8:00 a.m.—Sunday

10:30 a.m.—Thursday

Christian Education

9:15 a.m.—Sunday

Holy Eucharist Rite II

10:30 a.m.—Sunday

Morning Prayer (Parlor)

9:15 a.m. Tuesday & Thursday

Evening Programs

6 p.m.—Wednesday

Robbin Iddins Outreach/Civic Duty, Youth Sr. Warden

Debbie Reeves Finance Jr. Warden

Jason Barringer Youth, Finance

Jackie Berlin Outreach, Inreach

Al Dixon Finance, Buildings & Grounds

Carl Franzman Parish Life, Inreach

Sarah Clark Parish Growth/Development, Parish Life

David McLeod Worship, Parish Life

Carolyn Pierce Parish Life

Dan Seipel Parish Life, Outreach/Civic Duty

Martha Spring Parish Growth/Development, Inreach, Youth

E-mail submissions to parishadmin@stjohnscollegepark.com;

mail to 3480 Main Street, College Park, GA 30337;

deliver to the office door mailbox;

or fax to 404-761-8403.

Please come lend a hand on Sunday, November 5th! There will be a Christmas Pageant Planning Meeting following the 10:30 service.

Taizé focuses on light, silence, prayer, and music. We hope you will find the service a beautiful way to add to your worship experience. We hold this service on first Sundays.

Help a family in need have their own Thanksgiving at home! We supply all the fixings, including a turkey. But we need the help of everyone to get the job done. Thanks to some generous donors, we already have frozen turkeys and fresh greens on the way. However, there is still a grocery list we need to prepare!

Get a brown bag with the grocery list on it. (Found in Bott Hall. There are two sizes: family of 2 or family of 4.)

Buy or raid your pantry for everything on the list.

Put it all in the brown bag and bring it to St. John’s on Sunday, November 12. All the bags will be taken to Emmaus House and the Poverty Rights Office will add a turkey and greens.

In addition to your brown bag, please bring your checks, envelopes, and Blue UTO Boxes filled with coins representing the many daily blessings in your life to church on Sunday, November 12.

Jim will be at Perk Place in Hapeville on North Central, near Dogwood. Come enjoy a cup of joe and an open mic discussion with Jim.

Happy Birthday! November Birthdays:

Members

Ministries

Frank, our Presiding Bishop

Katharine, our Presiding Bishop-elect

Neil, our Bishop

Jim, our Rector

Ruth, our Priest Associate

Liz, our Seminarian

Government

George, our President, and Sonny, our Governor

Friends & Relatives

The flowers on the altar last month were dedicated to the glory of God and

A family that belongs to St. Catherine's is seeking a kidney transplant for their daughter, 19-year-old Catherine Moore. She needs your help, including your prayers. Here is a letter from her parents, David and Mary Moore.

Dear Friends:

When our daughter, Catherine, was 10, she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease which attacked her kidneys. Catherine has spent the last 9 years trying to save her kidneys through various medical treatments and protocols, doctor visits, and surgeries. She is now being treated for End Stage Renal Disease.

Catherine is a sophomore at the University of South Carolina and is trying to keep up with her schoolwork despite her medical restrictions and dialysis treatments. She is thankful that dialysis is a treatment that will keep her alive until a kidney is found. Even so, sometimes Catherine doesn't see her future as all that bright. Being a prisoner to a dialysis chair three times a week while waiting a minimum of three years for a kidney (estimated waiting period while on the deceased donor transplant list), can make even this most optimistic and strong willed of persons want to give up. Therefore, Catherine's doctors have recommended and encouraged her to seek a living donor. Organs from a living donor last longer and work quicker. Catherine's immediate family has unfortunately been eliminated as potential donors due to existing medical conditions or incompatible blood types.

We are writing this, therefore, to educate and inform family, friends, and even perfect strangers about the gift of living organ donation. As a result, we hope to find that special someone who is waiting to be called by God to make this gift of life! Please share this information with family, friends, coworkers, neighbors. If anyone you know may be interested in becoming a donor for Catherine please have him or her call the Emory donor line at (404) 712-4857 or 1-866-727-3250. To be eligible for living donation to Catherine you must have type O blood, be eighteen (18) years or older and have no family history of diabetes.

Living organ donation is a big decision and this letter is meant to educate and make you aware of this option for our daughter, Catherine. For more information on living organ donation and kidney transplantation, please go to the following web sites: www.donatelife.net; www.livingorgandonor.org; www.nkfg.org.

We ask for your prayers that Catherine will receive a kidney in the shortest possible time. Thank you, David and Mary Moore.

