St. John’s The monthly newsletter of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Mt. Vernon January, 2018

Allen+

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope my prayers were answered and all of you had a very Merry Christmas and a not so stress-filled Advent season; and, you did not have to return too many gifts in the midst of the after-Christmas throng. As I write this letter on December 28th, we are on the cusp of celebrating the beginning of a new year, 2018. It seems like only yesterday that I started dating checks and other signed documents with the year 2017. The new year of the Church began on the First Sunday of Advent, December 3rd, but that was hardly a noticed on the secular calendar. We order our spiritual lives, our worship, and liturgical seasons by the Church calendar, but we are slaves to the secular calendar. The New Year for us is January 1st. The fiscal year of the parish did not begin on December 3rd, it will begin on January 1st. Our Treasurer, Susan Harrison, and Robin Price, our Parish Administrator are already starting to draft the 2018 parish budget. My annual stewardship letter and pledge cards were sent out in early November and many cards have been completed. It is never too late to commit to pledging to the church. So, if your heart is being stirred to submit a pledge card, please fee free to turn it into the church office. My intent is not to write about money and finances. As any good stewardship geek will tell you, stewardship is about the careful and prayerful use of all the gifts that God has bestowed upon you. Also, stewardship is not just about asking for money for two or three months out of the year. Stewardship is a year-round commitment to service Christ and His Church. “All things come from thee O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee.” I also realize that stewardship is not just about serving the Church, but serving Christ in the community on a daily basis. However, we do have a corporate duty to serve Christ through his Church. This means offering yourself, your gifts, talents, skills, and time to participate in the ministries of the St. John’s. The Prayer Book Catechism states that the ministers of the church are lay people, bishops, priest, and deacons. The laity out number the ordained. We are all ordained to serve the Church and local parish as the priesthood of all believers. It is that time of year when we all make New Year’s resolutions. I urge all of you to resolve to be as involved in the life and ministry of St. John’s as much as God is calling you to be. January is the time when most of the various committees of the parish meet to discuss and plan for the rest of the year. The annual meeting is always the last Sunday of January. We have a pitch-in lunch, conduct a few canonical pieces of parish business, then hear verbal reports from all our parish ministries. Each ministry chairperson thanks those who have served over the past year, and asks others to join them in the coming year. The Outreach Committee is meeting on Sunday, January 14th shortly after the morning service. We are a parish that has a long-standing tradition of tithing from the operating budget to give money to select social service agencies in the community. We also discuss what projects we will fund or get involved in during the course of the year. This is a worthy committee to be involved in. The Worship Committee will meet on the evening of Wednesday, January 17th. I am canonically in charge of all aspects of worship, but the canons also state that I should seek advice and guidance from others in the parish with special gifts and talents. Our worship, while governed by the rubrics (rules) found in the Prayer Book, is meant to be a vehicle to celebrate just about any life event. We also have a new bishop in Jennifer who is urging congregations to stretch the boundaries of traditional worship and prayer. Attending the Worship Committee meeting is a way to have a voice in how we worship and pray. We are always looking for people to give voice and assist in the formation of Christian Education for all age levels. If you have ideas for an educational study, let your voice be heard. Be willing to assist or lead a study group. A church can never have too many study groups. The altar guild does not have formal meetings, but encourages anyone interested in helping with the set-up and clean-up after services to join the guild. There are a number of other ministries that take place on a Sunday morning, from Greeter, to Offertory, to Lay Reading and Chalice Administration, to hosting the Coffee Hour (after service hospitality). We have occasionally discussed training and using adults to supplement the teens as acolytes for worship services. St. John’s has a long tradition of only using children and teens, but many small parishes rely on both adults and children. Lastly, there is frequent talk about ideas for fellowship gatherings and events. I cannot plan and organize every aspect of the parish. I would love to see a Fellowship Committee be formed and meet on a regular basis to plan and implement events in which groups from the parish can get together and have fun and get to know each other in a more casual and deeper way beyond our coming together on a Sunday morning. There is also a need for a better organized group of parishioners to make regular visits to shut-ins, those in the hospital, and those at home recovering from a hospital stay. The Apostle Paul taught rightly that we are all separate members but one body in Christ. We cannot hoard our individual gifts and talents, or hide the light of Christ given to us under a bushel basket. We are called to come together with our gifts to make the parish a place where Christ is present and serves others, and each other. This is my wish for the new year.

