Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life | St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church | Jackson, Michigan
Stay connected with parish life through reflections from Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Jackson, MI.
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From the Desk of Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life, 9/3/23
Happy Labor Day and Happy Rest Day! “For everything there is a season…” God so beautifully built into his plan for us time for work and time for rest (the Sabbath). Being a “do-er”, I’ll admit, I’ve never been the best at balancing these two things! But lately, I’m really working on it! (Monday is
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From the Desk of Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life, 5/7/23
Calling ALL Seniors! Parish Life is thriving at St. John, and this month we have a few invitations to highlight for our SENIORS, both those who graduated many years ago and those who will graduate soon this year as the Class of 2023! Let me explain… Calling All Dynamic Senior Catholics… In January, Todd Gale
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From the Desk of Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life, 4/2/23
An Invitation This week we are invited to look at Jesus! Everything that Jesus allows to “happen” to him during his Passion screams, “Look at Him,” from the waving palms in His praise and honor, to the taunts as He is stripped naked in humiliation, to, finally, His being hung on the cross in example
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From the Desk of Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life
SEEK23… Focus. It’s typical at the beginning of each year that we desire and plan for some sort of refocus, a look at where we’ve been in the past year, an analysis of how we’ve been doing, and what we’d like to tweak moving forward. I was blessed to have a week at this year’s
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From the Desk of Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life, 9/11/22
Dear Parishioners, 1856. In this year, the “Mother Church of Jackson” laid its cornerstone, and from that moment on, parish life at St. John the Evangelist Parish began! Now, in 2022, we have over 50 active Service Ministries, Faith Formation opportunities, and Councils/ Committees! The majority of those are described here in our handbook. So
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From the Desk of Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life
The Four Levels of Happiness: Coming to St. John on 9/17/22! Register here: www.fourlevels.org “We all want to live happily; in the whole human race there is no one who does not assent to this proposition, even before it is fully articulated.” —St. Augustine I’m sure many of us remember the Made for Happiness
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From the Desk of Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life
“Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.” (Psalm 24) Hello St. John Parish Family, As the number of us St. John pilgrims have returned from the Holy Land, you’ve undoubtedly noticed the enthusiasm and excitement with which we share about our experiences there, from Fr. Chas’ moving homily last weekend to
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From the Desk of Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life
Happy Laetare Sunday! Rejoice! I was quite excited to see that this weekend’s 2nd reading is from St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians as that’s what our instructor just recently led us through in the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan Year Two class that my husband and I have been attending this past year.
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From the Desk of Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life
The Prophecy Workshop Several parishioners who were considering signing up for our January “Prophecy Workshop” asked me, “Is this for me?” Another shared, “I don’t feel like a prophet…I mean, I’m certainly no Isaiah or Elijah or Jeremiah…” There was definitely, and understandably, hesitancy by some to even sign up for a prophecy workshop! While
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From the Desk of Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life
Preparation and Anticipation In the week leading up to the first Sunday of Advent this year, I had some definite practice in waiting and anticipating the birth of a babe! With our second granddaughter due anytime, we wondered if we would be heading out of town on Thanksgiving Day, that weekend, or even later… It
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From the Desk of Fr. Chas, Todd Gale, and Shayne Slough – Ministry Handbook Letter
Dear Parishioners, 1856. In this year, the “Mother Church of Jackson” laid its cornerstone, and from that moment on, parish life at St. John the Evangelist Parish began! This year, as we celebrate 165 years, we have over 50 active Service Ministries, Faith Formation opportunities, and Councils/Committees! The majority of those are described here in
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From the Desk of Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life
Dear Parish Family, We are so excited to once again host our fall Come and See: Faith Formation & Ministry Event! And we invite YOU to join us on September 11th or 12th! Save the date and stop by after any of the Masses that weekend. Our ministry leaders and faith formation team are in
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From the Desk of Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life
Happy Father’s Day! On this Father’s Day, we invite you to pray for all fathers! We also take this opportunity to thank two of our spiritual fathers, Fr. Chas and Fr. Brian! Thank you, both, for teaching us, praying for us, guiding us, and bringing us Christ in his Word and in the sacraments. Next
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From the Desk of Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life
Happy Feast of the Ascension! We recall this great feast of Ascension every Sunday as we recite the Nicene Creed, saying, “He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” It speaks of our belief in a past event, what Jesus did, returning to His Father in Heaven. We then
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From the Desk of Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life
Palm Sunday of the Passion of Our Lord “The palms we take home and put in a special place serve to remind us that Palm Sunday is not lost to the ages but that by Christ’s victory we, too, can achieve everlasting life. ‘For us too, they [palms] must be symbols of triumph, indicative of
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From the Desk of Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life
Dear Fellow Parishioners, As Fr. Chas and Fr. Brian kicked off our Lenten Season here at St. John Parish with a powerful homily series focused on Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving, I feel like I’ve understood how to enter into Lent even more fully than I have in the past. In all of it, the Lord
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From the Desk of Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life
Last weekend’s Gospel and homily combo has been one that has particularly stuck with me throughout this week, pondering the idea, as Fr. Brian talked about, of the “four o’clock moments of life.” And as is the case for so many things within our faith, this concept is a truly a “both/and.” The “four o’clock
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From the Desk of Shayne Slough, Director of Parish Life
“Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope…” 1 Peter 3:15 If I only had 30 seconds to share my faith story, here’s what I’d say: I was born a “cradle Catholic,” and when I hit my mid-40’s or so, Jesus started inviting me in
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Shayne Slough – Director of Parish Life
“Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope…” 1 Peter 3:15 If I only had 30 seconds to share my faith story, here’s what I’d say: I was born a “cradle Catholic,” and when I hit my mid-40’s or so, Jesus started inviting me in