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Worship
This group meets monthly in conjunction with the minister and music
director to plan and discuss worship. Members help oversee and
evaluate worship, communion, greeters, scripture readers, baptisms,
burials and marriages and arrange pulpit/organist supply as
required. The team provides
support for the chancel committee, recommends suitable lay members
to be licensed as lay preachers and takes responsibility for the
sound system and rides to church.
Our worship team, in co-operation with our minister(s), strives to
make worship and membership at St. John’s United Church meaningful
for people of all ages. Helpful feedback/suggestions are welcome
and can be left in our worship and membership mail slot outside the
office.
Usher Duties include:
• Handing out bulletins to the congregation each Sunday
• Collection plate duties
• Counting monies collected
The Congregation of St. John’s United Church gratefully thanks
everyone of these ushers for the giving of their time and talent to
the work of the Church.
Congregational Life
This team is responsible for congregational events, communication
including the website, posters, bulletin boards and the church
newsletter. It oversees
small group ministries and arranges for a photo directory every 4 –
5 years.
Outreach
OUTREACH~ing at St. John’s
During the
first half of 2011, your Outreach Team approved a variety of
donations from the Outreach Fund, on behalf of St. John’s
members. We thought you’d
like to know how your givings are being used; both in the local
community and the world…
Generous donations of food items are made to the
bins each month, by members of St. John’s, but the local demands
are greater than we can provide from just these donations.
Additional food items were purchase to re-stock the Food Shelf using $ 1400 from Outreach Fund.
( = about $200 - $250 per month )
In March, $250
from Outreach Funds was donated to House of Blessing for the “Pork for Life” program. This paid for the butchering
and processing of 250 lbs. of pork, donated by local farmers, and
equals a half month’s supply of meat for their Food Bank patrons.
In May, a donation of $200 was made to the “Harvest for Hunger” – a Canadian Foodgrains project,
which will take place in late Sept., near Listowel and Monkton.
Learn more about this record-breaking attempt, check
website www.foodgrainsbank.ca
On May 1st , the
Chili Lunch after church raised $ 821 for Camp
Bimini. An additional $179
was added from the Outreach
Fund, to make a total donation of $ 1000 to the camp for their ongoing projects.
Community
Connection – St. John’s and Romeo School – In June, four afternoons of fun
activities were planned and carried out by the Outreach Team &
members of St. John’s.
The 24 students enjoyed cooking, bicycle maintenance
and crafts like tie-dye and popcan tab bracelet making. Expenses of
$140 were paid for by the
Outreach Fund.
Outreach Funds have sponsored a family to this
August’s Camp Bimini’s
Family Camp.
Food Vouchers
distributed by Rivkah (Jan. to May) totalled $ 650 from Outreach
Funds.
Most food item requirements are donated by church
members for the Community
Meals
at St. John’s. However,
some ingredients need to be purchased, and Outreach Funds
are used for this purpose
Food for
Hope Centre in Kenya - we have responded
to Lucy’s appeal for financial assistance because the price of
staples such as rice & beans has been soaring. At Hope, there
are 300 children to feed every day. On behalf of St. John’s
members, the Outreach Fund sent $1000 to the orphanage.
THANK YOU, for your ongoing & generous
donations to the OUTREACH FUND.
Our
mandate is: "Mission and Service to Others ~ through faith
& commitment; locally and abroad". We are funded by
our very generous and caring congregation. Financial
contributions to the St. John's Mission & Service Fund are
forwarded to the United Church of Canada each month. We also
financially support several local agencies such as Habitat for
Humanity, Optimism Place, and Camp Bimini. St.
John's is developing a supportive relationship with
the students & families of Romeo Public School, by hosting
"Family Film Friday" once a month and a weekly
after-school program called "KIDS CLUB". In
conjunction with other churches in Stratford, we provide a
nutritious Community Meal for those in need of food and
fellowship. The St. John's meal is held on the third Sunday of
the month (October through April), and we host 60-80
guests. We coordinate fundraising and awareness events
for the congregation, to encourage support of several charities
abroad: Sleeping Children Around the World; Hope Community Centre
(an orphanage in Kenya). The Outreach Team also manages the
"Youth Hands-On Work Experience Fund”.
“Youth Hands-On Work
Experience”
The purpose of the “Youth Hands-On Work Experience
Fund” is to financially assist St. John’s Youth who wish to
give work assistance on
projects in Canada, or abroad. Applications are approved by the
Outreach Committee and youth may receive up to 50% of their costs.
Applications are available from the church office and should be
submitted to the Chair of Outreach. For more information, call Ruth
Sealey at 271-5487.
St John’s Preschool
A special Outreach project of our own church
is the St. John’s Preschool. It has been in operation for 36 years.
Our motto is: Believing kids matter. Approximately 30 children
attend the Preschool. Most of the children have special needs such
as attention deficit disorder, hearing or speech problems. We are
partially funded be the United Way, the City of Stratford, and
other local agencies. We are also partially funded by the
congregation of St. John’s. We also provide volunteers to help in
class and provide nutritious snacks for the children. The Preschool
runs five days a week.
Property and Finance
Duties include:
• Attend monthly meetings to discuss Church needs in areas of
repair, maintenance, furnishings and general operation.
• Initiate expenditures accordingly where above items need to be
purchased or replaced.
• Review monthly financial statements and examine areas where
excess costs have appeared
• Ensure all monies accounted for and recorded on appropriate
financial statements for review with Board Executive and board
members.
• Share in taking minutes during these monthly Committee meetings.
• Participate in serving Communion when called upon and help with
the cleanup after the Church Service.
• Participate in great Fellowship.
• Meet new people and have fun
• Support your Church to ensure a continuing good tomorrow for all
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