Your Brother in Christ,

Serving Christ In The Community For over 160 Years

A member of The Southwest Deanery of The Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis; The

Episcopal Church in the United States; and the Worldwide Anglican Communion

Mission Statement The mission of the people of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Mt. Vernon, Indiana is to: Proclaim the love of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ through prayer, study, and action.

Vision Statement With God’s help, we commit ourselves to: Recognize God as the author of all creation

Be a place of welcome and refuge for ourselves and others

Offer weekly worship and Eucharist

Stay grounded in God’s Word through Christian education

Pray for our needs and those of others

Lend a helping hand to those in any kind of need or trouble,

and finally to

Maintain thankful hearts for God’s many blessings

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Mt. Vernon, Indiana

Church Address: 602 Mulberry Street P.O. Box 503 Mt. Vernon, Indiana 47620 (812) 838-5445 (812) 838-4881 mtvstjohns@sbcglobal.net

Church Secretary Office Hours: Mrs. Robin Price Monday through Friday 8:00a.m. to Noon

For pastoral emergencies, please call: The Rev. Allen D. Rutherford, Rector Home: 812-838-4406

Sunday Morning Schedule:

8:45-9:45a.m. J2A & Rite 13

9-9:45a.m. Adult Study,Choir Rehearsal & Sunday School Classes (PreK-5th Grade)

10:00a.m. Holy Eucharist

Coffee & Refreshments follows the Eucharist in the Parish Hall

Sunday Morning Nursery Assistance Available

Weekday Service Schedule Morning Prayer, Tuesday-Friday 8:30a.m.

Wednesday Morning Schedule: 9:00-10:00a.m. Women’s Bible Study

Look us up on the web at www.mtvstjohns.org

Also become our friend on Facebook: StJohns Church or mtvstjohns@sbcglobal.net

The Rt. Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, Bishop

The Rev. Allen D. Rutherford, Rector Mrs. Gail Robb, Senior Warden Mr. Barry Cox, Junior Warden Mrs. Rosemary Harlow, Vestry Clerk Ms. Susan Harrison, Treasurer

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Leadership

2018 Parish Annual Meeting Sunday, January 28th

The meeting follows the worship service. A sign-up sheet is posted in the parish hall for attendance and food: The meat is provided. All parishioners are encouraged to attend.

All Vestry Wardens and Ministry Leaders are required to submit a brief written report prior to the annual meeting. All reports are due by the end of the day, Thursday, January 25th, so all reports can be collated and copied for the meeting. Please e-mail or provide hard copies to Robin Price at the church.

VESTRY NOTES The 2017 vestry does not end at the December meeting. The current vestry members must still meet and make decisions prior to the annual meeting. The current 2017 vestry has not been a lame-duck group. Several decisions were made at the December meeting. A new ceiling fan has been installed in the sanctuary and the oddball, too high sconce was lowered. Capital electric still needs to figure out how to put the center pendant lights back on an evening timer, like they were with the old lights. The vestry agreed to continue to move forward with plans to eventually make the church handicap accessible. The last and best option that was presented was to remodel the space in the southside alcove to create a new entry way with a wheelchair lift. This option will not require a ramp to be installed in the prayer garden on the north side. What this means is that the front porch steps and northside steps can be replaced. The vestry voted to move forward with this project. TMI Construction is also providing a bid to replace the gutters on the main church building and front porch. The steps and gutters will need to be included in the 2018 budget.

