St. John's is an active community of Christians committed to living out the Baptismal Covenant to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Jesus Christ; to seek and serve Christ in all persons, and to strive for justice and peace among all people. We believe that God has given all of us different gifts which we use to glorify God. Members choose to serve the church in various ways. The following is a brief overview of some of our ministries.

St. John's is a community that worships together in the tradition of the Episcopal Church according to the rites and sacraments of The Book of Common Prayer. The community gathered in worship is a source of nourishment and strength as we are fed by both Word and Table. In our tradition, the laity serve as ministers of worship services in a variety of ways:

Lectors read the lessons from the Bible during the Liturgy of the Word. They also lead the congregation in the Prayers of the People where we offer to God our intercessions and thanksgivings.

Eucharistic Ministers assist the clergy by administering the cup of wine at Holy Communion and helping to clear the altar prior to the post-communion prayer and blessing.

Acolytes are younger people who assist in worship by performing such functions as carrying the processional cross; lighting and extinguishing candles; holding candles at the reading of the Gospel; and helping at the presentation of the bread and wine during the Offertory.

Ushers and Greeters are the "first line of hospitality" on Sunday mornings. They welcome people to the church, provide direction and assistance when needed, collect the offering at the Offertory, and direct traffic to and from the altar rail during Communion.

The Altar Guild assists the clergy in preparation for worship. Members of the Altar Guild are responsible for the care of the church linens, hangings, vestments, and traditional decorations for special services. They are charged with the care of the altar and its preparation for worship.

The Choirs are a wonderful way to develop and share God-given gifts for music. Those with either vocal or instrumental talents are encouraged to participate in our music ministry in the following ways:

The Senior Choir is a mixture of adult male and female voices that sings at the 10:00 Sunday service, and at special services. Rehearsals are Thursday evenings at 7:00 and Sunday mornings at 9:00.

The Handbell Choir is an intergenerational mixture of male and female ringers who ring at major feast services such as Easter and Christmas, and on occasion at Sunday services to provide instrumental accents.

Adult and young instrumental soloists are encouraged to perform preludes, and to provide accompaniment for anthems at Sunday services.

Christian Education is central to the life of St. John's. The reality is that everything we do -- our worship, study of the Bible, and outreach -- is about our formation as members of the body of Christ. Central to our education efforts is teaching the stories of the Bible, passing on the traditions of the Episcopal Church, and helping Christians negotiate a world that more often than not stands in opposition to the teachings of Jesus Christ.

The journey of one who follows Jesus Christ is a life-long pilgrimage of discernment and discovery. Learning about the Christian Faith is also a life-long "work in progress." To that end we offer Christian Education for youth and adults in a variety of settings:

The Christian Education Hour is from 9:00 a.m. until 9:50 on Sunday mornings from September through May.

For children and youth age 4 through grade 8, we offer a rotation module curriculum entitled Come Join the Circle. This curriculum allows our children and youth to experience the same bible story for a number of weeks by engaging in a variety of learning modules.  The modules include: arts and crafts, music, brain teasers, puzzles, cooking, drama, community life and outreach.  Each Sunday we gather together to hear the Bible Story told and then break into groups based on age to encounter the story through modules. 

 

Youth grades 7 to 12 meet in homes of one of our teens on a Sunday evening for fellowship, formation and fun.  This group engages in a number of outreach activities throughout the year.  These include a lock in for hunger, a mission trip to Mississippi in 2007 and 2008. 

 

Junior Church is offered to children in kindergarten through the 3rd grade during the Ministry of the Word or first portion of the 10 AM Sunday service.  Junior Church provides an opportunity to engage our youngest members in prayer and an age appropriate lesson.  The children join their parents in the service for communion. 

