The SJLCMinute
Church Events
February 21 Fat Tuesday Pancake Dinner
February 22 Ash Wednesday Service (12:00)
Ash Wednesday Dinner (5:30)
Ash Wednesday Service (6:30)
February 23 & 24 Family Promise, SJLC provides the meal*
February 26 1st Sunday in Lent Lenten Prayer (Online & In Person)
February 28 BEER Meeting*
March 1 SAM’s Meeting Abbey Dinner with Communion (6:00 PM)
March 5 2nd Sunday in Lent
First Sunday Lunch Bunch (Youth)
March 9 WINE Meeting
Ash Wednesday
February 22
12:00 noon and 6:30 PM
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, as we are marked with the cross of Christ and remember “We are dust, and to dust we shall return.” It’s a tender and beautiful thing to remember we are not God; we are God’s creation, made from dust and filled with God’s own breath.
Please join us for a light meal in Sparks Fellowship Hall at 5:30 PM.
March 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29 6:00 to 7:00 PM
Sparks Fellowship Hall
On Wednesdays during Lent, as a way to emphasize the connection between shared meals and Communion, we will have Abbey Dinners, an informal meal with table conversation around scripture and Communion all rolled into the meal, starting at 6:00 and ending at 7:00 (in time for kids’ bedtimes and choir rehearsal).There will be singing and toys available for our little ones. Mostly though, there will be shared food, conversation, prayer, and Communion!
Where’s the name come from? The earliest church met in homes, sharing a full meal and blessing part of it — the bread and wine — as Communion. In later centuries, as life got more complicated, some sought a simpler life, eventually forming abbeys, shared homes with a life grounded in prayer, shared meals, shared service in the world, and Communion. Life is complicated now, too.Abbey Dinners are a way of going spiritually back to the basics.
Special Offering for Guatemala
THIS Sunday, February 26, our congregation will give a special offering to purchase school supplies for teachers and students at ILAG and personal care items for the young women enrolled in the MILAGRO program. Our Noisy Offering back in the fall supported Confirmation with Spanish Small Catechisms. These supplies will be delivered by our delegation Jim and Nancy Friedrich and Valerie Taylor that is traveling to Guatemala on March 1-9. We are receiving a financial offering because this is easier to transport to Guatemala, and by purchasing the supplies in Guatemala we contribute to the regional economy, multiplying our impact in that community.
Checks can be made out with “Guatemala Special Offering” in the memo line.
Wednesday, March 1 at 11:30 am
PROGRAM: Staying Strong and Independent Throughout Your Life
Rachael Frazier with Public Health Education of the Knox County Health Department and
Cynthia Rockey with East TN Area Aging
LUNCH: Homemade soups and desserts
Your cost: $5.00
RSVP: Mary Cole at memecole@comcast.net or 865-584-3153
BLESSING BASKET: Bring soap for hands/showers
Special Opportunities for Lenten Devotion
PRAYER
Sundays, February 26 and March 5, 12, 19, 26
7:30 AM Zoom Gathering
12:15 PM In-Person Gathering at St. John’s
Join us either online before worship or in person after worship for a time of intentional prayer. We will remember those closest to us, members of the congregation, community ministry partners, folks in surrounding businesses and neighborhoods, our unhoused neighbors, and friends across town and around the world.
In-person prayer will include intentional prayer walks in the neighborhood.
STUDY
Thursdays, March 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30
7:00 AM Breakfast at Panera in Bearden
12:00 Noon Zoom Gathering
Whether over breakfast or online, we will consider Christ’s passion through William Willemon’s Thank God It’s Friday: Encountering the Seven Last Words from the Cross. You may order the book from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or christianbook.com. We will read a chapter each week.
This is an opportunity to prepare intentionally for Holy Week.
Questions? Please reach out to Pastor Amy at amy@sjlcknox.org.
