COOKIES FOR KAIROS
Each Kairos weekend a bag of cookies is delivered to every prisoner at the McCormick Correctional Institute. Each resident is prayed with. Selected residents spend extensive time with the Kairos mission workers. The cookies are one way to connect with the residents and open opportunities for mission. Cookies are due September 12 in the area near the parlor or before noon on Wednesday, September 14 in the district office.
Directions: All types of homemade cookies are needed, no larger than 2½ inches in diameter. Do not make thin, crisp cookies. Do not sprinkle with powered sugar or use any other topping. Once the cookies cool completely, wrap in plastic wrap or place in Ziploc bags. Cookies can be frozen.

Notes of encouragement are also needed. Do not sign your name but write a hopeful message and sign it--"a Christian friend."

CALLING ALL 4th-9th GRADE STUDENTS
ACOLYTE TRAINING
September 12, 3:30 p.m.
St. John’s Sanctuary
This will be a training session for current and new acolytes.
Even if you have already had acolyte training, everyone needs to attend.
Consider this a great opportunity to serve your church.


From the desk of our D.C.E.
Things to be thinking about and planning for:

We plan to hold an Education Ministries Retreat for all Sunday School leaders and those involved in other Christian education activities. We will gather on Saturday, October 2, and Sunday October 3 after church at Caroline Tolbert’s Retreat House. More details to follow. Please mark these dates on your calendar.

If anyone would be interested in helping me catalog our Christian education resources, please call me at the Church Office (224-6563, ext. 14). I hope to have the catalog completed before Thanksgiving. Thanks for your help!
- Richard Brennan


CHURCH-WIDE YARD SALE
to benefit the Trustees Board and Mission Ministry
SEPTEMBER 18
7:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Activities Center

Donations will be accepted September 7-10 and September 13
from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Please call the church office (224-6563)
to make arrangements to bring donations at any other time.

For more information, please contact Bob or Pat Martin at 225-2315.

WANTED: VOLUNTEERS IN MISSION
We are accepting health kits from groups or individuals to take to annual conference in order for them to be distributed to places of need here and around the world. Place a kit or single items in the container in the area near the parlor by October 1.
Thanks, Judith Polson, UMW

HEALTH KITS
1 hand towel
1 washcloth
1 comb
1 nail file or 2 fiber emery boards
1 bar of soap in original wrapping
1 toothbrush in original sealed package
1 large tube of toothpaste (no sample or travel sizes)
6 adhesive bandages

Wrap the brand new items in the new hand towel, tie it with string or yarn,
and place inside a sealed one-gallon zip lock bag.

Christian Sympathy:

The St. John’s Church family expresses its deepest sympathy and Christian love to Mr. Mark Blakey upon the death of his mother, Mrs. Thelma Blakey and to Mr. Tom McGregor and family upon the death of his father, Mr. William Fred “Mac” McGregor.

EPWORTH CHILDREN'S HOME
A Day’s Wages has a Lifetime Value! When the annual Work Day Offering began so many years ago, the idea was for the Methodist people of SC to give one day’s wages to the ministry to help provide CARE for the children who call Epworth home. In our busy, bank draft and electronic deposit world, we don’t always know what a day’s wages mean, but for Epworth they mean loving staff, quality health care, tutoring sessions and fun activities for the children who call Epworth home. Epworth receives only 10% of its budget from the government. Faithful Methodists from the past and present provide the remaining budget to live CARE for the more than 75 children currently living at Epworth. As you consider what God is calling you to give to support our church’s ministry to children through Epworth Children’s Home, consider giving a day’s wages. For more information about Epworth Children’s Home, visit them on the web at www.epworthchildrenshome.org.

 

WESLEY GARDEN UPDATE
You may sponsor a paver as an honorarium or a memorial for $25. Each paver can hold up to three lines with 18 characters per line. Call Warren Hammond (940-1659) for more information.

Thanks again to all who are making the Wesley Garden a reality.

