Special Events
The Auctions
When persuasive auctioneer Kellie strikes her gavel with enthusiasm and wit, you’ll know that another sum has been contributed to our outreach budget! St. John’s holds three coffee-hour auctions during the year, all meant for fun and frolic and funding of favorite outreach projects, like the North Broad St. Elementary School student trip each spring. There is the ‘basket auction’ for which parishioners prepare themed baskets of goodies, like for gardening, picnics, and even movie-night. And there is the ‘birthday auction’ of gift-wrapped mysteries. And, of course, the ‘pocketbook auction’ for which parishioners hide special favors inside new or slightly-used and eclectic purses and submit them for Kellie’s presentation. The bidding competition is (usually) good-hearted LOL.
The Quilt-Guild Dinner
To support their pastoral ministry, the St. John’s Quilt Guild plans and prepares a special dinner each year. Whether it is chicken & biscuits or ham & scalloped potatoes, this take-out meal is anticipated with glad hearts and growling stomachs! Highlighted by the raffling of an elaborate donated quilt, this event is a team effort and a fellowship festival.
The Old-Fashioned Rummage Sale
What could be more iconic for an American church than an old-fashioned rummage sale?! The Women of St. John’s, frequently assisted by anonymous males, holds such a fundraising event each year to help you clean out your garages, attics, and closets, and to turn used items into cash for outreach projects. As you might expect, the parish hall becomes the ‘dollar store’ for three days while passersby search for buried treasures! Don’t just cast-off those used items; store them in a marked box and donate them for the annual sale.
The Harvest Dinner
When the frost is on the proverbial pumpkin and decorative sweaters become the day’s fashion, you’ll know it’s time for the St. John’s Harvest Dinner! Our parish hall becomes transformed into a venue for giving thanks to God for friendship and abundant blessings on the fourth Sunday in October. Since the 1970s our parishioners have hosted this annual event for our dear community and guests from far and near. It is an afternoon of warm greetings and renewed relationships, as the aroma of roasting turkey fills the church building and lingers there like a fond memory.
Other Special Events
The Shrove Tuesday Pancake and Sausage Dinner
As the penitential season of Lent looms, and the prayers of Ash Wednesday are about to dawn, parishioners of St. John’s gather for an evening of (tame) revelry on Shrove Tuesday evening. Knowing that we can be later forgiven, we feast on pancakes, syrup, butter, bacon, and fattening sausages before the six weeks of annual spiritual fasting begin. Meanwhile, Fr. Nick collects all the dried-up palm leaves he can find from the previous Palm Sunday, and the paper prayer hearts from the “Christmas Hurts” service, and then burns them outside in the dark to make the ashes for Wednesday’s services.
The Church picnic
Summertime, and the worshippin’ is easy, when we have our parish picnic at Verona Beach State Park! Before we share a picnic-style pot luck, we keep the weekly prayers in our favorite pavilion. The Sunday School kids receive awards, and they help with the liturgy. Bringing guests is encouraged, and it’s a good venue for special events, too...why, just a couple years ago Laura and Shane Weismore, attended by family, renewed their wedding vows there on the beach! And then, in place of his sermon, Fr. Nick led us in a revealing episode of The Renewlywed Game, which they won BTW.
The Blessing of the Animals
On an autumn Saturday closest to the Day of St. Francis, who himself held all creatures in high regard, the parish gathers to ask God’s blessing on the animals for whom we care. Cats, dogs, chickens, horses, and other adorable beasts howl with surprise when we sing to them, and then receive their own laying- on-of-hands (or petting) as we lift them up in prayer. We ask that God will grant them lives full of good health and adventure, and then we feed them treats.