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Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Welcoming Sunday
Holy Eucharist, Rite II
September 13, 2026
Dear People of Saint John's,
This Sunday is the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Children's Service, and Welcoming Sunday. Once again Deacon Paul will preach from the Gospel of Matthew. It will be a children’s sermon about forgiveness. Are you ready to forgive 77 times?
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Diocesan Convention
We send our prayers and thanks to our convention delegates, Isabelle Andrews, Claudia Dyer, and Carol McTague, as well as Deacon Paul, as they represent the parish at this year's diocesan convention up at Christ the King Center this weekend. You can see the opening table talk from Thursday night with Bishop Schnase and Bishop Jeremiah here: Opening Table
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This Sunday!
Welcoming Sunday
Welcoming Sunday is a wonderful occasion every fall to share the ministries and activities that make St. John’s such a warm community. We encourage you to bring along friends and family to explore our children and family programs.
This year we are not only featuring our various ministries and enjoying a special coffee hour but also taking photographs for use in our Search profile. (We also hope to create some hallway posters to help other users of our building see what a vibrant community we offer at St. John's.) So please come prepared to offer smiles and get immortalized photographically. You might also want to bring a few props that will help illustrate your ministry in a photograph.
Meet representatives from the following ministries and enjoy light refreshments!
Acolytes, Lay Eucharistic Ministers, Lay Eucharistic Visitors, Adult Education, Altar Guild, Children and Teen Programs, Community Compass, Daughters of the King, English Country Dancers, Fellowship Committee, Flower Guild, Food Pantry, Foyer Group, Garden Committee, Music Ministry, Properties Committee, Stewardship Committee, Thrift Shop, Young Adults
Daughters of the King
Monday, September 14
Daughters of the King will meet in the Thompson Room at 12:30 for an optional BYOLunch gathering or join the meeting at 1:00 pm.
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
Welcome to a new year together! Classes begin next sunday!
It’s that time of year to register your children for our Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program. Please contact Gaby Gastelum: Click here to contact Gaby
with any questions.
Sunday 9:30 am to 11:15 am. (If you can’t make it on Sunday, we offer the after-school program as well).
Wednesday 4:15 to 6 pm (Ages 7-12+)
Thursday 4 pm to 5:30 pm (Ages 3-6)
Beyond the Sheepfold
Beyond the Sheepfold is a program for our pre-teens and youth (ages 10 – 17). The program is scheduled Food Pantry Saturdays to assist with the distribution of food, and to have a social time together! We will start at 9 am with a gathering that includes hot chocolate, donuts, and an activity, usually a presentation-meditation; then we head down to help at the pantry.
We understand many of our young people are involved in sports and cultural events and we hope they can attend as many of these sessions as possible!
Beyond the Sheepfold will meet on the Food Pantry Saturdays:
Oct 3rd, Dec 5th, Feb 6th, March 6th, May 1st, and June 6th
Please contact Gaby Gastelum at Click here to contact Gaby with any questions about the children and youth programs.
Potluck Parish Picnic!
Friday, September 18
6:00 - 7:30 PM
Join us in bringing our St. John’s community together in fellowship to begin our church year! Since we were not able to have our picnic this past summer, Pat Jolie and Peter Brucato are providing hamburger and hot dogs for a Parish Picnic themed Potluck. Beverages will also be provided. We are looking for picnic side dishes such as potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw, tossed salad, watermelon, cookies or whatever you would like to bring! Invite family and friends. Sign-up sheets are in the Thompson Room hallway and the narthex. For more information please contact Isabelle Andrews at saintjohnstroyhospitality@gmail.com.
Bereavement Group
The first gathering will be on Monday, September 21 at 7:00 PM in the library, and sessions will continue the first and third Mondays each month.
The group will be led by Rachel Tremblay, LCSW, who comes to us through the previous group leader, Henry Frueh.
For information, please contact the office: office@stjohnstroy.org.
News from the Shepherd's Storehouse Pantry
On Saturday, September 5th, our pantry served 107 families. We are grateful to the Capital Roots Squash Hunger program for providing us with additional produce and Greenfield's Forever for the Mr. T's Pickles that we were also able to distribute to many of our guests.
A special shout out to all of the volunteers who helped set up, pick up, pack, and/or distribute the items to our visitors: Deacon Paul, Ivana Addo, Margaret and Mona Bryant, Dot Cadwell, Paul Carney Jr., Ken Crognale, Bill Daniel, Marva Domeck, Claudia Dyer, Deb Heggen, Bill Hodkinson, Gene Kane, Betty Kappes, Dave Litwak, Jamie McDonald, Carol McTague, Linda Muller, Dale and Gary Nelson, Kathy O'Brien and her grandson Manny Domenick, Pete Ostwald, Andrew and Petula Phillips, and Kristen Smith. Many thanks, also, to the parish for your prayers and financial support that help make it possible for this important outreach ministry to continue to serve our neighbors in need.
Blessings, The Pantry Team
Your responses will help us better understand what defines St. John’s today, what traditions and ministries are most important to our parish, what qualities we seek in our next rector, and where we believe God is calling us in the future.
The survey is open from now until Monday, September 21, 2026.
Click here to take the survey today!
The survey can also be taken by visiting stjohnstroy.org.
If you prefer to take the survey on paper, hard copies are available in the Narthex, or you can call the office to request one. Lastly, members of the Search Committee will be available during Welcoming Sunday in the gym after the 10AM service. Feel free to stop by, take the survey, and ask any questions you might have about the search for our next rector.
Thank you in advance for your thoughtful participation in our survey!
SAVE THE DATE!
Listening Sessions Coming Soon
The Search Committee invites you to participate in an upcoming Listening Session to share your thoughts on the search for our next Rector and the future of St. John's. Sign-up sheets will soon be available in the hallway. We ask that you sign-up in advance so the Committee can better prepare for the session. Listening Sessions will last approximately one hour, and while there is no need to attend more than one, you are more than welcome to if you'd like!
Listening Sessions will occur on the following dates:
- Sunday, September 27th after the 10 am service coffee hour in Thompson Room, approximately 12 pm-1 pm
- Wednesday, September 30th at 7 pm-8 pm – Virtual: ZOOM invitation to come!
- Sunday, October 4, after the 10 am service coffee hour in Thompson Room, approximately 12 pm-1 pm
We look forward to seeing you there!
Worshiping from home? Join the service online
For those of you who will be worshiping with us via live stream, be sure to let us know that you are there through the chat feature, so that we can greet you at the passing of the Peace. Service Links are found at the top right of this page.
Come join in worship!
With gratitude for our life together,
June Waters
What to Look For (to Send a Chat)
Once you are viewing the live stream by pressing the link above, there should be a "conversation" to the right of the stream (Top Chat). Like this:
Other Links you might find helpful.
