Easter 2021 Epistle

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Easter 2021

Journey to Easter: an exploration and celebration of salvation

The end of the season of Lent into Holy Week is one of the most contemplative times of the year for the Episcopal church, both spiritually and liturgically. Gather with us each day in prayer, worship, joy and sorrow as we meditate on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

March 28

Palm Sunday

Sunday, March 28, 10:30 a.m. (In-person worship will be held. The service will be

livestreamed with a recording available here www.stjohnsnc.org.)

Come participate in Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem! The service begins with the Liturgy of the Palms and includes the Passion Narrative.

April 1

Maundy Thursday

Thursday, April 1, 6:00 p.m. (In-person worship will be held. The service will be livestreamed with a recording available here www.stjohnsnc.org.)

Jesus institutes the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist as he shares his last supper with the disciples and washes their feet. Includes Holy Eucharist.

April 2

Good Friday

Friday, April 2 Stations of the Cross, St. Joseph’s (509 Ramsey St), 12 p.m. (noon)

Personal meditations and readings of Jesus’ journey to the cross.

The Good Friday Liturgy, St. John’s, 6:00 p.m. (In-person worship will be held. The service will be livestreamed with a recording available here www.stjohnsnc.org.)

A service centered in the narrative of the Passion of the Cross, which invites us into the central mystery of salvation. It’s a quiet service of meditation and mourning.

April 4

Easter Sunday

Sunday, April 4, 10:30 a.m. (In-person worship will be held.)

Holy Eucharist with a Prayer for Communion with Christ. A family sponsored Easter Egg Hunt will follow. Members of the Altar Guild and others will join in distributing Easter Lilies following the service as is our custom.

Please note that a live stream service with special music will be held (without an in-person congregation) at 8 a.m. on Easter morning. The recording of this service will be posted for worshipers to access at www.stjohnsnc.org.

INSIDE this issue

Holy Week & Easter page 2

Easter Egg Hunt page 2

Calendar Roundup page 4

Easter Lily Memorial Form Insert

EASTER EGG HUNT 2021

By Barry Neff, Children’s Christian Formation

Be sure to “spring forward!” on Sunday, March 14, 2 a.m. Set your clocks ahead one hour for Daylight Savings Time. Tip: turn your clocks ahead before you sleep on Saturday, March 13.

Easter is a time for hope and rejoicing and we are excited to invite the children and families of St. John’s to celebrate Holy Week in participating in an Easter Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday, April 4th. Grab your basket and join us at 12 p.m. for the hunt!

The Easter Egg Hunt will be divided into two age groups: 5 and under, and 6-9. All are sure to have an egg-cellent time!

Please bring your own baskets and masks will be required (except when exempt by state regulations). Please RSVP by sending an email to barryeneff@gmail.com by Friday, April 2nd.

THE EPISTLE ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH 302 Green Street Fayetteville, North Carolina 28301 Founded in 1817 in Fayetteville, N.C., and today a worshipping community of more than 700 parishioners

Clergy, Staff, & Officers

Rector The Rev. Robert M. Alves Sr. Warden John Holmes Jr. Warden Amanda Klinck Clerk of Vestry Judy Brown Treasurer Mary Flagg Haugh Director of Music Ryan Pagels Administrative Coordinator Trishia Medema Bookkeeper Sue Strickland Preschool Director Donnie Winston Parish Cook Bob Jenkins Sexton James Henderson

The Vestry

John Holmes • Amanda Klinck • Julie MacRae • Grant Steffan • Shelby Doyle • Angela Packer • Zachary Parisian • Lizzie Shepherd • Kim Hensley • Barry Neff • Dr. William Schaefer • Deborah Whitehead 2

THE EPISTLE

Easter Lily Memorials If you would like to donate an Easter lily in honor or in memory of a loved one, please fill out the Easter Lily Memorial form and return it to St. John’s office. The plants are $15.00 each. Make checks payable to St. John’s Episcopal Church and include “Lilies” on the memo line. The deadline for submission is March 28th.

These lilies will adorn the church during Easter services, and the names of those honored and memorialized will be printed in the Easter bulletin.

