Thirty years ago on November 16th, US-trained soldiers of the Salvadoran Army massacred six Jesuits, their housekeeper, and her daughter at the University of Central America during the civil war in El Salvador to support the right-wing dictatorship of the time. 

These soldiers were trained in torture and killing tactics by U.S. military personnel from the School of the Americas at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia.  I joined this Commemorative Gathering which included tributes to Prisoners of Conscience and the many who have died trying to escape terrible conditions, or “disappeared” resisting, or in detention centers. 

Here I am with Craig Mousin, our “own” Tom’s brother, who with his very active wife Chris, is also a regular attendee at this annual event.

I appreciated going with your prayers, interest and good wishes.   

Maureen

To All Our 2019 Harvest Fair Sponsors, Donors, and In-Kind Gifts, Saint John’s Episcopal Church, Charlestown, Massachusetts Thanks You For Your Generosity!

Ace Hardware, Adrienne Sweetser, Junebug, ASANA Charlestown, Blackmoor Bar & Kitchen, Brewers Fork, Bunker Hill Barber Shop, Charlestown Bootcamp, Charlestown Nursery School, Charlestown Tea & Treats, Charlestown YMCA, Chelsea Station Restaurant & Bar, Ctown Cycle, CVS Charlestown, Deano’s Pasta, Deb Sordillo, Element Day Spa, Figs, Glitter Nail Salon, Grasshopper Café, Hair Cuttery, Harvard Art & Frame, The Cooperative Bank, Jen DiManno, Jenny’s Pizza, Joanne Graziano, Jon Hay & THE BOSTON RED SOX, Legal Oysteria, Mynard Family, Monument Restaurant, Randy Wood, Rosemary Kverek, Jeff Twiss & THE BOSTON CELTICS, Shops Howard, Sorelle’s, Starbucks, Sullivan’s Pub, Sweet Rice, The 99 Restaurant, The Ostrander Family, The Scoville Family, The Tompros Family, The Warren Tavern, TownHill Dry Cleaner, and Zumes!

Saint John’s Episcopal Church
27 Devens Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Telephone: (617) 242-1272

Church Office Hours are Tuesday & Thursday 8 am to 3 pm.
stjohns02129@gmail.com

Clergy
The Reverend Rebecca Black, Interim

Office Hours are generally T-Th 10am – 4pm, Sundays until 4pm

ADVENT WREATH MAKING

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 24

After the 10am service

Advent wreath frames will be available. If you already have a wreath frame and want to join in decorating, please bring your wreath frame to church with you.

A little note about Advent wreathes: Advent wreaths are circular, representing God’s infinite love, and are usually made of evergreen leaves, which “represent the hope of eternal life brought by Jesus Christ.” Within the Advent wreath are candles that generally represent the four weeks of the Advent season as well as the light of God coming into the world through the birth of Jesus Christ; although each of the candles has its own significance as well.

Individually, the candles specifically symbolize the Christian concepts of Hope (week one), Peace (week two), Joy (week three) and Love (week four)  Many Advent wreaths also have a white candle in the centre to symbolize the arrival of Christmastide, sometimes known as the Christ candle. It is lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. The Christ candle is white because this is the traditional festal color in the Western Church.

The four surrounding Advent candles are violet and rose, corresponding with the colors of the liturgical vestments for the Sundays of Advent. Violet is the traditional color of penitential seasons. (Blue is also a popular alternative color for both Advent vestments and Advent candles) One interpretation holds that blue means hope and waiting, which aligns with the seasonal meaning of Advent. Rose is the liturgical color for the Third Sunday of Advent, known as Gaudete Sunday from the Latin word meaning “to rejoice”—also from the first line of the traditional entrance prayer (called the Introit) for the third Sunday of Advent; it is a pause from the penitential spirit of Advent. As such, the third candle, representing joy, is often a different color from the other three.

The Search Committee, appointed by the Vestry, is composed of a representative group of Parishioners of varying ages, with different gifts, and skills.

