We welcome you to St. John's web site and to our church. The people of St. John's are committed to making the parish a warm and welcoming place for all to share in our worship of Almighty God. We are an Episcopal Church, under the direction of the Bishop of Connecticut. Our liturgy follows The Book of Common Prayer; which we attempt to explore in all its richness. Elsewhere on this site you will find a schedule of Sunday and weekday services, Christian education events, special activities and names of our clergy. Please consider this as an invitation
to visit us in person and join in our worship.

The Rev'd Joseph L. Pace, Rector
2005

Dear Friends:

I am deeply grateful to St. John's for providing me a place to worship, in addition to a place to exercise my ministry as a priest. I am grateful St. John's has taken the work of the church beyond the parish in stride and continued to focus its energies on what we do best. Decisions of the church on a national level affect us all, but faith is lived out, as we well know, by each believer worshipping in community. Chief among those things we do well is our weekly worship in this place. The clergy strive to provide solid and provoking sermons in the context of a dignified but not rigid liturgy. We are capably assisted by a dozen Lay Readers, a host of acolytes, the Altar Guild, volunteer ushers and two choirs.

Each year Jane Penfield, the Youth Choir Director, amazes me with her patience and determination as she organizes a new group of young people, sharing with them her joy of music. The adult choir is almost completely volunteer, a rarity for parishes of our size and a testimony to the dedication of choir members and our organist Ralph Valentine. All of this - choir, ushers, acolytes, Lay Readers, Altar Guild and the workers in the office who put together the bulletin week by week - all of this provides us with a home in which to worship and weather the storms that come our way. I well realize the demands placed upon each of us, and I offer the counsel that tending to our spiritual lives as individuals, families and a congregation offers perhaps the best source of comfort and strength there is to deal with those demands. And you are missed when you are not here.

St. John's has been blessed with exceptionally devoted and capable lay leaders - from wardens and treasurers and clerks in a succession of good leaders with whom it is always a pleasure to work, to the people who make up the Vestry and those who serve on the committees of this parish. They work together remarkably well and we all enjoy the fruit of their creative and organizing labor. Much of what happens in this place is the work of committees. These committees keep the building in good shape; assist in pastoral care; help carry the gospel beyond the walls of this building through outreach; welcome newcomers; raise money and tend to finances; and provide us with occasions for fellowship and rejoicing in the Festival and other events. With the work of these committees and others, the joy of our worship and our life together is enhanced. I invite you to become involved in as many areas of our parish life as you may be able. The contributions of each person are important.

We are mindful of the great contributions to our common life that have been made by those who have worshipped in this place before us. St. John's has a long, distinguished roll of benefactors, upon whose work and gifts the parish has built. I especially mention Patti Lynn O'Brien, a long time member of this parish active in the Choir, Lay Readers, Outreach, Friendly Visitors and other areas of parish life. She has taught us not just about the joy of living but also about the art of dying well. Patti Lynn has given us a remarkable legacy in her commitment to the Episcopal parish of Saint Sauveur in Les Cayes, Haiti, where she built and equipped a school for 150 preschoolers before her death in November of 2003. As a parish we continue to build upon Patti Lynn's remarkable legacy in Haiti, a desperately poor and troubled country not that far away. We also have a fledgling companion relationship with the parish of Santa Cruz del Norte in nearby Cuba. Commitment to the church beyond our walls and beyond our national borders not only helps others in need and offers hope, but also strengthens our common life. Again, I invite you to become involved in a number of ways from joining in prayer for these two congregations to volunteering to travel to Haiti or Cuba.

For all our work and achievements as a community, we continue to find ways to grow and face challenges together. We will need to continue to work on financial accountabilities to ensure that we manage our daily lives as well as managing our endowment assets to support the future of St. John's and the work we choose to do. We will also need to continue to define how we as a parish want to help the world around us, with all kinds of resources -people, money, time and talent. We will need to pray that our larger Episcopal family can find peace in the midst of controversy and fear. As always, we will need to continue to help our children understand the right path and to care for one another as we have done so much in the past - keeping faith and love in action.

Yours in Christ

(The Rev'd) Joseph L. Pace