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Crossroads Volume 102, Issue 1 January 2020 _________________________________________ The Lively Climate of the Present from the Transition Priest-in-Charge I remember the first year I was allowed to stay up to watch the ball drop over Times Square and to hear Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians play, “Auld Lang Syne” to a ballroom full of partygoers. At my young age, I didn’t understand much about the passage of time. I just knew that I wanted it to pass more quickly so that I could do the things that “grown ups” did. Like many parents, my own parents had an idea of when a child was the right age to do this or experience that, and I couldn’t wait until I reached those mileposts. I was in a The Rev. Dr. Stephen H. 700 High Street hurry, and time was passing much too slowly. Applegate Worthington, OH 43085 I didn’t understand the sense of nostalgia that came with the ending of one year and the beginning of another year either. Children seldom think much about the T (614) 846-5180 ‘good old days’ – after all, they haven’t lived long enough for there to be “good old F (614) 846-1564 days”! And although it’s not unusual for adults to look back to their childhoods www.StJohns with a warm glow, six year olds seldom wish they were three year olds again. Worthington.org More recently, I’ve been trying to figure out how to slow time down. When a much -improved ball drops over a much-improved Times Square, ushering in the New Year, I’ll be raising a glass to toast new beginnings while simultaneously looking The Rev. Dr. Stephen H. Applegate, for the brake pedal. Although every January 1 is the start of another year, the Transition Priest-in- arrival of 2020 will be different. I think it’s the anticipation of the new beginnings Charge ahead that has me feeling this way. The Rev. Robert L. The first new beginning is the one here at St. John’s. Sometime near the mid-point Ficks, III of the month of January, your parish leadership will announce who your next rector Honorary Priest will be. What an exciting time! Even more exciting will be when that person Associate arrives and begins serving among and with you. This parish will be starting a new Vicky Turner phase in its life. You’ve experienced more than a year of anticipation and faithful Office Coordinator preparation. I will bid farewell to St. John’s not less than thirty days before the rector-elect arrives, or perhaps sooner. It depends on a variety of factors. Then I Sara Seidel will begin the work of helping another congregation through their period of Coordinator of Music transition. So the first toast will be to your new beginning and, to my new Newsletter Staff beginning at another Episcopal Church somewhere down the road. Vicky Turner The second new beginning will be in the life of our family. Our daughter, Kate, Virginia Nussbaum will be married this coming summer in the Abbey Chapel of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Wasn’t it just yesterday that we were there for her graduation? (See what I mean about looking for the brake pedal?) Kate has told me in no uncertain terms that I am to act as her father that day rather than serve as the officiant at the ceremony. So, I will do what fathers do: offer my arm to my daughter and walk with her down the aisle to where Mike, her husband- to-be, will be waiting for her. So, the second toast will be to their new beginning and a happy life together. Continued on page 2 1 The Lively Climate of the Present Continued from Page 1 Continued from page 1 I’m not sure why the singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell was granted such wisdom at an early age, but the refrain from one of her songs, “The Circle Game” has been stuck in my head as the New Year approaches: And the seasons they go round and round And the painted ponies go up and down We're captive on the carousel of time We can't return we can only look Behind from where we came And go round and round and round In the circle game The start of a New Year is always a good time to “look/ Behind from where we came” for all of us. But it is equally a good time to look ahead, to think about what is beginning and what is ending, what is worth preserving and what needs to be jettisoned, what is of lasting value and what is of transient worth, what brings us closer to God and what takes us further away. Above all, the start of a New Year is a call to each of us to move beyond our own self-absorption to a life of greater service. I like this prayer, written by the great preacher Ted Ferris for the beginning of each year, and I commend it to you: Grant, O Lord, that we go fearlessly into the New Year with our eyes open, our hearts pure, and our hands ready to serve and to minister to those who need us. Help us to be where the need is greatest, and save us from all narrowness and prejudice. And above all take us out of the past and put us into the lively climate of the present. Blessings, Father Stephen Celtic Service Celebrating Epiphany, In the Garden, January 5, 2020 Sunday, January 5, 2020, 5 p.m. Please join us in the Atrium on St. John’s will be serving dinner to the homeless and January 5 at 5 p.m. for the first lay residents of downtown Columbus at Trinity Church, -led Celtic Service of the new year 3rd and Broad, on Sunday, January 5. Our menu will as we celebrate Epiphany, the be baked spaghetti, rolls, salad, and fruit. There is a coming of light. Our service sign-up sheet for bringing sides or cooking baked follows the liturgy of the Iona spaghetti on the Atrium table. Please bring your food Abbey Worship Book and donations to the Atrium before the 9 or 11:15 service provides an intimate, quiet, and on January 5. Servers at Trinity are also needed. contemplative communal worship Please contact Eve Herold at 614 846-3736 or experience with music, meditation, [email protected] if you have any questions. Thanks and participatory liturgy. Stay afterward for for all you do! hospitality and fellowship. We welcome all St. John’s parishioners and friends from outside our church ~ Eve Herold for the Outreach and Social Justice family to join us on January 5. Enter through the Committee Atrium doors any time after 4:30. ~ The Celtic Fellowship 2 Christmas Eve at St. John’s 3 Adult Formation Begins New Year with Commitment to “Becoming Beloved Community” With enthusiasm for a new year and the arrival of new clerical leadership for St. John's, the Adult Formation Committee is pleased to present a wide variety of programs: COFFEE & CONVERSATION will bring programs on church history, Biblical topics, sacred music, social justice concerns, and The Way of Love, led by both parish members and clergy. LISTENING GROUPS will re-form for the new year with new ideas and organizational guidelines (see article elsewhere in the CROSSROADS!), and FAITH & FRIENDSHIP will present a seminar on "Active Bystander Training" March 14 in conjunction with OSU's Kirwin Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, The first SACRED GROUND STUDY GROUP will complete its work during Lent and plans for a follow-up group and activities will be explored. Our remodeled and re-organized CHURCH LIBRARY will burst into fuller use in 2020, and the popular WOMEN'S RETREAT will again be held in early October. All of our programs focus on continuing to build a parish centered on love, community, and living out the teachings of Jesus. If anyone is interested in becoming involved in the planning of future special programs and studies for St. John's, the Adult Formation Committee welcomes your ideas and participation! Contact Karen Peeler or the church office with any questions or suggestions! ~ Karen Peeler St. John’s Early Ed Center We want to thank everyone for all of the pajamas that were donated in December to needy children in Columbus through the preschool. Our students enjoyed learning about other cultures during our Holidays Around the World celebration just before break. Our young 3’s class begins in January. It is always so dear to see such little ones coming into their first school experience with us; so apprehensive and tentative, and watch them blossom and grow. Our teachers work especially hard to provide a trusting environment where children are comfortable and welcome. This experience will set the tone for their future education and so we take great care to set a positive example. The teacher to child ratio is 2 teachers for 12 children which enables more individualized attention for each child. This is typically the time of year that we receive many calls from parents of pre-school age children who are trying to decide where to enroll. We are finding out that many parents are finding us on our web site and apply without even visiting! We do encourage parents to visit and see what is going on in the classrooms. Our teachers are our best asset and when parents visit and see the classroom, many fill out the enrollment form at the time of their visit.

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