Join Us at St. John's Church or Chapel to Celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ!
Advent and Christmas Worship Times and Special Activities
Advent 1 - Up to Restoration
Sunday, November 27, 2022 - The Sound of Silence: Zechariah's Song
9:00 a.m. Contemporary Service, St. John’s
10:30 a.m. Informal Service, St. John’s Chapel
11:00 a.m. Traditional Service, St. John’s
Advent 2 - Stand as a Signal
Sunday, December 4, 2022 - Peace on Earth - The Angel's Song
9:00 a.m. Contemporary Service with Holy Communion St. John’s
10:30 a.m. Informal Service with Holy Communion, St. John’s Chapel
11:00 a.m. Traditional Service with Holy Communion, St. John’s
The Seaford Campus will be launching our “Angel Tree” mission where persons are invited to purchase a Christmas gift for a child whose parent is incarcerated and/or support our Pre School through the donation of scholarships.
Advent 3 - The Lord's Highway
Sunday, December 11, 2022 - You Say You Want a Revolution - Mary's Song
9:00 a.m. Contemporary Service, St. John’s
10:30 a.m. Informal Service, St. John’s Chapel
11:00 a.m. Traditional Service, St. John’s
Pre-K Christmas Pageants
Monday, December 12, 2022
11:30 a.m. St. John's, Seaford Sanctuary
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
11:30 a.m. St. John's, Seaford Sanctuary
Advent 4 - Give You a Sign
Sunday, December 18, 2022 - From the Cradle to the Cross: Simeon's Song
9:00 a.m. Contemporary Service, St. John’s
10:30 a.m. Informal Service, St. John’s Chapel
11:00 a.m. Traditional Worship service, St. John’s Church - "Christmas Cantata"
Christmas Eve – Love is the Way
Saturday, December 24, 2022
6:00 p.m. Informal Service w/Holy Communion & Candlelight, St. John’s Chapel
8:00 p.m. Contemporary Service w/Holy Communion & Candlelight, St. John’s
10:00 p.m. Traditional Worship w/Holy Communion & Candlelight, St. John’s
Christmas Day
Sunday, December 25, 2022
10:00 a.m. One Combined Service, St. John’s
Epiphany of the Lord Sunday
Sunday, January 1, 2023
10:00 a.m. One Combined Service w/Holy Communion, St. John’s
This Sunday we recognize that, by the guidance of a star, God revealed His only begotten Son to the Gentile Magi who traveled to the Christ child.
Baptism of the Lord Sunday
Sunday, January 8, 2023
9:00 a.m. Contemporary Service, St. John’s
10:30 a.m. Informal Service, St. John’s Chapel
11:00 a.m. Traditional Worship, St. John’s
The celebration of the baptism of the Lord is a distinct service from Epiphany. It is celebrated on the first Sunday following The Epiphany of Our Lord and commemorates Jesus’ baptism by his cousin John in the Jordan.
Our Contemporary Service musical selections feature our Praise Band.
At our Traditional Worship Services, we will be featuring our handbells and choir
including solos and piano/organ duets.
The Christmas Cantata will be presented at the December 18th service.
Poinsettias 2022
Poinsettias will be decorating our Sanctuary starting, December 18th. Your help is appreciated in sponsoring this beautiful display in honor or memory of someone special. Please fill in the form available starting this week at services (or call the church office) and return with payment to the church office no later than December 12th. You may place both the form and payment in the collection plate or drop it by our church office from 9:00 a.m. -1:00 p.m. Monday - Thursday.
Plants may be picked up after the 10:00 p.m. service on December 24 or after the combined 10:00 a.m. service on December 25th.
Cost is $6.00 for a six-inch pot. Please make checks payable to St. John’s Church and mark Poinsettia in the memo line.
Church Finance Report
The income collected for the first two weeks in November 2022 is $23,536.75, which leaves $11,379.25 needed for the remainder of the month to reach our budget. All apportionments and bills are paid and up-to-date.
Income for the year-to-date as of the end of October was $116,296.62 vs. a budget of $139,283.00; expenses are $140,533.35 vs. a budget of $148,131.75.
The next Finance Committee meeting is Monday, December 19th at 7:00 p.m.
Happy Holidays from the Finance Committee!
Online Giving is Safe and Easy!
1. Tithe.ly Giving App: Download the Tithe.ly App from the App Store (iPhone) or Google Play Store (Android). Once you've downloaded the app select your church and follow the directions .
- Since this is your first time giving with Tithe.ly you will be prompted to create an account that you can use for all future gifts.
- The first time you will also need to add your credit/debit card or ACH/banking info
- Once your account has been created you won’t need to enter your personal or payment information. Just enter your PIN and give! A reminder you have the ability to set your gift up as a recurring payment so you don’t forget to give your tithes and gifts to St. John's!
2. Website Giving: Click on this link Tithe.ly , or enter into your browser, to give through the giving website. It's a safe and easy way to give any time. You may also scan the QR Code below to reach St. John’s giving page on Tithe.ly. Links can also be found on our church website and Facebook page. There is also a button below that once clicked will open a new window and take you to Tithe.ly.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask! Thank you for your generosity and partnering with us to build our church through online giving. We encourage you to use online giving as a safe choice for your tithes and gifts!
