Nurture and Challenge Your Spirit
a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
NURTURING OUR COMMUNITY
by using our gifts in ministry
in and beyond our faith community
Providing opportunities for the multitudes on Cape Ann whether you're giving back or asking for help.
At St. John’s Gloucester, our commitment to grace and excellence shines brightest in our service to the wider community. True humility means seeing ourselves as God sees us, and in that spirit, we humbly share our gifts with our neighbors. Our discipleship is expressed through acts of service, using the talents we have been given while sharing our faith.
We open our campus to valued community partners, including the Coalition for Domestic Violence Awareness, Sorellanza Sisters in Song, 12-step programs, the Cape Ann Climate Coalition, and neighborhood card groups. Each week, we provide food to those facing insecurity and offer special worship and educational opportunities that engage with timely and relevant justice issues.
Below are ways you can get involved in sharing your gifts with us
If you are interested in participating in any of these ministries, please email Marge
WORSHIP
Lector
This ministry involves reading scripture selections during Sunday services. As a lector, you will receive the readings a few days in advance to familiarize yourself. Lectors may also be called upon for special services beyond Sundays. No formal training is required, and scheduling is flexible, based on your availability. This is a wonderful opportunity to actively participate in our Sunday services and deepen your engagement with the community.
Contact: Marge Bishop
Altar Guild
The Altar Guild offers an opportunity to actively participate in our services. Members are responsible for preparing the church for Sunday services, special holidays, and other occasions. Duties include:
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Filling candlesticks with oil
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Preparing the service vessels
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Setting up elements for communion
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Cleaning the vessels after the service
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Preparing a home communion kit if needed
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Tidying the sanctuary
Members meet on Saturday at a convenient time, with flexible scheduling to accommodate your availability. This is a meaningful way to contribute to our worship community.
Contact: Dani Stotzer
Ushers
Ushers often serve as the first point of contact for those entering the church on Sunday. They greet everyone warmly, distribute the weekly worship bulletin, and collect contributions. Additional responsibilities include:
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Bringing the bread and wine during the offertory
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Identifying parishioners needing additional assistance during the service
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Securing the church at the end of the service
By joining our usher ministry, you'll play a crucial role in creating a welcoming and organized worship experience.
Contact: Marge Bishop
If you enjoy singing or playing an instrument, we welcome all ages, voices, and instruments to join Saint John’s music ministry. Our choir is not an exclusive club, but rather an open and loving community for all who wish to share their gifts and talents.
Choir members usually meet weekly to rehearse, but you can also choose to join us for one Sunday a month, or for special occasions like Easter or Christmas. Whether you play the trumpet, drums, or any other instrument, you are warmly invited to participate.
Become a part of a ministry that truly “tugs on people’s hearts” and share the joy of music with our congregation.
Contact: John Churchwell
Choir/Music Ministry
Worship Team
The working definition of the Worship Team includes meeting every four months to make suggestions for both Sunday and special worship schedules that includes contemplative, creative, thematic, and inspiring services focusing on seasonal and social justice themes, or the lectionary while utilizing visual, audio, or kinesthetic enhancements during worship.
Contact: Marya DeCarlen.
Flower Guild
The Flower Guild keeps the church beautifully decorated throughout the year. This includes providing flowers for the altar every Sunday and decorating the church for Christmas and Easter seasons. Flowers are sourced from various florists, and during the summer months, parishioners with gardens generously contribute. This ministry offers a wonderful opportunity to express your creativity while preparing the worship space. Scheduling is flexible to accommodate your availability.
Contact: Rosemary Sullivan
Lay Eucharistic Ministry
The Lay Eucharistic Ministry offers a unique opportunity to actively participate in Sunday services. Responsibilities include:
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Assisting the priest by offering the bread and wine during the service
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Distributing the wine during communion
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Participating in other rituals conducted during the service
A brief tutorial is provided to familiarize you with the logistics. Scheduling is flexible to accommodate individual availability, making it easy to get involved.
Contact: Marge Bishop
Acolyte
An acolyte assists the priest during Sunday services by carrying the cross during the processional and recessional hymns. Additionally, acolytes help prepare the altar by receiving the bread and wine during the offertory, setting up the altar, and aiding in the distribution of the bread and wine during communion.
A brief, hands-on training is provided.
Scheduling is flexible based on the individual’s schedule.
Contact: Sue Lupo
OUTREACH
Regal Rummage
This is a volunteer ministry that offers gently used clothing and foot ware for men, women, and children at a lower cost than retail stores. Some home goods, such as sheets and towels, are also available. It provides an opportunity for Saint John’s to assist families in the Cape Ann community that are in need of affordable clothing. Other than sales, volunteers assist in organizing, folding, and hanging stock.
The shop is open Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, from 10 am to 2 pm, and is staffed by one to two volunteers. Scheduling is flexible. (Note: A Spanish speaking volunteer would be greatly appreciated.)
