Church Announcements

Annual Parish Meeting
The Annual Parish Meeting will be held at 9:00 am on Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 9:00 am in the Church.

Super Bowl Appetizer Potluck-Doors open at 5:15 PM.
On February 5, 2012, we will have a Super Bowl watching party.
Bring your favorite appetizer to share. The Church will provide soft drinks, adult beverages are permitted, but must be brought.
We will have the game up on the giant screen, and will play Super Bowl bingo. A special prize will be given to the winner.

Sign up for Faith Alive Today
Members of the Faith Alive Committee will be available at the Church doors today after both services to help you register for our Faith Alive Weekend.

Dates to Save:
Ash Wednesday-Feb. 22, 2012-Liturgies at 12:00 pm and 6:00 pm
Lenten Programs: Feb. 28, March 6, 20, 27-Mass at 5:30, Evening Worship-6:15, followed by dinner, program, and Compline
Palm Sunday-April 1, 2012-One Service at 10:15
Easter Sunday-April 8, 2012-One Service at 10:15

What is Faith Alive?
Faith Alive is a weekend to share our faith and experiences with our God with our church family. Faith Alive has been affirming and energizing congregations for more than three decades. More than 2,400 Episcopal and Anglican churches, as well as Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Catholic congregations have held Faith Alive Weekends. These weekends bring adults, youth and children together in Christian community.
Faith Alive provides opportunities to focus on how one’s vows of baptism provide a formula for living a live pleasing to God. There will be no teaching, preaching, church politics, just faith building worship and the sharing of answered prayers and similar experiences of God’s love.
St. John’s is preparing to host our Faith Alive Weekend during the weekend of February 24-26th. There will be more information about the weekend as we draw nearer to the event, mark your calendars!.
How can you help?
St. John’s will be hosting approximately 25 out of town guests in our homes. If you are able to help, please contact Shelley Howard at shelley@navarrohospital.com or Lucy Humbert at lucyhumbert@att.net
Our parish will also be providing transportation for several out of town guests. Some of the out of town team members will drive here, but some will be flying into DFW. They will need to be picked up at the airport on Friday and taken back on Sunday. During the weekend, we will also be responsible for driving them to and from the weekend activities. If you are able to help, please contact Bob Kingman at rkingman1@gmail.com or John McClung at jmcclung3@hotmail.com
We will be providing meals throughout the weekend. If you are able to help with this part of the weekend, please contact Dolores Stone casadolores@sbcglobal.net or Hester Parker hestersue@sbcglobal.net
There are other committee chairmen that are working on various components of the weekend. If you have any questions, or would like to help, please contact Liz Kingman at Lizniking@gmail.com. or 903-654-8332.

Preparing for Lent – What to give up
It's often said that what people give up during the season of Lent reflects the times. With that in mind, here are a few ideas of what people might consider giving up for Lent as we hit Ash Wednesday.

Facebook and Twitter
According to Facebook's internal data, the average user spends about seven hours out of the month on its website. Yes, that's a quick nap, a day at the ballpark, a haircut and a few days worth of gym, tan and laundry. It might take more than 40 days to wean yourself off of Facebook. Sticking with the social media, we turn to Twitter. As of April 2010, there were over 105 million users on Twitter, according to the website's co-founder, Biz Stone. There aren't many statistics as to how long the average user spends on Twitter, but thanks to phone apps and easy-to-use Twitter platforms for your desktop, it's possible that many are spending hours on the average sending out tweets.

Texting While Driving
Here's a scary statistic: Texting while driving is about six times more likely to result in a car accident than driving while intoxicated. Not that anyone should consider the latter over the former, but let's try over the next 40 days to see if we can keep the hands on the wheel and still manage to let our friends know we're running late the same way we used to in the old days -- by simply showing up late and apologizing.

Impulsive Internet Bargain Shopping
Sites like Groupon and Gilt Groupe provide consumers with buy-it-now at a low price or be forced to purchase it tomorrow at full price. Not that you need what's being offered, but can you believe the savings!? I'm just as guilty. Do I really need a $75 umbrella for $30 when I don't even need an umbrella at all? But the savings!!

Scripted Reality Television
Cut! No longer is reality television "real." Of course it begs to question whether it was real to begin with, but now it's clear that we prefer our TV shows to at least feel real. Now that everyone has a reality show, we can no longer sit and watch and say, "Who lives like this?" Apparently everyone! Or, better yet, no one. Maybe we can give up some of the scripted reality shows and head out in search of real moments of our own.