Wednesdays at 6 p.m. - Adult Spiritual Formation: Bible Study Class

Join us each Wednesday for this topical discussion class. It is always an enjoyable evening spent with friends! Meditation Group meets afterwards at 7:15 p.m.

Thursday, June 2, 6:30 p.m. - Bookends

Calling all bibliophiles! Bookends, our fun and lively book club, meets on first Thursdays. June’s book is The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant.

A Bit about the Book: The Red Tent retells the story of Dinah, found in Genesis. Her story, usually known as the "Rape of Dinah" has been a difficult passage for Bible readers because of the murderous behavior of Jacob's sons. In Genesis, Dinah does not say a single word; what happens is recounted by her brothers. In The Red Tent, Dinah finds her voice. The story is told from her perspective and the women around her. It is historical fiction, but because it is based on the Bible, many readers feel a deep connection to its cast of characters, whose names and tales are part of our culture. After all, who doesn’t know a Jacob, a Rachel, a Joseph, or a Leah? Join in to discuss the book further!

Sunday, June 5 - Healing Prayers. On first Sundays, we offer healing prayers and anointing with holy oil at services. Do you or someone you know need physical, mental, or spiritual healing? Come pray and know the love that surrounds us all.

Monday, June 6, 6:30 p.m. & each Wednesday, 7:15 p.m.  - Adult Spiritual Formation: Meditation Class

The group meets in the church on the first Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m., and each Wednesday night at 7:15 p.m. We work on a variety of techniques to naturally reduce stress. When stress is reduced, benefits like better sleep, clearer thinking, and deeper creativity also naturally develop, which can then develop into a life of deeper compassion and clearer self-expression. Dress with comfortable clothes, and join us for an hour of calm, beauty, and peace!

 Saturday, June 11, 9:30-11:30 a.m. - Mission Opportunity!

Please join us as we gather to create emergency food and supplies kits as part of our ministry to the homeless, poor, and needy of our community. This is a great opportunity especially for our kids to get involved in mission and outreach! We will gather in Bott Hall for coffee, juice, and donuts!

Sunday, June 12, 12 p.m. – Pentecost Parish Potluck Picnic

Come celebrate the Church’s birthday and the coming of the Holy Spirit! Be fed—both spiritually AND physically—at the annual parish Pentecost picnic immediately following the 10:30 a.m. service. Meat will be provided, but please bring your favorite side dishes like potato salad, cole slaw, or desserts. Don’t forget about red foods, like red jello, watermelon, or strawberries! It’s Pentecost, so remember to wear red, too.

Sunday, June 19 - Father’s Day

We are thankful for fathers and all men who are guardians, role models, and providers of God’s children. Help end world poverty for Father’s Day: make a donation to Episcopal Relief and  Development in honor of a fantastic father! www.er-d.org.

Friday, June 17, 7 p.m. - Cinema Café: Parish Movie Night

Movie Club now meets on the third Friday of each month in the

Fabulous Bott Theatre. The movie is free; light refreshments will be for sale. Similar to a book club, we explore films with various Christian themes. Movie suggestions are welcome! Leah Ruth, GSU film major, will host a pre- and post-discussion of the movie. Contact Daniel Hudson (770-595-5624) with questions, and make plans to join us!

June’s Movie: John Q. This 2002 film asks, “How far would you go?” A father, whose insurance won't cover his son's heart transplant, takes the hospital's emergency room hostage until the doctors agree to perform the operation. It was directed by Nick Cassavetes, written by James Kearns, and stars Denzel Washington, Robert Duvall, & Gabriela Oltean.

Sunday, June 19, at 6 p.m. - Gay Men’s Fellowship Group

meets in the Parlor. Join us!

Sunday, June 26 - 4^th Sunday Celebration Brunch

Join us after the 10:30 a.m. service; light brunch will be provided.

July 9-16: Navajoland Mission Trip

What do we owe the Navajo?

For the minerals extracted from their reservation? Estimates run from 3 to thirty billion dollars that the tribe has been underpaid for oil, natural gas, coal, and uranium. But that’s a legal issue—something for the courts.

Do we owe them for the tens of thousands of sheep, and hundreds of acres of peach and apricot orchards destroyed by the U.S. Army? (An important part of subduing any half-wild population is burning their savage orchards.) For the hundreds of women and children who died from neglect as we pressed them into a concentration camp? That is for history to judge.

What do you and I owe them, as individuals, today? Are we called to involve ourselves?

What do we do with Jesus’ words in that famous passage from Mathew, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

(Somehow, modern evangelism stops at “baptizing”; assuming baptism makes “disciples.”)

We take this command as meant only for some peculiar specialists who are “called.” When we read Mathew 11:28; “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-ladened, and I will give you rest,” we don’t wait to see if we are “called” to rest. We rejoice in that rest.

We take Jesus’ promise from Acts 1: 8 as a promise that some other people are called to the ends of the earth.  But we don’t assume John 10:10 means some other people will have abundant life.  David Platt, author of Radical, calls this “assigning the obligations of Christianity to a few while keeping the privileges of Christianity for us all.”

