Win It games, bubbles, crafts and more. Rachel Pfost, Lisa Ayres, and Shukri Mohamud, an intern from Old North,  did a fabulous job with Priscilla in leading the games. Even though it wasn’t what was originally planned, it was great fun (and hard work!). The Parish House and lawn out front were filled with laughter.

Just after lunch, Steve Spinetto arranged for a special presentation by Maureen McKinnnon, a gold medal winner in sailing at the Beijing Paralympics in 2008. Maureen held the group entranced for more than an hour as she described how she overcame her disability to achieve great success. The gold medal was passed along the aisles of the church for all to admire.

Special thanks to all the St. John’s folks who contributed, either through financial donations, making lunches, cooking and serving, or showing up on the field day trip to make the Parish House ready:  Angela Alewine,  Lynne Levesque, David and Meg Cushing, Jenn Herlihy, Maureen Lavely, Liz Senft, Barbara Bush, Priscilla Burns, Jonathan McCormick, Kathleen McCormick, Evie Scoville, Nan Armstrong, Alice Krapf, Tom Mousin, Lorraine Gagnon, Paul Newell, Rachel Pfost,  Simon Ringrose, Claudia and Mike Mickelson, Fay Donohue, Steve Spinetto, Catherine Womack, and Danny Spinetto.

 

 

Corners of Holiness

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IMG_4336Dear Friends,

Several of you mentioned how much you appreciated the memorial created on Sunday at church for the police officers and young black men who died in acts of violence in our country last week. Sadly, we have had to create too many of those memorials. The Sunday before, flags of Iraq, Turkey, and Bangladesh commemorated lives lost in terrorist attacks in major cities in each of those countries. And just a few weeks before that 49 candles and photographs helped us to pray for the victims of the shootings in Orlando.

While I regret having to create such shrines, I am also struck by how that side corner of the church has become a place of true devotion. Most weeks, three icons – of Jesus, John the Evangelist, and of Mary the Mother of God – provide the central  focus of this side altar. You may pass them unnoticed. Or it may be that  you have been drawn to this corner before or after church for a brief prayer of thanksgiving or petition, before the icons or before the faces of those who have died.

Yes, the main altar in the chancel is a central focus for our worship. It is where we gather each week to meet Christ in the Eucharist. But there are other places of holiness and devotion as well. Just a few years ago, the side area by the door to the garden  was a storage place – a shelf for candlelighters and other things that might be needed in worship. Now the words that once were inscribed over our “high altar” – Holy, Holy, Holy, have become the base of another altar that has transformed a cluttered area into a place of devotion.

It makes me think about corners of my own life that God is seeking to transform. And I wonder if there are parts of your life -neglected areas, or a corner or aspect of your being that has grown cluttered. What is God seeking to make more holy in your life?

As you walk by that side altar in church on Sunday, consider that question. And give thanks that God is continually making all things new, even in the places in our lives where we may least expect it.

Faithfully,

Tom

 

Summertime, and the Livin’ Is…..

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IMG_0449Dear Friends,

With summer upon us, schedules often change. George Gershwin suggests that come this season, the living’ is easy. It may not always be easy. At times, commitments to family vacations or projects can make us feel as as busy and over scheduled as ever. At the same time, it is not unusual to find ourselves moving to some different rhythms in July and August. Here at church, it is a quieter time, with no formal formation programs for our children or adults.

But maybe, just maybe, the summer months can open a door to doing something new. If you happen to have a Monday morning free, perhaps you have the time to join Maureen Lavely at the MANNA community. Or wander over to the Cutler Memorial Garden on a Monday evening. If you have never put your fingers into the dirt or tended to a growing plant, you just might discover that you love it. Our B-SAFe ministers, who have created marvelous lunches for the last two summers at St. Luke’s/San Lucas in Chelsea,  would love to have some new persons join them during the last week in July.

And what about Sunday mornings? Maybe the summer is a time to “flip” for a Sunday – if you are a faithful 8 o’clocker, try attending the service at 10. Likewise, if all you know is our worship life at 10 am, discover what it means to worship in the Garden on a sunny Sunday morning at 8 am.

Summertime, and the living’ is……. perhaps easy, perhaps challenging, and just maybe a little different.

Faithfully,

Tom

 

What’s Ahead for St. John’s

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On Sunday June 19th, over two dozen parishioners  gathered after the 10 am service to consider the year ahead for St. John’s. We heard about how bishops are elected in the Episcopal Church, and how the possible election of Thomas Brown would result in our ownrector, Tom Mousin, finishing his time with us. At the forum, Tom made it clear that regardless of the outcome of the election, this was a significant time in the life of St. John’s.

The Vestry will be meeting in September for a planning retreat, and now that we know that we will not be focused on the search for a new rector, the Vestry will be seeking your input as we plan for the next few years ahead. Those who attended the forum on June 19th received a set of questions that will help us to consider where God is calling us to be as a parish. Over the course of the summer, there will be a more formal survey online for you to add your input. But if you were not at the forum, you can click on the link below for a copy of the questions. Please give some time to answer these questions. For all who have received them, please return them to the church office by July 15th. Thank you!

Parish Questions

 

The Bread of Life

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Dear Friends,

Every Sunday, we come to the altar and share a meal. It is the meal that Jesus ate with his disciples on the last night of his life. It is a meal in which we believe that Christ continually gives himself to us in the consecrated bread and wine. We believe that transformation takes place in this meal. We may wonder how ordinary bread and wine becomes Christ’s living presence. But the more miraculous transformation we are invited to consider each week is the transformation that takes place in us. Ordinary human beings, you and me, are fed by Christ so that more and more, we may become the presence of Christ in the world.

I invite you to think of that transformation as you consider two invitations to partake in other meals this summer – with the MANNA community at St. Paul’s Cathedral, and with the B-SAFE summer program at St. Luke’s/San Lucas Episcopal Church in Chelsea. You’ll find the invitations elsewhere on this website. Our nourishment at the altar on Sundays means little if it does not result in our lives becoming the joyful sacrifice that was and is Jesus Christ’s life: an offering of ourselves to the world, for the nourishment of all God’s people.

At the heart of our worship each week is the mystery of ordinary bread and wine becoming the life giving presence of Christ. And that very mystery is then made manifest in ordinary human lives living in extraordinary generous and loving ways. As St. Augustine told those who came to the altar centuries ago: “There is your mystery on the table. Be what you receive.”

Faithfully,

Tom