SPECIAL EVENTS

JULY BIRTHDAYS

As some of you requested, following is the address of Mary Ellen Montague, wife of former Organist/Choirmaster, Pat Montague who died in May: 71 Sylvan Heights, Sylva, N.C. 28779

FROM HAZEL WHITTIER

The children and I want to thank you all for being so kind during our bereavement in the loss of my beloved husband, Bob.

Sincerely,

Hazel Whittier

COMMUNICATIONS

Robbin Iddins, our Web Master, reports on some St. John’s website statistics for this year. We think you’ll find them interesting:

Monthly visitors – average 1546.57

Jan. 2003 – 1400

Feb. 2003 – 1859

Mar. 2003 – 1568

Apr. 2003 – 2123

May 2003 – 2439

(That means that in May, an average of 78.7 people per day logged onto our website!)

You can find out anything you want to know about St. John’s on our website, i.e., sermons, Eagle Notes, commission chairs, vestry members, to name a few items. The address is <www.stjohnscollegepark.com>Take a look, and tell your friends!

We all thank Robbin for her great work on our website. This is e-evangelism!

FROM SUE JOHNSON

My family and I thank you for your prayers, calls, cards, flowers, food, and everything you did for us at the time of Bill’s death. We were uplifted by your love and support and thank God for each of you and your kindnesses.

God’s blessing and peace with our love.

Sue

NO SECOND SUNDAY BRUNCH THIS SUMMER

In order for our Parish Life Committee members to take a much-deserved break, we will not have a Second Sunday Brunch in the months of July and August. We will resume in September and look forward to that. Please remember, however, that Family Life Ministries does not close its doors during the summer, so continue to bring your food and other offerings to the church to be taken to Family Life. Thank you.

NEW EPISCOPALIANS!

Congratulations to our new confirmands who were confirmed at the cathedral on June 1, 2003: John Breedlove, Machado Ellis, Geoff Pecoraro, Veronica Stewart, and Richard Thorpe (and to Elizabeth Pritchett who reaffirmed her baptismal vows). We are proud of you, and we will support you through our prayers.

TRANSITIONS

We welcome new members Karla and John Kosar (whose address and number are in your directory) and congratulate them on the birth of their new baby boy, Oliver Atchel.

WHAT IS STEWARDSHIP?

Our Vestry pledged its membership to proportionate giving as each made an individual determination of “What do I need to give?” That commitment makes sense in our materialistic culture. Most of us think of stewardship as contributing money to the Church. In fact, stewardship is not simply the act of giving (time or money) to the Church. The action of generous giving is the living consequence of being a steward.

Stewardship is a spiritual commitment with God! Please pray about what part you will play in God’s pageant. What kind of steward am I?

We came into this world without any possessions and totally dependent on the love of others for food, clothing, shelter and all else we need to survive. None of us request or earn this life. It is a gift to each of us, and we will each depart it with the same possessions we brought. In reality, God has given us everything! He has given life itself and all the opportunities and challenges that accompany our life.

Is our stewardship spiritual or simply a worldly obligation? What do we owe to God for the free gift of life and its accompanying benefits? Of course the answer is, everything! Then, what does God in all gracious benevolence permit us to keep? Of course the answer is, everything! God has given us life itself and the will to live as we choose. So it is our choice to keep all, a portion, or nothing.

Knowing our very being and all worldly benefits are God’s gifts, the question of our stewardship is not, “What do we need to give?” The question really becomes: “What portion do we need to keep?” If we owe God for the free gift of life and all its accompanying benefits, then we owe God everything. We owe God our whole life and everything of it. We must, therefore, reject the commonly held conviction that what we have personally received, earned, inherited, won or otherwise obtained is deserved or is ours alone to possess and do with as we see fit.

In the journey along our path through this life, pray for heavenly perspective in the midst of earthly pursuits. How, Dear Lord, may I participate in this world and do your will?

Peace and Joy be with you always,

Committee

FROM THE RECTOR

I know you see the signs for Odyssey Family Counseling Center when you come to St. John’s, and if you come during the week, you might see cars in the lot and folks going in and out of Odyssey’s entrance. But since most of you have little direct contact with Odyssey, it is easy to forget what Odyssey does to serve our community. I recently attended Odyssey’s annual meeting, and I was reminded of their work. I’d like to share with you what was shared with me.

Dr. Lynn Ranew, the director, read the following letter from a parent to the Odyssey to Recovery staff (Odyssey to Recovery is the adolescent addiction program that is housed at St. John’s.) I have disguised the name and gender of the child:

We are so proud of our child’s recovery and want to thank you ALL for your help and caring support through a very trying time in our lives. By the grace of God and with your guidance and counseling, we finally have our child back.

For the past two years, we have struggled with our child’s disobedience, drug use, rebelliousness, and disrespect. We have felt heartbroken frustrated, hopeless, and helpless to change it. So many times, we thought we were losing the battle, but we prayed for more strength and guidance.

In answer to our prayers, your counseling sessions helped us in so many ways. They taught our child that drug use is not a recreation; it is an addiction. They taught our child that doing drugs was alienating beloved friends and family. Through talking and listening in the teen group sessions, our child realized that s/he did not like what s/he had become, and it gave our child the courage to change it. So “Thank You” to all those teens who made a difference.

The biggest thing we, as parents, learned in the counseling sessions was to let go and let our child take responsibility for his/her actions without withdrawing our love and support.

Our child is now 15 and has been clean for five months. S/he has a much better attitude and is more pleasant and respectful. S/he is making good grades again and has surprised her/his teachers. S/he has shown much better judgment in the people s/he associates with and is making good choices. S/he asks permission and is less argumentative. S/he smiles a lot more and we can talk and laugh together. We could not be more proud.

I wish you continued success. You have all certainly made a difference in our lives.

 

Odyssey’s statistics show that 61% of the drug-addicted youth they treat show increased skills to support sobriety. That’s a powerful statistic because it translates into letters like the one above.

Odyssey and St. John’s share an interest in healing and transformation. I’m proud that we can help Odyssey by providing space on a “cost of utilities only” basis. I hope you are too.