ALTAR FLOWERS
The altar flowers are given to celebrate the 112th anniversary of the founding of St. John’s and to honor all those who have been a part of our journey to continue God’s work here at St. John’s by Jim and Bonnie Stevens.

HOMECOMING
St. John’s is celebrating homecoming today, so be sure to wear your red St. John’s t-shirt. We are delighted that Pomaria Lutheran Church has joined us for worship and lunch. We also welcome inactive and former members and other guests.

Coleen and Homer Thompson will provide lunch (including desserts!) in the fellowship hall following the worship service. A special slide show of pictures from years past will be shown on the television in the fellowship hall during lunch.

BRIEF HISTORY OF ST. JOHN’S
In 1905 members of the community with children decided to conduct a Sunday School in the Folk schoolhouse, which was on property owned by Tillman J. Dailey. Attendance grew, and in December 1909, Mr. Dailey donated two acres of land to Julius C. Derrick and Henry W. Chapman (son of John J. Chapman), as trustees, for the purpose of “erecting and maintaining a Lutheran Church thereon for religious or Sunday School purposes.” At that time the land was in Lexington County.

In 1910 a chapel was built to house the Sunday School. On February 9, 1912, the land was annexed by Richland County.

The congregation was formally organized on Saturday, July 4, 1914, with 16 people from the John J. Chapman, Julius C. Derrick, G. Edward Derrick, and Jacob E. Haltiwanger families believed to be charter members. The chapel was dedicated the following day on Sunday, July 5, 1914.

The Rev. Verley L. Fulmer probably served as supply pastor in 1914 while serving other nearby churches. The Rev. J. W. Horine, editor of the Lutheran Church Visitor, served as supply pastor for part of 1915. SC Synod minutes document that the Rev. William P. Cline accepted the call to St. John’s and St. Mark’s (Blythewood) pastorate, Richland County, in 1916. The Rev. Cline served St. John’s through 1920 and St. Mark’s through 1921.

In 1922 a spring storm caused heavy damage to the chapel, so it was torn down to the foundation. Lumber from the building was saved to construct a new building, which was completed in time for a worship service on the first Sunday in October 1922.

Beginning in 1924 and continuing through 1945, St. John’s was in a parish relationship with Mt. Horeb, Chapin, and Bethlehem, Irmo. After Mt. Horeb withdrew from the parish, St. John’s and Bethlehem remained in a parish through 1972. From 1973 through 1976 the Rev. James Virgil Addy served as regular supply pastor. In 1977, St. John’s hired her first full-time pastor and continued to remain unyoked with any other church until 2023 when St. John’s again entered into a parish relationship; this time with Pomaria Lutheran Church, Pomaria.
Clarence Kesler Derrick and Joseph C. Derrick, sons of founders Julius C. and Mattie Derrick and members of St. John’s first confirmation class of 1915, and their nephew, Clarence L. Richardson, heeded the call to became Lutheran pastors. 

ON-LINE GIVING THROUGH TITHE.LY
If you choose to give through Tithe.ly by selecting the “Give” button at https://stjohnsirmo.org, you will notice a slightly different look for the giving form. Multi-fund giving is now available for one-time donations. A donor can split a donation across a maximum of five funds in a single transaction. How-ever, if a donor wishes to set up recurring gifts for multiple funds, they must set up each recurring gift individually by fund.

Thank you to Judy Hrinda for contacting Tithe.ly and getting the giving form updated, and thank you to Fran Eleazer for updating the link on St. John’s website. 

NOISY OFFERING
The noisy offering collected last Sunday totaled $92.80. Due to conflicting written and oral communications regarding the intended recipient, we combined one-half of this offering with the $74.21 collected last month and added $29.39 from Thrivent Choice grant funds and donated $150.00 to the SC Synod’s Bishop Ginny Aebischer Fund. Bishop Aebischer is retiring this year, and this new fund at the SC Synod honors her lifelong ministry. The Bishop Ginny Aebischer Fund is restricted for use for the ministry of youth and family faith formation in the South Carolina Synod.

Council designated the noisy offerings to be collected in July and August to benefit Restoration Chapel, and the remaining one-half collected last Sunday ($46.40) will be added to the donations for Restoration Chapel.