Notes From the Office: December 18th, 2017

The students put on a wonderful Christmas program Sunday afternoon at Cardome. If you missed it, an encore performance will be after the school Mass on Tuesday. Ms. Upton, Mrs. Hernandez, and Mrs. Jansen worked very hard with the students. Their efforts are very much appreciated. We wish Ms. Upton the best as she begins her new music ministry at a parish in Florida. She is a very talented teacher and musician. Mrs. Terry Hammer, who has worked with Ms. Upton and our students, will cover the classes until we find someone to take over permanently. Mrs. Hammer is a former music teacher at Scott County, and we are very fortunate she has agreed to help us out.

At St. John School the December virtue of the month is Generosity. I have seen this virtue at work in the many ways the parish and school have ministered to the community. Here are some examples:

• Gathering the Fragments
• A bible study group serves lunch at the Gathering Place once a month
• Stephen Ministry
• “ Fill the Truck” program which provides a lot food and money to the Amen House
• Knights of Columbus service projects that raise money for Quest Farms, provide a Christmas for needy families, coordinated efforts and manpower to repair the roof on the Gathering Place, and many other projects.
• The Giving Tree – collected and distributed over 400 gifts for the needy this Christmas
• iGiveCatholic Donations
• CCD  collected over 350 pounds for the Amen House
• Confirmation Teens provide aid for hurricane victims
• Students at St. John School collected 700 pounds of food for the Amen house, gave treats to children in the hospital at Halloween and Christmas, “Socks of Love” to people in nursing homes, caroling at the Active Day Center, preparing and serving meals at the Gathering Place, collecting items for the hurricane victim in Orange County, Texas

Again, these are just some of the many ways that our parish and school reach out into the community. This does not even include all the ways that individuals minister within our parish and community in their own way. Ss. Francis and John Church and St. John School are fantastic examples of the December Virtue of the Month – Generosity.  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Dan Mardell