Angel Tree Ministry/Preschool Scholarships
St. John’s will take part in the Angel Tree Prison Ministry this holiday season to purchase gifts requested by the prisoner for their children and given in their name. The caregiver is contacted for the correct toy and size of clothing. Eleven children will be blessed by the gifts this year. The Angels will be placed on the tree on Dec. 4th and the gifts will be returned by Dec. 18th. Friends can shop together for gifts. The gifts are supposed to be between $15 and $25. If you are able to help with this project contact Pat Davidson 629-4619. Help is needed at the table in the narthex for both services Dec. 4th, 11th, and 18th.
Preschool Scholarships
Donation tags will be placed on the Angel Tree for scholarships for the Preschool children. Some of the students’ families have a difficult time to make tuition payments, so the scholarship fund allows the student to continue in our preschool and continue their learning. Please pick a tag to help our preschool children.
Altar Flowers
We wish to thank all the generous parishioners who in 2022 sponsored flowers to adorn the altar! We are now working on the altar flower dedication for 2023!
Everyone who donated flowers for 2022 - please reach out to the church office if you would like to continue your week for 2023. Stepahnie has been calling and emailing to set the schedule for the coming year. Dates that are open for 2023 will be added to the church bulletin in the coming weeks. If you wish to place flowers on the altar in honor or in memory of anyone please call the church office @ 302-629-9466
If you choose to sponsor altar flowers the cost is $35 for end flowers. If you wish to add to any date with center flowers they are available on most dates for $45. You will be sent a bill from the church office after the date you selected passes. You can always pay ahead by sending a check with “flowers” in the memo to the office.
The flowers, following the service, are taken to persons unable to be in worship. (see the article below) Flowers can really be a blessing in someone’s day and are a wonderful spirit lifting ministry here at St. John’s.
Flower Delivery
The Flower Delivery committee continues to deliver altar flowers to shut-ins on Sunday to the appreciation of many people in the community. Please let one of the ushers know if you are aware of someone who would benefit from receiving fresh flowers to brighten their day. If you ordered flowers for a particular Sunday and wish to take them with you, just slet an usher know and you may pick them up after the 11:00 service.
United Methodist Men
The United Methodist Men have been supporting several St. John’s UMC missions. We assisted the highly successful Pre-school annual Dinner/Auction by preparing and serving the spaghetti, salads, and desserts. On the second Friday of each month, we helped the Food Closet with the “Drive-up Food Giveaway. The number of recipients has grown steadily each month. We continue to support the Thrift Shop with our presence in the shop every Thursday and Saturday. We look forward to our annual Spring Dinner, the Pig-in-a-Poke project, and other projects here at St John’s.
We meet at 6:00 p.m. in Fellowship Hall on the second Monday of each month. Join us for food, fun, and Fellowship!
Connections
The Connections Team is delighted to share the Holiday Spirit by sending beautiful Fall cards that were created by Pat Davidson and her card making committee. The Christmas cards that have been prepared are equally beautiful and will certainly lift the spirits of those who receive them in December. If you know of someone who is ill or hurting and unable to attend services on Sunday, please contact the church office or me at sbaker0306@gmail.com so that we can provide a cheerful note.
St. John’s Preschool News
The fall months at preschool passed with warp speed. We had a great start to the year, were able to enjoy field trips and parties and were overjoyed and blessed to welcome back the annual dinner and auction, which was a huge success. We enter the Winter season with happy hearts. Happy to be together in person and not hidden behind masks. Happy to be at full enrollment and sharing the word of God with as many children as we can. And happy to be celebrating the birth of Christ, our Savior.
As Christians we often find ourselves in conflict with celebrating the real reason for the season and indulging in the commercial side of Christmas. It's a balancing act on a tightrope, especially at the preschool level. We love the joys and the magic of the season: Santa, elves, reindeer, cocoa, cookies, presents... especially the presents! How can we create a Christ-centered Christmas for the youngest members in the Christian community? For the very young, we tell the story of The Baby, born in a manger. We retell the story. Then we reenact the story through play Nativity scenes and dress ups. We make connections between that precious Baby who was born in Bethlehem, God's gift to the world, and the gifts that we receive and give. We listen to and sing Christ-centered music, and if you've never heard a choir made up of 4 year old children sing "Go Tell it on the Mountain," you are really missing out! The preschoolers make cards and gifts for others. They participate in activities that benefit others like food drives and toy collections. We work to foster a love for service to others as we instill traits like kindness and giving. We can't, however, battle the ever-growing commercialization of Christmas and so we work to make parallels between the two. We embrace the sentiment "dance like Frosty, shine like Rudolph and LOVE LIKE JESUS."
We head into 2023 with a greater appreciation for each other and for our mission of Early Childhood Education. The past couple years have really shown us the power of faith when times get tough. We continue to pray for good health and we continually count our blessings. The preschool considers the church congregation and campus one of our greatest blessings and we thank you for your continued support of our mission. May God Bless You in 2023!
Rae Murphy
Preschool Director
We are St. John's UMC & Chapel!