Last Sunday the Session received and the congregation welcomed Jim
Austin, by transfer of letter from All Saints Episcopal Church in
Stafford, his wife Lynn Parsons by transfer of letter from First
Presbyterian Church and Lynn's son, Michael Rodgers to St. John's
Presbyterian Church. Michael joined as a confirmed member since he
completed the class with the rest of the confirmation class but was
unable to join when they did. That makes 10 new members who have
joined in the past month, 7 of whom are under 16 years old. As I look
around during worship and the various church activities and events, I
see more and more children and youth in our midst. Welcome to each of
these new members!
Our Christian sympathy is with the family of James McPhail whose
funeral service was held at 2:00 pm this Wednesday, April 28, in the
sanctuary of St. John's.
The Breakfast Club meets this Saturday as breakfast is served at 8 am
followed by a presentation by David Lobpories, of the Texas Parks and
Wildlife.
You are invited to dinner and a program in Fellowship Hall at 5:30 pm.
Dr. Winifred Hamilton from Rice University will consider the question:
"Is the Environment Harming Your Child?" This is the third of three
events in our speaker series on the topic of "Whatever Happened to
Childhood." Come and bring a friend.
Next month, in May, I hope you will come enjoy dessert with me and
other St. Johner's in multiple small group meetings of about 10
members in homes. The primary purpose of these gatherings is receive
feedback from the congregation to the question "What can we do to help
St. John's grow?" We will brainstorm about St. John's future, our
strengths and weaknesses, our dreams and realistic goals and
priorities. Expect to receive an invitation to a specific group
meeting. You will be contacted by your host. If you have not received
an invitation or you are unable to make the assigned meeting, let the
church office know and you will be reassigned to another group. This
will be a fun and rewarding experience and will help the church
leaders define our future focus for St. John's.
Six weeks from now the Pastor's Bible Class begins. If we were meeting
this Sunday (which we aren't doing yet), the topic would be the
passage of a stringent immigration law in Arizona which has thrust the
issue of illegal immigration into the national consciousness again. We
would consider that topic in light of our status as followers of
Jesus. On April 23, Gov. Jan Brew of Arizona signed into law the
toughest bill in the nation against illegal immigration, unleashing a
flurry of protest and opposition from people who see its provisions as
an open invitation for harassment, discrimination and racial profiling
against Hispanics. The law makes it a state crime for illegal
immigrants to be in Arizona and gives police the right to demand proof
of legal status from anyone they might suspect of being in the country
illegally. What ought to be the church's main concern about illegal
immigrants? Why? No one person will be allowed to dominate the
discussion. A variety of voices and opinions will be solicited from
the participants. Moving beyond our own opinions, we would look at
these questions in light of relevant scripture texts such as Leviticus
19:1-3, 9-18, 32-37; Deuteronomy 24:14-21; Ruth 2:1-23; Psalm 4:1-8;
and Luke 16:19-31. That gives you an idea of how stimulating this
class will be. The class will begin on June 6, 2010. Let me know if
you would like to be on the email list for this class.
Continue to keep our organist, Alina Klimaszewska, in prayer as she
recovers from surgery. Also, remember in prayer her father who has
cancer. We have a celebration this week as Steven Leach has completed
his work for the M.Div. Degree at Princeton Theological Seminary. Keep
Steven in prayer as he discerns where and how God may be calling him
to serve now.
Peace of Christ be with you,
Pastor Jon
--
St. John's Presbyterian Church
5020 West Bellfort / Houston, TX 77035
T. 713.723.6262 / F. 713.723-4015 / Email: office.sjpc@gmail.com
Worship Service: Sunday, 10:30 am / Sunday School: 9:00 am
