January 2016

Saint Johns mission is to nurture all people in their spiritual growth, in their Christian education, and in their relationship with God.

of Saint Johns in Pine Meadow

Dear Friends, It would appear that winter is here at last! As I write, the Gill Memorial Garden is becoming cloaked in snow and the flurry of snowflakes are dancing outside my office window. My drive to Pine Meadow past the Barkhamsted Reservoir and the Saville Dam has seemed to be a slow motion glimpse of the approach of winter. First the water levels began to decrease and the shoreline began to take on a new shape character with sandy edges of the lake appearing first followed by small islands in the midst of the water. As the water receded, a new character seemed to emerge and things that had been hidden all spring and summer were revealed. This journey to Pine Meadow each morning mirrors the journey that we have been making into relationship with each other as priest and parish and also mirrors the journey that we are making together into a renewed relationship with our community. It has been a blessing to be engaged in finding out what God is up to in Pine Meadow for our first year together! This past Sunday, I spoke with the community gathered at eight oclock for worship about Jesus walking into the water at his baptism at the River Jordan. Jesus waded into the waters of baptism and into a ministry that would lead to many places, conversa-tions, relationships, and conflicts, miracles, revelations, and challenges that he would never have imaged as he stood listening to John the Baptist that day.

I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

Johns words were a challenge to those gathered for repentance and baptism that day just as they are a challenge to all of us. Je-sus responded to Johns words by wading into the water for baptism and in the process his life was changed inexplicably. By wading into the waters Jesus embarked on a journey that would take him to villages and homes and to Jerusalem and Calvary. He brought healing and hope and compassion and understanding as he and they came into communities. At Jesus wading into the waters, God broke open the heavens and with the Holy Spirit proclaimed, You are my Son, the Be-loved; with you I am well pleased. Friends, it is time for each of us to remember that we too are called to wade into the water. It is time for Saint Johns as a parish to journey deeper into relationship with the community of Pine Meadow and with each other. We too are Gods beloved. When we wade into the waters God is well pleased!

The Rev. Sandra L. Cosman

COMING SOON:

LENT MADNESS!

SEE LENTMADNESS.ORG

FOR MORE INFORMATION

REMINDER:

SAINT JOHNS ANNUAL MEETING AND COMBINED WORSHIP

SUNDAY, JANUARY 24TH AT 9:00 AM

PLEASE JOIN US!!

HOW WERE DOING SO FAR

Nov. 2015 Nov. 2014 Operating Income: $ 13,868 $ 11,108 Operating Expenses: $ 14,633 $ 8,217

YEAR TO DATE 2015 2014 Operating Income: $ 156,500 $ 141,328 Operating Expenses: $ 175,233 $ 163,401

Larry Espinet, Treasurer

Bits & Pieces

Church Office Hours Office hours are 8:30 a.m. 1:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Prayer RequestsIf you wish to have prayers for any reason, intercession, thanksgiving, etc., please contact Anne Hall (annechall@att.net), with the names and all the information. Prayer is part of our concern for one another. For pastoral emer-gencies, please contact the Parish office at (860) 379-3062 or office@reddoors.com Winsted Food Pantry - Please dont forget to bring in non-perishable food items for the hungry that live among us.

Offering Envelopes for 2016The envelopes for the coming year are in the narthex. If you have not requested envelopes and would like some, please contact the office. Please consider your offering en-velopes for cash donations that you want to be in-cluded on your contribution statement. Committee Reports Due For all committee chair-persons, please email your year end report to: of-fice@reddoors.com as soon as possible. Flower Chart Posted in NarthexSign up for the Sunday of your choice. Cost is $60.00, or you may bring flowers from your garden in the summer. The office will contact you about memorials.

PARISH REGISTER(Broadly Defined)

Let the office know about happenings in your own life and in the lives of other parishioners, especially hospitalizations, so Mother Cosman can contact those in need of comfort.

Death Gytha Rock Darconte (Sister of Jill Smith)

John R. Sullivan

(Father of Jill Healey)

Next IngatheringJanuary 10th

The total for 2015 is $275.89. Bring coins any-time. We will keep them safe.

SCRIP A way to help Saint Johns and simplify your life! The Scrip Program is a simple way for Saint Johns to benefit from your regular purchases at select retailers at no cost to you. Here is how it works: If you purchase a scrip card (gift card) here at Saint Johns in the amount of $50. You receive a gift card for $50 for that store and our parish re-ceives a percentage of your card purchase. The gift card is the full value of your purchase and we re-ceive a donation from the retailer. It is that simple. Stop & Shop cards are available on Sundays for pur-chase and a listing of many other retailers is also available. Easter gifts, birthday presents and every-day expenses can all benefit Saint Johns and you can save a trip to the store!

Special thanks to Ron Caine, Tom Chappell, Bruce Wearne, Bob Osborne for cleaning the church. Special thanks to Joanne Ritchie, Betty Castonguay and Ginny Hoffmann for their volun-teer work for folding all the weekly programs. Thank you to Anne Hall for providing the weekly Prayer List. Thanks to our Soup Kitchen Crew for their hard work. Thank you to Diane Hayes and Larry Espinet and Team for doing such a great job on Steward-ship. Thank you to Pat Sepples for snow removal and sanding the walks. Many thanks to Beth Coates for coordinating the Jesse Tree. Thanks to all the elves for helping sort and/or deliver gifts. Thanks also to everyone who donated gifts, money and food, for Christmas meals. The collection was a wonderful success due to your generosity. Thank you to Donna Colavecchio and the Altar Guild for polishing silver, putting wreaths on the doors, and decorating the church with Christmas flowers. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Christmas flowers. Thanks to Barbara Hinman for folding all the newsletters throughout the year. Thanks to Blake Hall for his hard work through-out the year working on the contribution statements and the weekly reports. Special thanks to Halyna & The Choir for their hard work preparing music for Lessons & Carols and for the Christmas Services. Special thanks to Ken Krohner for donating the beautiful Christmas Tree. Special thanks to Tom Chappell and Bruce Wearne for putting up the Christmas Tree and re-placing the lights in the Altar. Special thanks to Diane Hayes and Linda Snyder for all their hard work with the Epiphany Pageant and thank you also to the volunteers. Thanks to everyone who helps with the mission and ministry of St. Johns.

