Parish Life
Articles and stories about life and community at Saint John Lutheran Church.
2010 Archive
We All Scream for Ice Cream! (2010-08-27)
More Christmas In Action in Action! (2010-08-25)
Field trip to Brooklyn Tabernacle (2010-08-25)
Christmas In Action in action! (2010-07-26)
Confirmation 2010 (2010-06-23)
Memorial Day Parade (2010-06-01)
Preschool Graduation (2010-05-24)
Financial Seminar (2010-05-24)
Happy Birthday, Church! (2010-05-24)
2nd Annual St. John Fishing Derby (2010-04-26)
30-foot Banana Split! (2010-04-20)
Emil Hermann Memorial Tree (2010-04-20)
St. John Preschool (2010-04-01)
First Communion 2010 (2010-04-01)
We All Scream for Ice Cream!
On August 26, we had our last Thursday evening service of the summer. To mark the occasion, the service was held outside, and was followed by an ice cream social, which was enjoyed by those of all ages!
Post Date: 2010-08-27
More Christmas In Action in Action!
The hardworking CIA crew is at it again, doing an extensive roofing job.
Post Date: 2010-08-25
Field trip to Brooklyn Tabernacle
Several St. John members and friends recently took a van ride to attend the famous Tuesday night prayer service at the Brooklyn Tabernacle.
Post Date: 2010-08-25
Christmas In Action in action!
Once again the intrepid Christmas In Action crew is hard at work, here replacing a roof in Wallingford. Their selfless efforts truly embody the Christian ideal.
Post Date: 2010-07-26
New Members
We recently welcomed several new members to the St. John Church family, and honored them (along with one of our 2010 high school graduates) at our church service on June 13. Congratulations to all!
Post Date: 2010-06-23
Confirmation 2010
On June 5, the confirmation mentors sponsored a dinner for this year’s four confirmands along with their families and godparents. At the dinner, the young people were pre-sented with confirmation prayer shawls that were made by Sandy Zimmerman and Marilyn Hoff. The shawls were accompanied by a note that read:
Dear [name]:
It is not easy to walk the path you have chosen. People sometimes may laugh at your faith or tell you it doesn’t matter what you believe. You know better, though; you know that God is your Father, Jesus is your Savior and friend, and the Holy Spirit is your guide and inspiration. When you have doubts or fears, wrap yourself in this shawl. It was made especially for you with a prayer knitted into each stitch. You are loved by your friends at St. John Lutheran Church.
This was the first time we’d had used prayer shawls for confirmation; we bor-rowed the idea from Bethany, West Hartford.
The dinner concluded with a slideshow of pictures of the confirmands including their baptisms and other church activities. Nolan Cloutier and Holly Deegan also had pictures of their graduations from St. John’s Preschool.
This dinner completed the first two years of our mentoring program and we would like to thank everyone who participated. We are very proud of the kids and their accom-plishments. This year, Howie Hoff mentored Matthew Hendrickson; Laurie, Brittany, and Amanda Smith mentored Noland Cloutier and Alea Pettengill; and Judy Stoltenberg mentored Holly Deegan.
Below are pictures of all of the events of Confirmation Weekend. Congratulations to these four young people on taking this important step in their Christian lives!
Post Date: 2010-06-23
Memorial Day Parade
Several St. John members showed their solidarity and their faith by marching in the 2010 Meriden Memorial Day Parade. It was a beautiful day for marching and being with friends!
Post Date: 2010-06-01
Preschool Graduation
St. John Church's Preschool recently held their annual graduation exercises. Congratulations to the Class of 2010!
Post Date: 2010-05-24
Financial Seminar
St. John Church recently hosted a well-attended financial seminar entitled "How to Rescue Your Church from Financial Meltdown." It was led by attorney-author Kenneth M. Fleck, shown at right in the left-hand photo below with Al Macke, Planned Giving Counselor for the New England District of the LC–MS.
Post Date: 2010-05-24
Happy Birthday, Church!
Pentecost Sunday is the birthday of Christ's church. On May 23, we celebrated with a worship service that featured special readings and music. Many people participated in the service, and a wonderful banner (below) was created especially for the day. Thanks to all who gave of their time and talents to make this a truly memorable service!
