Sunday April 21st was a glorious day on

the occasion of the celebration of the

117th anniversary of the founding of The

Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist.

A highlight of the anniversary celebration

was the Acolyte Reunion. Acolytes who

have served at St. John the Baptist from

the decades of 1950s—2000s attended

the celebration. A reception and open

house for acolytes was held in the Pinder

Parish Hall on Saturday evening.

The Eucharistic service began with a

procession of these acolytes and one

verger and a rededicated to the a life of

Christian service. As they stood at the altar

rail each acolyte and the verger was pre-

sented with a medallion which had been

blessed by Fr. P:inder.

The reunion acolytes numbered approxi-

mately 20 and included: R.C. Lee, Fred

Jones, William Scales, Bobbie Shields,

Russell Warren,. Renard Mitchell, Kenneth

Clark, Jabari Person, Eric Hill, Gregory

Chandler, Cleve Geer, Richard Hammonds,

Jr., Ernest “Pete” Boyd, and Karimah

Adderly and Leroy Lloyd. Former acolytes

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Happy Birthday 2

Episcopal

Counseling

Center

3

Anniversary

Pictures

4

May Calendar 6

Kid’s Page 8

10

The Forerunner M A Y 2 0 1 3 V O L U M E 9 I S S U 6

The Episcopal Church of St.

Jo hn the Bapt i s t was

established April 18, 1896.

We seek to maintain the

fullness and richness of the

Anglican tradition in its

common life and worship to

witness to the Resurrection of

Jesus Christ and the good news

about God and life, which is

revealed in the Gospel. We

seek to serve the community

as a place of hope and love,

and to reach out and touch

those who need the enabling

and empowering, the healing

and forgiving grace of God.

who could not attend due to distance and

schedule conflicts but whose parents were

present to stand for them included, Vincent

Stretcher, Dana Bowden, Sylvester Harris III,

Ernita Hemmitt. The sister of HezekiahRich-

ardson was present and stood in for him as

he was unable to travel from the Washing-

ton D.C. are due to business commitments.

Gregory Chandler who is a pastor at Feed

Jesus Sheep Church was the speaker.

Pastor Chandler spoke about how his

service as an acolyte as a boy served as the

building blocks of his Christian service. He

pointed to the several acolytes who serve

St. John the Baptist today and related how

his service began in the same way — and

highlighted the importance of early Christian

training in his life.

It was noted during the service that a thank

you was in order for the former acolytes who

had contributed funds for the purchase of

six torches for today's acolytes.

Following the worship service the Vestry

hosted a luncheon reception in the Pinder

Parish Hall.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, ‘plans to

prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a

future…” Jeremiah 29:11

P A G E 2

gentleness and self control.

As we try to live our lives

following Christ these

changes begin to happen.

The Holy Spirit begins to

also work.

The fruits of the Spirit do

not come by simply gritting

our teeth and trying grimly

to change for the better.

They can only happen when

you and I stop relying on

ourselves and realize that

as we try to follow the way

of Jesus Christ, that is to

love Him. It will be the Holy

Spirit of God who will work

in each of us and bring all

these lovely things which

are the true harvest of the

Spirit. Now we can find

the courage to face the real-

ity of ourselves as we are,

and our desire to be and

become what He would

have each of us to be and

have the quiet confidence

that God’s Holy Spirit will

gradually work in each of

us.

To have a character that is

marked by all the gifts of

the Spirit might well seem

utterly out of the range of

possibilities for us. We

might hope to achieve one

or two of these virtues, but

should never aspire to

more. The harvest of the

Spirit includes them all and

the body of the church

through each of our individ-

ual gifts may include them

all. And so God’s Holy Spirit

will work in us and the har-

vest of God’s fruit here at

St. John the Baptist will be

plentiful.

Fr. Pinder

T H E F O R E R U N N E R

“But the harvest of the Spirit

is love, joy, peace, patience,

kindness, goodness, fidelity,

gentleness, and self-control.

There is no law dealing with

such things as these.”

Galatians 6:22

Jesus had frequently promised

His disciples that He would

send them another advocate

and counselor. The marvelous

event which accompanied his

arrival were signs of the far

greater grace He produces in

the souls of those who receive

Him. We pray with the church,

“come, O Holy Spirit ill the

hearts of they faithful, and

kindle in them the fire of thy

love.”

The Christian life is a life of

growth, of becoming more like

Jesus Christ — and this is the

work of the Holy Spirit. In the

words from the Book of Com-

mon Prayer, we pray at Confir-

mation, we are to “daily in-

crease in God’s Holy Spirit

more and more.” Conversion,

the acceptance of Jesus Christ

as Lord and Savior, is like a

new birth, a new beginning. It

is described as such in the

New Testament. But, birth is

only the beginning. A child

must grow and develop and be

taught and trained and edu-

cated. The process of achiev-

ing maturity is a long one.

some never attain in the span

of their lifetime. It is the same

with Christian life, and God

provides through the church

the sphere in which it is to

happen.

