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Dear People of St. John’s:
At the Vestry Retreat in late January, I informed your vestry of my intention to retire in 2012, so as to give them time to prepare for as smooth a transition as possible. I would not trade St. John’s for any other parish, but I also know that all good, indeed, great experiences need to be concluded, and the tasks of the future gracefully and joyfully passed on. It was nearly forty years ago that I was ordained and I have served as rector of St. John’s for over twenty-two years. Time has gone quickly! I’m certainly not ready to say goodbye. There is almost a whole year ahead and no definite date in 2012 has been set. In many ways I wish I didn’t have to make this announcement so far in advance, but in fairness to you, I see no other way. We have a strong and caring vestry and they will serve us all well. St. John’s certainly has made a tremendous positive difference in my family’s life for two decades. I fully expect the legacy of St. John’s will continue, bearing a fine harvest, in decades to come.
This year has begun with the sharing of some terrific gifts, with more scheduled. We may all look forward to opportunities that promise to richly nourish us. This Lent, I would encourage you to try something new. You may very well love it! Taste and see! St. John’s is known as the parish that feeds the hungry on many levels, and you will not go away disappointed.
With wishes for a blessed Lent,
Sincerely, Philip W. Snyder, Rector
Wardens
As you have just read, Fr. Snyder has announced that he will be retiring in 2012. We have been blessed through his ministry over the past 22+ years, and will enjoy that blessing for a number of months to come.
Your vestry is enthusiastically embracing the challenge of leading the parish through this transition as we begin the process of envisioning St. John’s future with a new rector. We have used the time since Fr. Snyder’s announcement to the vestry to begin planning. We pledge to keep you informed about the major steps we will take together. Much needs to be done and we all will have important roles to play.
Our baptismal vows call us to live our faith boldly. We ask you to join us in the coming months as we celebrate Fr. Snyder’s ministry, and as we faithfully prepare for a new chapter in the life of St. John’s.
Susie Backstrom, Warden Lloyd Hall, Warden
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Parish Life at St. John's
Members of St. John's Sunday School classes made Valentines for prisoners at the Auburn and Cayuga Correctional Facilities. |
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The Cornell Prison Education Program (CPEP) enables students to remain positive and sane in a dehumanizing environment. It also gives them hope, and a sanctuary from the rest of the prison setting. The program is working successfully at the Auburn Correctional Facility and Cayuga Correctional Facility. The program started in the 1990's when Cornell English professor, Pete Wetherbee, volunteered at Auburn. Now it has evolved into 12 courses taught with the help of 5 Cornell colleges. Jim Schechter is the current executive director and will deliver the valentines made by St. John's Sunday School children to the incarcerated students. |
| Members of the youth group along with Youth Director, Mindy Oakes, baked Valentine's Day cookies for parishioners not able to be in church. Father Snyder and other parishioners delivered the cookies to many appreciative members of the parish! |
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St. Simeon's Guild Lenten Book Study
St. Simeon's Guild has decided to read and discuss Rowan Williams's Silence and Honey Cakes: The Wisdom of the Desert during Lent. The discussions will take place on the Sundays of Lent: 12, 19, 26 March; and 3, 10, 17 April after the 10:30 service and should last about an hour. We would like to welcome interested members of St. John's outside the usual age range of St. Simeon's Guild to join us. The book is available from Amazon and other online used booksellers. I paid about $10 for my copy (it turned out to be signed by Williams and be the former property of a retired Episcopal bishop). The schedule for the discussions will be:
First Sunday in Lent: Who were the Desert Fathers and Mothers? What was their world like? (Introduction and Preface)
Second Sunday in Lent: Life, Death, and Neighbours
Third Sunday in Lent: Silence and Honey Cakes
Fourth Sunday in Lent: Fleeing
Fifth Sunday in Lent: Staying
Palm Sunday: Questions and Answers
If I had to write a short blurb about this book I would say,
"In Silence and Honey Cakes, Rowan Williams asks what the first Christian monks and nuns, who lived more than fifteen hundred years ago in the Egyptian desert, have to teach us about being Christians. Williams finds we have much to learn from their words and deeds: how examining and struggling with our own weaknesses can distract us from finding fault with others; how we can form thriving communities out of people with very different and unique gifts (and why we must do so); what can limit our growing more fully into Christ; and the importance of stability to that growth. Williams is an archbishop and a theology professor, so the book sometimes hits an academic note. Yet the book is more readable than the standard academic text on the Desert Fathers and Mothers because of the pastoral approach he takes to the subject matter. Besides which, he is writing about a tradition that reveres the wisdom of former imperial tutors and Sudanese highway bandits alike. He is writing about very quirky people whose decision to spend time together in some of the most barren parts of the Earth helped them find Christ in one another and the world around them. If they weren't in the Egyptian desert, they would resemble a group of Christians anywhere else on Earth. There is a word (or two) here for each one of us."
