Calendar News

The Order of Autumn

Leaves change color in the fall because shorter days and cooler temperatures. Signal deciduous trees to stop producing chlorophyll, the green pigment that masks other colors. As the chlorophyll breaks down, hidden pigments reveal themselves as yellow and orange, while sugars trapped in the leaves produce new pigments, creating vibrant reds and purples. Before shedding their leaves, trees reabsorb valuable nutrients and sugars from them, storing them in the branches and trunk for the next growing season. And then the leaves fall.  Just as the leaves must drop for the trees to rejuvenate, we too must embrace. The season of letting go in our lives. Falling leaves and hibernating plants are a reminder that growth often involves a process of shedding what no longer serves us, making space for rest and rejuvenation. The transition from the vibrancy of summer to the stillness of winter provides a powerful metaphor for the cycles of life, encouraging us to accept that change is a persistent part of our days, and that releasing what is withered and dry prepares us for what is growing deep within our souls.

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Convention News

Open and Affirming

St. John’s is a congregation that has publicly and formally committed to fully including people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions in its full life and ministry. This goes beyond a general welcome to include leadership roles, membership, marriage, and other aspects of church life without distinction for LGBTQ+ individuals. The Episcopal Church embraces a legacy of inclusion, aspiring to

tell and exemplify God’s love for every human being. That long string of initials stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and 2S (Two-Spirit). The "+" at the end acknowledges

other identities not explicitly included in the acronym. The "2S" is an important addition that honors Indigenous people's diverse gender and spiritual identities, which were historically erased in wider LGBTQIA+ movements.

 

The Open and Affirming designation is an ongoing process of education and striving for justice and inclusion. That process got a boost at the 2025 Diocesan Convention in Rawlins. The convention unanimously passed Resolution 3: “A Resolution of the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming Affirming its Support of LGBTQIA2S+ Persons.” Part of the resolution includes a commitment to helping churches become more inclusive. The Wyoming Episcopal Justice taskforce is directed to recommend or offer education programs to congregations and groups wanting to learn more about the Christian LGBTQIA2S+ community in the Diocese of Wyoming and the church at large, and to better  understand the theology, philosophy, and science pertaining to sexuality, gender identity,

and expression.

 

We declare our “open and affirming” status on our website, and we have the steps. But those symbols must tell the whole story. Many in the LGBT community were often miseducated or abused into believing that their personhood was shameful. We will continue to be prepared to fully welcome them as a place of safety and spiritual growth, and look forward to fruits of this resolution.

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NWC Upcoming Events

Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective Visits Northwest College for Concert on November 5 Northwest College welcomes the Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective to campus on Wednesday, November 5, for an evening concert in the Nelson Performing Arts Auditorium. The show will feature music from their newest album, “Cortadito”, and runs from 7 to 8:30 p.m. There is no charge for admission. Please follow this link to read more about this group,

which includes our very own Andrey Goncalves:

https://nwc.edu/news/afro-caribbean_jazz_collective_visits_northwest_college_for_concert_on_november_5-10-2025.html 

 

Native Ways

The Native Ways Club is proud to announce the 29th Annual Buffalo Feast on Thursday, November 20 at 6:00 p.m. with the performance at 7:00 p.m. This year's featured performer Mariah Gladstone, Piikuni (Blackfeet) and

Tsalagi (Cherokee), grew up in Northwest Montana. Her passion is revitalizing knowledge of traditional food systems and increasing access to healthy, culturally relevant foods. A graduate from Columbia University where she earned her degree in Environmental Engineering, Gladstone returned to Montana to begin her work with food advocacy. In 2016 she launched Indigikitchen, a web-based cooking show designed to teach viewers to prepare modern, healthy meals using traditional indigenous ingredients. 

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Tickets for the Buffalo Feast are now available to reserve. You can purchase tickets online at: Buffalo Feast | Northwest College Foundation & Alumni | Powell, Wyoming USA. You can also send cash or check to the Foundation, or stop by Science and Math, Room 217. Tickets are $30 for adults; $20 for children 12 and under; and $10 for NWC students. Don’t hesitate to reserve your tickets.  This event is known to sell out very quickly! 

 

Upcoming Dates

• November 2, we Fall Back an hour, at 2a.m. on Sunday morning. May we all enjoy the extra hour of rest. This day is also traditionally known as All Saints Day. This will also be our first meeting of Community Discernment. 

 

• November 23 – this Sunday is also known as Christ the King Sunday. We will have a guest preacher with us.  The Rev. Canon Lara Gilbert will preach and facilitate our second Community discernment meeting.

 

• December 7 – Micheal Fenn, who was part of the first cohort of fellows with the Wyoming Service Corp, will be ordained to the transitional diaconate. He wants to celebrate his ordination here at St. John’s. More details will follow in the coming weeks.

 

• December 13 – Annual Christmas Tree Trip in the Bighorns. More details will come as we get closer to the date. Mark your calendars for a fun time of togetherness and tree hunting.

 

Meditation Group

Our guided meditation group will meet this Wednesday, November 5 at 11:30am.  Each session is 30 minutes long. We will meet in the sanctuary. If you have any questions, please ask Susan (307-271-1289). 

 

St. John’s Pantry 

Shoshone River Farms continues donating to our pantry and we are so grateful. The Fall Harvest is so plentiful!  They blessed us with a beautiful array of fresh produce. This was so appreciated by our visitors. We thank them

for their incredible ongoing generosity and support for this community.

 

The hours for the St. John’s Pantry are:

Tuesdays – 11am-1pm

 

Thoughts and Ponderings for the Week Ahead

• November 2 is the Sunday many churches will celebrate All Saints' Day (officially November 1), a festival celebrating all the saints, known and unknown.

 

• November 2 is also All Souls’ Day, honoring those who have died (especially relatives). The period from October 31 through November 2 is sometimes called “Allhallowtide.” And in communities of Mexican heritage, many celebrate this period as encompassing the Dia de los Muertos, “The Day of the Dead,” a time to gather in order to pray, remember, and commune with friends and family members who have died.

 

• November 8 is the birthday of American activist and writer Dorothy Day, born in 1897. After a time as a radical journalist and activist in New York City, she converted to Catholicism and, along with the French Catholic activist Peter Maurin, began a publication called The Catholic Worker devoted to issues of justice, poverty, and human rights. The first issue, in 1933, cost one penny — and it still does today. In that inaugural edition, Day wrote that the paper was “For those who are sitting on park benches in the warm spring sunlight. For those who are huddling in shelters trying to escape the rain. For those who are walking the streets in the all but futile search for work.” The discussions provoked by The Catholic Worker led to the creation of “houses of hospitality” in New York City and across the country, where people without homes, especially women, could seek shelter, companionship, and assistance.