News and Announcements

Journeying to Adulthood.....Together

St. John's is starting a Journey to Adulthood (J2A) program this fall. This is a program of Spiritual Development based on the premise that Womanhood and Manhood are gifts of God, but Adulthood must be earned. The program seeks to instill self-esteem in the context of Christian community and to teach, by word and example, the principles of freedom, responsibility, and friendship (not in the Facebook sense). The program celebrates the individuality and creative potential of each young person. The program also aims to build relationship amongst and between generations in the parish, through liturgical celebrations leading up to and including Confirmation sometime in 10th or 11th grade, by giving the young people opportunities to choose and work with spiritual mentors from within the parish, and by involving many adults in participating in various aspects of the program as it unfolds.

We will work into the program by starting with Rite 13 for grades 6 and 7. I am fully committed to getting this program off the ground and will be working with the class/group weekly. I am still seeking a member of the parish, preferably NOT a parent of a young person in the program, to be a partner in this endeavor. After conversation with a number of parents, it is clear that most people prefer a Sunday commitment to another weekday/evening one, so Rite 1 will meet right after church three or four Sundays a month (there will be one Sunday off per month and the schedule will be published at the beginning of Sept.). It is my hope that this will work out for the families of our parish who have young people in the program, and that it may have the added benefit of building our coffee hour and the fellowship there.

This program will NOT replace the successful Youth Group program we initiated last year. It will be an enhancement of that program, and comes at a time in the life of our parish when we are fortunate to have many young people (about 12) who are the right age to embark upon the Journey. The Youth Group will continue with once monthly fellowship and service opportunities and remains open to all young people of our parish in grades 6-12. The Youth Group will start their year off with a hike up Mt. Monadnock on 9/18 and then the returning members of the group will officially welcome the new members in a cookout at our parish on 9/19. This will be the first official day of Rite 13.

If you can imagine yourself helping with the J2A program in any way.....or being a partner in leading the Rite 13 group with me, please give me a call or send me an e-mail. I will be delighted to hear from you!!

Sunday School

Speaking of needing help, we still need two more adults to assist with the Sunday School program. Right now we have two sets of people who are going to share teaching roles with two classes, but all of them are feeling a bit over extended and are concerned that there be adequate coverage Sunday to Sunday, and two of them sometimes have to work on Sundays. We also hope to restart our Nursery Program this year, a bit later in the fall. We have two high school youth working on this initiative, but they will need some help, so if you miss having very small ones in your life or can help out in Sunday School one or two Sundays a month, please call or e-mail me. These are important opportunities to build relationship with the children and youth of our parish and to make an essential difference in the formation of tomorrow's church leaders.

The Organ Console Move

Is slated to be done August 19th and 20th. Tim, our parish electrician, did his piece of work at the end of July. Foley and Baker, or organ specialists, will do the majority of the work in August and will return in September or October to wrap up a few loose ends related to the platform for the console.

Sunday, September 12th will be Bill Winterton Homecoming Sunday

All elders and shut-ins of our parish are especially invited to join us and be recognized and celebrated at the 10 o'clock service. Transportation will be available. If you are aware of a member of the parish who like to join our worship that day and needs a ride, please be in touch with me, Carole Cronsell, or Vance Mortensen, so that we may make appropriate arrangements. The ECW will host a special coffee hour following the 10 0'clock service. Sunday School and Senior Choir will resume that day. Come join in our worship and festivities as we start a new church and school year and share sweet summer memories together!

This Sunday is celebrated in honor and memory of Bill Winterton who originally suggested a Homecoming Sunday last year, and who passed into God's care and keeping this past May. Naming this Sunday after Bill Winterton was the idea of our very own Jake Fenner.

Junior Choir Notes

I am pleased to announce that Kimmie Borovicka, a member of our parish, who is a licensed music therapist and plays the guitar, piano, and flute, has agreed to help Jared Solensten and me with our Junior Choir program. Any child who is in Kindergarten on up through Junior High school is most welcome to sing. The first rehearsal will be on Thursday, 9/16 at 6:30 for one hour. For further information see Kimmie, Jared or me.