Peace in Christ, Nick Heavens |
| St. John's to host Silent Movie Show! On Sunday, March 27th, there will be a showing of The General at 4 PM. Originally released in 1926, this is widely considered to be Buster Keaton’s greatest movie. It’s a silent movie, and Nancy Radloff will provide accompaniment on the piano using both improvised music and composed music of the era. Set during the Civil War, Buster Keaton plays Johnnie Gray, a young boy rejected by the Confederate army. Johnnie loves only 2 ‘things:’ his train [the General] and Annabelle Lee. His girl believes he is a coward, and the Union army steals the General!! It’s Johnny to the rescue. Keaton is at his best with his favorite movie prop – a steam locomotive. All donations at this event will fund the production of another Broadway show by the choir next year. |
| Nancy Siemon, Carrie D'Aprix, Adelaide Tracey, Nancy Radloff, and Andrew McCullough presented the first of several benefit concerts on February 6th,entitled, " We love the piano". Funds raised in the benefit concerts will go toward rebuilding the Steinway piano in the choir room. |
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| On Sunday February 27th St. John's hosted a Chamber Music concert with Jennifer Hayghe, piano and Robert McGaha, bass-baritone. The theme for the program was "Journey's"—personal, musical, emotional. The program featured "Songs of Travel" by Ralph Vaughan Williams (text by R.L. Stevenson) and the Frédéric Chopin B Minor Sonata for Piano presenting "Journeys". Jennifer and Robert are joined here by some of Jennifer's students from Ithaca College. |
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A St. John's Tradition:
Mardi Gras!
Plan on attending the festivities!
Tuesday Evening, March 8th
Beginning at 6 p.m. with a Ham Dinner
Followed by a grand parade, games, and crowning
of the
King and Queen
(Meat, potatoes and soft drinks will be provided.
Please sign up on the poster in the Parish Hall to let us know if you will be attending and, if you choose, whether you will be bringing a dessert, salad or vegetable.)
Nothing else required to attend except a light heart and a willing voice!!
Consider signing up for clean-up also, if you can.
All ages are welcome and are
encouraged to wear costumes, sequins, and
plenty of beads. |
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Ash Wednesday Services
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
12:10 P.M. and 7:30 P.M.
The Liturgy of the Day will be celebrated and the imposition of ashes will be available at both services. Beginning March 16th, there will be a service every Wednesday evening at 5:30 p.m. during Lent. |
Altar Flowers?
Are you interested in donating altar flowers? Altar flowers are given in memorial or thanksgiving, and the cost is $45. More than one individual or family may contribute the same week and share the cost, and a request for certain flowers or colors is welcomed. You also have the pleasure of knowing your memorial donation “lives” long after the weekly services when the arrangements are divided into smaller bouquets that are delivered to homebound parishioners during pastoral visits. Once warm weather arrives, if you are blessed with a green thumb and a flourishing flower garden and wish to prepare the arrangements yourself, that is also possible.
If you would like to recognize the birth of a child or loved one with a single rose, the cost is $5.00. If there is a specific date you wish to reserve, I hope you will get in touch soon. Please contact me at EEL1@cornell.edu (put Altar Flowers in the subject line) or call 255-2949 (office). --Elaine LaRocque |
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