2007-12-30

The New Newsletter

Hopefully, you have received the first installment of the St. John's Youth Ministry Newsletter. If you haven't, it is linked over on the right under Important Things. The Newsletter will be sent out approximately every other month. As you can see, the newsletter will have all sorts of information in it. If you want something included in it, please let Dorian know, and it will happen.

Also, we will be putting an email newsletter into rotation. We will start by emailing to family email addresses on file in the parish database. We also have some youth email addresses on file. If you would like to make sure that you will get the email newsletters, please send your email address to Dorian at: mdd@stjohnscolumbia.org

Keep an eye on that calendar and don't miss out on anything. And if you are thinking about skipping Kanuga, please don't make that mistake. Why, you ask? Well, you'll just have to come and see, now, won't you?

Have a great week, and we'll see you soon! Oh, and don't forget about the Feast of Lights!

Blessings,
Dorian

2007-12-19

Okay, gang...I don't know if you have seen this, but I saw it for the first time last night. This has to be one of the best commercials of all time. Enjoy!



Blessings,
Dorian

2007-12-17

Caroling, Christmas Silliness, and Creative Giving

We had a great bunch of parishioners for caroling. We had a blast spreading Christmas cheer to our neighbors in Shandon. Afterwards, we enjoyed some great hot chocolate and marshmallows. To end the evening, we had three youth volunteers become Santa lookalikes. Winston was the winner! Check him out!

Thanks for coming out and having a great time. We won't have EYC for the next two Sundays. The Feast of Lights will be Jan 6. Look for a St John's Youth Newsletter in the mail over the next week or so.

As we continue to celebrate Advent and Christmas, I would like to challenge us all to think about this time of year in a different light. We tend to treat Christmas as a glorified birthday party. We hope and sometimes expect to get everything we want for Christmas. But what if we changed our mindset about Christmas?

Why? Because it isn't our birthday...it is Jesus' birthday! To celebrate Jesus' birthday, maybe would could try to orient our thinking in more charitable ways. I'm not saying that you won't get presents or anything. But maybe as a family we could give the gift of livestock to villagers in developing countries through organizations like Episcopal Relief and Development and Heifer International. You could also give support to organizations like Blood:Water Mission who put in wells in African villages so that they can have access to clean water (ERD does this too!). There are lots of ways that we can give to help spread the love of Christ. By being creative with your faith and giving this Christmas, you can directly impact many lives in a very positive manner.

I find that many times I ask myself, "What do you get someone who has everything?" Well, you can gift a water buffalo to a Filipino village in that person's name. Doesn't that have a great ring to it? "Hey, what are you giving Uncle Louie for Christmas?" "We are giving him a water buffalo!"

Blessings and Merry Christmas,
Dorian

2007-12-11

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep...

I ran across this today. Thought it might give you a giggle.



Blessings,
Dorian

2007-12-10

DEC 16 - EYC Christmas Party


Prepare ye the way of the Lord! We will be getting together this Sunday for parish wide caroling and a slammin' EYC Christmas Party. We will have singing (obviously), cookies, refreshments, games, music, friends, and other stuff going on. We also will start collecting photos for the Photobooth Gallery. We anticipate having a great time, so make sure you are a part of it! This is our last Sunday EYC function of 2007, so let's make it huge! 5-7pm. See you there!

Blessings,
Dorian

The Elders Loved Us!

EYC was awesome last night! Thanks to everyone who came to help deliver cookies and other treats to some of our parish members. Our visits were well received and very much appreciated. We also put together Christmas cards for our college students. We ate some really good tacos, too! Great food, wonderful service, and cool people. It doesn't get any better than that, does it?
Thanks to all who helped out, and thanks to all who came to hang out.

Blessings,
Dorian

2007-12-08

Dec. 9 - EYC is making cookies!

Make sure you join us at EYC as we are making cookies for parish family members and making Christmas cards for our college students! We'll have some games and stuff too. Good times and cool people. Don't miss out. Oh, yeah, and the new guy will be there. 5-7pm at the church.

Blessings,
Dorian

2007-12-03

Meet the New Director of Youth Ministries


Dorian Del Priore is our new Youth Guy! Come to EYC on Sunday and meet him! He's pretty cool.