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April 1 - 30, 2003 St. John’s Episcopal Church 404-761-8402
SPECIAL EVENTS
EASTER DECORATIONS Please send your donations now for Easter decorations. Just tell us if it is a memorial or thank offering. The deadline for these contributions is April 11 so that we can get our bulletins to the printer in time for Easter. Thank you.
FAST ON FRIDAYS Until the war is over. CONGRATULATIONS! Saturday, March 22nd was a wonderful day for St. John’s and a number of our parishioners. The following people were confirmed or received at a service at the Cathedral: Verlyn Thomas, Howard Wise, Nancy Egins, Dowann Perkins (baptized and confirmed), Randy English, Polly Hopkins, Brian Carver, Angela Joyner, Al Dixon, and Stephanie Jones. CONGRATULATIONS!
WORK DAY Please plan to be at St. John’s on the first Saturday of April, 4/5/03, for a work day. It’s time to get ready for the Easter Season. A light breakfast will be served at 8 a.m. Come and pitch in!
UTO INGATHERING Dear St. John’s Family: An ingathering of the United Thank Offering will be held on Sunday, May 11, 2003. Your money and prayers have built churches, made needed renovations, fed the hungry, clothed the poor, provided shelter for the homeless and provided care and support for those with physical, mental and emotional problems. The power of the Blue Box is unlimited. It can be used at home on the table, by the bed, or in the car. It can be personal or one shared by the family. If you do not have a UTO box, please pick one up in the Narthex. You can begin now by saying prayers of thanksgiving and placing your offering in the United Thank Offering Boxes and envelopes. We need you! It can make a difference in your life as well as the person receiving your offerings. Thank you. Georgie White
PRAY FOR PEACE Until the war is over. FROM RAY TOWNSEND Thank you and God bless you all for the wonderful response, month after month, in providing food and other items for Family Life Ministries. Thanks also to the Bargain Shop for providing clothing for Family Life clients. If you lack the time to shop for food items for Family Life, a check in any amount will be useful and appreciated. Make it out to St. John’s for Family Life Ministries. Your gifts have helped to serve over 16,000 individuals in 2002, including more than 3800 children, and we distributed well over 658,000 pounds of food. These figures cover only those parts of the program that are easily measured, but much more than that is accomplished in providing help to people in need. It is my joy and blessing to deliver your gifts to Family Life.
APRIL BIRTHDAYS
A SHAMELESS PLUG East Point Flower Cottage ((404) 768-2626) has given us a great discount on Altar flowers for many years. Please say thanks by supporting their business!
PRAY FOR JUSTICE Always. CHRISTIANS IN RECOVERY CONFERENCE Christians in Recovery will host a conference on Saturday,
April 26, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Loudermilk Center, 40 Courtland St. at
Auburn Avenue in downtown Atlanta. CIR is for people who are sober (free from
alcohol and other drugs) who want to be part of an ongoing learning experience
about sustained sobriety and who don't mind hearing sober folk acknowledge Jesus
as their Higher Power. To register, log onto www.recoveryconsultants.
RECONCILIATION & MEDIATION WORKSHOPS On two Saturdays-- April 12 and May 17-- from 9 am to 4 pm,
the Cathedral Community of the Cross of Nails will sponsor workshops on
mediation training and conflict resolution, respectively. Mediation training
will be conducted by Linda Harned, a doctoral candidate in conflict resolution
at Kennesaw State University. Conflict resolution training will be facilitated
by trainers from the Atlanta Chapter of the National Coalition Building
Institute, directed by a St. Luke's Church lay leader, Cappy Harmon. The
long-range goal of these workshops is to foster a corps of church members who
can discern, anticipate, intervene, and mediate in conflict situations in their
families, neighborhoods, work places, and church groups. Eventually this
expertise might extend to include other faith communities and lead to
interracial and interfaith reconciliation programs between Christian churches
and other religious communities in Atlanta. For more detailed information,
contact Thee Smith at 404/365-1096 or tsmith
FROM THE RECTOR On Being a Christian I think there are lots of folks who think that they would be Christians if they could only feel like it. They long to feel like it, but since they don’t, they don’t become Christians. I also think there are lots of folks who already are Christians, but don’t think they feel enough like a "real" Christian. "I’m just not getting it," they secretly think. "Other people seem to feel it so much more." Many of these folks participate sporadically because they just don’t feel the intensity of emotion they assume "real" Christians feel all the time. There’s a "chicken and the egg" problem here. A theologian once said, "If you want to feel like a person of faith, act like you are a person of faith." That’s good advice. I’m sorry that some folks drop in occasionally to see whether their visit will be a life-changing experience. It might be — God sometimes strengthens our faith suddenly and miraculously. But even when God acts through those moments of epiphany, maintaining a strong faith must be a continuing process. Most of the time, I think strengthening our faith is like strengthening our muscles — God works through our regular exercise. Someone who comes to church only occasionally and then compares himself or herself to someone who is very regular in attendance is like a person who goes to the gym every once in a while, then says, "But, wait, I’m not as strong as the personal trainer. This isn’t working!" This is the time of the year to work out. Lenten services on Sundays, Tenebrae, Prayer Vigils Sunday nights, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, the Nightwatch Vigil, Good Friday, the Great Vigil of Easter — this is the time of year to work out. And we all need to do it. Especially during this time of national crisis, we all need to feel like Christians, feel the peace of God in the midst of a warring and anxious world. And I only know of one way to feel like a Christian, and that is to act like one. Regular exercise takes discipline and commitment. So does a life of faith. So I’ll be seeing you around the gym.
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Eagle Notes