8:00 a.m.
The early service is a celebration of Holy Eucharist, Rite I. There is no music at this service.  A nursery is provided.

10:30 a.m.
This is a celebration of Holy Eucharist, Rite II. Every 4th Sunday (and 5th Sunday when it occurs), Morning Prayer is celebrated instead of Eucharist. Congregational and choral music are an integral part of the 10:30 service.  (During the seasons of Advent and Lent, Rite I is followed for this service, as well as for the 8:00 service.)  A nursery is provided.

5:30 p.m.
Evening Prayer is celebrated every Sunday evening at 5:30 in the chapel. This liturgy of psalms and scripture is part of the rich liturgical tradition of the Anglican Church. Come experience this time of quiet prayer and reflection.

Sunday School
Currently, three Sunday School classes are offered for adults, all convening at 9:00 a.m.

The Louis Haskell Sunday School Class meets in the Poynor Room and is taught by the rector, Rev. Pete Cooper.  This class follows the lectionary.

A class for young adults and young parents meets in the fellowship hall.  This semester, the class is doing a study on parenting with a Home Builders curriculum.  Bill and Sally Bugg are the facilitators. 

Rev. Ron Hiester is offering a study of the Psalms.  This class includes lecture, small group interaction, and other types of learning opportunities.

(See "News and Information" for a description of the Sunday School Program for children.)

Regarding the Service of Evening Prayer
When Jesus taught the disciples to pray, he gave them his own prayer enforced by his example and witness. Every act and deed was performed in prayerful union with the Father. Time itself was seen as holy. The custom of observing fixed times of prayer to hallow the day was inherited by the early Christians from their Jewish forebears. These “hours” as they were called, consisted of words of praise, thanksgiving, and intercession structured around the recitation of the Psalter. After the recognition of Christianity by the Emperor Constantine, these prayer offices, particularly Lauds in the morning and Vespers in the evening, formed the basis of the regular public worship of the Church. With the rise of monasticism, this daily corporate prayer became more and more clericalized. Corporate prayer was offered eight times a day covering all of the waking hours. The Psalter still formed the core of this course of prayer, but only brief passages of Scripture interrupted the progress of psalms, antiphons, hymns, and prayers. The secular, non-monastic clergy were bound to read the Daily Office, but rare were the occasions when the laity would participate in this offering of daily prayer. Anglican reformers in the 16th century, seeking to recover the place of Scripture in the devotional life of the Church and seeing the vernacular as the obvious vehicle for catechesis, reduced the round of eight services to two. Stress was placed on the Divine Office as a corporate act of the whole Church and provisions were made for Morning and Evening Prayer to be offered in the churches daily. A lesson from both the Old and New Testaments was appointed for each day, making it possible for virtually the entire Bible to be read on a systematic basis during the year. The daily offices of Morning and Evening Prayer are perhaps the greatest liturgical treasure of the Anglican Communion. Providing a balance of Scripture, Psalter, canticles, and prayer, the Office has been widely emulated in other Christian traditions. Once seen as a primary obligation of the clergy, it has increasingly become a valued part of the regular prayer of the whole Church. Many have come to see it as a way of systematically encountering the Scriptures and incorporating their timeless message into the needs and concerns of daily life. Clearly it is an excellent preparation for the celebration of the Eucharist itself as it fosters faith, hope, love, devotion, and the spirit of self-denial.

James Winchester Montgomery, Bishop of Chicago; from the preface of the Daily Office Book

Holy Eucharist
Holy Eucharist (Rite I) is celebrated every Thursday morning at 10:30 in the chapel.

Bible Study
Two opportunities for Bible study are offered on Thursday mornings.

A women's Bible study group meets at 9:00 in the Poynor Room.  Currently, the class is reading When Jesus Came to  Harvard by Harvey Cox.  Call Beth Paramore at church (662-5585) for more information, or contact her via e-mail at bparamore@stjohnsflorence.org.  A nursery is provided s

A lectionary-based Bible study is offered in the Poynor Room at 11:00. 

Church Family Night
Beginning on September 12, 2007, St. John's is introducing monthly parish family gatherings.  One  Wednesday a month (generally the third Wednesday), everyone is invited to meet at 6:00 for a catered supper, followed by programs for all ages.  The evening concludes at 7:30.  Cost is $5 for adults and $3 for children.

Additional Study Opportunities
During the seasons of Advent and Lent, study programs are offered for parishioners of all ages, usually in conjunction with Evening Prayer and a covered dish supper.  During Lent, a lunch of sandwiches and homemade soup follows the Thursday morning schedule of Holy Eucharist and Bible study.

Periodically throughout the year, the ALPHA program is presented for adults.  It is the practice at St. John's to make morning sessions available - in addition to evening sessions - to accommodate those who are unable to attend evening events.

The Holy Week Service of Tenebrae
The liturgy of Palm/Passion Sunday heralds our entry into Holy Week.  As part of our prayer during these most sacred days leading to the celebration of our Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection, we have the opportunity to participate in the ancient service of Tenebrae. 

The name Tenebrae (the Latin word for “darkness” or “shadows”) has for centuries been applied to the ancient monastic night and early morning services (Matins and Lauds) of the last three days of Holy Week, which in medieval times came to be celebrated on the preceding evenings.

Apart from the chant of the Lamentations, the most conspicuous feature of the service is the gradual extinguishing of candles and other lights in the church until only a single candle, considered a symbol of our Lord, remains.  Toward the end of the service, this candle is hidden, typifying the apparent victory of the forces of evil.  At the very end, a loud noise is made, symbolizing the earthquake at the time of the resurrection (Matthew 28:2), the hidden candle is restored to its place, and by its light all depart in silence.

In The Book of Occasional Services (the source which provides the rubrics for this service), provision is made for Tenebrae on Wednesday evening only, in order that the proper liturgies of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday may find their place as the principal services of those days.  By drawing upon psalms, lessons, and responsories from each of the former three offices of Tenebrae, this service provides an extended meditation upon, and a prelude to, the events in our Lord’s life between the Last Supper and the Resurrection.

Join us at 7:00 on Holy Wednesday for this time of quiet reflection upon our salvation history and the passion and death of our Lord.