Issues of Concern
We are gathering again in-person for Sunday Worship in our sanctuary at 10:30am. Please check our current Covid phase and bring a mask. Services are also streamed to our YouTube channel, SJU by the Zoo.
Green Team & Green Sanctuary
The Green Team of St. John United Lutheran Church expresses our congregation’s commitment to honor and care for God’s created world. We are a certified Greening Congregation through Earth Ministry/WA Interfaith Power & Light’s Greening Congregation program.
We are currently working to implement actions that will move St. John United to net-zero-emissions status. Our actions are based on the understanding that the Biblical command of “dominion” in relation to the Earth means responsible stewardship of this sacred planet.
The Green Team deeply values ongoing, active collaboration with SJU’s congregation and members of the wider community, including other religious institutions and community groups. We have partnered with the Seattle Trees for Neighborhoods Program to plant street trees along the north side of the property, and with Grow it Forward to put in a tree nursery for seedlings that will be used for habitat restoration. Read more here, and consider joining us!
Hot Meal Program
The Hot Meal Program has continued to adapt to changing circumstances, while many other programs have closed. Meals are being served in our Fellowship Hall, by new volunteers with donations from new sources. You can help by volunteering: visit the volunteer page and to contact the volunteer coordinator at the Phinney Neighborhood Association. If being present in person is not for you, here are some other needs you can help meet:
- You can make a contribution to Lahai Health: our medical care partners who offer monthly free dental visits to our diners.
- Drop off gently used men’s and women’s clothing for our diners at the St. John United church office during regular hours. Please label your bag for the hot meal program.
- Visit this Amazon Wish List to send much appreciated supplies directly to PNA staff.
Sound Alliance
As a member of Sound Alliance, we’re part of a powerful organizing network made up of faith communities, teachers, service organizations, and more. There are many ways you can connect with efforts around issues like housing equity and homelessness. We’re currently working on a new campaign to map our community and address new needs around things like equitable access to technology, rent assistance, and more. Contact Pastor Anna to get involved. You could attend a strategy meeting (virtual for now) as a representative from SJU!
Organizing for Mission Network
SJU is a member of the newly formed Seattle chapter of Organizing for Mission Network, a community of practitioners who are using the arts and skills of community organizing to develop and redevelop gospel-centric communities that act for the sake of the world.
Lay leaders and clergy from churches and faith-based organizations in the Seattle area are gathering to build capacity, share resources on issues of concern to our communities, and build power towards creating system change. We are rooted in neighborhoods, see ourselves as accountable to people before programs, and are working together to sharpen our analysis of the social/economic/political factors affecting our communities.
This group has made an explicit commitment to include participants who are far too often underrepresented in the life of the church including Black, Indigenous, People of Color, immigrants, refugees, LGBTQIA+ persons, and those whose housing is transitional. We are for organizing through the lens of anti-racism and the liberation of Black lives.
Offerings and Gifts
Now is a great time to try online giving through the Giving Page of our website. It’s easy and helps sustain our organization and it’s critical programs. You can give once with a credit card, or use an email address to set up recurring giving. You’re also welcome to send checks through the mail. Thank you for thinking of your church during this time.
