Parish Calendar: Planning Ahead

Good news! We are starting to put events (regularly scheduled and one-time) on the Parish calendar with the hope that we will actually be able to gather to do meetings and other events sometime this summer! As your Committees/Programs begin to plan activities for summer and fall, it is not too soon for Vestry Liaisons, Committee Chairs, or Program Leaders to make sure those requests for parish meeting rooms/grounds get onto the calendar so we can share our spaces and accommodate everyone: call the Parish Office 410-867-2838 (Janet or Maia) or email calendar@stjameslothian.com.

2021 Reading Camp South County - August 2-6

It is time to think about Reading Camp 2021. Our current plan is for the Reading Camp to return to an in-person format this year, which will allow us to reach the widest possible number of kids. To allow the students to participate at no cost, we depend on your donations! Please send your donation to the St. James' Parish office c/o Janet Bruce. To volunteer to help, please contact Paula Davis at southcounty.md.readingcamp@gmail.com.

Calling Acolytes, Readers, and Servers!

As we lay the groundwork for returning to worship at St. Mark's Chapel and St. James' Church in the months ahead, we're looking to add new members to our worship teams! If you're interested in helping on the altar at one of the Sunday Services, we'd love to have you! Acolytes, Readers, and Servers are important to the worship life of the parish, and we invite you to participate in this meaningful service. If you'd like to get on our roster for one of these ministries, please contact Jean Davis at jmd27@comcast.net, and stay tuned for information about future training sessions as our regathering process progresses!

Flowering the Cross on Easter Sunday

All children and adults are invited to bring flowers to "Flower the Cross" that will be located outside near the Labyrinth at the 11am service on Easter morning.

Socially Distanced Easter Egg Hunt!

Join us on Easter Day, April 6th, at 11am in the Churchyard for a socially distanced Annual Easter Egg Hunt! Meet the Bunny! Bring your basket and wear your mask!

New Book Study After Easter

After our Lenten Book Study concludes, we'll begin a new study on April 14 at 7pm. This time, we'll be reading Alexander Schmemann's For the Life of the World, a classic of Christian spirituality and a profound meditation on what we do in worship. If you've ever wondered why we do what we do in church or want to learn to see our worship together from a slightly different angle, this group is for you! Hope to see you there!

Help Feed Our Neighbors In Need!

The St. James' Parish Outreach Committee is prayerfully seeking your donations to help fund holiday meals for our neighbors in need. Your donation will enable the Committee to provide a complete Easter meal for a local family of four. Please consider sponsoring a family this Spring, or join with a friend to co-sponsor a family! A meal for a family of four costs approximately $35.00. Make your check payable to "St. James' Parish" with a notation/memo "Outreach-Holiday Meals", then either drop it off at church or mail it to St. James' Parish, 5757 Old Solomon's Island Road, Lothian, MD 20711. You can also use PayPal to donate. You will need to make a note in the payment to state "Holiday Baskets" to make sure the payment is applied to it directly. This is the link for PayPal: .

Lenten Devotional on Facebook

St. James' is offering a new resource to help you enter into the spirituality of this season of Lent! Together with clergy and scholars from diverse backgrounds, many denominations, and from across the country, Fr. Joe has contributed to and helped organize a Lenten Devotional on "Jesus in the Old Testament." Each entry will look at a different image from the Old Testament that Christians have understood as prefiguring Jesus. For the first few weeks of Lent, entries will be posted on Facebook on Wednesdays and Fridays; beginning March 22, new entries will be posted every day through Easter. Go to Facebook and "like" the St. James' Parish page to follow along, or just go to www.facebook.com/stjameslothian. You don't even need to have a Facebook account!

Hand Painted Wooden Easter Eggs

Barbara Howard's hand-painted Easter Eggs will be for sale for $10 each during Lent to benefit Community Assistance. Due to COVID, please contact Barbara at kbhoward@comcast.net with your order. Barbara will be at St. James' on Sundays from 12-1, starting February 28, so you can drive by and pick up your order. Please wear your mask!!!

New Photo Directory Now Available to the Congregation

Thanks to all who have gotten your great photos to us to help Fr. Joe get to know us during a pandemic! We’ll still collect/add photos anytime, but we'll start printing the new directories this Thursday in batches for the congregation! The directories will be available on mornings when the office is open or by other arrangement. Those who are able are asked to donate $10 to cover the cost of binders and color copies. Questions? Contact Marjie Mack at mmack3108@comcast.net.

Lenten Study, Starting February 24

If you haven't been able to attend our Tuesday 9am Bible study, or are looking to add a weekly group to your Lenten practice, Fr. Joe is beginning a new group at 7pm on Feb. 24th! Throughout the weeks of Lent, we will be reading Samuel Wells' Power and Passion: Six Characters in Search of Resurrection. Each week looks at the story of Holy Week from the perspective of a different character: Pontius Pilate, Barabbas, Joseph of Arimathea, Mrs. Pilate, Peter, and Mary Magdalene. For our first week, we'll be reading the Introduction and Chapter 1. We'll hope to see you as we walk together through Lent, and prepare for Easter! For more information contact Fr. Joe at joe.lenow@stjameslothian.com.

St. James' Youth: Staying at Home? Let Us Help!

     The high school youth in the J2A class provide a ministry of service to parishioners in need of a little help on a project at home. If you are unable to go out or are in need of a little "socially distanced" assistance during this time, please contact us! We would be happy to help you with basic yard work or projects. We'll also be happy to do your grocery shopping and other errands so you won't have go out! Just contact us, and we'll work something out!
     For more information contact Kaitlin Wilding kaitlin6@comcast.net or Jacqueline Wilding jacqsmack6@comcast.net.

St. James' Parish Annual Celebration, Sunday, January 31

     Please join us via Zoom on Sunday, January 31, 2021, after the 10 AM service for the 329th St. James' Parish Annual Celebration. This annual event provides everyone an opportunity to enjoy fellowship and celebrate the parish activities and ministries of 2020. The participation of all parishioners, 16 years of age and above, will be important as we plan, along with our new Rector-Elect, the Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lenow, for the 2021 year in the life of our parish!
     The 2021 parish budget will be discussed, and three new candidates (Greg Davis, Chandler Keys, and Kaitlin Wilding) who have been called to serve on the Vestry will be presented for ratification. We hope you will make plans to join us for this wonderful opportunity to celebrate our past and plan for our future in each other’s fellowship!
     - St. James' Parish Vestry

Bible Study, Tuesdays at 9am on Zoom!

Join Fr. Joe for a weekly study of some of the greatest, most important, and most challenging stories ever told. We'll be working together through Ellen Davis' book Getting Involved with God: Rediscovering the Old Testament. Each chapter of this modern spiritual classic takes one passage of the Old Testament as its focus, and we'll use this book as a launching point for our discussion this week. Our first meeting will be on January 26, so get your book now! The class will last about an hour, but if this time doesn't work for your schedule, not to worry - we'll be announcing an evening class soon.

St. James' Youth: 11-17 Year Olds Are Zooming!

     The 11-17 Year Olds are continuing to Zoom and even did a craft. Materials were delivered to each participating student. If you would like to be included in these fun activities, please contact Kaitlin Wilding kaitlin6@comcast.net or Jacqueline Wilding jacqsmack6@comcast.net.