Then Jesus looked up at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:20-21, 31)

In last week’s sermon, I spoke about the self-giving love of Jesus Christ. We are the light of Christ when we give of ourselves for the sake of others. I can’t think of a better example of this than our Harvest Fair. The atmosphere at the fair was amazing and the comradery among our parishioners was palpable. Many of our parishioners gave an incredible amount of time, talent, and treasure to make the weekend such a huge success. We had lots of newcomers working on the Harvest Fair, and we invite you to continue in the ministry of St. Johns. We will break another record in total sales. The ECW will use the proceeds to help our community through ECW donations to charitable organizations, our Thrift Shop, Laundry Love, our HIHI Homeless Ministry, Operation Christmas Child, Adopt-a-Family, Thanksgiving Baskets for the domestic abuse shelter, our Prayer Shawl ministry, St. John’s Hospital Toy Drive, our Book Ministry, our mission trips to Puerto Rico, and a sizable donation to support all the other ministries at St. Johns.

I would like to thank our entire ECW team that worked so hard to make the event such a huge success. There are posters in the Great Hall with the names of charities that the ECW gave to last year, the vendors that contributed to our baskets, and the names of all the sponsors that made this year such a success. Please support our local businesses that support our Harvest Fair. There will be an ECW meeting on November 3rd at 11:20 in the Guild Room to recap the Harvest Fair. A special thanks to Chris Boccia and Fran Gorman for their leadership in the ECW and at the Harvest Fair. There are too many people to thank individually, but please know that I appreciate the work and ministry of everyone that helped out this year.

During our stewardship campaign, people will witness to what makes St. John's so special to them. Dave Lasek spoke about how the parishioners at St. John’s are like family to him. He pointed out people like Mary Simon who quietly visits and calls people who are sick or in the hospital. Dave and Nelly work on the breakfast team on Sunday mornings, they volunteer in the Thrift Shop, help with HIHI, and are part of the Spirituality Group (to name of few of the ministries that Dave and Nelly support). Last week, Michael Ade talked about coming to St. John’s as an Ex-Pat. He found the congregation incredibly friendly and is heading the 275th Anniversary Committee, working on the vestry, and leading our grounds committee in 2020. Michael’s partner, Sean has also been active at St. John’s and volunteers as an usher. Through parishioners like Dave, Nelly, Sean, and Michael, we make St. John’s an extraordinary parish. Please listen to Susan Cronje and Scott Cooley on our Loyalty Sunday as they witness to their experience at St. John’s.

Our parish is dedicated, "to know Christ and to make Him known." We are trying to live in the present reality as we move towards the kingdom of heaven. Please love God and one another as Jesus Christ loves us. We have something very special here at St. John's. Giving your time, talent, and treasure brings both you and this community to a place where we can minister to our children, the poor, the sick, and the thirsty. This year’s stewardship campaign is “Shining our Light.” Please place your pledge card in the offering plate today. There are extra pledge cards in all the pews. The cards will then be blessed at the altar.  Giving of ourselves for the sake of others literally ushers in the coming kingdom.

In Christ’s love,
Fr. Duncan