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Nourish- to sustain life- is the word I associate with St John’s. Through community, we nourish others and the community nourishes us. An example is VISION, our food ministry. The VISION PROGRAM, in its sixth year, provides bag meals weekly to Mission for the Homeless and Operation Dignity. To date, over 37,000 bags have been delivered to our unsheltered community. I say community because this is not charity- it is an opportunity for our volunteers (both St John’s members and those who are not) to build community with each other, with the Alameda County Community Food Bank (ACCFB) staff and our Vision contacts.
The project began in the early pandemic and the small community of doers has grown quite large. Basically we provide a bag lunch that centers on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a hardboiled egg. Over 50 families provide the cooked eggs and sandwiches. Each week a small group of shoppers go to the Food Bank, returning with 300-400 pounds of fresh fruit, flip top canned protein and snacks. As the food bank does not have bottled water, another team from the Men’s Club purchases 400 bottles of Costco water every two weeks. That is 430 pounds! Another team acquires free water from local grocery stores. These 220 lunches are bagged by volunteer groups on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. We also have a team that buys the paper bags, napkins and compostable utensils for the canned protein. The water costs are typically covered through a grant from the Episcopal Diocese. And yes, that involves another team, assisted by St John’s Admin staff. It is a way for us to get out of our St John’s cubbyholes and build community with others from a different service. It is in giving that we receive. Despite this being a large operation with the acquisition, processing and distribution of 600 pounds of food each week, it doesn’t feel like that. It feels like community. It feels like St John’s.
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I used to believe that I had to attend traditional church services to be considered a genuine member of the community and a parishioner. This created a real dilemma for me as past church-based trauma stopped me from crossing the threshold into the sanctuary. I became resigned to being an outsider, satisfied with crumbs of involvement. Then I found the St. John’s community, a place that welcomed me and accepted my limitations. Here, I found generous, open, and loving people who embrace and support me in my ever-evolving journey. I have landed softly in the loving arms of this community and say with pride, “I am a proud parishioner St. John’s.”
Some community members find it helpful to have a sense of how much others pledge in considering their commitment each year. That information can be found below:
On Sunday, June 8, St. John's celebrated the 40th anniversary of the ordination to the priesthood of the Rev. Dr. Fran Toy:
 St. John's Parish Retreat:
SPOTS STILL AVAILABLE! May 9-11, 2025 at The Bishop's Ranch Registration for the 2025 Parish Retreat is OPEN! Join us May 9-11 at the glorious Bishop's Ranch for a weekend filled with everything you want it to be. Scholarships are available, all are welcome! See all of the great activities planned for this weekend here. GREAT NEWS: St. John's Oakland won The Bishop's Ranch tournament this Spring with the most new donors giving on a monthly, quarterly or semi-annual basis! At our Parish Retreat next weekend, we'll be honored with a trophy and most importantly, with a NEW cookie named for us! Thank you to all who participated!  Banned YA Book Club: Two Boys Kissing
Wednesday, May 7, 6pm, with special guest Dr. Ben Riggs Get your books at A Great Good Place for Books in Montclair & come out to join the discussion. St. John's Music Director Dr. Ben Riggs will join us to discuss the oratorio based on the book and commissioned under his leadership at the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus. Note: you do not have to have read the book to participate!  Join us as Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas fulfills her commitment to Genesis to ride the bus. Our objectives for this event:
HEADS UP! A few details have changed, please read: Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, valued Genesis Ally, is not available for the final part of our event. We apologize that we will not have a way for people to Zoom in to participate in the day. There will NOT be a hybrid portion of our event. REVISED agenda for the Transit Ride Along with Sup. Bas:
Thursday, Mar 13, 6pm at St. John's
St. John's & A Great Good Place for Books will hold a series of discussions on banned young adult books. Get your books at A Great Good Place for Books in Montclair & come on out to talk about it! All are welcome.
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