Worship with St. John’s

The Fourth Sunday of Advent
Sunday, December 22, 2024

Artwork by Amy Meadows

Join us for worship at 8 and 10 am.

8 am: Holy Eucharist, spoken with musical accompaniment.
10 am: Holy Eucharist with St. John’s Choir and congregational singing.

Download the bulletin for 
Sunday, December 22, 2024.

For In Person Worship The nursery is open from 8:00 -11:00 a.m. Please stay for coffee hour.

For Online Worship: Join any service via Zoom Meeting ID: 882 2966 1337 Passcode: 3857 By phone: call 312.626.6799. Enter the Meeting ID and #. Enter the Password and #. OR Watch on Facebook live on our public page. 

Christmas at St. John’s

Luke 2:1-20
Art by Yazmin Ramirez

Christmas Eve 
Tuesday, December 24
4 pm Holy Eucharist
Child-friendly service
Download the bulletin for 4 pm Christmas Eve

10 pm and Holy Eucharist with choir
Candlelight service with festive music and carols beginning at 9:30 pm
Download the bulletin for 10 pm Christmas Eve

Christmas Day 
Wednesday, December 25
10 am Holy Eucharist with carols
Cookies and hot chocolate follow
Download the bulletin for 10 am Christmas Day

For Online Worship: Join any service via Zoom Meeting ID: 882 2966 1337 Passcode: 3857 By phone: call 312.626.6799. Enter the Meeting ID and #. Enter the Password and #. OR Watch on Facebook live on our public page. 

Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols

Saturday, December 7 at 5 pm

Lessons and Carols presented by the St. John’s Choir celebrating the reason for the season in stories and songs. A festive reception follows the service with St. Nicholas paying a visit. Free childcare provided.

Download the Lessons and Carols bulletin.

Attend in person or online via Zoom Meeting ID: 882 2966 1337 Passcode: 3857

NEW! St. John’s Creative Arts Community

St. John’s Creative Arts Community is a newly formed group of artists and crafters of all skill levels who meet twice a month at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 3857 N. Kostner Avenue, Chicago.

Craft Day: First Wednesday of the month from 1 to 4 pm
Craft Night: Third Wednesday of the month from 6 to 9 pm

We welcome all who need a space to work on art projects, are looking to learn a new skill, or just want to hang out with other talented, creative people. If this sounds like you, please stop by! Attendance is free. Join us in the church hall and bring a project that you want to work on. Children are welcome to join the fun, but please note we do not provide any childcare
Questions or have a skill you want to teach to others? Please contact Debbie at dmaher34@gmail.com.
Open to all in the Irving Park Community!

Search Committee Update

Last week, as announced on Sunday 11/3, the Vestry named Rich Gage and Laura Singer as co-chairs of the Rector Search committee.

Next steps: The Vestry and the Search Committee co-chairs, Rich Gage and Laura Singer, will be meeting with our diocesan transition minister at the Nov. 20, 2024 Vestry meeting at 7:15 p.m. All are welcome to attend that meeting to hear what the diocese shares with us. Use this link to attend on Zoom. We also meet in person.

The Vestry and Co-chairs will meet again in December to plan and develop the self-nominating process for the St. John’s Search Committee.

For questions or more information, please contact Rich Gage at richardgage51@sbcglobal.net or Laura Singer at laura.t.singer@gmail.com.

In the meantime, please pray with us:

God, please help us set aside
Everything we think we know about You,
Everything we think we know about ourselves,
Everything we think we know about others,
And everything we think we know about
St. John’s, so we may have open minds
And new experiences with these
Things and come to know You
Better. Please help us see the truth.
Amen

Turkey Day Dinner Assistance Needed!

Sign-Ups have started for Thanksgiving Community Dinner!

Some of our neighbors face Thanksgiving Day all by themselves. Whatever the reasons, they have no one to share the day with. Some have no food, either.  

For the past 41 years, St. John’s has offered these people holiday food and companionship. It takes 80 of us to brighten the lives of 160 of our community. Come join us! Sign up using this link.

We especially need volunteers to WAIT TABLES from 12:30-2:30pm on Thanksgiving Day.

Children ages 5-8 can wait tables alongside a parent. Anyone age 9 and above can wait tables by themselves.

We also need food donations, Wednesday prep, and other Thanksgiving Day help.

A Personal Tribute to Emmett Till

In honor of his birthday on July 25

Emmett Till & Marvin Childress, self-portrait
photo of Emmett Till & Marvin Childress, self-portrait

Parishioner Marvin Childress was a friend and classmate of Emmett Till. On Sunday, July 23 at 9 am Marvin honored Emmett’s memory by sharing his memoires of Emmett, growing up on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s, and his reflection on life and racism in Chicago today. You can listen to the 45 minute talk, including questions with this YouTube link A Personal Tribute to Emmett Till by Marvin Childress.

Reckoning and Reconciliation with our Indigenous Neighbors

A reading list

Recommended reading and resources for parish study groups and book clubs from the Peace & Justice Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago

Art by Rose Teyuthahukwa Malanik

The Red Nation: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth (2021)

Notable Native People: 50 Indigenous leaders, Dreamers and Changemakers from the Past and Present by Adrienne Keene (2021)

Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance (2nd edition) by Edgar Villanueva (2021)

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer 2013 (Study Guide available)

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (2014)

The Four Vision Quests of Jesus by Steven Charleston (2015)

Neither Wolf Nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder by Kent Nerburn

The Night Watchman a novel by Louise Erdrich (2020)

Seeing Red: Indigenous Land, American Expansion, and the Political Economy of Plunder North America by Micahel Johnson Witgen

Videos available from “Indigenous Ministries” on The Episcopal Church website: 1. “Native Voices: Speaking to the Church and the World” (37 min.) 2.“Doctrine of Discovery” (14 min.) 3. “Native Voices: A Response to the Episcopal Church’s History with Indian Boarding Schools” (1 hr. 33 min.)

National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition  

Article from Sojourners: “Will Christians atone for church boarding schools?”

Bexley-Seabury Course by Mary Crist:

Report calls church to address harms of white supremacy, colonial and imperial legacies; create $2 million healing coalition by David Paulsen