God calls for absolute hon-

esty. We, here at St. John the

Baptist parish church family,

have to learn to be honest

with ourselves. As Christians

we know that we are commit-

ted to a way of life, in which

the standard is very high.

Yes, we accept this of course,

but the simple fact is that we

cannot attain this in a mo-

ment. It takes time. We can

accept some things with our

head, and yet our feelings

remain different.

We do not alow the Holy

Spirit to work through us and

we feel very unhappy. WE

should, for instance, be pa-

tient and yet we are hasty

and quick tempered, and

want to have our own way.

Oh, yes, the change can’t

happen in a moment. Indeed

it can only begin to happen

when we are ready to admit

quite humbly the true posi-

tion of our own failures and

imperfections. And then the

holy vibrations begin to do

their work. We cannot at this

stage of our Christian journey

help our own condition but

God accepts us as we are.

He loves us for what we are

ourselves.

Hear me good church! We

know that our lives and char-

acters are very far from

diplaying those lovely virtues

of love, joy, peace, patience,

kindness, goodness, fidelity

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 9 , I S S U E 6

EPISCOPAL

COUNSELING CENTER

community for many who can-

not or would not travel to other

locations and meet with other

counselors to get help. The ECC

will benefit from specialties they

practice previously not have

available on its staff.

Their licenses and other profes-

sional documents were submit-

ted and approved. Freddie Ste-

venson, Jr. Warden worked with

the team to rearrange space in

the now multi-purpose room in-

cluding adding a desk and book-

shelves and secure storage for

the counseling center. All ad-

ministration of the site including

client scheduling, insurance

and billing will be handled at the

main office.

We are proud that Dr. Marcia

Flagler, Dr. John Robertson and

Miriam Henry have stepped up

to help build and carry out this

ministry to the church at St.

John the Baptist. Their work will

help provide a badly needed

source of help to our community

The St. John the Baptist is now a

satellite office of the Episcopal

Counseling Center. On Tuesday,

May 7th, the first clients were

seen. This culminated a process

which began a few months ago

when Dr. Marcia Flagler re-

quested Vestry approval to deter-

mine the feasibility of providing

counseling services at St. John.

Fr. Jim Sorvillo serves as Executive

Director of the counseling service

and when contacted gave ap-

proval to moving forward on this

plan. A initial meeting was held

with Dale D. Eshleman of the staff

of ECC and the Vestry committee

which included Faye Henderson

and Krisita Jackson and Dr. Flag-

ler. She answered and asked

many questions and surveyed our

site for feasibility.

We are fortunate to have as mem-

bers of our church licensed

mental health professionals to

staff our office. It is them who

recognized the need for counsel-

ing services here in our

WHAT IS CHURCH

Church should be a place where people know each other, their children,

their struggles, what they do for work—and knowing each other. That’s

church and those personal relationships—an intimate knowing of each

other — are just not possible to the same degree in a big church. That’s

the answer given by a former pastor of a mega church who left his job and

its success. Our church family at St. John the Baptist has what others are

seeking .. .many of us we have worshipped together for years, watched

The Episcopal Counseling Center

opened it's doors in 1979,

through the help of the Episco-

pal Diocese of Central Florida. It

is a not-for-profit private practice

whose mission is to provide the

highest quality of mental health

services to all people, within the

Church as well as the commu-

nity-at-large. The therapists are

all committed Christians, active

in the life of their local church

and are professionally licensed

or in the process of licensure in

the State of Florida. They bring

to their work a spiritual commit-

ment as well as dedication to

the highest professional and

ethical standards.

Satellite Office HoursSatellite Office HoursSatellite Office Hours

Tuesdays & Thursdays Tuesdays & Thursdays Tuesdays & Thursdays

5P5P5P———8P8P8P

Wednesday morningsWednesday morningsWednesday mornings

Other times available on a case Other times available on a case Other times available on a case

by case basis by appointmentby case basis by appointmentby case basis by appointment

