Fall Newsletter: St. John's Parish newsletter has been compiled and mailed to our parishioners. If you would like to view a digial copy of the newsletter in PDF format, Click Here.
Save this Date: September 12th will be the Festival of Dedication at 4:00 pm Mass celebrated by Bishop Samuel Aquila followed by Blessing of our new Center for School and Religious Formation and a Parish Cook-out
Has the Lord provided you with a bountiful harvest of apples? If your apple tree is providing well this year would you consider sharing? Please bring your extra apples to the parish office to be used for dessert at the dedication.
We Need You! We will be using our new space for Mardi Gras, March 6, 2011. We are in need of volunteers to help plan Mardi Gras for our new space. If you are willing to help please contact the parish office.
Thank You for the great response to the food panty request. St. John’s has donated over 900 pounds of food to Richland-Wilkin Food Pantry since our request was posted. Thank you for your generosity.
New Diocesan Link to Bio-ethical Issues: You can now link to the monthly column by Fr. Tad Pacholczyk, Ph.D, ethicist for the National Catholic Bioethics Center, on bioethical issues on the Diocese of Fargo website. From stem cell research to organ donation, abortion to euthanasia, Father Tad offers a moral and ethical response to questions we confront at one time or another in our daily living. To view the new addition, Click Here.
Marian Eucharistic Congress 2010 “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.” October 1, 2, and 3, 2010 at the Civic Memorial Auditorium, Fargo. Registration forms available in the parish office. Register Early!
David Langenwalter Family Benefit: On August 7th the David Langenwalter family farm was destroyed by a tornado. To help them defray expenses and rebuild what they have lost, a fund has been set up at Wells Fargo Bank. Donations may be dropped off at any Wells Fargo Bank or mailed to David Langenwalter Family Benefit, c/o Wells Fargo, 119 6th St N, Wahpeton, ND 58075. Checks may be written to: David Langenwalter Family Benefit
Youth Education News (E-mail: tammyg@702com.net)
\Religious Education: We are looking forward to a great new year. Please mark your calendars with the following dates: Wednesday, September 8th - 7:00 pm Catechist's meeting; September 15th - Opening Mass for all families & students; September 22nd RE classes begin with a session at 3:30 for gr. 1-5 and 7:00 pm for grades 6-12. Adult volunteers needed: to staff the youth room for junior high from 6:00 - 6:50 pm and for the high school after classes end. We are also asking one parent each week to be the teacher's aid & one parent each week to volunteer in the office & hall from 6:45-8:15 pm. Please call Tammy or Michelle with the dates you could help.
Religious Ed Registration: Forms are available in your newsletter & on the table by the church entry. Please fill one out again this year so we can especially update phone emergency contacts. Returning them as soon as possible helps us prepare well.
Now Available: Tickets are on sale at St. John's School or the Parish office for the 2010 Harley-Davidson FLSTFB Soft Tail Fat Boy Lo Motorcycle which will be given away on December 4th at Noel Night. Only 400 tickets available!
St. John's School has the following openings for the 2010-2011 school year:
Substitute Teachers and a part-time evening janitor.
To apply please complete an application available at either the school or church office
Prayer Requests: Please call Lorraine Wieser at 642-5062 or the parish office with prayer requests.
Catholics Come Home: If you know who might benefit from this sort of information, please click here.
Cenacle of Life: A ‘cenacle’ is a prayer group that prays the way the Blessed Mother and apostles prayed in the Upper Room, awaiting the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Come and spend time in prayer each Wednesday from 8:00 am through 12 noon in our beautiful church. If you have any questions contact: Connie Brandt, Betty Goroski, Eileen Mislan or Vonnie Halvorson. Abortions continue to be performed every Wednesday in Fargo at the Red River Women’s Facility.
St. John’s Child Care has openings for school age children. Please contact Joyce at 642-4922. .
Missing that special bowl or pan? Check out the tables in the gathering space, we have quite an assortment that are waiting to be claimed.
Area Happenings:
St. Francis Wellness Walk/Run: St. Francis - Breckenridge, MN is sponsoring the 25th Anniversary of the St. Francis Wellness Walk/Run, a five kilometer (3.1) mile run/walk/jog. The race will begin north of Appletree Court on Wednesday, September 8, 2010 at 6:00 pm. Registration is a 5:30 pm. The course includes aid station, check points and water.
Hotdish Supper: Wednesday, September 15th from 5:00 through 7:00 pm. at the Church of St. Olaf, in Elbow Lake, Minnesota. Bake and Craft sale too!
Annual Meatball Supper Buffet and Bake Sale: All you can eat! Faith Lutheran Church in Dwight, North Dakota on September 25th from 5:00 pm through 7:00 pm
FirstChoice Clinic’s 8th Annual Life Walk: Be a LIFE WALKER and put FEET to your FAITH! By doing this, you will help raise funds for FirstChoice Clinic which provides life affirming support for mothers, fathers and their families experiencing an unplanned pregnancy. The 2 mile walk is Saturday, September 25, and is in three locations around the Heartland: Lindenwood Park,TFargo; Rugers Park, Devils Lake and Sertoma Park, Bismarck, with registration at 8:30 a.m. and the walk from 9 - 10 AM. We encourage walkers to bring their whole family – your babies in strollers, children, teenagers and grandparents, too! To register as a walker and to begin collecting pledges, email info@firstchoiceclinic.com , call 1-888-237-6530 or go to teamfirstchoiceclinic.com.
