Our 'Give and Gift Bazaar' last Sunday raised more than $1200 for VISION - and Pastor Vinnie (Mission for the Homeless) was eloquent and grateful!  This benefit sale reflected our commitment to outreach ministries, while strengthening our own church community. ​

From left: Laurie Bennett organized goodies from Silvia Sykes, the Slatoffs, and others, together with vintage gifts from Karen Gleason and Laurie's own grandmother; Sylvia Ahern sold her botanically-printed art scarves; master knitter Sara Evinger sold her creations - and donated 50+ other warm hats knit by her, Judi Marr, and Sylvia Ahern directly to Pastor Vinnie's ministry. ​

The CNC retreat is a time when youth going through the confirmation program learn to set up their own worship spaces and experience God. The do reports on world religions to understand what others believe and what makes that different from Episcopalians. They even have a little fun playing board games.  

Dear Friends,

St. John’s has arrived at a crucial moment in our history. I like to think of it as a rite of passage. Of course, every year is important, but there are times when the stars align and we are invited to consider radical change that also promises great opportunity. We are, without a doubt, in such a time.  

The pandemic proved something once and for all.  St. John’s is determined to not only survive but to thrive no matter what we face.  We saw this determination before the pandemic when, after completing a strategic plan that inspired us to realign our staff, you all stepped up and funded this plan which included hiring a full time Associate for Congregational Development. We determined at that moment to not be part of the 90% of churches in decline, but rather, to invest and start acting like the 10% of churches that were growing. Vision inspires generosity and you all caught the vision and, Wow, were you generous. Giving increased by 20% for 2020. Together, we made a commitment to our future and completed the first step in our strategic plan. 

Now, we have the opportunity to take the next step in our plan: to enhance and deliberately empower our ministry to children and youth. This is especially challenging as Kellor is retiring. But she has graciously offered to make sure the baton is firmly placed in the hand of the next runner. I am optimistic because we have hired Ministry Architects, a national consulting firm that has helped churches across the nation redesign their youth ministries to meet the challenges of future generations, and we have formed a dynamite team of young leaders in our parish to work with them as we renovate how we renew and restructure our ministries. 

Our job in this transition is to make sure that the baton lands in the hands of the right person and that that person is properly supported by the infrastructure of our parish. What is clear to me is that we need to be in a position to do a national search process and attract a full-time youth and family director that will bring the talent we need to put our ministry renovation plan into action. Attracting new families to St. John’s is something we all want. Now we need to step up and fund this desire. What an amazing opportunity we have!

So, as you prayerfully consider your pledge for 2022, I ask you to do two things:

1. Remember how well we have been doing through this pandemic, and remember the role that Jon played in keeping our focus on congregational development through this challenging time. He brought gifts that enhanced our technology and communication plan, developed our social media impact, and even attracted new members to a church that they could not visit in person. I know I am grateful for him and mostly for all of you who believed in the vision and helped fund it.
   

1. Secondly, I want you to imagine a future where more and more families are being drawn to St. John’s because we were committed to a vision for young families and funded it.  We have the opportunity to continue the legacy of our youth and family ministries that St. John’s has enjoyed for decades, by finding fresh ways to meet the needs of emerging generations.  
   

Vision is the bedrock of generosity and generosity leads to gratitude which leads to more generosity.  Now is a time like no other in our history. My prayer is that you will continue to be inspired by the vision so that together, we each can do what we can to assure that St. John’s meets the future with great faith and joy!

Onward,      

The Rev. Scott Denman+
Rector

It was a fun week of bidding and getting together on Zoom for St. John’s auction.  Hosts Jim MacIlvaine and Laurie Bennett showcased people in eight ministries through videos and stories during the live portion on August 29th.  If you didn’t see it, you can still view it on St. John’s YouTube channel by clicking this link.  And if you didn’t pledge that day, you still have an opportunity:  send or leave a check at St. John's by September 20 or pay online through the St. John's website.   https://onrealm.org/StJohnsOakland/-/give/now   and choose" 2021 Auction" on the right side drop down menu.

The online auction ended on August 30th.  Sixty-six bidders from all over the country were reminded via email, “You’ve been outbid!”, and this reminder generated spirited bidding right up until the 5 p.m. closing. 

At this date, the auction has totaled over $35,000 in gross proceeds.  This money will be distributed between the specific funds highlighted in the live auction and put to good use for the general operations of St. John’s. 

