Cultural & Social Outings
This group is all about having fun together. Recent outings include:
- “A Little Night Music” a Lamplighter’s production at the Lesher Center, Walnut Creek
- “Into the Woods” a Woodminster Summer Musical series production at Woodminster Amphitheatre, Oakland – with a picnic dinner before the show
Men’s Group
The Men’s Group meets the third Tuesday of every month from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at St. John’s for fellowship and fun. The evening starts with a half hour of socializing, followed by a potluck dinner. During dessert, the group discusses the topic of the evening, which is announced in advance. Members rotate responsibility for choosing the topic and leading the discussion or introducing a guest speaker. The December meeting is a highlight of the year with a festive dinner and white elephant gift exchange.
Many of the men at St. John’s are handy with their tools, and the Men’s Group often is enlisted to build special projects. Past projects include the back stairs, fence, barbeque area, and play structure.
The men of St. John’s also gather once a year for a weekend retreat at the Bishop’s Ranch in Healdsburg during the second weekend of March. The retreat involves a discussion session with a theme. This is an opportunity to get to know one another better, while enjoying Bishop’s Ranch. See “Parish Retreat” for a description of Bishop’s Ranch, including location, facilities, and activities.
Women’s Group
The women of St. John’s meet once a year for a weekend retreat at the Bishop’s Ranch in Healdsburg during the first weekend of March. The retreat involves a Saturday morning discussion session with a theme presented by a guest facilitator, and a Saturday afternoon arts and crafts project led by the ranch’s resident artist. This is an opportunity to bond with the women of St. John’s and learn from each other in a sharing and caring environment, all while enjoying Bishop’s Ranch. See “Parish Retreat” for a description of Bishop’s Ranch, including location, facilities, and activities.
Softball Team
St. John’s has fielded the “Saints and Sinners” Softball Team in the Piedmont adult recreational softball league since 1997. The co-ed team plays a slow-pitch game. Signups are in the spring and the season runs late June through early August. The team usually plays one night a week on Monday or Wednesday evenings and all games are at Coaches Field on Moraga Road in Piedmont.
Parish Work Days
Parish Work Days take place three times a year to refresh the St. John’s campus. The work days are scheduled on Saturdays in March, May, and September over the weekends of St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, and Labor Day. Spend the morning and early afternoon with new and old friends pitching in to improve our indoor and outdoor spaces.
Come early to help set up and get started at 8 30 a.m., or come whenever you can between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. and stay however long you can. If you plan to work outside, bring hats and gloves, as well as tools such as shovels, pruning shears, weed whacker, blower, etc. if you have them.
The tradition is to stop work at 1:30 p.m. and fire up the grill for a BBQ lunch. Hot dogs and buns are provided. If you’d like, bring a salad, dessert, fruit, chips, water, soda, or anything to put on the grill.
Regular maintenance includes:
- Garden: weed, prune, trim trees
- Building: remove cobwebs, wash windows, dust pews, clean light fixtures, deep clean kitchen especially the refrigerator, organize storage room, clean patio furniture
- Gutters and Downspouts: clear leaves and debris
- Parking Lot: sweep/blow; fill potholes
- Renovating the meditation garden
- Constructing new benches for the patio
- Painting the kitchen
Parish Retreat
The parish retreat takes place every year on Mother’s Day weekend at the Bishop’s Ranch in Healdsburg from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon.
The Bishop’s Ranch is owned by the Episcopal Diocese of California and is situated on 280 acres of land. Facilities include a variety of lodging options ranging from the original ranch building to individual cottages, a dining room, a large hall, smaller meeting rooms, a chapel, a softball field, a swimming pool, a campfire amphitheater, flowering gardens, and lawns. The surrounding property is preserved as a wilderness area with hiking trails. The ranch is outside the town of Healdsburg and has spectacular views of Mt. St. Helena, the Russian River Valley, and the forests, farms, and vineyards of Sonoma County. The hospitality of the ranch is renowned and the wholesome food is exceptional, prepared with high quality, fresh ingredients. Meals are served buffet style and the ranch cookbook is available to buy.
Parishioners of all ages gather to enjoy recreational and leisure activities like swimming, arts and crafts, reading, hiking, napping, and playing games. St. John’s organizes activities which might include a softball game, slip ‘n’ slide, square dancing, or other fun community-building adventures, and always include a Saturday evening cocktail hour and a Sunday morning worship service. As is the mission of the Bishop’s Ranch, this is a place where being amidst the beauty of God’s creation renews the spirit and nourishes the mind and body, leading to spiritual growth and closer relationships with God and with one another. The Parish Retreat is also just plain fun!
Financial assistance is available.
Annual Meeting
St. John’s holds an Annual Meeting on the last Sunday of January after a single service at 10:00 a.m. (no early service). The family service is shortened to make time to review the business of the church and the meeting is followed by lunch. The clergy, staff, and vestry members make presentations about the past year and plans for the new year, including parish finances, the strategic plan, and status of the property development project. Parishioners elect new vestry members and deanery representatives, and the rector concludes the meeting with a video of the year in review. Following the meeting, parishioners gather together for a potluck lunch in the reception room. Childcare is provided for any and all parts of the event. Come learn more about St. John’s and enjoy a full turn-out of the community.
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