VESTRY NOMINATIONS As was reported in the December 2017 parish newsletter, we will be electing three new vestry members in 2018. If you have not served on vestry recently, please consider volunteering now! St. John’s needs you. It is a good way to be involved with parish activities, and is one way to serve Christ. Please see Father Allen, Barry Cox or Dana Taylor, for further information or if you want to serve. As the time of this publishing Brian Nichols and Kim Steele have agreed to be nominated. We still need a third member.

The “Card of Shame”: as pictured below is merely a Pledge Card on bright orange paper, so not to be easily overlooked. These are in no way made public and only to remind the procrastinators of St. John’s of something important that they need to do.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OLD LIGHTS?

The old sanctuary lights were left

in the sacristy after the new lights were installed. There were three

options to remove the lights from

the church premises.

1.) Pitch them in the trash, which would not have been a wise

environmental choice.

2.) Take them to the recycle center

where they might be of some value as scrap metal.

3.) Find them a new home.

Option three was chosen. Father Allen took these

photos and e-mailed them to For HIS Glory Architectural Salvage located on Franklin Street in

Evansville. Father Allen offered to donate them to

the company if they thought they could sell them

and find them a new home. FHG was interested, so Father Allen took them over. We pray that

someone will find them and give them a good

home and new life.

Invitation Save the Date

Saturday, February 10th 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Members of St. John’s will be hosting a three-stop progressive dinner in Mt. Vernon.

Appetizers * Main Course * Dessert

Babysitting service is being arranged for parents with young children.

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Worship SILENT NIGHT, HOLY NIGHT

ALL IS NOT CALM!

God has a sense of humor. The plan was to have the new lights installed in the sanctuary with centralized light switches with dimming capability in time for the late evening Christmas Eve service. If all had gone according to plan, at the end of the service the new lights would be dimmed to an appropriate level to sing Silent Night by candle light added by the dimmed lights. However, sometime during the day, after the morning service, the gas furnace to the sanctuary died. We had just installed this furnace in the fall. When Father Allen and other members began showing up at 9:00 P.M. (an hour before the start of the service) the thermostat in the sanctuary read 48 degrees. There was a short discussion about trying to hold the service in the sanctuary despite the cold. Finally, Father Allen made the executive decision to set-up for a service in the warmth of the parish hall where it was a balmy 72 degrees. Because we had been forced to hold several services in the parish hall back in October while the roof was being replaced and the sanctuary was being cleaned, we all knew what needed to be arranged to convert the hall to a worship space. Several people pitched in to set up the make shift altar table, move the portable lectern into the hall, and arrange tables and chairs. The poinsettias were assembly line relocated into the parish hall to beautify the space. The Clavinova organ was brought down from the library to accompany the caroling and hymn singing. A sign was put on the front door of the church to direct worshipers to the parish hall. We had a packed parish hall with worshippers. Everyone was a good sport about the circumstances. The Lessons and Carols were read and sung with great dignity. The administration of Communion was a little awkward, but we managed. The pinnacle moment of the evening service was when it came time to turn out the lights and sing Silent Night to close the service. Would turning out all of the lights, cause it to be too dark to sing the carol? God made it a glorious and most holy event. Because the worshippers were so closely congregated in the space, all of the hand-held votive candles provided enough concentrated light to illuminate the space adequately enough to sing all three verses of Silent Night. It turned out to be a special evening and one that will not be quickly forgotten in the collective memory of the parish. Thank you to everyone who jumped in and helped set up the parish hall, and to everyone who made this such a special service.

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Education and Formation

Worship Committee Meeting

Wednesday, January 17th, 6:00PM

THREE KINGS PARTY

SUNDAY, JANUARY 7TH

Three Kings Bread

Goodies placed in children’s empty shoes

A piñata for the children to break

Christian Education Meeting

February 4th Following the morning service

Journey in Faith

Wednesday, January 10th

Churching of Women

The evening starts with a soup supper at 6:00pm.

The Wednesday morning Women’s Bible Study

group held their second annual Christmas

brunch on December 13th. Father Allen and

Robin were also invited to partake of the array

of delicious food and drink. Even Wally the

Wayward Camel made a cameo appearance

while on his journey to find the boy Jesus.

