Why the Eagle?

The Gospels are symbolized by figures representing Our Lord as: a Man - King (Saint Matthew), a Lion - Priest (Saint Mark), an Ox -Victim (Saint Luke), and an Eagle - GOD (Saint John).

NEW EAGLE  NEWSLETTER PUBLISHING SCHEDULE

In order to reduce expenses of office supplies and postage, we will be publishing the Eagle newsletter bi-monthly instead of on a monthly basis. This issue is the first bi-monthly publication. The next issue will be the December/January 2010 issue.  All contributors to the Eagle should plan their submissions to include future activities for both December and January 2010. The cutoff date for submissions for the next Eagle will be November 16th.

MARV’S MEMOS                                                                      Marv Cram

September is over and we are rushing headlong into the fall and winter seasons. This means several things for St. John’s. Among  these events are rummage sale, bake sale, parish dinner, and other activities of importance to our community.

One of the extremely important projects is our annual stewardship campaign where we pledge not only our treasure, but also our time and talent to our church community. Our very existence and success are contingent upon each of us giving our full measure of time, talent and treasure. At St. John’s the harvest is bountiful but the laborers are few. As in most churches we rely upon volunteers to perform a vast majority of the functions that keep us going. When you attend the services on Sunday, you will see greeters, ushers, acolytes, choir members, lay readers, LEMS, prayer leaders, and social hour hosts. These people are all volunteers. Also working in the background are other volunteers serving on various committees: alter guild, office workers, audit team members, Eagle fold team, Sunday school volunteers, money counters, visitors to shut-ins, people who prepare the bulletins, people who help Linda with SafeSpace, and who work in the Success Center, those who do the bake sale and rummage sale, those who do repairs on our buildings, the Bishop’s committee, those who help with food distribution and serve on other committees. Many of our volunteers serve on more than one committee (some serve on three or four) and are “burned out” and are in need of a break. The Bishop’s committee has some great plans for St. John’s community, but we are limited in our activities by the lack of volunteers. Yes, the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few, but many hands make the work easier.

As you can see, we can always use volunteer help in every area. As your stewardship in time and talent, please step up and volunteer for one or two of the many jobs available. You will find it very rewarding and fun.

BAGGIES FOR THE HOMELESS

When I recently checked our supplies and donations for these baggies, I noted that most is far below the

level of giving than we usually have.  I dearly hope that in the next few weeks the numbers of things will increase so that we have the personal necessities to give to those in need.  For those of you new to reading the newsletter, we collect soap, toothbrushes and paste, lotion, shampoo and conditioner, towels, washcloths, razors, hard candies and the like and package them for the folks at Salvation Army who are in

great need.  And we all know that the numbers of the needy are growing by leaps and bounds.  Do your best to be involved in this project.  Frequently, our travelers turn in the small bath items provided in hotels.  We are aiming at about Thanksgiving time to fill the baggies again.  What a nice way to say Thank You - by making a contribution to these necessity kits.  If you would rather we do the shopping, make your check to St. John's and indicate BAGGIES on the memo line.  You will be thanked over and over again. Turn items in at the office or at Sunday services.  THANK YOU!!!!

Altar Guild        

      Each week, the Altar Guild works to prepare the church for worship services, and to clean up after the services.  The team for the third Sunday of the month is Ann Nobile and Stephanie Peterson.  These ladies are extremely dedicated to the Altar Guild and to St. John's.  It is appropriate that they be featured in this edition of the Eagle for all their hard work.

    Ann is in charge of collecting money for the Altar flowers.  She works hard to make sure that everyone has paid for their flowers on a timely basis.  This can be a very time-consuming task.  She keeps extensive accurate records so that all is correct when we do our year-end receipts.  Ann also orders the flowers for the Guild for the Sunday services.  She works closely with our florist to make sure arrangements arrive on time. As well as her Altar Guild duties, Ann works on the Baggies for the Homeless, the Holy Folders, and assists Fr. David with a myriad of other important events that occur at St. John's.

    Stephanie is one of the most dedicated members of the Guild.  She is our liaison to the Bishop's Committee.  She devotes extra time each month preparing a report to present to the Bishop's Committee.  She is always at every Altar guild meeting and assists with all the extra Altar Guild duties during holidays.  Beside being a member of the Bishop's committee, Stephanie does coffee hour once a month and also organizes and sells Stater Bros. scrip as a fund raiser for St. John's. 

    We are very fortunate to have these ladies as members of our Altar Guild.  THANK YOU, Ann and Stephanie, for all you do!!

     Altar Guild members:  Please note:    Meeting on Saturday, October 31. 

                                                            Deanery Luncheon:  Saturday, November 14

I'm leaving last month's article here so that you may refresh your memory after this update!

My personal thank you to whomever passed the Rector's Pantry need on to The Community Foundation of Riverside and San Bernardino. The Foundation gave a generous donation to the church that will make it possible to buy food for two months. My prayers were answered. I know that HE heard them and will continue to move the hearts and minds of others who are in the position to help their neighbors.

May God continue to bless you and yours. Cheri Azbarea

RECTOR’S PANTRY- Cheri Azbarea

Just a few weeks ago Rev. David Starr asked me for a list of volunteers and the number of hours we devote to the Rector’s Pantry Ministry each month. Little did I know that in service during his homily he would repeat those numbers. You see, I didn’t know what he was going to do with the list but the speculation was running high among those of us on that volunteer list. My best guess was Fr. David had a line on a new grant, others brought up the possibility that collectively we might have made someone’s (vague on this point) list of honorees, and still another that someone could be matching our hours with funding. Maybe even the Bishop of the Diocese, Jon Bruno might give us a grant from Corp Sole.

WOW! Any of those would really have me tickled pink. Why, a new grant could mean fewer worries of meeting the demands of increasing need and acknowledgement in a public forum would bring awareness of that need to a greater number of people. Next, funding to reflect the number of hours we as a volunteer group put together, at Federal minimum wage of $7.25 that’s $1964.75. Here in California that would be even higher! Man, just one month of matching hours would take the Pantry into November and maybe even provide a complete Thanksgiving Dinner to more than 100 families this year.

Needless to say, I don’t know what WILL happen with the total hours and that named list of volunteers but we continue to need your donations so that we may feed the hungry who attend the Wednesday Eucharist and healing prayer service.

The volunteers: Charlotte Martinez, Lena Escobar, Andrea Soler, James Williams, Edith Yonamine, Harry Swayne, Florencia Parra and two of her daughters Jessica and Fernanda, Hubert Dwight and two of his children Britney and Daniel, Beatrice Diaz, David and Audra Morgan along with Damion and Kat Biddy, Frances Dewar, Stephanie Peterson, John Lee, Marcus C. Criner, Linda Pederson, Joyce Marks from St. Francis and Larry Kisby from Trinity Redlands. Our bookkeeper Tom Navarro lent his truck to the ministry so that we may recycle nearly a half ton of cardboard. Doug Anders and Rev. Jo Ann Weeks have offered food- Doug offers the vegetables from the St. Francis Community garden and Rev. Jo Ann brings donated food from her parishioners at Grace Church in Moreno Valley.

I can’t even tell you how many people bring food into church on Sundays or the countless others who donate money to keep our Pantry open.

So, God truly has bestowed His blessings on this ministry and opened the eyes of many others. Are those speculations beyond the possible? Think about it! You may be the one that turns those small dreams into reality and the Rector's Pantry and our community would benefit through Jesus who lives and reigns in us all.