Archive for August 2017
Bob Melton Keeps on Teaching
By Susan Shinn Turner For 40 years — half his life — Bob Melton has taught Sunday School once a month at Yadkin House. On a recent summer morning, Bob chuckles over a cup of coffee as he considers his long tenure. “It just kinda slipped up on me. You know how things like that happen.”…
Read MoreGIFT Ministry: The gift that keeps on giving
By Susan Shinn Turner With the departure of Pastor Danielle, Lauren Stephenson has been named to the new position of GIFT Women’s Ministry Coordinator. “GIFT has started and it is awesome,” Pastor Danielle says. “It is here to stay. We’ve had 31 women attending our summer circle. We met in the morning and in the…
Read MoreBarnabas Connection Returns this Fall: Renewed St. John’s ministry partners with Knox Middle and the Center for Faith and Arts
By Susan Shinn Turner After a year’s respite, the Barnabas Connection program will return with a new director. Barnabas Connection began in 2008 as a ministry to at-risk students at Knox Middle School. The program was the brainchild of the late Shirley Ritchie, and her legacy will continue, says her daughter, Celia Jarrett. “We needed…
Read MoreDrinking Coffee with Purpose
By Susan Shinn Turner If you have purchased a bag of Escuela Integrada coffee, then you are one of the first people to become involved in an exciting new sustainability project that benefits the school. All profits from coffee sales will go to la Escuela Integrada, says Paula Bohland, executive director of GRACES, the non-profit…
Read MoreWednesday Meals Returns September 6
By Susan Shinn Turner Wednesday meal lovers, rejoice! The perennially popular Wednesday meals return on September 6. This year, healthy alternatives have been added. “We already serve fresh frozen vegetables and unsweetened tea,” says Celia Jarrett, who partners with Ott Pinkston and his crew to prepare meals. “This fall, we’ll start offering fresh fruit as…
Read MoreNew Medical Transport Ministry Begins
By Susan Shinn Turner Beginning in September, St. John’s will offer a Medical Transportation Ministry, providing a formal program for a service that several members have been providing on an informal basis. “I have received phone calls for requests for transportation,” says Carolyn Byrd, director of senior ministry. “You know how God nudges you?” So…
Read MoreReformation Symphony
By Susan Shinn Turner As part of St. John’s Reformation celebration, the Salisbury Symphony will perform Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5, “The Reformation Symphony,” in the Sanctuary at 7 pm Saturday, Sept. 23. Tickets are available in Seasons Gifts or online for $20 each. “This is quite a rare treat,” says Rob Durocher, St. John’s minister…
Read MoreMOM Dental Clinic Returns this September
By Susan Shinn Turner The third Missions of Mercy (MOM) dental clinic is slated for Sept. 15-16 at The Event Center at West End Plaza (formerly Salisbury Mall), and Krista Woolly wants YOU. Krista, executive director of the Community Care Clinic, is serving as community coordinator for the dental clinic, a ministry that was initiated…
Read MoreFrom the Pastor: August 2017
To My Dearest St. John’s Family, As I sit down to write this letter my office is feeling a bit emptier and walls a bit more bare, and yet my heart is full to the point of overflowing. So many beautiful things have happened in our last five years together. Personally, Michael and I have…
Read MoreFarewell, Pastor Danielle!
By Susan Shinn Turner When Pastor Danielle DeNise came to St. John’s, Matt Woolly was a confirmand. In July, she went to Lutheridge with the latest group of confirmands, and Matt, a rising sophomore at N.C. State, served as one of their counselors. “That’s the scope of time I’ve been here,” Pastor Danielle says of…
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