I hope you will prayerfully consider participating and helping out in some new way this fall! We are the body of Christ at St. John's Church in Vernon, CT. This is God's work and and we are invited to labor in His Vineyard, together, with faith and hope, in order to glorify His holy and healing name!

Summer Office Hours

Summer Office will be beginning the week of June 13th. Except for the two weeks of Margaret’s vacation, later in the summer, she will be in the office once a week on Thursdays, starting at 8 am, for 8-10 hours. I will be checking the phone often and if you need a response or answer quickly, you should always feel free to call my cell phone.

Director of Music and the Choirs

On August 22nd we will welcome Jared Solensten to St. John's as our Director of Music. Jared is a recent graduate of UConn with a major in Music Performance and Organ. In addition to his major in Organ Performance, Jared is an experienced vocalist (tenor) and piano accompanist. He has received a number of honors and awards for his earnest study and performance, he has quite a bit of experience as a substitute and summer organist, his organ studies continue, and his references are excellent.

The Search Committee found Jared to be industrious, humble, and eager. He looks forward to his work here at St. John's and we are glad to have him with us. Jared will be here every Sunday, playing the organ half of the time and conducting every week. Jim Garafano will continue to play the organ half time. The Senior Choir will resume rehearsals on Thursday, September 9th at 7:30, and will sing at the the Bill Winterton Homecoming Sunday Service on September 12th. Youth Choir will start the following week on 9/16. Kimmie Borovicka will be working with our Youth Choir in collaboration with Jared. Please welcome these able young people in their Music Ministry among us!

Long Range Strategic Planning

On June 21st about 20 members of our parish gathered for supper and a Long Range Strategic Planning meeting. It was an excellent evening attended by the Vestry, members of the PMC Teams, many of our Commission Chairs and Lay Leaders, and facilatated by Kevin Fenner. We did prayerful brainstorming and reflecting about what we think is most important to the current life and future health of St. John's Parish and then we organized these ideas into six themes with work groups.

The themes are as follows, in no particular order.

• Declare the Good News by generous use of our resources. Eveything we have comes from God. Everything we do glorifies Him.
• Actively support Christian spiritual formation.
• Worship joyfully and creatively.
• Heal the world and ourselves.
• Let's have fun together.
• Grow leadership by empowering individuals to share their gifts in community.

Work Groups have been formed and delegated to look, at, prioritize, develop information about, explore the costs of, and implement (if that is the desire and decision of the work group), the specific ideas and tasks under each theme, with Vestry approval as appropriate and necessary. Each theme's work group is chaired by a member of the Vestry and has other Vestry and various lay leaders as members. The groups are charged with making intial reports on their deliberations and progress back to the Vestry at the Vestry's October meeting.

Summer Adult Education

Many of us enjoyed a summer adult study group last year, reading Murder in the Cathedral together and then watching the movie. This summer we will again have a summer study group. We will be reading A Man For All Seasons together over the course of five weeks, and then we watch the movie together. The summer study will meet after the second service on July 20th and 27th, after the only service on July 4th, and after the second service on July 11 and 18. The group will watch the movie together on Sunday, August 1st after the second service. I will be ordering books, so if you wish to participate, please e-mail the office to let me know of your intentions. It is OK to sign up even if you will not be able to attend all six sessions.

Environmental News

Thanks to everyone who so generously donated sheets, blankets, toothbrushes, and so on for the Animal Rescue Efforts down in the Gulf! And thanks also to Claire and Dan Taylor for hauling all of our donations to the shop in Manchester, who will truck them down south! These items will help the animal rescue teams clean each animal, keep it warm and dry, and hopefully return it to a clean and safe habitat!

We are planning a fall 'creation appreciation' trip to the raptor rehabilitation center in Canton--stay tuned (check your bulletins) for more details.

Our next meeting will be held on August 29 at 11:30am in the Parish House. All are welcome!