P A G E 4

T H E F O R E R U N N E R

V O L U M E 8 , I S S U E 2 P A G E 6

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n

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P A G E 7

Wilhelmina Burgess 5/13

Beatrice Harris 5/10

Adamae Encarnacion 5/11

Conrad Gill 5/20

Rosie Grace 5/14

Cynthia Hammonds 5/13

Alfred Hill 5/11

Nelson Pinder III 5/21

Rachel Jones 5/2

Don Monroe 5/11

Nelson Pinder II 5/27

Christene Rollins 5/11

Kevin Samuels 5/2

Alene Sanderson 5/9

Eddye Kay Walden 5/31

Marian Pinder 5/30

Dortha Valentine 5/27

T H E F O R E R U N N E R

Charles HarlestonCharles HarlestonCharles Harleston

Sunrise Sunrise Sunrise

April 29, 1928 April 29, 1928 April 29, 1928

Sunset Sunset Sunset

April 22, 2013April 22, 2013April 22, 2013

Loving husband, fa-Loving husband, fa-Loving husband, fa-

ther, friend to many, ther, friend to many, ther, friend to many,

and faithful and faithful and faithful

in memoriam

in memoriam

Royce B. WaldenRoyce B. WaldenRoyce B. Walden

Sunrise Sunrise Sunrise

December 9, 1928 December 9, 1928 December 9, 1928

Sunset Sunset Sunset

April 26, 2013April 26, 2013April 26, 2013

Husband, Father, Husband, Father, Husband, Father,

Grandfather, Educator Grandfather, Educator Grandfather, Educator

IN LOVING MEMORY

JAMES HENRY KEYS Sunrise: May 6, 1925—Sunset: December 29, 2011

We miss your smile, your wisdom,

and unfailing love.

Elsa and family

JUNE DATESJUNE DATESJUNE DATES

8th Graduation Sunday8th Graduation Sunday8th Graduation Sunday

16th Father’s Day16th Father’s Day16th Father’s Day

23rd St. John the Baptist23rd St. John the Baptist23rd St. John the Baptist

Feast Day CelebrationFeast Day CelebrationFeast Day Celebration Annual Church PicnicAnnual Church PicnicAnnual Church Picnic

P A G E 8

T H E F O R E R U N N E R

Kid’s Page

1. "...Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.' "

JOHN 7:37 TRUE OR FALSE

2. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his _________ will flow rivers of

living water." JOHN 7:38

3. "...because Jesus was not yet..." JOHN 7:39

a. needed

b. glorified

c. known

The Promise of

the Holy Spirit

MEMORY VERSE:

""On the last day, that great day of

the feast, Jesus stood and cried

out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let

him come to Me and drink.' "

JOHN 7:37

C P G U L V P M R P P A F E P

P Z N G W U R E C E I V E Z K

R V W F C I C H E V Z G L P R

F U Y Y A T I R I P S Y L O H

M D Z I R B E L I E V E S E E

E W E F G E B Y B G S S K U S

T E R B Z L T Y V Y T A I U N

L E U L S P O A T Q V U S V A

M B T A D H C R W D G E Q F I

E D P E E N B M I G J K M I P

Z V I A G S P B O F N S S O Q

I N R Z P C R P J O I I S U C

I T C T H I R S T S W E V H F

D P S C C N E R Q O D Y D I R

Z Y K N I R D Y L K K B O I L

Word Puzzle

FIND THESE WORDS IN THE

PUZZLE:

BELIEVES HEART RECEIVE

COME HOLY SPIRIT

SCRIPTURE DRINK JESUS

THIRSTS GLORIFIED LIVING

WATER

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Author Beatrice Harris shares the story of a life’s

journey of pain, misery and eventual joy and

triumph in her book Wildflower. The book tells

the author’s true story, as experienced through the

life of Cherolyn, the girl who loved to run.

BIBLICAL BIBLICAL BIBLICAL ||| CHALLENGING CHALLENGING CHALLENGING | | | RELEVANTRELEVANTRELEVANT

SCAN FAX

New Officers of the Episcopal Church Women were

installed on Sunday, April 21st. They were presented by

Karen Clark and Faye Henderson at far left. Shown with

Fr. Pinder are new officers are Catherine Parr, President,

Katherine Briggs, Parliamentarian, Rosie Grace, Vice

President and Barbara Grant, Treasurer. The next ECW

meeting will be held on Sunday, June 2 at 9:15am in the

Pinder Parish Hall.

P A G E 1 0

T H E F O R E R U N N E R

The world says, “the more you take — the more you

have…”” Christ says, “The more you give—the more you

are…” -Frederick Buechner

I had to make a quick trip to Home Depot to pick up

things for a practice “bag-drag” at Chaplain School.

Each one brings a duffel bag filled with uniforms, boots,

soap, towels, socks, documents, etc., for the need for the

first few weeks operating in the field. You stuff your

world into a bag, ready to hit the road or tarmac and you

are off. My world was in my bag except for the

mandatory work gloves...left in the utility room… back in

Mississippi.

So I hit Home Depot at 6 a.m. to find gloves for myself

and others who might have missed packing this part of

their world. Stepping to the counter I looked into my

wallet. And there in a flash, I perceived for the briefest

moment how my wallet was not unlike my duffel bag;

everything in the leather pouch I carry in my back pocket

is a small snapshot of my life. There are just a few bits

of paper, plastic and photos that someone might arrange

into a rough portrait of me.