PETERS RETREAT Thanks to those who help.!

Coffee Hour Hosts 10:00 AM Service

Rhythms of Grace Worship for Families and

Individuals with special needs

Our monthly next worship will be on Sunday February 7th at 1:00PM. We are looking for worship leaders AND participants. All people are welcome to join us in the service. Rhythms begins with a gathering activi-ty then on to storytelling and response activities. We re-gather and process upstairs to gather around the ta-ble for Eucharist and receive a blessing and then dis-missal. Worship is around an hour. If you would like to learn more about this experience speak with Linda Snyder, visit the website: www.rhythms-of-grace.org If you may know of someone who might be interested in joining us please take a brochure in the back of the church or give them our contact information above.

To learn more about participating in this important outreach program, please contact Laura Wearne at (860)307-3031. We take the fourth Saturday in all months, except November and December, because of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Stay tuned for more information in 2016.

A sign up sheet is posted in the parish hall. This is an important part of our ministry of hospitali-tyto visitors, to children, to one another. Coffee supplies other than cream are available in the kitchen. Baked goods are terrific, whether home baked or purchasedwhatever works for you. All parishioners who attend the 10 a.m. service are requested to host at least once this winter. See Candy Flaherty for more information.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 10:00AM Al-Anon 8:30 PM AA

2 Craft Session for Pageant Props9:00AM

3 Holy Eucharist 8:00 & 10:00 AM Nooma9:00 AM Rhythms of Grace1:00PM

4

5

6 8:00 PM AA

7 Bible Study10:00AM 6:30 PM Holy Eucharist

8 10:00AM Al-Anon 1-4PM Home-Schooling Group 8:30 PM AA

9 Rehearsal for Epiphany Pageant 9:0010:30 AM

10 Holy Eucharist 8:00 & 10:00 AM Epiphany Pageant

11

12

13 8:00 PM AA

14 Bible Study10:00AM 6:30 PM Holy Eucharist Joan & Ron Caine

15 10:00AM Al-Anon 1-4PM Home-Schooling Group 8:30 PM AA

16 Open Door

17 Holy Eucharist 8:00 & 10:00 AM Confirmation Class11:30 am

18

19

20 8:00 PM AA

21 Bible Study10:00AM 6:30 PM Holy Eucharist Vestry 7:00 pm

22 10:00AM Al-Anon 1-4PM Home-Schooling Group 8:30 PM AA

23 Peters Retreat

24 Holy Eucharist One Service @ 9:00 AM Annual Meeting 10:00 AM

25 26

27 8:00 PM AA

28 Bible Study10:00AM 6:30 PM Holy Eucharist

29 10:00AM Al-Anon 1-4PM Home-Schooling Group 8:30 PM AA

30

31 Holy Eucharist 8:00 & 10:00 AM

January 2016 St. Johns ChurchCalendar of Events

Anniversaries in Italics

January Birthdays

6-Jan Caroline Bremer 7-Jan Anne Radziewicz 9-Jan Gavin Hester 9-Jan Maggie Stull 10-Jan Laura Frey

10-Jan Josette Carter 11-Jan Mac Wilson 12-Jan Blake Hall 14-Jan Leah Alibozek 15-Jan Peter Pobuda 18-Jan Peggy Budny 18-Jan Chloe Gargiulo

20-Jan Luke Nelson 20-Jan Alexander Sabolcik 22-Jan Donna Colavecchio 22-Jan Lois Moraski 23-Jan Heather Odlum 24-Jan Lorraine Hart 25-Jan David Childs

25-Jan Rikki Gath 28-Jan Judy Jones 28-Jan Austin Marek 29-Jan Henry Ross 31-Jan Frances Frigon

Quiet Evening at Saint Johns

AdventLessons & Carols

Epiphany Pageant

The Episcopal Church Were Here For You

Sunday Holy Eucharist

8:00 a.m. & 10 a.m. Thursday Holy Eucharist With Healing Prayers 6:30

p.m.

Address Correction

P. O. Box 27

Pine Meadow, CT 06061 Phone: 860 379-3062 www.reddoors.com

.

Godly Play: Godly Play will continue after the Epiphany Pageant (on 1/10) with a number of parables during the season of Epiphany. Parables are stories that Jesus used to teach his followers about a number of issues/topics/way to live. This was not a new form of teaching at the time but a frequency used way, leaving the listener to wonder the meaning of the story/parable. We will do the same during our retelling of Jesuss parables . . . We will wonder/ponder the meaning of these words. Our Godly Play program would like to thank The Gargiulos for their very generous donation of the com-plete story of Joseph and his family. We are very excited to have this in our collection! During the Annual Meeting, which will be held on January 24th, there will be child care available for all ages. There will be more information as we get closer.

ANNUAL MEETING SUNDAY, JANUARY 24

Following the Combined 9:00 AM Service

Committee Reports

Election of New Vestry Members/Officers

Deanery Reps/Diocesan Delegates

Discussion of Our Financial Condition

Charlotte Dufour Lifetime Service Recognition

Childcare for the Annual Meeting: During the annual meeting we will hold a special time for children in the parish hall while their parents attend the meeting.