The article, Thoughts on Stewardship, printed in the October edition of the Eagle Notes was mistakenly credited. It was actually written by Jason Barringer. It was a great article, Jason, and your message about commitment and stewardship being an integral part of spirituality and faith was an important one. Thank you!

Have you ever wished you knew a second language? Here’s a great opportunity: the College Park Presbyterian Church is now offering Spanish lessons Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. The price is only $12 plus the cost of the book. They are also beginning English classes for Spanish-speakers. Call the church office at 404-767-4985 to register or for more details. (College Park Presbyterian is on the corner of Main and John Calvin, 3557 Main St.)

It's time to renew your commitment to recycling and buying recycled for this year's America Recycles Day, on November 15. (Although it's never too early to show your resolve to support recycling!) Your pledge will enter you in a drawing for a variety of great state and national prizes. Visit the Georgia Recycling Coalition, the organizer for our state's events, at georgiarecycles.org, to sign up. Or visit americarecyclesday.org, the national home page, where you can also enter your pledge and learn more about the national prizes. For more information on recycling in Georgia, contact Joe Dunlop (404-679- 1598 or jdunlop@dca.state.ga.us.)

Thanksgiving

This is the main rehearsal before the pageant at the Christmas Eve service, and the last chance for finishing touches on costumes & props. A brief run-through will be held in Sunday School the week before Christmas, so, parents, please make sure your child is in class!

The next time you go to the grocery store, remember Family Life Ministries. Through FLM, we serve the families of those who fall between the cracks of society: the poor, distressed, & underprivileged.  Remember to pick up a new FLM bag on the last Sunday of the month and bring it in filled with nonperishable food & goods on the first Sunday.

Speeders is a group of St. John’s members who meet regularly during the school year for Holy Eucharist, varied programming, and lunch. There is no age limit on this lively crowd! We always welcome your involvement.

However, please note: Speeders will be moving! Beginning in December, it will be held on the 1st Thursday of the month (instead of the 4th.) Please mark your calendars, and join us for Holy Communion, varied programming, and lunch.

Also: Speeders is cancelled in November for the Thanksgiving holiday. Happy Turkey Day, Speeders!

The logo has been chosen, the crosses, cards and pins designed and sold, new banners, historical photographs, concerts, parties, picnics and bricks planned and completed. It has been a very busy year. Sometimes, so busy that it was easy to forget why we were doing this in the first place. One hundred years ago, a handful of people had a vision and started a church on the second floor of the old College Park Post Office. When I think about the dedication and the planning that went into that decision, it makes the past year seem easy in comparison. Fortunately for all of us, the church grew where it was planted, leaving us with a place that we are proud to call home.

Many thanks go out to many people. Will Manders, "The Janes": Jane Escalera, Jane Holloman and Jane Randolph, Emile Escalera, Betsy and Fred Daniell, Melissa Brady, Ruth Crook, Jeanne Condrey, Robbin Iddins, Becky Rivas, Donn Blosser, Jim Pritchett, the Bargain Shop, and others that worked on projects throughout the year and rolled up their sleeves when we needed some muscle. To all of you not mentioned by name that offered so much assistance this year, please accept our heartfelt appreciation.

From the Centennial Committee, we look forward to the next 100 years. Hope to see you there!

-Ernie Radaker, Sue Johnson, Debbie Reeves

Anyone with a special need (or any need!) is invited to meet in the chapel for prayer after the 10:30 service. Lord, in your Mercy, Hear our prayer.

A wife invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to their six-year old daughter and said, “Would you like to say the blessing?”

“I wouldn’t know what to say,” the girl replied.

“Just say what you hear Mommy say,” the wife answered.

The daughter bowed her head and said, “Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?!”

Set in Afghanistan during the final days of the monarchy through the horrors of the Taliban, The Kite Runner is an unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and a servant. It is a tale of fathers and sons, friendship and betrayal, resentment, and overall, the possibility of redemption. It is a beautifully written story and I would love to discuss it with anyone!

Blessed are they who translate every good thing they know into action, for ever higher truths shall be revealed unto them.

Blessed are they who do God's will without asking to see results, for great shall be their recompense.

Blessed are they who love and trust their fellow beings, for they shall reach the good in people and receive a loving response.

Blessed are they who have seen reality, for they know that not the garment of clay but that which activates the garment of clay is real and indestructible.

Blessed are they who see the change we call death as a liberation from the limitations of this earth-life, for they shall rejoice with their loved ones who make the glorious transition.

Blessed are they who after dedicating their lives and thereby receiving a blessing, have the courage and faith to surmount the difficulties of the path ahead, for they shall receive a second blessing.