Some of the Women’s conversation made

Wally blush.

If you have not been in the Christian

education wing on the upper level of the

parish hall lately, you have missed a

transformation. The middle classroom at the

top of the stairs became the homeroom of

the new Rite 13 youth group. With Mrs. Lydia

Rutherford’s guidance the group made

decisions on how to customize their room.

Plush saucer chairs were added. A cubbyhole

shelf was added for individual storage of

Bibles, clip boards, and study material. Strings

of white mini lights will soon be hung from

the ceiling. Lydia declined to have her own

saucer chair, preferring instead a more

traditional, easier to get out of, chair. Lydia is

quickly becoming the mother hen of the

group in the same way that Mrs. Beth Dingman

has been mother hen to the two previous

groups.

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A Christmas To Believe In

A “bazillion” thanks to our children, their parents, teachers, directors, artists and musicians for

another outstanding Christmas Pageant.

Thank you to everyone who helped green the church and purchased

poinsettias.

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Connecting Kids to God

RIGHT:

Father Allen

explains; like

Rudolph made

a way for

Santa by

shining his

light, John the

Baptist

(although NOT

the light) came

to show the

way to Jesus,

the TRUE Light

of the World.

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Reaching Out To Others

January

FOOD PANTRY

Jams and Jelly The Food Pantry needs assorted

varieties of jams and jelly,

any brand.

Place them in

the plastic tote in the

Parish Hall.

The Outreach Committee will be meeting on Sunday, January 14th to discuss our annual tithe budget and recipients for 2018. If you would like to know how and where the money will be spent, please attend the meeting.

HOW MANY WERE HELPED BY THE RECTOR’S DISCRETIONARY FUND?

From January through December 2017,

189 families were helped through the Rector’s

Discretionary Fund. $16,098.18 was the total

amount spent helping those families.

2018 RELAY

FOR LIFE

On Wednesday, February 1st, 2017 the first team of two members of St. John’s picked up already prepared food boxes from the River Bend Food Pantry and delivered them to shut-ins at Cloverleaf. Since that first delivery three teams have alternated making the deliveries. That first delivery was made to five residents. Since then, the number of people served by this ministry has fluctuated. There are currently seven people receiving deliveries. The deliveries are made once a month on the first Wednesday of the month. If you are interested in joining this worthwhile ministry, please talk to Susan Gooden.

Susan Gooden recently went to Gilda’s Club, took a tour and spoke to Dorothy Pergola. What they are looking for are volunteers, a place to meet in Posey County, and donations. Susan told her St. John’s probably couldn’t help with volunteers due to limited person power, but might be able to help with a place to meet once a month pending approval by the vesty, and perhaps with a small donation. Ms. Pergola is concerned that people in Posey County are unaware of what Gilda’s Club has to offer familes and wants to spread the word. Susan will bring up the visit at the Outreach meeting in January and see what the committee members want to do. For more information on Gilda’s Club, visit their website at www.gcevv.org.

May 12th, Noon to Midnight at the Mt. Vernon River Front. St. John’s has no plans at this time to organize a parish team. We encourage members to join and support other teams. Stay involved.

“So no one faces cancer alone.”

In this season of Christmas, we read from Isaiah, Matthew and Luke. Passages I have heard and read my whole life have become new again, especially the part where Jesus comes to restore hearing! Recently I scheduled an apppointment for my hearing (I have had hearing loss my whole life). I knew my one hearing aid was living on borrowed time and I was beginning to struggle hearing things. Through the generosity of St. John’s, Father Allen and the Discretionary Fund, I am able to hear things I haven’t heard before (in stereo, no less)! I am constantly amazed at technology and what it can do! So thank you all for giving to the Lord, to the Discretionary Fund and to me (in all of the other ways you have supported me in these last two years). I love St. John’s and so blessed to be a part of this amazing family. THANK YOU! Robin Isaiah 35:5-7