 

Contact the Parish Office to volunteer to teach, substitute or learn more about our offerings to children and yout

.Adult Forum offered on Sunday morning provides an opportunity to explore a variety of topics.  We have focused on scriptural, ethical, theological and life issues.  The forum runs about 45 minutes every Sunday morning, during the school year, and starts at 9:00 am.  While in general topics carry over from week to week, all are invited to join us at any time.

The Wednesday Bible Study is a group that meets on Wednesdays after the 10:00 service for the examination of specific Scripture. The study of Scripture nourishes us and helps to open up the richness of the Bible to us.

The St. John's Book Club meets monthly to share in depth discussions about books chosen by the group.  They meet in the home of one of the participants on the second Monday of the month and normally share a meal.  For more information, contact Elaine Lovelace at drelainel@aol.com. 

Throughout the year we offer classes and instruction as situations require. This includes First Communion Classes, Confirmation Classes, Pre-Wedding instruction and Pre-Baptismal instruction.

Seasonal Opportunities
During Advent we offer a mid week service of Evening Prayer with a meditation by the clergy.

During Lent we join with our friends from St. Andrew's to provide a Wednesday simple supper and discussion.  The discussion has been on a wide variety of topics from recent films, television series, recent books, Scripture, issues facing Christians in today's world and invited guest speakers.

During a weekend in April 2009, we will have a wonderful opportunity to participate in an all parish retreat at the Bishop Claggett Center.  The Bishop Claggett Center is the diocesan conference center for the diocese of Maryland, in Buckeystown Maryland.  The retreat will start Friday evening with supper and end after lunch on Sunday.  This weekend is geared for parishioners of all ages.  Child care will be provided so that parents of young children can participate fully.  Activities, games, study, worship and fellowship appropriate for all age groups is being planned.  If you have never experienced a retreat – this is your chance.  If you already know how powerful a time of retreat is, you know to reserve the weekend now.  Mark your calendars, sign up in the parish hall, and plan to attend.

Adopt-a-Block – Parish members meet every two months to clean the 100 block of North Beaver Street as a ppart of the City of York’s Adopt-a-Block program to help keep the city streets clean.

Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen – Parishioners provide twenty-plus casseroles for the Our Daily Bread soup kitchen each month. Four to six parishioners serve the noon meal at Our Daily Bread the fourth Tuesday of each month

Meals on Wheels – Each Monday, volunteers from St. John’s pick up and deliver meals to homebound persons who participate in this program. Typically, meals are taken to four to six homes each week. Volunteers are always welcome to join in this ministry.

Food Pantry – St. John the Baptist participates with other food pantries in York in providing food for needy individuals and families. The Food Pantry Clearing House assigns appointments to individuals and families to come to St. John each Thursday afternoon to pick up food. We provide food to five to ten individuals/family units each week. We also provide single bags of food appropriate to the situation of homeless people who have no cooking facilities. These are kept in the food pantry, easily accessible for the church office personnel to hand out on an as-needed basis. The food pantry is supported by parishioners who bring food the third Sunday of each month or who provide a monetary donation and by the Gift Card Program, which raises funds to purchase food to supplement that donated by parishioners.

Gift Card Program – The Gift Card program began in 2003. Gift cards from Giant, Weis, and other stores in the area are sold on Sundays after each service. The church receives a rebate of approximately 5% of the dollar amount on each card. The money raised is used to help keep the food pantry stocked and for other Outreach projects.

Rummage Sale – The rummage sale provides a resource for clothing, toys, and miscellaneous items for needy people in the community. The rummage sale is held twice yearly, in the spring and in the fall. Items not sold are turned over to the York Rescue Mission or other low income service organization for their outreach work. Money raised from the Rummage Sales is used in St. John outreach work.

CROP Walk – Members of St. John the Baptist participate in the annual CROP Hunger Walk, held in October, which raises funds for Church World Service hunger programs and for hunger programs in the York Community. We typically have over twenty walkers who raise over $2,500 in pledges support each year. Twenty five percent of the funds raised in the CROP Hunger Walk remain in York to support feeding programs in the community. This program is coordinated by the York County Council of Churches.

