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From Genesis and the St. John's Action & Justice Team: May Day is a time to use your economic power in support of your values. You may be able to participate in the May Day No work, No school and No shopping boycott but please know there are impactful alternatives too! Consider Banking with Intention, Shopping Wisely and Re-educating/Serving. Interested in learning how? Click this link for more information.
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What would it look like for a local church to partner with an underserved neighborhood on the other side of town, in an effort to create beauty and usher in ecological justice? What would it look like for our church to create space and respond to the needs of neighbors in East Oakland that don’t benefit from the same resources, opportunities, or even connections?
Thanks to a grant from Duke University, St. John’s has an opportunity to create beauty and usher in ecological justice in the Havenscourt neighborhood of East Oakland! Starting in March, St. John’s will embark on a six-month journey of learning, serving, and growing together, as we partner with the Havenscourt Neighborhood Association, Common Vision, and Trees for Oakland for a beautification project. Under the leadership of Resident Postulant for Holy Orders Cara Meredith, the project will include three beautification days (roundabouts & bump outs, tree planting, and dumping deterrent planter boxes) and three learning gatherings. All interested readers will also receive a copy of the book Soil by Camille Dungy for discussion in June. Whatever your ability or availability, we welcome your participation in the project. Interested in getting involved? Email Cara ([email protected]) with your name, phone number, and email address and she’ll make sure you’re in the loop. Come One, Come All to Our Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper February 17th from 6 to 7:30pm Join us on Mardi Gras for one of our most joyful traditions of the year—our Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper! This festive evening is all about gathering as a community, sharing good food, and preparing our hearts (and pantries!) for the season of Lent. Last year, our incredible youth—along with plenty of loving parental supervision—served up hundreds of pancakes, plus sausages and crispy hash browns. The idea behind Shrove Tuesday is to use up all the rich, fatty ingredients in the house before Lent begins, and we take that tradition seriously… and deliciously! The evening will be filled with lively Mardi Gras music, lots of laughter, and fun kids’ activities, making it a celebration for all ages. Best of all, all proceeds from the supper support youth service projects and service-learning trips. The suggested donation is $10. Whether you come hungry, come ready to dance, or just come to enjoy time together, this is a night you won’t want to miss. Bring your family, invite a friend, and join us as we flip pancakes, celebrate Mardi Gras, and step together into the season of Lent. Laissez les bons temps rouler! The 2026 Annual Report is here! Enjoy the reports from the wonderful ministries that make St. John's tick. Don't forget to come to the Annual Meeting this Sunday, January 25 at 10am (there's only one service! Download the report. From St. John's Senior Warden, Sarah Jones: Join us for any and all of of a livestream event featuring two Bonhoeffer scholars next Saturday, January 17th (MLK weekend). Running roughly 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., it comprises two plenaries, a panel and a closing service. Of course you can register yourself and watch it anywhere you like, but we plan to screen the livestream in the sanctuary at St. John’s. And we’ll be doing it in community. We will offer light refreshments but will break for lunch on our own (bring a brown bag or go off-campus). Donations toward the screening are welcome but not necessary. Learn about the intersecting legacies and lessons of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King, Jr., while deepening your understanding of how people of faith can confront and resist the growing forces of authoritarianism and Christian nationalism in our own time. Being rooted in learning and worship, we’ll dream together about how to make a world to best live into our own calls to seek justice and peace. For more information or register to attend independently, go to https://tinyurl.com/bdzk8yhu. Please RSVP to attend the event at St. John's by email [email protected].  Our Giving Tree was such a success after this past Sunday’s 10 a.m. service that every single wish was spoken for! Thank you so much for your generosity.
But wait… there’s more! Several people have mentioned that they did not have a chance to take a wish before they were all gone. In response, we have added another family to bless this holiday season. Please keep an eye out for new wish ornaments on the tree. They will be available just before this Sunday’s first service. As a reminder, we are sponsoring families through CRECE (the Central American Refugee Committee of the East Bay). Founded by a refugee and survivor of the Salvadoran civil war in the 1990s, CRECE organizes and educates the Latino immigrant community to help improve social, economic, and cultural conditions. All three families currently reside in Oakland. You can participate by selecting one or more wish ornaments, purchasing new gifts, then wrapping them and bringing them back and placing them under the tree. All gifts will be delivered to CRECE on December 8 and shared with the families. I love that we are helping to make Christmas a joyful experience for families in our community by helping their wishes come true! Denise Bingham “You can try other churches, but you’ll always come back to St. John’s.”