40 Days for Life North Dakota is slated to take place September 22nd through October 31st across our nation. You are invited to join the North Dakota effort in a FIRE UP meeting on Thursday, September 9th at 7:00 pm., at Community Baptist Church, 3535 25th Street South in Fargo. The FIRE UP meeting will be an opportunity to learn more about the fall campaign, side-walk counseling tips and how you can involve your church in this year's efforts to save our state's unborn children from abortion. The 40 Days for Life national campaign is a three-fold effort of prayer - fasting - peaceful vigil that is being conducted in over 100 cities across our nation. For more information or to sign up for your hour of prayer at the state's only abortion facility in Fargo visit: www.40daysforlifend.com , in Fargo call 701-356-7979; or contact the Pregnancy Help Center at 701-284-6601 or email phc@polarcomm.com.
Free CEU's: Opportunity for Nurses, social workers, counselors and others needing CEU's. This great workshop is free and open to any person interested in adoption. Come join us on Tuesday, September 28th from 8:30am to 4:30 pm. Free lunch provided. Please call Michelle in the parish office to register.
Did you know... You can experience more than one Marriage Encounter weekend? We would like to invite all couples "encountered" prior to 1997 to come and experience our newly updated encounter weekend. Our next scheduled Weekend is September 10-12 at Broom Tree Retreat Center in Irene, South Dakota or October 8-10 at Blue Cloud Abbey in Marvin, South Dakota. For more information or to register, please contact Curt & Rochelle Lauret at 605-362-9145 or visit www.WWME.org. A Weekend of Discovery... A lifetime of love!
When should you seek counseling? From childhood through late adulthood, there are certain times when we may need help addressing problems and issues that cause us emotional distress or make us feel overwhelmed. Good indicators of when you should seek counseling are when you're having difficulties at work, your ability to concentrate is diminished, or when you're level of pain becomes uncomfortable. However, you don't want to wait until the pain becomes unbearable or you're at the end of your rope. Mary Jo Andersen, director of Counseling at Catholic Charities - North Dakota, recommends counseling when you need assistance. Call Catholic Charities. We want to help. A sliding fee scale is available. Health insurance or EAP use may apply. Evening appointments are available. Those wishing to schedule an appointment should call Colette at 701-235-4457.
A gift for all married & engaged couples: Check out the new For Your Marriage Web site ( www.foryourmarriage.org ) from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It's filled with many little gifts to enrich your marriage.
The Tridentine Mass available weekly: A Tridentine Mass will be offered at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Fargo every Sunday at 2:00 pm..
Homebound Parishioners: If you have a family member, friend or neighbor who is homebound even if just for the winter, please call the parish office to let us know. We’d like to be able to call them to see if they would like communion or a visit from Father Dodge or Fr. Dale. Thank you for helping us keep in contact with our parish family.
Need assistance getting to Mass? The parish would like to offer transportation to mass for anyone who may need a ride. Please contact the parish office if you need a ride to mass.
Special Blessing: A special blessing is available for couples/mothers expecting a baby. Please contact the parish office for a date and time with Fr. Dale and/or Fr. Dodge.
Every family is invited to bring up the bread and wine during Mass on the weekends. All you need to do is check in with the ushers when you come to Mass, go to the back after Father’s homily, carry the gifts up to Father when the ushers are finished with the collection. Please call Michelle or Pat in the parish office to volunteer.
Feeling stressed out? Catholic Charities North Dakota offers counseling at 5201 Bishops Boulevard in Fargo. This is available to any individual, couple or family seeking growth or coping with stress, crisis, or change. A professional counselor will help you discover your own strengths and to identify resources to meet your challenges. Health insurance may cover these cost or there is a sliding fee scale for those who are self-pay. For more information call 701-235-4457.
Care Center Residents: If you or someone you love are at the Leach Home, St. Francis Nursing Home or St. Catherine’s and you would like St. John’s to be visiting them, you need to let us know. The institutions do not let us know; even signing a form does guarantee that we will be informed.
Hospitalization and Your Pastor: Your pastors want to visit you when you or someone you love is hospitalized. Due to federal privacy laws, however, no one from the hospital automatically notifies us that you are there. In spite of everyone’s best intentions, it is also possible that we are not notified of your wishes even if you have signed a release or have given verbal permission. The surest way for us to be notified is for you personally or someone who loves you to notify us. Any Catholic in an acute medical state should be anointed with the Sacrament of the Sick by a priest as soon as possible. If someone is dying, a priest should be called for the Church’s Rites especially if death is near and before death occurs. If death has already occurred, a priest should still be called. (Office: 642-6982 Residence: 642-4985)
Pregnant? Need someone to talk to or somewhere to live? St. Gianna’s Maternity Home, Minto , ND cares about you and your baby. For more info, call 701-248-3077 or toll free: 877-701-3077 or write to: 15606 County Rd 15, Minto , ND 58261.
REMINDER...Address Change, etc. If you are moving away or are new to the parish, have an address change or change in family status (birth, death, marriage, divorce), please contact the Parish Office so we can update membership records. If you have never formally registered (or just want to check if you are registered), please contact Pat or Betsy at 642-6982. Membership ensures you will receive all parish mailings, newsletters and an end-of-year statement of your donations, for tax purposes. Anyone over age 18 should register as an adult.