Eyeglass recycling – Eyeglasses are collected for delivery to the Lion’s Club for their programs.

Box Tops/Labels for Education/Can tabs – Labels for Education and Box tops for Education are brought in by parishioners and delivered to the PTO at Ferguson Elementary School. The PTO turns in the labels and box tops for cash which they use to support various programs at Ferguson Elementary. Can tabs are also delivered to the Ferguson Elementary PTO, which turns them over to the Ronald McDonald House in Hershey. The can tabs are then turned in for money to support the Ronald McDonald House..

Companion Parish – St. John the Baptist has a companion parish relationship with the Episcopal Church of St. Steven in Aracatuba, Brazil. We work to find ways to assist the companion parish in its programs. The Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania has a companion relationship with the Diocese of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

St. Nicholas – coin-filled pouches – Money is collected by parishioners in small green bags; one quarter for the number of month of the year; January - 1 quarter, February – 2 quarters, and so on. The money is received at the Feast of St. Nicholas and used to purchase toys, clothing and other items for a needy family in the community

Staying Connected – This interfaith volunteer care giving network, based at Jewish Family Services, provides transportation for people who need to go to the doctor, dentist, therapist or other professional for care and do not have transportation..

Habitat for Humanity – Parishioners participate in York Habitat for Humanity building projects. We also provide funding for projects on which we are working.

Mission Trips – Parishioners from the parish participate in Mission Trips each year, having made trips to El Salvador and to the U. S. gulf Coast to assist in cleanup and rebuilding after hurricane disasters.

Easter Luncheon – We provide an Easter Luncheon for needy people and for First Responders who are on duty on Easter. The meal is prepared and served in the Parish Hall by twenty or more parishioners.

Time, Talent, and Treasure are given by members of the parish to such local organizations in need as Access-York, Logos Academy, York Rescue Mission, Contact York, and the Northeast Neighborhood Association. Our financial resources are also given to Episcopal Relief and Development, the United Thank Offering, and the All Saints Relief Fund.

Low Income Housing – Three houses adjacent to the church were purchased and renovated to provide low-income rental housing for the community.

Church Buildings – The church buildings are used by the Literacy Council to teach GED classes.  They are used by the Lincoln Intermediate Unit to teach English as a Second Language classes.  They are also used by twelve step groups and and by a recovery group.

The pastoral care ministries of St. John's support parish members during illnesses, death, and in time of difficult family situations. Persons involved in pastoral care ministries volunteer to provide food, transportation, visitation, or meet other special needs. Some of our pastoral care ministries are:

Lay Eucharistic Visitors: Trained members of the parish bring communion to members of the parish family who are ill or homebound and unable to attend Sunday worship. They bring bread and wine consecrated at our worship service, thereby extending the fellowship of the Table to those unable to be in church.

The clergy and laity are engaged in visits to members of the parish family who are in hospitals, nursing homes, or are homebound on a regular basis.

The nurturing of the young in their spiritual journeys and formation as followers of Jesus Christ is the responsibility of the entire parish family. In the rite of Baptism, the congregation is charged with doing all in their power to support the newly baptized in their lives in Christ. A vital youth ministry depends on both young people and actively engaged adults who invest of their time and interest in young people.

Episcopal Young Church People: The EYC meets for discussion, fellowship, service, and fun. Recent activities have included making gifts and delivering them to nursing homes, participating in an EcuYouth hayride, participating in a hunger lock-in, doing the Stations of the Cross on the grounds of the church during Lent, and going indoor rock climbing at the Climbnasium.

Lay persons are encouraged to share leadership in the parish with Vestry members by participation on Vestry Committees. These committees include Worship, Stewardship, Christian Formation, Outreach, Finance, Investment, Property, and Planning. If you have a special interest or talent, we need you. Contact the Rector or Senior Warden for more information.