After the services on Easter Sunday, these lilies will be delivered to parishioners who are homebound, sick, or bereaved.

The Easter Lily Memorial Form is included in this Epistle and can also be completed online here: www.stjohnsnc.org/easterlily.

Rector’s Letter

Holy Week and Easter

W

e approach our second Holy Week and Easter during our journey with COVID-19. We have learned to exercise restraint and to take safety precautions to stem the spread of the virus. We owe a debt of gratitude to Grant Steffan, and all of those who support worship, for their diligence, wisdom, creativity and adaptability as we navigated the last year. Your vestry has taken the critical precautionary step of suspending in-person public worship for most of the last year.

We have also learned much as we developed safety guidelines when we returned to in-person worship for a time in the fall. We have relied on the science and lived under the guidelines from our diocese, state health department and governor and mayor.

With the increasing availability of vaccines and the decreasing numbers of hospitalizations we have determined that we will begin a process of returning to in-person public worship. Please know that all safety precautions that we observed in the fall will continue as will the restriction on singing and the use of a prayer for communion with Christ in lieu of the distribution of the bread and wine.

We will take advantage of the most permissive option for return to worship inside using 30% of capacity (100 in Church and about 50 in Hauser Hall.) All are asked to wear masks and to engage in social distancing. Those who are not yet comfortable returning to worship will still be able to join through livestream. We trust all to make responsible decisions that ensure

their own safety and that of others.

Maundy Thursday, April 1 at 6 p.m.

– In-person Maundy Thursday While we yearn to return to “normal” Liturgy with Holy Eucharist and we are instead journeying toward Prayer for Communion with Christ. a new normal. As we take the first This service will be livestreamed. steps we will focus primarily on worship. We have no plans to return Good Friday - Noon – Members of to coffee hour or indoor parish the congregation are invited to join meals this spring. The state health the people of St. Joseph’s for the department guidelines still require service of the Stations of the Cross. study groups and fellowship groups (509 Ramsey St) to meet virtually. The vestry will Good Friday – 6 p.m. – In Person consider how we will open further Good Friday Liturgy at St. John’s. at future meetings. Please know This service will be livestreamed. that Barry Neff and Lizzie Shepherd are striving to make contact with Easter Sunday, April 4 at 10:30 all of our families with youth and a.m. – In-person worship with children. A Guardian Angel reveal Holy Eucharist and a Prayer for will take place virtually on Palm Communion with Christ. A family Sunday. Please see Barry’s article for sponsored Easter Egg Hunt will detailed information on the revised follow. Members of the Altar Guild plan for the Easter Egg Hunt and and others will join in distributing other information.

Easter Lilies following the service as is our custom.

I look forward to returning to inperson worship and to traveling Pleas note that a live stream service the spiritual journey through Holy with special music will be held Week and Easter together. Please (without an in-person congregation) note that there will be one in-person at 8 a.m. on Easter morning. The worship service at 10:30 a.m. on recording of this service will be Palm Sunday and on Easter Sunday. posted for worshipers to access at We will resume the 8 a.m. in-person www.stjohnsnc.org. service on the Second Sunday of We will return to our familiar Sunday Easter, April 11. Please know that worship schedule on Sunday, April most of our worship support comes 11 with in-person services at 8 a.m. from dedicated volunteers. If you and 10:30 a.m. The 10:30 service will would like to serve as a volunteer, continue to be livestreamed. please contact Grant Steffan. If you are asked to return to service, please strongly consider stepping Faithfully, up during this critical time in the worship life of our parish.

Palm Sunday, March 28 at 10:30 a.m.

– In-person worship will be held.

The service will be livestreamed with a recording available at www. stjohnsnc.org

The Rev. Robert M. Alves

THE EPISTLE

3

Calendar Roundup - April 2021 Holy Week & Easter Services Palm Sunday

Sunday, March 28, 10:30 a.m.

In-person worship will be held.

The service will be livestreamed with a recording available: www.stjohnsnc.org.

TBA - Guardian Angel reveal via Zoom

Maundy Thursday Thursday, April 1, 6 p.m.

