A VIEW FROM THE PEW: MORE THAN SUNDAY MORNING

An occasional blog by Robin Turpin

June 27, 2023

Only 23 years late, St. John has finally entered the New Millennium. Let me explain.

The Pandemic changed so many faith communities across the globe, and St. John is no exception. But our essence... our core values… who we believe ourselves to be and why we exist – that hasn’t changed at all. And like every other adversity our congregation has faced since before the Civil War, we have emerged stronger and more determined. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t changed. One of the most obvious differences is fewer attendees each Sunday (if you can call up an image of the tumbling tumbleweeds in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, you wouldn’t be far off). But St. John is – and always has been – so much More than Sunday Morning. And this blog is going to tell you all about them. And even better? There will be some nice highlights of our own Pastor Sandy’s messages for anyone who misses Sunday morning services. We probably should have been doing this for a while (let’s face it, blogs have been in existence since the turn of the millennium), but better late than never.

As I mentioned, not a lot of attendees in church each Sunday (though we do have a nice bunch of people from across the country who Zoom-in each week). What is really impressive, is our rather large and devoted extended family who feels strongly connected to St. John regardless of their attendance on Sunday morning. This blog should help everyone stay connected and as active as they would like to be. Oh, and guest bloggers are always welcome!

Though this first entry is really meant to be an introduction to this occasional blog, I want to take the opportunity to mention a couple of very cool church activities that occurred in June. First (and you are not going to believe this!) after maybe 40-plus years, a rag-tag group of volunteers from the congregation and Habitat’s RESTORE scraped and painted the Parsonage garage! I mean, Holy Cow! Some great pictures can be found in the 'Gallery' tab of our website. Second, we had yet another Blanket Bee to prepare no-sew blankets for patients at the Waterford Cancer Resource Center. A few more details on this super fun day are also presented separately. And seriously, that ain’t the half of what we accomplished this month. I’m just teasing you with a couple of highlights so you stay tuned. Because we are so much More than Sunday Morning.