Worship with St. John’s

Saint Francis of Assisi (transferred)
Sunday, October 6, 2024

Artwork by Lucy Urbaszewski

Join us for the Blessing of the Animals on Sunday, October 6. Bring your pets to worship at 8 and 10 am, when we’ll have a special liturgy praising all the gifts of creation, including our beloved pets. Individual and drop-in pet blessings are in the garden at 11 am. If bringing your pet is not an option, you can also bring a picture or an item (such as a collar or favorite toy) to represent them. 

8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist, spoken with musical accompaniment.
10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist with St. John’s Choir and congregational singing.

Download the bulletin for Sunday, October 6, 2024.

For In Person Worship The nursery is open from 8:00 -11:00 a.m. Please stay for coffee hour.

For Online Worship: Join any service via Zoom Meeting ID: 882 2966 1337 Passcode: 3857 By phone: call 312.626.6799. Enter the Meeting ID and #. Enter the Password and #. OR Watch on Facebook live on our public page. 

St. John’s Concert Series

St. John’s Concert Series Presents

Canciones del Mediterraneo
performed by Lisa Zane
and accompanied by classical guitar

Sunday, September 29, at 3 pm at St. John’s

Songs from Spain, France and Greece performed by actress and singer Lisa Zane accompanied by classical guitar. Works by Joaquin Rodrigo, Manuel De Falla, Mikis Theodorakis, Erik Satie and Jacques Brel. Join us for traditions of melodic classical folk and passionate storytelling.

This free concert is open to the public, donations are welcome. In person only, no livestream.

Come to Craft Night at St. John’s!

Wednesday, July 17 from 5:30 – 9:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall. Want a place to work on a project with others? Looking to learn a new skill? Are you willing to teach others your favorite craft? Do you want to hang out with some great people? If you answered “yes” to any of these, please join us! Bring a project that you want to work on. Don’t have a project? We’ll provide one for you! We’ll have a few fun projects for you to work on if you need inspiration. Craft Night is the 3rd Wednesday of the month. Questions or do you have a skill you’re willing to teach? Please contact Debbie Maher

Giving to St. John’s

Thank you for supporting St. John’s! There are four ways to give to St. John’s.

This fun video shows all the ways you can give to St. John’s! Or read the details below:

You can write a check and mail it to the office: 3857 N Kostner Ave. Chicago, IL 60641. The cost to you is the envelope and the stamp (about $.60).

If your bank offers on-line bill payment you can schedule a reoccurring payment. You just need the name and address of the church. If you have a pledge number please add it to the memo line. The bank will generate and send the checks to St. John’s. There is no fee for this.

If you use Zelle you can schedule a donation to St. John’s by using the email treasurer@stjohnschicago.com. There is no fee for this.

You can donate on our website. Click on the red “donate” button at the top of the screen and enter in your debit or credit card number. The fee is 3.95%. For example, if you donate $100 it will charge you $103.95.

Please use the memo line to designate “pledge” or a specific event or area for donation such as “flowers,” “memorial donation,” etc. If you have questions contact Lisa at parishoffice@stjohnschicago.com or call her at 773.725.9026. Thank you!

Epiphany Blessing of Chalk

A part of church history is the custom of blessing homes at the New Year. A family would hold a short service of prayer to ask God’s blessing on their dwellings and on all who live, work with and visit them. In this way, we invite Jesus to be a “guest” in our home, a listener to each conversation, a guide for troubled times, and a blessing in times of thanksgiving.

“Chalking the door” or the door step may be used as a way to celebrate and literally “mark” the occasion. In the Old Testament the Israelites were told to mark their doors with the blood of the lamb on the night of the Passover to ensure that the angel of death would pass them by. Deuteronomy 6: 9 says that we shall “write [the words of God] on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, … and you shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates.”

Chalk is made of the substance of the earth and is used by teachers to instruct and by children to play. As the image of the chalk fades, we will remember the sign we have made and transfer it to our hearts and our habits.

Let us pray.
Loving God, bless this chalk which you have created, that it may be helpful to your people; and grant that through the invocation of your most Holy Name all those who with it write the names of your saints, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, may receive health of body and protection of soul for all who dwell in the homes where this chalk is used, we make this prayer through Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Use this chalk with this prayer to mark and bless your home. Take blessed chalk and mark on the lintel of your front door 20 + C + M + B + 24 saying:

The three Wise Men, C Caspar, M Melchior, B and Balthasar followed the star of God’s Son who became human 20 two thousand 24 and twenty-four years ago. ++ May Christ bless our home ++ and remain with us throughout the new year. Amen.

A Personal Tribute to Emmett Till

In honor of his birthday on July 25

Emmett Till & Marvin Childress, self-portrait
photo of Emmett Till & Marvin Childress, self-portrait

Parishioner Marvin Childress was a friend and classmate of Emmett Till. On Sunday, July 23 at 9 am Marvin honored Emmett’s memory by sharing his memoires of Emmett, growing up on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s, and his reflection on life and racism in Chicago today. You can listen to the 45 minute talk, including questions with this YouTube link A Personal Tribute to Emmett Till by Marvin Childress.

Reckoning and Reconciliation with our Indigenous Neighbors

A reading list

Recommended reading and resources for parish study groups and book clubs from the Peace & Justice Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago

Art by Rose Teyuthahukwa Malanik

The Red Nation: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth (2021)

Notable Native People: 50 Indigenous leaders, Dreamers and Changemakers from the Past and Present by Adrienne Keene (2021)

Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance (2nd edition) by Edgar Villanueva (2021)

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer 2013 (Study Guide available)

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (2014)

The Four Vision Quests of Jesus by Steven Charleston (2015)

Neither Wolf Nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder by Kent Nerburn

The Night Watchman a novel by Louise Erdrich (2020)

Seeing Red: Indigenous Land, American Expansion, and the Political Economy of Plunder North America by Micahel Johnson Witgen

Videos available from “Indigenous Ministries” on The Episcopal Church website: 1. “Native Voices: Speaking to the Church and the World” (37 min.) 2.“Doctrine of Discovery” (14 min.) 3. “Native Voices: A Response to the Episcopal Church’s History with Indian Boarding Schools” (1 hr. 33 min.)

National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition  

Article from Sojourners: “Will Christians atone for church boarding schools?”

Bexley-Seabury Course by Mary Crist:

Report calls church to address harms of white supremacy, colonial and imperial legacies; create $2 million healing coalition by David Paulsen