Holding Hope & Some Experience

While reflecting on life before March 2020, my mind was blank. I had to go back to my old calendar to remember what life was like from Jan 1, 2020 – March 9, 2020. I was almost surprised to see my calendar peppered with so many programs – breakfasts, lunches, dinners, planning meetings, after school activities, Cuba trip prep and a packing party, community talks, a sledding party (thanks Will!), the Film Series, events at the Center. Woah! My system would go into shock if I had a week like that right now.

2020 started with our usual programming and quickly shifted to the virtual world in mid-March. Each Sunday we met via Zoom for Children’s Chapel. Christie Laughery and I led a confirmation course in the spring. It was our largest confirmation class group yet!

The Reading with Our Daughters group, led by local middle-grade author Nanci Turner Steveson, met virtually 2-4 times a month during the height of our stay-at-home time. In October, we buried a time capsule on the St. John’s campus that we will unearth in 2025! We included stories, memories from the strange year of 2020, recipes, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and the like. We held our fourth annual Middle School Service Weeks in partnership with the Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole. We partnered with the Good Samaritan Mission, Hole Food Rescue, Jackson Cupboard, the National Wildlife Museum, Town of Jackson, R Park, the Senior Center, and the Snake River Fund. In August, Wilderness Adventures hosted our middle schoolers for the third year in Yellowstone.

In place of our annual Tom & Kris Gridley Sponsored Gingerbread House Decorating Coffee Hour we gave 110 gingerbread houses out to St. John’s kids and the community. Although we missed seeing the fun in action folks sent in pictures of their beautiful creations!

2021 holds hope. And some experience. We’ve adapted for almost a year now and we will keep doing so. This winter and spring we are partnering to bring to-go activity kits to the library. Kids can pick up a free activity to have fun, be kids, and be reminded that they are loved.

With Love,

Catherine