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Our Church & Community

The search for the next rector has been completed by the vestry and Search Committee of St. Paul’s, Evansville. They have announced that the Reverend Holly Rankin Zaher is their new rector. Reverend Holly is married to Jim and has three children: Ellie (13), Ben (10), and Basil (8). She has come to Evansville from Nashville, Tennessee where she was the Assistant to the Rector at the Church of the Advent. Her resume includes a B.S. in Mathematics (Augusta University), M.A. in Mission Youth Ministry, and M.Div. from the Trinity School for Ministry (Ambridge, PA). She has 25 years professional experience in teaching both in public and in seminary. She taught high school math and international Baccalaureate (IB) Theory of Knowledge in a diverse environment for 6 years in the MetroNashville Public Schools and has been a youth minister in a variety of prior assignments. Reverend Holly began serving on December 3. Father Allen had a meet-and-greet lunch with Mother Holly on December 14th. Allen and Holly are planning to meet once a month to discuss collaborative ministry and to assist Holly in adapting to ministry in the Southwest Deanery.

Since Wally the Wayward Camel showed up at St. John’s for his third annual pilgrimage to our parish crèche, he

has been in just about every part of the building and beyond. He started out on the First Sunday of Advent in the

library upstairs. He has made appearances in both the J2A and Rite 13 youth group rooms. He has been in the

nursery, Father Allen’s classroom and in Allen’s office. Wally has been downstairs hanging out with the Women’s

Bible Study, joining the Peanuts kids in Robin’s office, and various other places in the parish hall. He even raided

the kitchen refrigerator for apple cider and iced tea. He has even been in the sanctuary in places that have

seemed familiar to him. In more recent days he wandered out into the prayer garden to consult with the various

entities that reside there. Wally’s adventures have been posted each day since the start of Advent on StJohns

Church Facebook page. His adventures have been “Liked” and “Shared” by people near and far. On good days,

Wally has been followed on Facebook by over 500 people. Everywhere that Wally has been each day, he has

been looking for clues and conducting interviews to find out where he can meet up with the other three

Magi and their pachyderms in order to join them on their quest to find the Christ child, the boy Jesus, our Lord

and Savior. Wall is running out of time. He must meet up with the others by January 6th. Will he make it in

time?

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Events & Celebrations

January Birthdays: 01 — Breeze Sobek

05 — Lydia Rutherford

09 — Jill Gerton

11 — Olivia Gerton

17 — Kim Steele

20 — Paul Maurer

21 — Sue Webster

January Anniversaries: None

If we missed your day or listed it

incorrectly let us know so we can

update our files.

Ingredients 40 m12 servings129 cals

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup flax seed meal

1/2 cup gluten-free all purpose baking flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 banana, mashed

1/4 cup rice milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly

grease an 8x10-inch baking pan.

2. Mix oats, brown sugar, flax seed meal, flour, baking

powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a bowl. Mix

banana, rice milk, egg, and vanilla extract together in a

separate bowl. Pour banana mixture into flour mixture;

stir to combine. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan.

3. Bake brownies in the preheated oven until a toothpick

inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Cover pan with a towel to hold in moisture and cool

brownies for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Gluten Free Breakfast Brownies

You cannot help but laugh, when your group selfie is being photo bombed by your nutty priest.

January Dates to Remember 01 — New Years’ Day, (no worship service)

03 — Cloverleaf Food Delivery

06 — Day of Epiphany

07 — Epiphany Sunday, Three Kings Party after Holy Eucharist service during coffee hour; Children Process magi to the

Creche (Sunday School resumes)

10 — Journey in Faith, Parish Hall, 6:00 p.m.

14 — Outreach Committee meeting after service

15 — Martin Luther King Jr. Day observed

15 — St. John’s, River Bend Food Pantry day

16 — Mt. Vernon Ministerial Association meeting, 3:00 p.m.

17 — Worship Committee meeting, 6:00 p.m.

18 — Vestry meeting, 6:00 p.m.