Blessed are they who advance toward the spiritual path without the selfish motive of seeking inner peace, for they shall find it.

Blessed are they who instead of trying to batter down the gates of the kingdom of heaven approach them humbly and lovingly and purified, for they shall pass right through.

On October 7 & 8, we had a wonderful, wonderful celebration of our centennial. The party Saturday night was magnificent. The baptisms and service on Sunday morning were a glorious response to all God has done for us at St. John’s. It was such a privilege to dedicate our beautiful new banner to the memory of Bill Johnson. And the Heritage Walk turned out better than we could have imagined! (For those of you who want to buy bricks, I am told that you will be given that opportunity at a later date.) Thanks to everyone who had a hand in making our centennial year so great!

I thought you might like a copy of the prayers used by the Bishop to bless the banner and walk:

How blessed we have been by those who came before us. They gave sacrificially of their time, talent, and treasure to ensure that St. John’s would be here serving Christ long after they were gone. I have been thinking about those faithful folk a lot lately as I have been pondering us beginning our second hundred years. Some of them I knew; most of them I did not. But we build on their legacy as we dedicate ourselves to our ministries in our time. God willing, our ministry includes ensuring that St. John’s is here for those who come after us.

How will those who look back on our time see us? As I write, roofers are replacing some of the shingled roof on the church and all of the flat roof on the Education Building. We had no choice, and it will cost $45-50,000 dollars. As I write, plumbers are considering the necessity of tearing up a concrete floor to get at pipes to keep our toilets from backing up. We have no choice, but I’m going to hate to hear the cost.

We have so many great things happening at St. John’s! I am very excited about the parish. The Bargain Shop, Begin Again, Children’s Choir, Choir, support for Family Life Ministries and the Interfaith Airport Chapel, the Parenting Class, Sunday School, Via Media, Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, increasing attendance, and, most of all, a wonderful Spirit about the place — we are in the midst of exciting times, and I think those who look back on our times will share our enthusiasm.

And yet, we must remember that we are called on to give just as those who came before us gave. Giving is good for our souls; in fact, it is essential for our spiritual wellbeing. And running the church is expensive even when there are no roofing and plumbing surprises. (But there are always surprises, and expensive ones.)

As you consider your pledge to St. John’s, please remember that the biblical standard for giving back to God is ten percent (the tithe). (Charlotte and I give more than ten percent, which I tell you only so you’ll know that I practice what I preach.) If you cannot give ten percent, please fill out a pledge card and promise to give what you can. We need you.

And so do those who will come after us. Inspire them. Make them proud.

A new Education for Ministry group, affectionately known as EfM, will be offered at St. Augustine of Canterbury in Morrow in January, 2007, on Sundays from 3:30-5:30 p.m. EfM guides members in becoming more intentional about their own sense of personal ministry. It is designed to help participants clarify an understanding of their calling to serve Christ in the community. Our own Robbin Iddins is an EfM graduate. An informational meeting will be held in Nov. To receive an invitation and directions, contact Ken Kimsey (770-961-9353; kkimsey@charter.net) or St. Augustine’s (770-961-9353).

Dr. Rebecca Chopp, president of Colgate University and former provost of Emory University, will speak on “Tracking Religion & Spirit in America” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 2, at All Saints' Church, 634 West Peachtree St., Atlanta. The lecture is free and open to the public. Preceding the lecture is a wine and cheese reception at 5 p.m. followed by dinner at 6 in Ellis Hall. Cost is $18. Call the All Saints' Church office (404-881-0835) for directions and dinner reservations.

A 5-year old was showing an assistant how to set the Prayer Table. He picked up the statue of the Good Shepherd and said, "This is the leopard that we pray to."

The assistant corrected gently, "Do you mean Good Shepherd?"

"Yes," he said as he gently placed the statue on the table.

I am in awe at what takes place each Sunday in the Atrium. The phrase “the mystery of God meets the mystery of the child” is becoming real to me. I now have a tiny understanding of what Jim experiences as he celebrates the Eucharist. It is beyond words...when the children & I light the candle, read a few verses of scripture, ponder what we’ve heard, and then pass the Good Shepherd around while each child is given a chance to pray and then as we snuff the candle to watch the smoke rise like our prayers to God… it is church for me. I cry. I am overwhelmed with gratitude at the opportunity being given us.

November 2006

Look what our blessings have bought: this year, our diocese will be awarded two grants from UTO. The Absalom Jones Student Center and Chapel of Atlanta will finally be able to replace the roof for their campus ministry program, and the Good Samaritan Health and Wellness Center of Jasper, Georgia, will be able to purchase medical equipment and expand their services to the poor and rural community at the foot of the Appalachians that they serve.