Contact: Gwen Kopka
Thrift Shop
Open three days a week, (10-2 pm Wednesday, Friday, Saturday), the Thrift Shop serves as a means of outreach to the Gloucester community by providing an array of household and other items at a reasonable cost. Duties include cashiering, bagging, sorting donations, and arranging merchandise front room supervision, and inventory. Scheduling is flexible.
Contact: Gwen Kopka
Visit our Thrift Shop page >
The mission of The Open Door is to alleviate the impact of hunger in our community. To accomplish our mission we use a variety of practical strategies to connect people to good food, advocate on behalf of those in need, and engage others in the work of building food security.
Every Sunday, a basket of donations is in Service Offertory. These donated items are added to the shelves of the food pantry help in the assortment of food available in support of our community. Contact: Claudette Chmura
Visit the Open Door >
Action Lunch Program
The Action Lunch Program provides a bag lunch for guests of the Action Shelter in Gloucester. St. John's has been involved in this ministry for nearly 20 years! Without this lunch many would not get a mid-day meal on Sunday.
Volunteering includes preparing 20 bag lunches that include a simple sandwich, small drink, chips and fruit. The lunches are delivered to the shelter after 5:00pm and are distributed on Sunday morning. All participants can be reimbursed for expenses and we'd be happy to help anyone through their first time participating!
Contact: Carolyn Stewart
The Grace Center is a grant-funded, faith-based program serving the at-risk community of Cape Ann. Breakfast and lunch are provided, as well as engaging activities such as Bingo, discussion groups, arts and crafts, music, and movies.
A social worker and staff work closely with other agencies in town to ensure the guests needs are being met.
To learn more about Grace Center visit their website.
FORMATION
Men's Bible Study Group
This group of gentlemen meets every Wednesday from 7:00 am–8:30 am in the Thompson Room, St. John's Church, 48 Middle St, Gloucester, MA 01930 to review the readings for the upcoming Sunday service and reflect on their meaning. This results in a lively discussion that provides additional insight as they prepare to participate more fully in the weekly services (often this group go out for breakfast at Two Sisters following the meeting).
No preparation is necessary and materials are provided. All men are welcome.
Contact: Pete Goodwin
Homeletic Huddle
Meeting every Wednesday from 12:00-1:00 pm, this group reviews and discusses the gospel assigned by the lectionary for the upcoming Sunday service. The purpose is to “unearth” the cultural and biblical context of the gospel. The group addresses “what does Saint John’s parishioners want to hear,” and giving direction for each week’s sermon. The group meets September to November, January to February, and April to May.
Contact: Marya DeCarlen.
Social Justice Project
In an effort to continue to build a “Beloved Community,” this project looks to educate and inform Saint John’s parishioners about the social justice issues affecting the Cape Ann community. This has resulted in the development of Social Justice Sundays where the readings, music, and sermon address a specific topic. In addition, an information insert is distributed at the designated Sunday service explaining how the issue affects our community. Topics have included: Race and Racism, LGBTQ, Food Insecurity, Immigration, and the Unhoused. Other Sunday services have focused on Black History Month and Indigenous Peoples’ Sunday. Contact: Connie DeSimone or Claudette Chmura.
Cursillo Reunion Group
This group meets the First and Third Tuesdays 4:30pm to 5:30pm in the Thompson Room of St. John's Church, 48 Middle St, Gloucester, MA 01930 and provides an opportunity for members of St. John's community to grow in faith and spirituality. It encourages participants to live out their Baptismal vows. Following an initial Cursillo weekend retreat, members of the group meet twice a month to share how each person has encountered and exercised their faith.
No preparation is necessary and materials are provided.
All are welcome.
Contact: Rick Britton
Will You Sit With Me While I Feel This?
Initiated as a result of the 2024 election, and meeting the first Sunday of the month during January and February, participants are offered the opportunity to identify their feelings about what is happening outside the four walls of Saint John’s. Through active listening, the meetings are a way to express personal feelings which can serve as a basis for healing and future action. There is no discussion or feedback, just a time to identify personal worries.
Contact: Marya DeCarlen.
Gloucester Reads
A citywide, intergenerational summer reading initiative sponsored by the Sawyer Free Library, this book club provides an opportunity for conversations, and encourages introspection about race equity in the Cape Ann community. Saint John’s has hosted discussion groups as part of this project with the goal of providing a forum for both our parishioners and members of the Cape Ann community to discuss the Black experience in America.
Contact: Connie DeSimone or Claudette Chmura.
HOSPITALITY/FELLOWSHIP
Welcome Team
Offers hospitality to newcomers to help them feel part of the community of faith. Based on the all-important message in the Gospel of offering hospitality to all and creating an enriching experience, the team meets once a month or as needed, in person or via Zoom, to discuss ways to welcome new members to Saint John’s community.
