Being Church in Difficult Times
Dear St. John’s Family,
It’s been a long four months but the arrival of summer with its sunshine, butterflies, hummingbirds and flowers are a tonic for our COVID weary minds and hearts. More importantly, they are a tangible reminder of God’s glorious creation and transformative grace. God's grace has been in abundant display as St. John’s has faced the challenge of being church in the time of pandemic.
In fact, our St. John’s family has much to be grateful for. It may have been hard, but our entire community has reached deep and redefined being church. With faith, focus, fortitude and grit, St. John’s has faced the difficulties of being church in a vastly different world and we have been rewarded for our efforts.
We have adapted to virtual worship and are reaching more people on a weekly basis than ever before. Our previous outreach ministries are expanding while new ministries are being created on an almost daily basis.
More good news, when we return to sanctuary worship many of our new innovations will follow us. We will continue to use Zoom and are exploring other resources to make virtual worship available to those who want it. Expanded electronic ministry and expanding outreach ministries are a positive outcome of the COVID pandemic.
Out of dark times comes a more vital and spiritually grounded worshiping community. What a gift! I’m deeply proud of the St. John’s family for its faithful response. God has blessed us during these challenging times and I am grateful.
Please know that St. John’s is working to bring our worship back into the sanctuary just as soon as we can do so safely. You will be hearing more about this in the very near future.
We have one more very special announcement. The Rev. Peter Skewes-Cox will be joining our clergy team as Associate Rector effective July 1st! We are grateful and blessed to have him on our team. Welcome Rev. Peter!
It feels that God is calling us deeper and deeper into our understanding of being church – pushing us to find new and expanded ways of being Christ’s light in our world. The people of St. John’s have embraced new ministries – new forms of worship, pastoral outreach, building community – new ways of being church. We have established virtual worship services and taken our outreach electronic, using phone, computer and text. St. John’s has stayed connected and it shows!
God has blessed us abundantly and we are grateful.
As we share this journey, I am praying God’s blessings on you always.
Grace and peace,
Victoria+
Announcing Our New Associate Rector
As of July 1st, St. John’s welcomes the Rev. Peter Skewes-Cox as Associate Rector! Many of you are familiar with the Rev. Peter and have had the pleasure of working with him. He comes with a big tool kit, lots of experience and a deep spiritual commitment to his ministerial calling.
The Rev. Peter earned his Master of Divinity degree in 2017 from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) in Berkeley, CA, one of the ten seminaries of the Episcopal Church. He lives in Kingsbury, Nevada in the Tahoe Township of Douglas County and most recently served as Associate Priest at St. Catherine of Siena Episcopal Church in South Reno. The Rev. Peter was ordained a priest in October 2018 at St. John’s. He served his transitional diaconate at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Incline Village. As a seminarian, Peter spent a year at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Sparks.
The Rev. Peter says “I am glad to be home. St. John’s is a place where the Holy Spirit is at work among us and within us, moving us individually and collectively towards transformation in Jesus Christ.”
Peter and his late wife Colleen were married for 40 years, and raised their family of five children in San Francisco. Peter worked as a tax partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in the Silicon Valley until his retirement in June 2015 when they made the move to Northern Nevada. Their church community was the Episcopal Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in San Francisco where Peter was baptized 64 years ago and Colleen served as the co-director of the Sunday School for 32 years while Peter took on a number of lay roles. Their family has grown to include two married children and six grandchildren, with another wedding coming up next year. In addition to his M.Div. from CDSP, Peter has an A.B. degree in Physics and Applied Mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Welcome Rev. Peter, we are grateful for the opportunity and blessing of serving with you.