Marshall Meadors
Wesley Garden Committee Chair

FAMILY PROMISE UPDATE
Mark your calendars for St. John’s rotation for Family Promise. We had such a successful week in June with our hosting of Family Promise, and we are getting ready for our next rotation. We will host on the weeks of September 19-26 and then again November 14-21. We will need volunteers to spend the night, a male and a female. We will need dinner hosts who can provide the night meal and stay until the night volunteers arrive. We will work it out if dinner providers cannot also act as hosts. We will need breakfast providers which consist of a cold breakfast. We are no longer responsible for lunches. Watch for the sign-up board in the Atrium. We now have our previous family, a mother and three children and now a young family, mother, father and three children, 9 months, 4, and 7. Also good news, the Family Promise network has purchased eight new beds. Again, this is an opportunity for our congregation to reach out to families who need shelter and love. Your Family Promise Committee: Jan Vestal, Ralph Melbourne, Betty Lewis, Caroline Tolbert, Maren Reaves, and Debbie Dunaway.

*All volunteers must have a current background check on file in the church office. The forms are available at church information stations and in the church office.

COMMUNITY CLOTHES CLOSET NEWS
It’s time to clean closets and make a donation.
Fall is approaching, school is about to open, and cold weather is not far off. Church trustees are trying to get the building repaired so clothing can be handed out again. Jeff Roberts has done a fine job; just drive by and see how good it looks! It appears the building will be ready for use on November 3, just in time to provide clothes, coats, and blankets. Your help is needed. Donations of clean, wearable clothes and shoes for all ages and sizes, male and female, will be accepted. Children’s and baby clothes are especially needed.

Beginning AUGUST 25, you may bring donations to the Clothes Closet each Wednesday morning from 9:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Please call the church office (224-6563) to make prior arrangements to bring clothes at any other time.

Many thanks on behalf of all the recipients who will benefit from your donations.

-Shirley Galloway, Community Clothes Closet Advisory Team Leader

GREETERS NEEDED
Smiling faces are needed to greet fellow church members and guests as they enter for Sunday morning services.
If you are interested in serving your church as a Sunday morning greeter please contact Jack Buice at home (226-6426) or at work (226-2051).

ANDERSON DISTRICT
LAY SPEAKING SCHOOL
October 3, 10, and 24
3:00 p.m.
New Hope UMC
233 New Hope Road, Anderson, SC 29626

For more information,
contact Mrs. Rubielee Addison, District Director for Lay Speaking, at 864-654-1107.

COFFEE & CONVERSATION
We appreciate the weekly Sunday morning commitment of Richard Mazurak to make fresh coffee for us! Also, thanks to many of you who have provided refreshments. At least during the summer months, we will continue to serve coffee but will not provide refreshments. If you would like to bring a treat occasionally, please feel free to do so. Let’s continue to gather in the Atrium for an exchange of Christian fellowship and a fresh cup of coffee!

OOPS! WRONG NUMBER!
When we received the new telephone directories at the church office it was discovered that the listing for St. John’s in the white pages is incorrect.  Please make a note that the correct telephone number for the church office is 864-224-6563.  Thank you!

PLEASE PRAYERFULLY REMEMBER
Our military: Chad Bagley, Stephen Knight, Markeith Freeman, Charles Pannell, William Baum, David Neely, Scott Morrissey, Weston Rainey, Tom Silvia, and others in the military.

HAVE A SMALL CHILD IN YOUR LIFE?
St. John’s Child Development Center has opened registration for the 2010-2011 school year. If you would like your child to attend, please contact Brenda Strickland or Susan Brown at the Sheffield Center office (224-2837).

CHILDREN’S CHURCH VOLUNTEERS DESPERATELY NEEDED!
Preparing children for worship is critical to the spiritual life of a child. They learn the parts of worship and have a “sermon” lesson that connects them to the worship taking place in “Big Church.” We need servant volunteers to serve as leaders for children to nurture them into corporate worship. Please contact Rev. Fran Elrod at 224-6563 or Kellye Rainey at 352-2825 if you are willing to serve.

WE CARE
Due to the privacy laws we may not be aware if you, a family member, or a fellow church member is in the hospital unless YOU let us know. So, please call and help us keep our hospital list updated. We will honor your right to privacy if that is your wish. Call the church office at 224-6563.