20 — Executive Council—Indianapolis

28 — Parish Annual Meeting

29 — St. John’s, River Bend Food Pantry day

Many listed events are tentative; please

continue to check the events listed in each

month’s newsletter, the Sunday bulletins,

or our church website.

www.mtvstjohns.org/calendar.htm

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More 2018 Events & Celebrations Mark these dates on your new 2018 calendar

February 2018 02 — Ground Hog Day

03 — Vestry Retreat Day, Parish Hall, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

04 — Christian Education Committee meeting after service

05 — St. John’s, River Bend Food Pantry day

07 — Cloverleaf Food Delivery

10 — Progressive Dinner, 6:00 p.m.

13 — Shrove Tuesday Pancake & Sausage

Supper, 6:00 p.m.

14 — MVMA Ashes to Go: (Ash Wednesday)

14 — Ash Wednesday Service, 6:00 p.m.

14 — Valentine’s Day

18 — First Sunday of Lent

19 — St. John’s, River Bend Food Pantry day

19 — Presidents’ Day

20 — MVMA meeting, 3:00 p.m.

21 — First Wednesday Night Lenten Soup Supper & Program, 6:00 p.m.

28 — Second Wednesday Night Lenten Soup Supper & Program, 6:00 p.m.

March 2018 05 — St. John’s, River Bend Food Pantry volunteer day

07 — Cloverleaf Food Delivery

07 — Third Wednesday Night Lenten Soup Supper & Program, 6:00p.m.

11 — Rose Sunday (Anglican Mothers’

Sunday)

11 — Daylight Savings Time begins

14 — Fourth Wednesday Night Lenten Soup Supper & Program, 6:00p.m.

15 — Vestry Meeting, 6:00p.m.

17 — Executive Council at Waycross

17 — St. Patrick’s Day

18 — Fifth Sunday of Lent: Service of Healing

19 — St. John’s, River Bend Food Pantry day

20 — MVMA meeting, 3:00 p.m.

21 — Last Wednesday Night Lenten Soup Supper & Program, 6:00p.m.

25 — Palm Sunday, Procession of Palms and Passion Gospel Reading

26–30 — Mt. Vernon School District Spring Break

29 — Maundy Thursday, Agape Meal at 6:00 p.m. Holy Eucharist at 7:00 p.m. with Stripping of the Altar at Reserve Sacrament Altar

30 — Ministerial Association Community Good Friday Service, 12:05 p.m.

30 — St. John’s Good Friday Service, 6:00pm Way of the Cross and Holy Eucharist

31 — Easter Vigil Service, 7:00pm; End of Lent pitch-in reception after the service

April 2018

01 — April Fool’s Day

01 — Easter Morning Service, 10:00 a.m.

02 — St. John’s, River Bend Food Pantry day

04 — Cloverleaf Food Delivery

04 — Journey in Faith, Parish Hall, 6:00 p.m.

16 — St. John’s, River Bend Food Pantry day

17 — MVMA meeting, 3:00 p.m.

19 — Vestry meeting, 6:00 p.m.

22 — Precious Posies Baby Shower, first collection Sunday

23-25 —Clergy Conference at Waycross

29— Precious Posies Baby Shower, second collection Sunday

30 — St. John’s, River Bend Food Pantry day

Thank you to everyone who took tags off of the

Christmas chain and bought presents for the Posey

County Christmas Assistance Program.

St. John’s Episcopal Church 602 Mulberry Street P.O. Box 503 Mt. Vernon, IN 47620

Today we light the third candle of

Advent, the candle of Joy.

In Advent, we are in a time of waiting. Like

the Israelites who wandered through the

Wilderness, waiting to come into the Promised

Land, we wait for the coming of the Joy of

Ages. We wait for the day where we can join

our voices with the angels to sing “Joy to the

World, the Lord is come!” We wait for the

day when everlasting joy will be on each of us.

We light this candle in Joy.

On this day, we remember the Spirit

who breathes joy into our lives.

Bernard and Jean Hall, parents of Susan Harrison,

were invited to light the wreath.