Ingathering Day: Twice a year you are asked to bring in the amount of your daily blessings, a.k.a. ingathering, where it is combined with the offerings of hundreds of thousands of other Episcopalians’ tangible thanks. At St. John’s this year, our Ingathering will be on Sunday, November 12. Please bring your boxes, checks, and envelopes to church. At this time, there are 93 Parishes in our diocese but only 33 participating in UTO Ingatherings! Would you please consider joining your offering with others to support mission projects both at home and around the world? Contact Georgie White, UTO Coordinator, at 770-996-9081 or gmpjw@netzero.com with questions.

More than any other church in the worldwide Anglican Communion, the Episcopal Church is deeply rooted in a representative form of church government. Lay participation in the governance of the church is a hallmark of our identity. It begins at the parish level with the vestry. The vestry, along with the rector, is charged with making the decisions affecting the life and ministry of the parish.

Vestry members are elected by the parish at an annual parish meeting. To be a member of the vestry, one must be a confirmed member of the parish and at least eighteen years old, have been regular in attendance for the previous year, and have made and maintained a financial commitment to the parish, known to the treasurer, for the last year. Vestry members are elected to three-year terms of office. At St. John’s, the vestry consists of twelve members. From the vestry, the rector appoints the Senior Warden (who is in charge in the rector’s absence), and the vestry elects the Junior Warden. At St. John’s, the wardens also function as a council of advice for the rector.

The vestry is responsible for the “temporal affairs of the parish.” It handles the funds of the church, including stewardship, accounting and financial reports, audits, and setting the budget. In addition, the vestry is responsible for maintaining the church property – a big job! Vestry members share duties on Sunday morning. The vestry elects delegates to the annual diocesan council. The vestry is also in charge of the parish if there is no rector, and calls a new rector to fill a vacancy in that position.

Equally importantly, however, is the role of the vestry as spiritual leaders of the parish and collaborators with the rector to support the ministries of the parish. Vestry members should stay involved and informed about the parish and the Episcopal Church.

Please help St. John’s by praying for your vestry and discussing the ministries of the parish with them. It is also very important that you come to the annual parish meeting on December 10 (after a combined 10:00 service) to elect new vestry members (and share pot luck brunch). A nominating committee (whose membership is controlled by our by-laws) will announce nominees during November, and you will receive biographical descriptions of each of them.

You are welcome to make a nomination “from the floor,” but so that we may determine eligibility and willingness, please do so in writing (delivered to the church office) at least one week before the Annual Parish Meeting.

To be qualified to vote in the election, you must: (1) be 16 years old, (2) be a member of the parish (you were baptized here and have not moved or your “letter” (the record of your baptism) has been transferred here), (3) be a confirmed Episcopalian, (4) have been faithful in corporate worship, unless for good cause prevented, during the previous year, and (5) have been faithful in working, praying, and giving for the spread of the Kingdom of God. Diocese of Atlanta Canon 31, §4; Title I, Canon 17, §3 of the Canons of the Episcopal Church.

If you are not qualified to vote, please consider becoming qualified. If you are, please learn about the candidates and vote. Either way, please come to the Annual Parish Meeting!

At the last General Convention, The Episcopal Church adopted the UN Millennium Development Goals for itself. They promise to end poverty as we know it, and many agree the goals are attainable.

One week ago I returned from Haiti, where I visited a project in Terrier Rouge which my organization, Bethlehem Ministry, supports. Our operation there includes a primary school and several projects intended to improve the lives of the Haitians of that town:

We are a faithful group of Episcopalians and Presbyterians who recognized a need in 1993 and set out to fill it. God has led us this far, and has promised not to abandon us as long as we continue. We plead with you, our brothers and sisters, to join the Millennium project with your money, your devotion and your passion. If nothing else, work with politicians to get them to support in word and deed the final goal: develop a global partnership for development.

Through my discretionary account, St John’s has provided funds to retired Bishop George Kyaw Mya of Myanmar (formerly Burma) to build schools. As you may know, Myanmar is ruled by a military junta, and, according to sources at the US State Department and elsewhere, the 4% of the population who are Christians are often cruelly persecuted. (See www.persecution.org/suffering/countryinfodetail.php?countrycode=12). Gerry O’Connor, a native of Burma, called this situation in her homeland to my attention. I am glad to help, but to my way of thinking, the support we have been able to provide has been very small — several grants of $100.

Here is part of a letter Gerry received from “Bishop George.” It provides a helpful perspective to Christians living in the United States:

I hope St. John’s will be in a position to continue to support our sisters and brothers in Myanmar.