But none of this was possible without a huge cast of talented volunteers.  Planning began in March when Deacon Jon reported to leadership groups about the possible live streaming options that would allow St. John’s to meet in person and continue an online worship experience.  The biennial auction was the right vehicle to broadcast this need and the Auction Committee was in action soon.  MANY THANKS and ADMIRATION go to this amazing core group.
Laurie Bennett – chair
Judi Marr – auction database coordinator
Sylvia Ahern – database analyst and video creator
Jim MacIlvaine – auction host and script writer
Scott Denman – Da Rector Productions for videos and showcase creation
Jon Owens – Zoom technician extraordinaire and Communications
Carolyn George – Celebrating Connection Happy Hour planner and chef
Ken Fuller – Donation coordinator and Happy Hour
Pat Harden – Communications
Kathy Araugo – mailings, forms, office support
 
This is the cast of workers for whom my gratitude is boundless: Lisa Cadwalader, Jerry and Bonnie Moran, Silvia Sykes, Anne Meyer, Sean Van Straatum, Greg Slatoff, Alex Slatoff, Molly Marion, Michelle Ziegmann, Laura Kroger, Katie Kroger, Ben Riggs, Abby Smith, Kellor Smith, Sarah Jones.
​
And the event would not have been successful without the wonderful donations from our parishioners:   Thank you, Thank you, Thank you,
Laurie Bennett

By Ian Storrar

​On July 2nd, the news broke that UK Olympian Alice Dearing would not be allowed to wear the swim cap of her choice. This wasn't some dispute over fashion, as you may have first assumed. Instead, it was about racism. Systemic racism built into institutions like the International Swimming Federation.

The news (link to Guardian article) reporting explained of the gear in question that "the caps did not fit “the natural form of the head.” In case you haven't figured it out or read the article, Alice Dearing is black. She's "the first black female swimmer to represent Team GB at the Olympics." You see, swim caps are designed for hair like mine - white people hair. The article does a great job explaining why this is a problem and why it's racist. I'll move on.

Sticking to the British, we heard this week about two-time Paralympic world champion sprinter Olivia Breen who was told by an official that her shorts were too short. The Washington Post covers the story here. This story is about sexism, at least. To state the obvious, we've heard no stories of male sprinters being told by officials their shorts are too tight.

On the same day (July 20th - just yesterday), US Paralympian swimmer Becca Meyers' regretfully pulled out of the Olympics because the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee hadn't allowed for her Personal Care Assistant to go with her, even though she is deaf and blind and has been traumatized before by being left alone without adequate support to find food.

These stories are examples of how institutions and those in power can do great harm to individuals and persist ongoing forms of racism, sexism, ableism, and other oppressive structures in society. In some of these instances, it's unlikely that anyone intends to be part of this pattern and are simply being obtuse.

Nevertheless, I believe we need to call these situations out, as Christians and as members of our society (never mind sitting in a CRT master's seminar) and do something. So, while you may feel the need to contact the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (please do), I invite you to take action in a couple of local, direct ways that can help to change the patterns of injustice we are surrounded by:

1. Join St. John's members in support of the Genesis Community Forum: Do police officers belong on campus*.
2. Sign the petition to Public Transit Operators and the MTC that Genesis is sending to provide paratransit services that meet the needs of the people in our community.**
3. Let me know if you're interested in being more involved. We had a great response from multiple members of the congregation to my last appeal. We'd still love to welcome more voices (and activists) for justice to our growing group.

Peace, Ian

*Join us on Thursday July 22nd, because sometimes we just need to elevate youth voices, especially from underrepresented communities, in voicing their needs (rather than assuming we know what's "normal").

**As I write this, we need just 10 more signatures to hit the next milestone. Help us over the top and beyond. Who knows, maybe one of the people needing this service will be in the Paralympics one day - but actually that shouldn't and doesn't matter.

Everyone has a right to adequate public transit regardless of ability or whether they will be in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Let's start in Oakland and Alameda County and hope we don't have these stories 3 years from now.

By Kellor Smith

With Covid cancelling the Mission Trip to the Texas/Mexico border in 2020 and 2021, this June the Youth Group decided to change gears.  They became a cleaning crew for the Chapel at the Bishop’s Ranch near the Russian River and St. Andrew’s Church near Guerneville, both struggling with diminished help because of the pandemic.It wasn’t easy.  The to-do lists were long. But they decided who was doing what and got to work.  Here is one of three pages of the list for St. Andrews.

