Tuesday, March 11, 2025
The Chapel St. Chronicle
Welcome to the Chapel Street Chronicle, your weekly St. John’s digest.
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Sermon Series
"Lent: A Training Ground"
The Rev. Aaron B. Jenkyn
This Lent, we step into the wilderness not as a place of punishment, but as a training ground — where stories both ancient and our own shape us for the road ahead. Through Jesus’ time of testing, we learn what it means to claim our God-given superpowers - courage, love, and hope - so that when the world calls us to act, we are ready. These stories remind us that the wilderness may test us, but it will not break us, and by the grace of God we will emerge prepared for whatever comes next.
MUSIC
“Create in me a clean heart,” Eurydice V. Osterman; featuring the St. John's Parish Choir, under the direction of Jennifer Mulhern, Director of Music.
Featured Offertory Anthem at the 10:00am Rite II Service of Holy Eucharist on Sunday, March 9, 2025.
FROM STILLNESS TO SERVICE: A WHOLEHEARTED LENT
Lent invites us into a season of deep listening — a time to slow down and notice what opens us to God’s presence and what distracts us from it. What keeps us from being fully available to the Spirit’s movement in our lives? This week, as part of our Lenten offerings, we share this poem as a guide for reflection. May it open space for you to listen with curiosity and trust, knowing that God moves with us in the unfolding.
Stones Into Bread, by Malcom Guite
The Fountain thirsts, the Bread is hungry here
The Light is dark, the Word without a voice.
When darkness speaks it seems so light and clear.
Now He must dare, with us, to make a choice.
In a distended belly’s cruel curve
He feels the famine of the ones who lose
He starves for those whom we have forced to starve
He chooses now for those who cannot choose.
He is the staff and sustenance of life
He lives for all from one Sustaining Word
His love still breaks and pierces like a knife
The stony ground of hearts that never shared,
God gives through Him what Satan never could;
The broken bread that is our only food.
Anne shared the first of the three Temptation Sonnets by Malcom Guite at last Thursday's Eucharist as we considered what it means to choose life and take up our cross. Click here to read all three sonnets, Stones into Bread, Kingdoms of the World and On the Pinnacle.
As you reflect, what might God be inviting you to release or embrace in this season?
Join St. John's for a variety of Lenten offerings designed to nourish the soul and strengthen our shared commitment to love and service.
SABBATH WALKS: REST, RENEWAL, AND CONNECTION, Wednesdays, 5-6PM
Join us for a gentle, reflective walk with poetry and prayer, embracing the sacred in creation. Led by The Rev. Aaron Jenkyn at Little Harbor Trail Head, with an indoor option in case of inclement weather.
PRAYERS FOR PEACE, Thursdays, 9-9:30 AM
The sanctuary will be open for private prayer and reflection at 9 AM, followed by our Service of Healing Eucharist. Come pray for peace in your heart, our community, and the world.
EXPLORING AN ALTAR IN THE WORLD, Sundays 5-6PM
Gather for a weekly discussion of Barbara Brown Taylor’s “An Altar in the World,” led by The Rev. Rob Stevens. A simple soup supper will accompany our reflections on finding the sacred in everyday life.
SUNG COMPLINE: A TRADITION OF PRAYER AND PRESENCE, Sundays 7PM
Experience the beauty of ancient prayer and sacred song with The Compline Choir, directed by John Stromgren. This quiet, contemplative service offers a space for rest and renewal.
Click the button below for additional information about our Lent programs.
What are you reading? Listening to? Thinking about? Do you have any great recommendations that you're eager to share? Let Aaron know!