SEARCH UPDATES
Dear Lord,
You know St. John’s needs better than we know ourselves.
You are the map that gives us direction and the peace that makes us strong.
In your gentleness, guide us, strengthen us, and stretch us as we search for a new rector.
Give us patience in your timing, and help us recognize the rector who is right for St. John’s.
Amen.
April 15, 2022
Holy Week
Hello, Saints . . . we have made it to Holy Week after a full Lenten season of book studies, adult education series and an ecumenical Wednesday evening film study with our fellow downtown churches. We continue during Holy Week sharing the services and conclude with our own Easter services this Sunday at 8:00 and 10:30 am.
Our search continues as we are in the phase of accepting applications thru the Diocesan office until Monday, April 25th. “We have moved the deadline back to accommodate priests serving through the Easter holiday as well as to bring our deadline into alignment with the closing dates for other parishes searching in Indy Dio. Jen Phelps shared that having multiple parishes searching together is creating a buzz and an increase in clergy looking at Indy Dio to the benefit of all the parishes in transition.”
This Sunday we also begin to remove a few more Covid restrictions, gathering around the altar, receiving full Communion, and our lovely choir singing a whole lot of Hallelujah’s with trumpets and horns! Please join us as we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ!
January 23, 2022
Parish Profile
We are seeing the light at the end of this Parish Profile tunnel!! The Search Committee is making the final edits and approvals, and in the next couple days, the Vestry will be reviewing and giving us their feedback. We will then send the profile to the Indy Diocese for Jennifer Phelps, our transition minister, and Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows for their feedback, edits and final blessings.
This has been a more challenging process than creating a paper brochure, so many, many thanks to our webmaster and St. John's technology guru, Ed Fain, for pulling this together for us so beautifully. As we submit documents and photos, and then edit and swap out different photos, Ed makes the changes for the website, and he also reformats the layout so it can be viewed on mobile devices and I-Pads. We are grateful to be on this journey with so many talented people –for Ed, for the Search Committee and all their research and writing with Christopher Short as our final editor, for the parishioners who have submitted pictures and quotes and all who have lent a helping hand (or another set of eyes) in order to get to this point!!
Our hope is to be able to “go live” mid February, after all the approvals and final edits. We continue to ask for your steadfast prayers as we finalize our parish profile and move to the next phase of actively seeking and hearing from rector candidates. We will continue to keep you updated as we move forward … as we “lean on, trust and remain confident in the Lord.” Psalm 52
December 5, 2021
Parish Profile
After the three Holy Conversations, and listening to the discussions, thoughts and concerns, we begin the work on the Parish Profile, a document that will introduce St. John’s to candidates for the rector position. Not only will this give demographics about the parish, our community, our ministries and our history, but it will also reflect the desires and hopes for the future of St. John’s with the leadership of our next rector.
The committee begins the writing, editing and designing of the profile and plans to have this completed and approved by January, 2022.
October 24, 2021
Third Holy Conversation
What a lively, exciting conversation we had during our third Holy Conversation, Looking Prayerfully Toward the Future, with 30 parishioners gathered in small groups to describe our wishes, hopes and dreams for the future of St. John’s - as well as our own commitment to making it happen.
This has been a most interesting and difficult three months, as we tried to gather (and often had to postpone) due to a global pandemic, but also holding the care and concern for the safety of our parishioners as a priority. We appreciate those who were able to gather and those who personally reached out to share their thoughts and concern through this process. We want to know what is on the hearts and minds of our parishioners as we prepare for the next step of writing the parish profile.
October 3, 2021
Second Holy Conversation
What a powerful and heartfelt discussion we had during our second Holy Conversation, When Have I Been Hurt or Disappointed at My Church. About 26 parishioners attended this discussion sharing stories of hurt, disappointment, sadness, isolation, frustration. The ability to be vulnerable and honest among our small groups was a reflection of who we can be when we take the time to listen, to care and show compassion for one another.
Thank you so much for taking part in this important piece of the conversations as we prayerfully discern our past, present and future together as a parish. We continue to ask for prayers for our parish, the vestry and the search committee members as we move through this important and holy search process.
August 22, 2021
First Holy Conversation
Well, finally, with the restraints of the pandemic and the constant shifting of the ground under our feet, we were able to meet for our first Holy Conversation, What I Value About My Church! Was it ever wonderful to be in person with about 35 fellow parishioners, sharing our stories of how St. John’s made a difference in our lives.
We described our experiences with qualities that stood out …resilience, sense of community, generosity of spirit and purse, faithfulness, compassionate, feeding and being fed. The strong sense of community was powerful and rejuvenating as we live through these current unprecedented and unpredictable times.
To feel the presence of the Holy Spirit and to share this time with our faith community after being apart for so long will certainly guide and bless us through this next year as we prayerfully discern the calling of our next rector.
![IMG_0311[4471].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d07f90_283211355154424d9caa9a345d9f17ac~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_16,y_992,w_3008,h_2536/fill/w_376,h_317,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/IMG_0311%5B4471%5D.jpg)
July 1, 2021
Welcome Father Mark Van Wassenhove
We are pleased to welcome Father Mark Van Wassenhove as our Interim Rector. Born and raised in Illinois, Mark received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame, a Master of Divinity degree from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley (CA), and a Master of Counseling degree from the University of Phoenix.
While a member of the Roman Catholic Congregation of Holy Cross, he was ordained as priest in 1988. He was later received as an Episcopal priest for the Diocese of Arizona in October 2000. His previous parish ministry includes serving as Associate Rector of St. Barnabas on the Desert (Scottsdale, AZ), as Rector of St. Matthew’s (Indianapolis, IN), and as Interim Rector of St. Andrew’s (Greencastle, IN).
Mark and his wife, Kimberly, reside in Indianapolis and are the happy and proud parents of two adult children (Jacob and Claire), two dogs, two cats, and one gecko! His interests include historical modelling, fountain pen collecting, backpacking, and historical-fiction reading.
June 6, 2021
Saying Good-Bye to Rev. Jan Oller
Today we held a Celebration, giving thanks for Rev. Jan’s nine years of leadership and pastoral care to St. John’s.
Jan’s tenure began as we were coming out of a challenging time emotionally, spiritually and financially. Along with our parish’s resilience in tough times, Jan’s leadership, wisdom and focus put us on solid ground again…and then through a global pandemic, and the advent of our online hybrid church, we gave thanks.
June 6, 2021
Commissioning of Search Committee
The search committee was also commissioned on this day; Co-chairs, Kitty Haffner and Kathy Gary, along with Sam Hildebrand, Ellen Ball, Betty Culley, secretary, and Christopher Short. Please pray for our church community in this time of transition, and especially the search committee as they begin their work discerning the needs, wishes, and future of St. John’s as they call our next rector.
The prayer for the search process (shown at the top of this page) was drafted by Ellen, our committee chaplain.