Who are we? 

  St John's is a United Methodist Church, part of the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church.  We have been a presence in Dedham since the mid-1800's, and currently meet at the education building, since we are negotiating to sell the beautiful and revered old church building.  The congregation has decided to invest in caring for people rather than maintaining a building. 
We are a small but enthusiastic church.  Our vision is to feed the hungry, and we do so by supporting the local food pantry, which we housed for over a quarter century; and support small farmers with fair trade coffee, tea and chocolate; and we support Heifer, Int., an organization committed to feeding the hungry and and saving the planet. 

This is an exciting and challenging time and we are committed to sharing the good news of God's love for all; all people and all creation.  Our experience of God's love is in Jesus, and we seek to be a people of Christ's love. 


FROM THE PASTOR: 
'Welcome to the new year!  This is a time of reflection and renewal as we reassess our goals and values to determine what we want for this coming year.  Winter is a good time for this assessment since it is quiet and the long nights and cold days give us time to reflect. 
We at St. John's continue to reassess and reflect and redefine and this month we are taking time to continue this process,  doing so with our sister church, St. Stephen's UM Church in West Roxbury.  We will be worshiping with them throughout the month of January at 11:00 a.m., at 5 Edgemere Road in West Roxbury.  Call the church office  (781-326-2025) M-W-F  9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m or T-Th 9:00 a.m to noon for directions and information. 
Worship will be led by a variety of guest preachers.  I am on renewal leave throughout the month, and will be in NW Maine.  Time with family and friends is needed, and I will be reading and experiencing eco-spirituality themes. 
I am most excited about a winter week-end camping trip with my daughter.  And - we travel to the camp site by dogsled!  Check out the Mahoosuc Guide Service and learn more.  I am also spending a week-end doing a philosophy course on eco-spirituality at the Maine Primitive Skills School.  Check it out! 
I am so pleased to have a whole month to be outside as much as possible and to read wonderful books; Environmental Ethics, Sisters of the Earth, Deep Ecology, writings of Wendell Berry, and others. 
My prayer is that this month will be a time of renewal and joy for you as well.  Be at peace with all creation -
 ~Rev. Linda Littlefield Grenfell