In-person worship will be held.

The service will be livestreamed with a recording available: www.stjohnsnc.org.

Good Friday Friday, April 2

Stations of the Cross, St. Joseph’s, 12 p.m.

(509 Ramsey St) Personal meditations and readings of Jesus’ journey to the cross.

The Good Friday Liturgy I, St. John’s, 6 p.m.

In-person worship will be held.

The service will be livestreamed with a recording available: www.stjohnsnc.org.

Easter Sunday

Zoom Conversation with Author: Anne Lamott

Thursday, April 8, 7:00 p.m.

“Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage” Anne Lamott and EBA will have a conversation about how we can recapture the confidence we once had as we stumble through the dark times that seem increasingly bleak. Anne Lamott will discuss the intimate and human ways we can move through life’s dark places and toward the light of hope that still burns ahead for all of us. Additional information can be found in upcoming Tuesday Headlines.

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom. us/meeting/register/ tZAtcuCtrD4jH9aNQRbGZ6lRBU8VZU_ rdL1e

Ways to Stay Connected

Visit the website for additional information and videos: http://www.stjohnsnc. org.

Sunday Morning Messages (Live Stream)

In-person worship will be held.

The service will be livestreamed with a recording available: www.stjohnsnc.org.

For those who are not yet able to return to worship, the service will be livestreamed and recorded, and posted on our website. (Only the 10:30 Service will have a live stream option.)

Easter Egg Hunt

Link to the Livestream: http://www. stjohnsnc.org

Easter is a time for hope and rejoicing and we are excited to invite the children and families of St. John’s to celebrate Holy Week in participating in an Easter Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday, April 4th.

Grab your basket and join us at 12 p.m. for the hunt! Additional information can be found on page 2.

Interactive, Live Hymn Sing

Sunday, April 4, 10:30 a.m.

Sunday, April 4, 12:00 p.m.

Follow us on instagram st.johnsepiscopalfay www.facebook.com/stjohnsfaync ‘Like’ our page on Facebook! We’re the page with the teal and white photo of the parish. Comment and share!

Fridays, 6 p.m.

Music Director Ryan Pagels offers an interactive hymn sing via livestream on the second Friday of the month on the church Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/watch/stjohnsfaync.

For those without a Facebook account, you’ll be able to watch the video by heading to stjohnsnc.org/online-worship-and-fellowship and clicking the direct link posted next to “Interactive Hymn Sing.”

April Birthdays 1 Polly Alves 2 Ruby Strouse 3 Jewel Prichard • Sarah Stewart 4 Emily Schaefer • Harrison Player 5 Sharon Koonce • Marie Sutherland 6 Jeffery Shorts 7 Lynne Nimocks • Walker Worth III Janet Gibson-Uffinger 10 Allison Privette 11 Savannah Elliot • Lewis Player IV Charles Haigh, Jr. Hannah Mendelsohn 13 John Holmes 15 Cecelia Hayslip • Mary Vallery Lizzie Shepherd 18 Chris Efrid • Coker Holmes Campbell Cantelou Aaron Badzinski Bess Nimocks 19 Judy Brown • Murtis Worth 21 Caroline Mendelsohn 22 Parker Lindsay 23 Steven Moore 24 Heidi Bleazey 25 Hayden Privette Brayden McDonald 26 Bright Dickson • Olive Fiocca 27 Ellen Jordan 28 Frances Ellerbe 29 Cole Reyes 30 Carly Reyes April Anniversaries 4 Mary Flagg & Jim Haugh Sunday & Mac McHenry Elizabeth & Tommy Wooten, Jr. 6 Jean & John Hermann 8 Betsy & Stuart Dixon Margaret & George Thomas IV 11 Caitlin & Hunter Evans, Jr. Sharon & Ned Schowalter 14 Lydie & Rorie Short 16 Susan & George Bender 20 Haley & Kent Gonzales 22 Laura & Ray Yarborough 25 Molly & Thomas Haigh, Jr. Gail & Bruce Daws 30 Carolyn & John Dawson