St. John’s Thrift Shop has had another successful year. The dedicated Thrift Shop volunteers are very grateful to all those who donate items to the shop and especially to all of the wonderful customers! It is because of them that we are able to “give back” to the community! The following contributions have been made thus far in the year 2012:

• $1200 to St. John’s Outreach Committee
• $1000 to the Heart Mountain Volunteer Medical Clinic
• $ 200 to the March of Dimes (Justine’s Drive)
• $ 500 to EACH of the following:
• Habitat for Humanity
• Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Northwest WY
• Boys & Girls Club of Park County
• Loaves and Fishes
• Crisis Intervention Services
• Powell Valley Hospice
• Northwest WY Family Planning
• Thomas the Apostle Center
• Powell Council of Community Services for Christmas Baskets
• $ 100 for the Community Thanksgiving Dinner

Following a discernment process that determined there is a need to help individuals in Powell who desire to learn or improve their English, St. John’s is now offering free “English as a Second Language” classes. This is St. John’s contribution to the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming’s Mustard Seed Mission. The Diocese challenged each of its parishes to find ways to serve the larger community in which they reside and provided funding. Classes will be held at St. John’s on

• Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m.
• Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m.

Textbooks will be available free of charge. Classes will be taught in small groups or one-on-one. Childcare will be provided.

Students meet with Katy Lytle, a member of St. John

At a meeting following service on Sept. 13, the congregation discussed and decided to bring to a close St. John’s Lenten Music Series. This decision will allow the church to direct its energy and resources to developing new projects, such as the ESL Program, that will continue to reach the greater Powell community. The Series has been an immensely positive event at St. John’s for 7 years. Nearly $22,000 was distributed over that time to organizations that serve Powell’s communities in need. Hundreds of guests were welcomed into the church each Lenten Season to hear music provided by professional musicians giving their time and talent to the cause. It demanded a rigorous discipline in the season of Lent for all of us, and brought us together as a worshiping community. The church reaped additional benefits as well. The piano was purchased to accommodate the musicians and the elevator installed in response to the desire to have all guests join us in the Undercroft. Thanks again to Dolores Woods for her leadership and many thanks to everyone who set tables, washed dishes, made soup, donated money and provisions, and who supported the series with their presence and prayers. A Gala concert in January is being planned to bring the Lenten Music Series to a grand culmination.

Mark your calendar and come hungry!

Discernment for the Mustard Seed project unfolded beautifully on January 13 when St. John’s hosted a conversation with leaders from the larger community who are familiar with the challenges of the Hispanic community. They spoke informally to us after a sit-down dinner put together by Ron and Katy Lytle. Although many issues came up, the challenge of learning English that many Spanish speakers face generated the most interest. We are now making tentative plans for establishing a tutoring program in English. With help and support from Connie Moore and Mary Ellen Ibarra-Robinson, faculty members in the Spanish program at NWC, we will be able to train tutors from our congregation to provide weekly lessons for students. Tutors do not need to know Spanish. A program for childcare for students and tutors will also be developed. There will be more information forthcoming as this project unfolds.

Charlie’s New Train from Justine Larsen on Vimeo.

Kids Play

St. John’s Episcopal Church is raising funds to purchase and install a PlayPump! Please watch this short video to learn more about this ingenious project!

To donate or learn more, please visit the KnowH20 site. Thank you.