Great Things to Come

In Easter week, I spent some time moving pews with other parishioners. Believe it or not, this time-honored, shin-bruising chore reminded me how much I appreciate every day the lessons I’ve learned in church.

With those lessons in mind, I was moved and encouraged by the April 22 meeting where we discussed ways of helping each other in diffi-cult times. Some of us have lost jobs. Others have had their jobs cut back. Still others face nagging uncertainty about hardships that may await them in the months ahead. In all these instances, other St. John’s members may repre-sent valuable sources of help.

For example, we may have professional contacts in a trade or industry where another parishioner is looking for a new position. Without compro-mising those contacts, it still may be possible to learn informally where the jobs are (and where they’re not), and perhaps even obtain the names of the right personnel to reach with a resumé. After all, a precept of most job search manuals is that most job openings never are publicized. Getting a foot in the door is one thing; knowing which door is another, and well-placed phone calls usually are the only way to find out.

We may have had a job-search experience which parallels that of someone else at St. John’s, re-gardless of profession or occupational catego-ry. Sharing lessons we’ve learned in that pro-cess could be enormously helpful to another parishioner. It may teach us something new at the same time. Creating an effective resumé is one such area: there may be no single, correct resumé format, but for applicants of different ages and backgrounds, clearly there are formats to avoid. The same can be said for search firms, and working with even a very good one is something of a skill in itself. Similarly, job search sup-port groups can be of genuine value for networking and helping maintain morale. But not all groups are created equal; some of them, it turns out, are a waste of time.

This is the sort of information you may have at your disposal, and if so I encour-age you to find ways of sharing it at St. John’s. How many times have you been to business or social events and made new acquaintance whom it turned out were able to help you, directly or indirectly? While we see each other every Sunday, I’m continually surprised to learn new things about St. John’s people– their back-grounds, areas of expertise and wealth of past experiences.

On May 30, we will come together at the church again for an All Parish Workday. The original idea was to work from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m, but then we put the “to do” list together. Now the plan is to work in two shifts: first, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., then from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. (Before we re-vised the schedule, some bulletin and e-mail notices went out listing the work time as 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Disregard them! The correct times are shown here).

Think of a barn-raising, but without the barn. On May 30 there will be chores for everyone: cleaning out offices and class-rooms, touching up paint, cleaning light fixtures and replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs, and much more. Just like a barn-raising with a barn, however, we will come together after clocking out at 5 p.m. for a casual dinner. We’ll relax, admire our work and share our thoughts on the day. If you can swing a hammer, push a broom or a rake, or brush and roll on fresh paint, have we got a job for you!

Outwardly, April’s evening discussion and the upcoming work day look different, but the logic of both is the same: name-ly that when we face hard challenges, it’s the community we turn to for support, whether the challenges occur in our indi-vidual lives or in our life together as stew-ards of this worshipful place.

On June 7, we will host Legacy Sunday, a celebration to honor those who already have included St. John’s as a beneficiary in their wills and trusts. Many other mem-bers, we know, contemplate such provi-sions in their estate plans, and for them abundant information will be available on a variety of financial instruments. Ken Fuller and I developed this program with The Rev. Richard Schaper of the Diocese of California.  Details will follow shortly. We hope that, whatever the status of your estate plans, you will give the June 7 pro-gram a look. It contains useful insights for everyone.

Soon our website will include a “blog,” (short for “weblog”), where I will be able to share information about upcoming events with you more quickly and frequently than our traditional newslet-ter, and in more detail. But whatever your preferred communications medium, stay tuned to St. John’s for more!