Standing there , wallet in my hands, I also had a tiny

glimpse of how God holds our lives in his hands. All I am,

all I have, all I call “me, myself and I,” the sum total, are

held in the hands of another. the work, money, family,

and good health, are merely on loan for a season

through God’s loving hands; everything is returned at

the exit.

Sometimes I am guilty of carrying my life and God’s

blessings the way I carry my duffel bag and my

wallet; items packed for personal travel. I forget

that I am a steward of the good things that have

been sent in my direction. Joy and freedom comes

from giving them back to the one from whom they

came. It is a matter of becoming a good steward

as Christ is a good and courageous steward to

each of us. Every season of this life is a season of

unpacking the blessings we thought were own and

offering them back to God with gratitude.

“Where I am I sharing what I have received in my

life?” Our duty, our opportunity for joy, lies in

answering that question faithfully. Everyone’s path

will be different. For it is to open our wallets,

portfolios, our best laid financial plans, so they

might be shaped with the power of prayer. For oth-

ers it is to open calendars filled with our best laid

plans. Everyone’s gift will be unique, but common

to all is that we each have a gift to bring. In the

end, our lives become our own when we have

given them to God.

In the words of C.S. Lewis ”Nothing is really ours

until we share it.”

From Anglican Digest

TIME TALENT TREASURE

P A G E 1 1

John the Apostle was the son of

Zebedee and the younger

brother of James, son of Zebe-

dee (Saint James the Greater).

Tradition, based on Sacred

Scripture, considers Salome

their mother.[5] James and John

were the cousins of Jesus and

their mother Salome was sister

of Mary, the mother of Jesus.[6]

Zebedee and his sons fished in

the Lake of Genesareth.

John’s symbol is an eagle, because his

writing “soars” to the mystical heights of heavenly things, and doesn’t spend

much time on the ground!

James and John first were

disciples of Saint John the

Baptist, their second cousin.

The shield for St.

James shows a

scallop (or cockle)

shell, a symbol of

pilgrimage by sea

and the sword of

martyrdom. Some-

times three shells

are shown without a

sword.

Peter, James and John were the

only witnesses of the raising of

Daughter of Jairus. [Mk 5:37] All three

also witnessed the Transfiguration,[Mt 17:1] and these same three wit-

nessed the Agony in Gethsemane

more closely than the other Apos-

tles did. [Mt 26:37] Jesus sent only

John and Peter into the city to

make the preparation for the final

Passover meal (the Last Supper).[Lk 22:8][7] John alone among the

Apostles remained near Jesus at

the foot of the cross on Calvary

alongside myrrhbearers and nu-

merous other women; following the

instruction of Jesus from the Cross,

John took Mary, the mother of Je-

sus, into his care as the last legacy

of Jesus [Jn 19:25-27].

Jesus then called Saint Peter and

Saint Andrew, and these two sons

of Zebedee to follow him. James

and John did so and thus rank high

among the Twelve Apostles of Je-

sus.

James and John both held promi-

nent positions for not only being

the first of the disciples to be called

but also because of their relation-

ship to Jesus among the Apostles.

Jesus referred to the pair collec-

tively as "Boanerges" (translated

"sons of thunder") [Mk 3:17] being

that although their nature was of a

calm and gentle manner, when

their patience was pushed to its

limits their anger became wild,

fierce and thunderous causing

them to speak out like an untamed

storm. At one point John and his

brother James wanted to call down

fire on a Samaritan town, but Jesus

rebuked them. [Lk 9:51-6] John sur-

vived longer than James by more

than half a century after James be-

came the first Apostle to die a mar-

tyr's death.

CHURCH STAFF

Beverly Mitchell

Church Secretary

OFFICE HOURS

Tuesday - Friday

9:00AM – 3:00PM

Sexton

Royce Flagler

407-492-2871

VESTRY

Don Monroe

Janet Pinder, Treasurer

Krisita Jackson, Sr. Warden

Freddie Stevenson, Jr. Warden

Karen Clark

Faye Henderson

Shirley Bradley, Secretary

Bill Smith

Sylvester Harris

Russell Warren

Doug Ash

Pete Boyd

Marcia Flagler

Parishioners or their family

members should notify either

Fr. Pinder or Krisita Jackson,

Sr. Warden immediately in the

event of hospitalization,

serious illness or other pastoral

need.

Fr. Pinder may be reached at

home at 407-295-5937.

Krisita Jackson may be

reached by telephone at 407-

888-2198.

1000 Bethune Drive

Orlando, FL 32805

Telephone: 407-295-1923

Fax: 407-298-2899

Email: stjohneps@bellsouth.net

Forerunner Editor: Krisita Jackson

Email: krisjac1@bellsouth.net

The Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist

1000 Bethune Drive

Orlando, FL 32805

God’s Work

Our Hands

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST