St. John's United Methodist Church
St. John's has been part of an exciting new
approach to ministry by the New England
Conference of the United Methodist Church. As an
active church in Watertown, our doors are open
seven days a week, providing a home to
community and recovery groups as well as
pastoral counseling to both members of the parish
and the greater community.
We are an open, nurturing Christian community, growing in faith and caring for one another in love. We strive to positively impact our local and global community by living our faith and advancing social and economic justice, following the example of Jesus Christ.
This important work will continue in our Watertown building as we find new spiritual life at the building in Belmont.
We are an open, nurturing Christian community, growing in faith and caring for one another in love. We strive to positively impact our local and global community by living our faith and advancing social and economic justice, following the example of Jesus Christ.
This important work will continue in our Watertown building as we find new spiritual life at the building in Belmont.
Welcome.
• UPCOMING EVENTS
• Memorial Day - Cook-Out on the Lawn, 11 AM
• June 7 - 9 - New England Annual Conference at Gordon College
• Sunday, June 10 - Belmont UMC annual picnic at Payson Park, 12 - 3 PM
• Sunday, June 24 - last worship service as St. John's UMC, 11 AM
• Sunday, July 1 - first worship service and celebration as merged congregation, 10 AM at 421 Common Street in Belmont, MA
• Memorial Day - Cook-Out on the Lawn, 11 AM
• June 7 - 9 - New England Annual Conference at Gordon College
• Sunday, June 10 - Belmont UMC annual picnic at Payson Park, 12 - 3 PM
• Sunday, June 24 - last worship service as St. John's UMC, 11 AM
• Sunday, July 1 - first worship service and celebration as merged congregation, 10 AM at 421 Common Street in Belmont, MA
A Letter from Rev. Mike Clark:
Dear friends,
On Sunday April 22, the members of St. John's UMC and Belmont UMC gathered in a special charge conference and voted unanimously to merge and form a new congregation, effective July 1, 2012. Our District Superintendent Rev. Martin McLee convened the meeting, invited questions and comments, and then called for the vote. Following the separate votes of each congregation, Rev. McLee invited the oldest and youngest members from each church to come forward and acknowledged the many generations that have called these places home. It was a momentous decision, and the spirit in the room reflected both the importance and the hope in what we were doing together.
Since we will be moving to Belmont on July 1, the mix of feelings in these final two months at 80 Mt. Auburn Street will be very real: sadness because we are leaving a place we have known over time; anxiety because we are facing an open future; relief because we will no longer have to carry the responsibility of a separate congregation with ever-dwindling resources; and excitement because the decision and the way in which it was made bode well for our future.
I have been grateful for the members of St. John's who have been part of the team that discussed and discerned and prayed together with Belmont folks since last summer. I have been grateful for the way in which St. John's folks have struggled with our reality and finally came down where they did. I have also been grateful for the spirit and sensitivity that the Belmont representatives have brought to every one of our discussions, seeing all the new possibilities, but also acknowledging the things that we especially will be leaving behind.
Faced with an unrelenting, 30-year decline at St. John's, my two goals have been consistent from the beginning: 1) ensuring serious opportunities for worship, education, support, and service for our worshipping congregation, and 2) maintaining the unique ministry of outreach and support to the recovery community which has developed here over the last ten years. I believe that our joint decision on April 22 ensures both of these.
Our last Sunday as a separate congregation here will be on June 24. Our first Sunday as a new congregation at the Belmont site will be on July 1. I hope that you will plan to be part of both.
Blessings,
Mike Clark
Dear friends,
On Sunday April 22, the members of St. John's UMC and Belmont UMC gathered in a special charge conference and voted unanimously to merge and form a new congregation, effective July 1, 2012. Our District Superintendent Rev. Martin McLee convened the meeting, invited questions and comments, and then called for the vote. Following the separate votes of each congregation, Rev. McLee invited the oldest and youngest members from each church to come forward and acknowledged the many generations that have called these places home. It was a momentous decision, and the spirit in the room reflected both the importance and the hope in what we were doing together.
Since we will be moving to Belmont on July 1, the mix of feelings in these final two months at 80 Mt. Auburn Street will be very real: sadness because we are leaving a place we have known over time; anxiety because we are facing an open future; relief because we will no longer have to carry the responsibility of a separate congregation with ever-dwindling resources; and excitement because the decision and the way in which it was made bode well for our future.
I have been grateful for the members of St. John's who have been part of the team that discussed and discerned and prayed together with Belmont folks since last summer. I have been grateful for the way in which St. John's folks have struggled with our reality and finally came down where they did. I have also been grateful for the spirit and sensitivity that the Belmont representatives have brought to every one of our discussions, seeing all the new possibilities, but also acknowledging the things that we especially will be leaving behind.
Faced with an unrelenting, 30-year decline at St. John's, my two goals have been consistent from the beginning: 1) ensuring serious opportunities for worship, education, support, and service for our worshipping congregation, and 2) maintaining the unique ministry of outreach and support to the recovery community which has developed here over the last ten years. I believe that our joint decision on April 22 ensures both of these.
Our last Sunday as a separate congregation here will be on June 24. Our first Sunday as a new congregation at the Belmont site will be on July 1. I hope that you will plan to be part of both.
Blessings,
Mike Clark