The Search Committee has primary responsibility for guiding the Parish through a process of prayerful reflection on the Parish Mission and its hopes for this next stage of its life; for consulting broadly during this process; for composing a realistic and clear Parish Profile; and for conducting the search itself – in all its stages, except the final step – once the Parish Profile and other elements of the Rector position description have been posted.

According to the Canons of the Episcopal Church and the practices of our Diocese, no Clergy may serve on the Search Committee, and the Wardens are not allowed to serve, since their energies are devoted to keeping the church going during the interim period.

One or two members of the Vestry serve on the Search Committee, and serve as a liaison to the Vestry. In the very final step, the Search Committee presents their chosen Candidate to the Vestry, which, with the approval of the Bishop, issues the call to that person on behalf of the parish.

The Search Committee is to be fully transparent and communicate clearly and regularly with the Parish at large, and with the Interim in all the stages up to the posting of the Rector position description. From then onward, the Search Committee is to observe full confidentiality, as the search itself proceeds.

The Rector search process, while carefully organized and attentive to many organizational details, differs from a corporate search process in that it is conducted at all times in a spirit of prayer and in the perspective of the question “What is God’s call to us as a Parish, at this time, in this place?” It is also meant to be a time of spiritual and communal growth for us, as a Congregation and a chance for us to strengthen the Laity of the parish.

We are deeply grateful to the nine people who have agreed to serve on the Search Committee. You will be hearing from them in the coming weeks and months in more detail, step by step.

by Alice Krapf

I wasn’t surprised that a reflection on light, on grace and blessings and my life at St John’s led me to music.  Here are a few stories. 

In the early 90’s, I was at a parents’ potluck at my son’s child care center when one of the mothers came by to chat.  She had seen my photo in the Patriot’s display from a St John’s Harvest Fair.  “Do you go to that church?”  Yes.  “Do they have a choir?”  Well, they could!  I had just met Louise Ambler Osborn.  With a few more wonderful voices, and the hiring of Douglas Witte, St John’s current choir was formed.

One day in the late 90’s, David Hermanns, who sang in the choir, and Jim Quale (at some point, a Senior Warden, who didn’t sing but loved music) asked me whether they could start a capital campaign to buy a new organ for St John’s.  I can’t remember why they asked me: I might have been on the Vestry, or maybe it was just that I was the main layperson worrying about the lake that appeared in the middle aisle just under the gallery every time it rained.  We hadn’t quite come up with a plan to deal with that at the time, but I think David and Jim were worried that fund raising for an organ might seem frivolous in the face of a major breach in the roof.  As a trained budget analyst, I certainly should have discouraged them.  But these two guys had a plan and an abundance of enthusiasm and the Spirit was with them.  So the answer was obvious.  Go for it.

They found an organ needing rehabilitation, which had been built around 1873, the time of the Victorian rehabilitation of St John’s.  At the big celebration upon the installation of the organ, the program noted that the organ fit into the alcove in the chancel with less than an inch clearance, and had clearly been made for St John’s.  It just spent the first 125 years of its life in Connecticut.

My own light? I am still amazed that I get to sing in the choir.  The first time I sung Tallis I walked on air with trepidation and joy from Thursday rehearsal to Sunday service.  I get to sing prayers and pray by singing. I am so grateful for the opportunity to study music, to develop what voice I have, to sing with others and to know that this music enhances our worship. 

These are small stories of grace and blessings that have occurred over my 30 plus years at St John’s.  From the chance meeting with a priest on a bicycle (who invited us to St John’s) to the day Lyn Brakeman broached the idea that I should think about EfM (Education for Ministry), I’ve come to expect that grace filled moments happen at St John’s. What very often seems to be an insurmountable problem or a loss, somehow gets turned into a blessing, perhaps many blessings.  Trust and hope flourish in this parish, and I am better able to trust and hope because of what I’ve experienced here.

Note:  Each week during our annual stewardship campaign, a parishioner will offer a reflection that will be printed and handed out on Sunday and reprinted in News and Notes for the following Thursday’s email.