New Happenings at St. John's!

So much is going on here at St. John's.

I think it is important to let this community know our bad news as well as our good news. Unfortunately, do to finances, we had to let go of Father Bill. He will be missed.

Now for the good news. Things are turning around. We have started all kinds of activities, and the community is supporting us.

Garrison Doles travels the states and performs a Song Chapel. He has agreed to come to our little community and bring us his ministry of original songs and stories. The Song Chapel will be at St. John's on September 14 at 7 p.m.!

We have our yearly Fall Festival coming up!! We are still looking for Vendors and Raffle Prizes and stuff to sell at the Yard Sale. This is always a fun event for us, and we look forward to having plenty of fun for both kids and their parents! Come join us on October 13 from 9-4 p.m.!

Every Wednesday anyone that wants to is coming to an Exercise Night at 5 p.m. We have had big and small groups so far, but its fun no matter what. We are getting back into shape and supporting each other in the process. Plus its always easier to do something like this if there is a support system in place. Bring your sneakers and a towel and come join us!!

Every 1st and 3rd Saturday we have a Praise and Worship Service at 7 p.m. This is completely Lay Led, meaning the regular folks in the church put it together and present it to the rest of the community. We hand out all kinds of noise makers so that everyone can participate.The praise team practices weekly, so if you would like to join, just call the office.

On 1st Friday's we are performing in front of the church. This gives us a chance to let people hear our Praise music, meet the locals as they walk by, and hopefully get a few donations in our hat to help the needy families and kids in town. We want to meet everyone and let you know we are here for you!!

On Second Saturday's starting in September we are starting up a Book Club at 2 p.m. The first book we are reading is "Mrs. Clinton and Me". The members of the club will pick their own books each month, so you never know what you might get. It's going to be a great opportunity for fellowship and learning.

We have partnered with the Maryland Conservatory of Music. They are in part of our office building for their Havre de Grace office. We are going to have Six months worth of concerts starting in September (skipping January) at 5pm on Second Saturday's. Each concert will have a different theme, different musicians, and will help raise money for both of us.

We are also partnering with another church. Evangelistic Church of Deliverance will be coming to stay with us starting in September. It's always wonderful when two communities of God can come together and help each other. We look forward to working with them and their ministries.

As always, Grace Place still takes place in our hall. This is a group effort by the churches in our community. Grace Place provides a hot meal on Tuesdays from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and then sends home people with a bag of groceries to help get them through the week. Havre de Grace is truly wonderful when it comes to helping with this ministry.

Services are still held weekly on Sunday's. We have an 8am for early risers that doesn't have music but still has all of the tradition. We have a 10:15 a.m. for those of us that love to sing or have kids, or just can't seem to get ready any earlier (speaking for myself on those points, everyone has their own reasons for picking a specific service). No matter what our services always fulfill our weekly need for Community and Mass.

All in all things are really looking up for St. John's. God has heard our prayers and is answering them. If you would like to be a part of any of our ministries, or just want to show up and see what it's like here, please feel free. If you need to get in touch with the office, our phone hours are Tuesday - Thursday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. The office number is 410-939-2107.

We welcome all people! Come as you are! There's room for you here!!

God Bless,
Sarah Ingalls-Howard
Parish Administrator