Contact: Connie DeSimne or Karen Kasper
Common Threads
Common Threads meets on the third Saturday each month from 11-1 in the Thompson Room. You are invited to bring your knitting, crocheting or any other hand worked crafting to join us.
Contact: Kim Prentice
Coffee Hour
Working in teams, coffee hour occurs following the Sunday service. Participation in this ministry provides parishioners with an opportunity for social contact and fellowship. Teams are scheduled on a rotating basis (usually once a month), and determine what food they will serve (e.g. fruit, cheese, baked goods).
Contact: Marge Bishop
PASTORAL CARE
Lay Pastoral Care Team
Our vision is to provide a ministry of hope and caring so that no member of our congregation need be alone. We hope to visit the ill at home or in the hospital, support those going through a life crisis, maintain contact with those unable to attend church due to illness or disability, support friends and family involved in care giving, and comfort the bereaved. We do this in person by listening, praying, or offering home communion.
Contact: Gwen Kopka
SPECIAL EVENTS
Special Events
Providing an invitation for fellowship, the Special Events team provides parishioners with an opportunity to celebrate events together through food and special programming throughout the year. Events include: Thanksgiving Interfaith Service, Lessons and Carols, Evensong, Shrove Tuesday, the Easter Vigil, and Saint John’s Annual Meeting. The team organizes food contributions, set up and clean up for each event.
Contact: Gail Crane.
Scheduled for the second Sunday in December, the Annual Middle Street Walk is a way to experience Gloucester's Historic District. Saint John’s, along with Trinity Congregational Church and the Unitarian Universalist Church, opens their doors to present programs featuring music, history, and hands-on events that are free to the public. Saint John’s participation includes a tour of the historic stained-glass windows, music provided by the music director, and a concert by the children’s Arts Alive Program.
Contact: Sarah Larson
St. John's Village Fair
A major annual fundraising event at Saint John’s church, the Village Fair is on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Visitors to the fair can peruse and purchase homespun crafts, an array of holiday decorations, homemade baked confections, and vintage jewelry. The Thrift Shop and Regal Rummage are also open, and the famous Saint John’ Fish Chowder Luncheon is served.
Contact ?
Festival Of Lessons and Carols
This annual event, which is open to the public, is designed to add hope and anticipation during the Advent season. A series of nine lessons, combined with familiar carols and newer choral expressions of the Advent and Christmas season, are presented. An expanded choir and additional instruments are led by Saint John’s Director of Music.
Contact: John Churchwell.
Monthly Parish Dinners
Occurring from June through October, friendship and fellowship are extended to parishioners through monthly dinners held at designated homes. Individuals volunteer to host the dinners in their homes, and members of the parish are invited to enjoy conversation over a good meal.
Contact: Katherine Newhouse.
Held in August every year, Saint John’s opens its doors to host the Cape Ann Arts Alive summer camp. A one-week arts program for children age 6 -12, and teenage mentors, full of singing, dancing, theatrics, art projects and local excursions that reflect the multifaceted story of Cape Ann, with a culminating performance on the final day. The program is designed to foster pride in the unique cultural heritage of Cape Ann through music, dance, theater, and art. Contact: John Churchwell
Ashes To Go
Ashes To Go Starting at noon on Ash Wednesday, Saint John’s priest can be found distributing ashes in front of the church to all who come or even those “driving through.”
Contact: Marya DeCarlen,
Calming Sunday
Scheduled for the First Sunday in Advent, Calming Sunday gives parishioners an opportunity to pause and embrace the values associated with Advent which address hope, anticipation, and longing for joy. The service offers meditative music, readings, and moments of silence for reflection.
Contact Marya DeCarlen.
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
Ms. Fixits
An informal group of women who meet on Monday mornings to “care for the fabric of the church” by helping with tasks not handled by other functions or groups. These tasks often involve activities that require more hands, good backs and/or the ability to use a ladder! The group is small but mighty and we welcome women at any time, and we share lunch on occasion at the church. Typical tasks include: outside grounds work (weeding, planting, setting up the vegetable garden), deep cleaning (woodwork, windows, holiday prep), assisting the Flower Guild in decorating for Christmas and Lent, assisting in setting g up for funeral collations, organizing the undercroft for the Thrift Shop, and general small repairs.
Contact: Sue Lupo.
St. John’s Parking Lot
A number of spaces in the Saint John’s parking have been made available to the community for rental. Residents, non-profit and commercial organizations can contact Saint John’s for information regarding availability and rates.
Contact: Elizabeth DeVeer.
Property Team
This group is responsible for the maintenance of Saint John’s infrastructure. In addition, the group is involved in developing entrepreneurial projects for the parish.
Contact: Sarah Larson.
Community Kitchen
Saint John’s kitchen is available for rental and use by the Cape Ann public to make use of a Safe-Serve certified facility, and provides a means to serve the under-resourced in the community. Contact: Sue Lupo.