SHROVE TUESDAY (February 21^st)

On the day before the beginning of Lent it is a tradition of the Church to indulge the senses.  In some cultures, this period prior to the austerity of a Lenten Discipline has been expanded into an extended period of “Carnival”.  At St. John’s, we gather on Shrove Tuesday (“shrove” is from “shriven” which means having confessed sins and been forgiven”)  for pancakes and sausage and hash.

5 p.m.—7 p.m. Pancake Supper ($4/adults; $1/ children and elders)

The time has now come to ensure that the Church can be as safe a place for adults as for children. That will only seem an odd comment if we forget that people are all vulnerable in one way or another and that an institution like the Church has special opportunities and challenges. Within the Church are ‘all sorts and conditions’ of human beings, diverse in age, gender, ethnicity and with different kinds of ability; there are professionals, amateurs and volunteers, there are ordained ministers and faithful members of congregations. The Church is a body whose members acknowledge their individual needs and which also recognizes the human capacity for even the best to go wrong. Issues of power and dependence may not be greater in the Church than elsewhere, but we do have a unique responsibility and ability to address them.