Truly, all of us are given different gifts, but God uses each and every gift, when we follow his commands. You can even see people develop new ones.

According to Jesus, what we do owe the Navajo is the same love that He shows to us every day of our lives.

Paul’s language in Romans 1:14-15 makes it clear that because we are owned by Christ, saved by him, we owe the debt—  the recompense for our salvation, for our discipleship—not to God, but to every person on earth.

Navajo Mission is not the moral equivalent of running a bread kitchen in North Korea, or running a home for abandoned female babies in China. Running what could be reduced to a simple daycare center, feeding seventy at-risk children is not death defying. It does not require the moral lion-hood of a Mother Teresa.

It does require abandoning creature comforts, taking minor risks—and  willingness. It requires living in communion with a half-dozen plus near strangers, in barracks rooms (8 to a room, in bunk-beds), rising at 5 a.m. for daily mass at 6, preparing food for bunches of people (and eating what is prepared for one) and then simply dealing with life 40 miles from the nearest Wal-Mart (which sounds like nothing until you try it). It does require a servant’s heart, which includes serving others, regardless of how you feel, not martyring your life, but certainly martyring a world of petty annoyances that may fill your life, and being present to the possibilities in every life.

Please consider supporting this mission with the time and treasure entrusted to you—even to the point of traveling to Navajoland with us July 9-16.

Navajoland is not the ends of the earth— but I’m almost certain you can see those ends from there.

Donations can be made payable to St. John’s, marked clearly in the memo field “Navajoland Mission.” Thank you.

Interested in the trip? Contact Mike Spring 678-358-2585 / mdspring1@comcast.net).

ONGOING

(Please note: many programs are scheduled only during the school year; please check the monthly Eagle's Notes or call the church office for updates or with questions.)

The Main Street Academy Charter School (www.tricitiescharter.com or 404-377-5093) School is in session Monday – Friday, 6 a.m. – 6 p.m. We applaud the tireless efforts of their founding members, and will keep their governing board in our prayers as they begin improving both our community and our children’s educations!

Sunday School (on summer break)

Children's Christian Formation (Sunday School) meets at 9:15 a.m. on Sunday mornings. Children’s classrooms are on the 1st floor of the Education Wing.

First Sundays at 8 a.m. Rite I and 10:30 a.m. Rite II - Healing Prayers

The first Sunday of every month, we offer healing prayers and anointing with holy oil at both services. Do you need physical, mental, or spiritual healing? Does someone you love need that healing? Do you know of a condition in the world that needs healing? Come pray with us and know the love that surrounds us all.

First Mondays: Adult Spiritual Formation -- Meditation Class

Monday and Thursdays at 8 p.m. – AA (meet in Bott Hall)

First Tuesdays – College Park Stitch-In cross-stitching group

Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:15 a.m. – Morning Prayer

Tuesday and Saturdays - Begin Again visitations. (on summer break) Through the Begin Again program, St. John’s provides a safe, comfortable, neutral, and accessible location for visitations of children in foster care and their families during evening and weekend hours. The mission is dedicated to promoting positive relationships among children and their parents who are striving to transform their lives and reunite as families.  Begin Again needs volunteers to continue operating! Can you help? You will be involved in a hands-on outreach project for children and parents who live in your own community. 

Wednesday Evening Programs: come join us for varying discussion classes!  Meditation group follows.

3rd Wednesdays at 2:30 p.m. – D.A.R. (Daughters of the American Revolution) (on summer break), a non-profit, non-political volunteer women's service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and securing America's future through volunteerism and better education for children), September through May.

Thursdays at 10:15 a.m.: Holy Eucharist Rite I

First Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. - Bookends

Calling all Bookworms: you are invited to join in the fun! Take part in lively discussions about your favorite reads, meet new friends, and get great book suggestions from fellow bibliophiles. Bring your gently used books to trade with other readers!  We meet in the parlor, and hope you'll join us. Questions? Want to help? Call Marie Knight (404-219-2916/marie.h.knight@gmail.com)

Thursdays 7 -9:15 p.m.: Choir practice – (on summer break after 6/19)

•         The Canta Camerati  (solo & small ensemble repertoire) 7-7:30 p.m.

•         The Adult Choir (everybody) 7:30-8:45 p.m.

•         The Schola Cantorum  (all-male chorus) 8:45-9:15

5th Thursdays at 7 p.m.: Choir practice Attendance Contest:

The choir has started a fun new tradition! In months with five Thursdays, the rehearsal on the 5th Thursday consists of a VERY short session followed by a quick trip to a local watering hole (The Brake Pad or The Manchester Arms, e.g.) for fun, frivolity, food, and a cup of cheer. In addition, Tom Elston, the Director of Music, has will buy a beverage for the person and the voice section having the best attendance record at rehearsal and church! Rules for the contest are available at regular Thursday rehearsals.

1st Saturdays – Speeders (on summer break) – new meeting dates!  Speeders are a group of mature members (although there is no age limit on this lively crowd!), who meet on the first Saturday of the month during the school year for Holy Communion at 10:30 followed by varied programming and lunch. You are invited to join us!