​Left uncleaned for more than 15 months, cobwebs, dust, dirt and candle wax were everywhere.  Here is Molly cleaning dust from rug.

It was on the hymnals, walls, rugs, and alters. Worship spaces have been unused and there was dust all around including on the prayer books and hymnals. 

​Comments ranged from “Ew, I am not touching that!” “OMG, what just fell on my head?” to “Sorry spider, but it is time for you to move on.”  

​But getting these places clean was satisfying.  Here is a photo of their happy dance as they closed the door on a clean, polished chapel at The Bishop’s Ranch

​At St. Andrew’s they were asked to fix the organ, definitely beyond their pay grade.  But once they untangled all the cords, they realized that the wrong cord was plugged in, solving the problem.  

There was plenty of anxiety about leaving their homes.  Being in the big world after months of sheltering in place was a huge step.  To help with the anxiety, they walked the Labyrinth, had group talks and prayed each day. And they had some fun, playing Scattergories and kayaking on the Russian River the last day.  

Next year’s mission trip:  After being cancelled twice, plans are now in place for the Mission Trip to the Texas/Mexico border next year, summer 2022.  Mark your calendars and think about friends who might want to join.  Third time’s a charm.   

It’s Juneteenth. For many of us, like me, in St. John’s this is likely the first year, maybe the second or third, we’ve really been aware of the holiday, let alone its significance in U.S. history and the life of black Americans for the last 156 years. June Nineteenth is now an official Federal day off, but I suspect its coincidence with the Father’s Day weekend will mean most of us are spending today looking for the perfect socks or down at the butcher’s counter looking for a steak or some juicy sausages for Dad. I confess, my weekend includes more of that kind of activity than of marking the anniversary of the emancipation of slaves in this country.
 
Now, before you stop reading, please, let me invite you to also reflect and, crucially, act. Don’t worry, you will still get to celebrate tomorrow, as you had planned. If you’re one of my fellow Americans that has been led to believe they are white,* please read on.
 
The last year has been tough, even brutal, for everyone to varying degrees. The COVID-19 pandemic, the election, the murders of George Floyd and scores of other black and brown men and women, the hate-filled attacks and murder of our Asian and Pacific Islander neighbors, and so many other tragic and stressful streams of activity in our society have been a lot to pay attention to, absorb, talk about, just respond to, or maybe even do something about.
 
This weekend is the first weekend since COVID-19 restrictions in California have been lifted. 70+% of Californian adults are at least partially vaccinated and many of them are spending this weekend with loved ones for the first time in 18 months. Schools and offices are reopening. It feels good. Really good. But as we enjoy this change of pace and tone in our lives, I urge you to think about what hasn’t really changed and what we have become more aware of in the past year, on days like today and every day.
 
While many of us are regaining a sense of normality, there are others for whom very little has changed. Criminal justice and policing still overwhelmingly discriminates, often with deadly effect, against people of color. Access to education, including the resources to navigate the world of Zoom school, hybrid-learning, after-school care, and other things like books and supplies, is limited. People of color with intellectual or developmental disabilities and differences receive less than half the assistance from government services that their white counterparts receive. The list goes on.
 
These are some of the issues that St. John’s helps to address through its membership in Genesis. Last fall, I went through organizer training with Genesis’ parent-organization Gamaliel. I am long overdue in making this request. In the meantime, these issues have not gone away, by some miracle. It falls on me and you to act if we want the world to be different.
 
So, however, whatever, and whomever you are celebrating this weekend, I call on you to consider 3 ways to take action to address the ongoing injustice in our society even as we pull out of the depth of the pandemic into what will be a fairly normal summer for most of us:
 
1.     Please join me and the Action & Justice Ministry at St. John’s in our ongoing conversations about these issues.
2.     Please join the St. John’s delegation of 2 to 3 people to serve on the Genesis leadership council. This is a vital role that we have not been as active in playing as we should have, despite being a founding member of the organization. We are looking for two or more volunteers to help. Email me to discuss.
3.     Take some time to reflect. Please reflect on Juneteenth by a. learning more about what it means and b. why it took more than 150 years for most of us to even know it existed.

​Thanks and Happy Juneteenth - Ian Storrar
 
 *Paraphrasing Ta Nehisi Coates, author and journalist known for works including his reporting in The Atlantic and his books like Between the World and Me.