St. John’s Outreach & Opportunities: Outreach

 †Stephen Ministry— Christ caring for people through people. Stephen Ministers are the “After People.”  They come alongside a hurting person . . .
  . . . after a loved one has died,
     . . . after the divorce papers have been served,
       . . . after the layoff or forced retirement,
         . . . after the cancer diagnosis is given.
Stephen Ministers provide people with one-to-one, Christ-centered care and support for as long after as they are needed.

 Stephen Leader: Ruth Kaiser

Due to the request of many, St. John will be volunteering at the Community Table at Trinity Church United Methodist on the 4th Thursday of every month. 25 people are needed to help with cooking, serving, set-up, tear-down, and other jobs. A sign up sheet is in the gym. For more information, please call Pat Young, Social Ministry Chair, at 347-4183 

†Merry Circle—The Merry Circle is a group of app. 12 ladies.  We meet once a month to discuss the needs of our shut ins in our church.  Each lady is given a name or two of someone to visit and send cards, and other words letting them know our church is thinking of them.  We also go to the nursing homes, sometimes as a group with cookies or candy just to visit not only our church members, but others who have minimal family visits, or just someone that enjoys our visits.  We visit the nursing home on most holidays with treats and a smile, and have assisted bingo at the Shepherd of the Hill (Lutheran Life Villages), and plan on doing more of this as a group.
 
We do have pink t-shirts that we wear when we go as a group to visit, with our logo created by Judy Wolf.  It is a circle of hands with a cross in the middle.  For us it is what we believe, that we our Christ’s helping hands.
 
I guess the goal of the Merry Circle is to let the elderly, sick, and depressed know that St. John has not forgotten them, and hopefully we can make their lives a little brighter.   I know it has made all of ours lives much happier. 
 
We are a relatively new group just starting in November, 2008, but feel we have accomplished a lot in a short time.