Post Date: 2010-05-24
2nd Annual St. John Fishing Derby
We recently held our 2nd Annual Fishing Derby in the pond across the street from the church. Prizes were awarded for largest catch, smallest catch, and most fish caught. The weather was wonderful, and everyone had a great time!
Post Date: 2010-04-26
30-foot Banana Split!
For the fourth year in a row, Youth Encounter's Captive Free came to perform at St. John Church, followed by our annual 30-foot Banana Split extravaganza. A good (and not at all fattening) time was had by all!
Post Date: 2010-04-20
Emil Hermann Memorial Tree
On April 17, 2010, Kurt and Eileen Hermann and Cindy Kreminski planted a tree in memory of their father, Emil Hermann. It is a Stewartia pseudocamellia, commonly known as a Japanese Stewartia. Though it grows quite slowly, it can eventually reach a height of thirty feet, with a spread of twenty feet. Its foliage emerges bronzy purple in spring, develops into a dark green by summer, and turns red or orange in the fall. In midsummer, white camellia-like flowers open in random succession and are followed by pointed brown seed pods. This is a fitting memorial for Emil, who dearly loved his garden!
Post Date: 2010-04-20
Service Project
The youth at St. John Church are always ready to pitch in! Here, some of them are getting ready for a day of painting.
Post Date: 2010-04-20
Baptism
As part of our Easter Vigil service, the congregation renews its baptismal vows. How appropriate, then, that two of our young people were baptized at that service! Congratulations to the newest members of God's family.
Post Date: 2010-04-04
Passover Seder
On March 31, we held our seventh annual Passover Seder. Nearly 70 people attended the service, which teaches the meaning of the Jewish passover.
Post Date: 2010-04-03
St. John Preschool
The week before Easter, our Preschool held its annual Easter Mini-concert and Easter egg hunt. A good time was had by all!
Post Date: 2010-04-01
First Communion 2010
On Maundy Thursday, April 1, 2010, five of our young people took their First Communions. Continuing a tradition of the past several years, they even baked their own bread to be used at the service. Congratulations and God's blessings to these youth as they take this important step in their lifelong faith journeys.
Post Date: 2010-04-01
Church Makeover!
It's about time…
Thanks to the energetic efforts of Les and Sandy Zimmerman, the church lounge and office are looking very sharp these days. Both rooms have been painted, and state-of-the art blinds have been hung, replacing the old vertical blinds in the lounge and the hideous curtains that had been in the office for 792 years! The office also got a nice new carpet, and office manager Gary is thus far keeping to his promise of avoiding the buildup of more clutter. In fact, he cleaned out the small storage room next to his office, and for the first time in years, he can go in there without fear of being buried alive in a landslide of paper dating back to the 1990s. (Note: The third picture shows newly hung photos of the different St. John Church buildings over the years.)
Post Date: 2010-03-24
2010 Women't Mini-retreat
Sixteen women attended the spring retreat, “The Wisdom of Women,” which was held at Wisdom House in Litchfield, CT on March 6. Together we shared the wisdom of our-selves and our friends, using symbols which each person had gathered and brought with her. In searching the Scriptures for God’s wisdom, we discovered insights from Ephesians and James which helped us define how wisdom creates compassion and love in our lives. Each person was asked to consider herself as a wise woman, created by God to love and discern the world through the gifts of her creator. Exploring our wis-dom as children, we read the children’s story Owl Moon and related wisdom to the trust which we have as little ones to the trust we have in God. At the end of the day, each person created a mandala, which is a sacred circle containing images which repre-sented her creative wisdom. After drawing the mandala, the outline was traced with sand, which was then combined with the sand of all the mandalas and placed in small containers to take home as a reminder of the shared wisdom of his group. Participants also took home prayers written by each other to ask God daily for the gift of wisdom.
Post Date: 2010-03-16
Celebrations!
There were three important milestones recently marked by members of St. John Lutheran Church. Pastor Emeritus Wallace Merdinyan celebrated his 85th birthday; the Rev. John and Barbara Beck celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary; and Laura Willhite celebrated her 90th birthday! Congratulations and God's blessings to all, with wishes for many more!
Post Date: 2010-03-16