It was Brian Marion who brought me to St. John’s. I moved to Oakland in 2002 as a lapsed Catholic who only went to Corpus Christi when my parents were in town. Then in 2009, I began dating a woman in Southern California who was a cradle Episcopalian at St. Cross in Hermosa Beach. I began attending services there with her. In December, she was coming to visit me in Oakland for the first time and asked me what Episcopal church we should attend. I of course had no clue, so she asked Brian, who she knew had recently moved from Oakland. Brian strongly recommended St. John’s. “You can try other churches,” he said, “but you’ll always come back to St. John’s.” Just like he did. At my first St. John’s service, Molly Darling preached about how “Luke loves the ladies.” Ken Fuller introduced himself and asked me if I wanted to join the Vestry. After first greeting me saying that I looked familiar, Helen Nicholas remembered that she was my realtor in 2002. I stayed in the shadows for my first couple of years, though Brian was always pushing me to get more involved. He eventually convinced me to become an usher, join the Men’s Group, and eventually the Vestry. I am grateful that he did, since it allowed me to ease into this community and develop relationships that have kept me at St. John’s long after Brian passed and my relationship with the So Cal girlfriend ended. My banner would quote Brian: “You can try other churches, but you’ll always come back to St. John’s.”  Thank you to all of those who have pledged for this "Banner Year" stewardship season! If you have not already done so, you may fill out a digital pledge card using this link. Paper pledge cards may also be returned by mail, given to a member of staff, or left in the plate on Sundays.
Thank you to all the St. John's members who gave testimonials. You and your words are what this community is all about! Written Testimonials Video Testimonials  We first came to St. John's after running into The Rev. Kathleen Moore at the Montclair Holiday Stroll. She mentioned they were looking for a baby Jesus for the Christmas nativity and asked if our daughter might play the part. The fact that they would invite a baby with two moms to represent Jesus was such a beautiful act of inclusion, I couldn't say no.
That invitation captured what St. John's is all about. For the past two years, we have felt nothing but warmth and genuine welcome here. When we make it to services on Sunday, people greet us with smiles and encouragement. When our daughter was baptized, the joy in the room was palpable. And in harder seasons, like when I was going through IVF again and coping with disappointment, this has been a place where I could sit quietly under the stained-glass window that reads "Faithfulness" and feel held even in moments of deep sadness and grief. One moment I will never forget was meeting Rev. Kathleen for coffee at Arizmendi soon after our daughter was born. I apologized for not making it to services as often, and she simply said, "It doesn't matter how often you come, you're part of our community." I nearly cried. That sentence sums up what St. John's means to me: belonging that doesn't need to be earned. My wife plays on the church softball team, and we have even hosted the end-of-season party at our house. It is those small, joyful connections that make this place feel like home. St. John's has given us a place to celebrate milestones, to find spiritual grounding, and to show up fully as ourselves—as a queer family, as parents, and as people of faith. If I could hang a banner for St. John's, it would read: You are welcome here. Really. How I came to St. John’s and why I’m still here.
In 1979, Joe and I had just moved to Oakland. As Joe got off BART at Rockridge a group was caroling and invited him to join in. When I disembarked they welcomed me, too. Tom Bowman invited me to come sing at St. John’s. Committed to sing at another church, it wasn’t until the week after Easter that I contacted St. John’s Music Director and came to my first choir practice. He auditioned me and scheduled me to sing a lively Bach duet with Julie Booth (Knell) . On Sunday, the choir gathered in the room next to the kitchen where our robes were hung. The director didn’t arrive to rehearse us. It was almost time for the service: “You all don’t know me, but I can get us through the service.” Reilly Rix turned pages as I sight-read the Proulx Gloria. I did my best to conquer the small beast which was our Conn electric organ. Following the service, Father McCann offered me the job of Music Director. (The former director’s resignation letter had been sitting on the organ.) Fast forward two years, and the Booth Family had overseen the build-out of the altar area so we could see our priests during Communion. The altar rail was replaced by the carpeted “Squircle” and the baldacchino installed. We had the option of standing or kneeling for Communion. We were served real bread and real wine. We were worthy. For me, this was huge – my last exposure to the Episcopal Church had left me “not worthy to pick up the crumbs from under the table.” In addition to taking over the direction of our choir and accompanying them, I restarted a Youth Choir which eventually grew to over 30 youth ages 4 – 17, who performed 57 concerts and sermons. (Kellor Smith was a big contributor of ideas and youth!). Outreach included singing at Rockridge BART, the former Jack London Village, the downtown Marriott and several East Bay nursing homes. We have so many long-time friends we’ve met at St. John’s. So many of those early kids are now in their 50’s, and are still my friends. Their children have been singing in our Youth Choirs (and we hope there will be more!). I was invited; I was included, and the circle grew; I witnessed faith and a community in action. Invitation, inclusion, faith, and action. My banner: Make a joyful noise! Come sing with us. |
