Our Food Pantry is well stocked for now (thanks to St. John’s Tracy Trussell and his school), but our health and beauty supplies, as well as blankets, hats and gloves, are low. We will gladly accept blankets of any size, color and material. We also could use hats and gloves that are various ages and genders. The one size fits all are definitely useful. For health and beauty products, we have several items we are in great need of: Shampoo, soap, deodorant and shavers.

Thank you!

Your friends at Family Life

Holy Comforter is a parish in East Atlanta that devotes itself to the needs of mentally handicapped adults. We carpool from St John’s at 5:30 to befriend, feed, and worship with our friends there. Mark your calendars for these dates: February 18 (Father Bruno, our friend from Haiti, will join us!), April 28, July 14, November 10.

Beverly Harris Gordy died on December 26, 2003. Bishop Judson Child, Seventh Bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta, died on January 5, 2004. May their souls, and the souls of all the departed, rest in God’s peace.

On January 11 (at the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord) we baptized David W. Wagner, 1725 Cambridge Ave., College Park 30337. 404/669-0793. Welcome our new brother in Christ!

To Rev. Jim Pritchett and to all of your people at St. John’s:

I want to thank each of you again for the beautiful memorial service you did for Beverly. I understand completely now why she loved you all so very much. Thanks. Sincerely,

Hogansville, GA

If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,

If you can eat the same food everyday and be grateful for it,

If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you time,

If you can overlook when people take things out on you when, through no fault of yours, something goes wrong,

If you can take criticism without pessimism,

If you can face the world without lies and deceit,

If you can relax without liquor,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

If you can do all these things,

Then you are probably the family dog!

Most of us have a sense of the church’s (geographical) place, and we think we have a pretty good idea of what it’s like where the church is. But in order for us to be able to plan our future, we need to see if we share one another’s sense of place, and we need to test our knowledge of our neighborhood

So I thought I’d share with you some of the things we did at the vestry retreat January 16-18 at Camp Mikell.

In one exercise, I asked the vestry to "draw a map that designates the area the church’s members consider ‘our place.’" At a parish like ours, this is a difficult assignment because we are not just a neighborhood church. How would you draw "our place?" Where are the boundaries? What’s in and what’s out? What do your answers say about your theology? (You can turn the page to see what they came up with, but take a shot at it yourself first).

Now let’s test your knowledge of the neighborhood in which St. John’s finds itself. For zip code 30337, answer the following questions. Bring this Eagle Notes to church with you, and check your answers against the correct ones (according to Percept, a demographic service to which the Diocese subscribes) posted in Bott Hall. What does the demographic data about our neighborhood have to do with how, and whom, we plan to serve?

1. Approximately how many people are currently estimated to reside in area code 30337?

 Less than 5000

5000 to 9999

10,000 to 19, 999

20,000 to 29,999

30,000 or more

2. Over the next five years, how is the population projected to change?

Decrease by more than 1%

Grow or decline by less than 1%

Grow between 1% and 5%

Grow between 6% and 10%

Grow by more than 10%

3. Which of the following lifestyle groups is the largest in number?

Affluent families

Middle American families

Young and coming

Rural families

Senior life

Ethnic and urban diversity

4. What percentage of the population is non-Anglo?

Less than 1%

1% to 9%

10% to 24%

25% to 49%

50% or more

5. Which of the following racial/ethnic groups is projected to grow the fastest over the next five years?

Anglo

African-American

Hispanic/Latino

Asian

Native American & Others

6. What % of households is estimated to have no faith involvement?

Less than 10%

10% to 19%

20% to 29%

30%-39%

40% or more

7. What is the average age in the area?

Less than 25

30-34

35-39

40 or more

8. What is the average annual household income estimated to be in the area?

Less than $25,000

$25,000-$49,999

$50,000-$74,999

$75,000-$99,999

$100,000 or more

9. Of households with children under 18, what % are headed by a single parent?

Less than 10%

10%-19%

20%-29%

30%-39%

40% or more

10. What % of the people age 25 and older has completed college?

Less than 10%

10%-19%

20%-29%

30%-39%

40% or more

Here’s the vestry’s map of "Our Place" (you can also see it on display in Bott Hall):

Note that the map shows the church with arrows leading to the world (with Haiti marked), the United States (with the Episcopal Church center in New York marked), Georgia (yes, that is Georgia!), the south Metro area, and College Park. The shortest arrow points to College Park, and the longest points to the world.

I think they did a great job. How did you do? How does your map compare to theirs? Whom do we serve, and how?