Christian Formation will be Journeying the Way of Love for the Advent Season. Journeying the Way of Love offers four sessions to be explored as we await the coming of Christ by moving through the first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke. Luke’s gospel provides a pattern for understanding how we can live the Way of Love as individuals, as families and friends, as a community, and out in the world.

We will gather by Zoom at 10:00 am on Sunday mornings starting November 29. The Christian Formation Zoom link is the same as the Sunday worship Zoom link to make things a little easier.

You may download a PDF copy of the curriculum at https://episcopalchurch.org/files/documents/wol_2020_advent_journeying_curriculum.pdf

You may also learn more about the curriculum at https://episcopalchurch.org/journeying-way-love

There had been a hope to begin moving toward in-person worship. However, the recent local and state-wide increase in COVID-19 diagnoses has prompted the vestry to decide to suspend in-person worship for at least another two weeks.

This Sunday, October 25, and Sunday, November 1, we will continue to gather on Zoom only. This Sunday will be a service of Morning Prayer with Spiritual Communion. The next Sunday will be a service of Morning Prayer.

The vestry and worship team will re-examine the safety and advisability of a limited gathering in-person after the November 1 Sunday service.

This is not an easy decision as the desire to gather in-person is strong within our community. However, we will continue to offer opportunities to gather and pray on Sundays at 11:00 am and Wednesday at 6:00 pm through Zoom. A service of Compline is also offered on Friday nights at 7:00 pm on the Facebook page.

The links to access these services is available on the front page of http://www.stjohnscorbin.org

Sunday, May 31, is Pentecost Sunday. Just as this Sunday celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, there is an outpouring of opportunities to join in prayer.

10:00 am – Christian Formation/Coffee Hour – https://zoom.us/j/786056762

11:00 am – A Service of Spiritual Communion – https://zoom.us/j/724163474

Available anytime is the Diocesan-wide Pentecost service. The service may be accessed through the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington website (http://www.diolex.org ) and other DioLex social media sources. Several members of St. John’s are “participants” in the service: Bruce W. Cory, Lisa Garrison, and Tracey Herzer-Huston.

Sunday evening the Union of Black Episcopalians is offering a Prayer Vigil for Racial Justice and the Healing of our Nation. This vigil begins at 4:00 pm and may be accessed by Zoom with the Meeting ID of 921 4319 6842 with a password of 476808.

Also, don’t forget that evening prayer is offered each Wednesday evening at 6:00 pm on Zoom. Use https://zoom.us/j/118956276

Last week Zoom was experiencing “technical difficulties,” so we had to switch, temporarily , to meeting on Microsoft Teams.

This Sunday we should be back to normal. The links on the website front page are the way to get to Christian Formation (coffee and conversation) at 10:00 am and Morning Prayer at 11:00 am.

The following links are the same as what is on the website:

Sunday Christian Formation (10:00 am):

https://zoom.us/j/786056762

Sunday Morning Prayer (11:00 am):

https://zoom.us/j/724163474

And we are still gathering in Zoom on Wednesdays at 6:00 pm for Evening Prayer:

https://zoom.us/j/118956276

Unfortunately there seems to be a global Zoom outage.

As a plan B, I have set up a Microsoft Teams meeting for Sunday Worship. This is available as a web-based application, so I am hoping people will be able to access the worship service.

Plan C is that those of us who can access the Teams meeting for Sunday Morning Prayer will record the service and I will post it to Facebook and YouTube.

The link to access the MS Teams meeting:

Join Microsoft Teams MeetingLearn more about Teams

Bruce

This Sunday morning Christian Formation is meeting at 10:00 am through Zoom and discussing the Missional Leadership portion of the Diocesan Vision Guide. If you do not have a copy of the Diocesan Vision Guide, you can download a copy at https://bit.ly/3evyS7u The link for Christian Formation is available through the St. John’s Episcopal Church website main page (http://www.stjohnscorbin.org) or directly from https://zoom.us/j/786056762

Sunday Morning Prayer will be offered through Zoom at 11:00 am. The link for Morning Prayer is also available from the St. John’s website main page or directly from https://zoom.us/j/724163474

Monday evening at 7:00 pm the Social Justice Book Club will continue its study of Just Mercy on Zoom. The link for the book club is also available from the St. John’s website main page or directly from https://zoom.us/j/310234740 Note that this Zoom meeting requires a password if you access the Zoom meeting some way other than through the direct link. The password is 704788.

Wednesday Evening Prayer will also be available through Zoom at 6:00 pm. This link is also available through the St. John’s website main page or directly from https://zoom.us/j/118956276

We may not be able to meet physically, but we can still gather in prayer throughout the week.

Tracey Herzer Huston developed some short resource sheets about COVID-19. These sheets focus on Pastoral Care in the Time of Coronavirus, Talking with Kids about Coronavirus, and Tips for Staying Home.

You can view and download these resource sheets from the St. John’s Episcopal Church website. There is a menu link as well as a COVID-19 banner on the front page.

You can also navigate directly these resources from http://stjohnscorbin.org/?page_id=157175

This Sunday Sarah Harcourt Watts will be preaching at the Sunday Eucharist service. She is Executive Director of Reading Camp and will be available after the service to talk with members of St. John’s about an opportunity for St. John’s to host a Reading Camp for the area.

We will also be having potluck this Sunday. Come hungry and be nourished at the Eucharistic table and then at the extended table of potluck!

On Wednesday, October 30, St. John’s is hosting a special commemoration service to remember the 1919 Corbin Race Riot. Our evening worship service at 6:00 pm will include a candle light service with prayers of healing and reconciliation.

Don’t forget that this Sunday’s potluck has a hot dog bar theme. Please bring your favorite hot dog toppings or side dish that will go with a hot dog.