For many months now I have hoping to have a weekly eBulletin going out to parishioners sometime midweek. It could have a reminder about something from the previous bulletin or a preview of something coming up. So far I have been able to send a note from my personal email account without being shut down as a spammer. Here’s what I sent out this past week:

This coming summer I will lead a Mission Trip to the Diocesan Missions in Banica, Dominican Republic. If you were here last summer when Fr. Keith O'Hare preached all the Masses you already are familiar with the work down there by the Diocese of Arlington. Prior to him Fr. Christopher Murphy of this parish was the pastor of the Missions in Banica. If you were not here then please watch the 20-minute documentary at http://www.banicamission.com/movie, which presents the life and work of our Diocesan missionaries in Banica.

The dates of the trip are Wednesday, July 16th through Wednesday, July 23rd. Fr. O'Hare told assigned us the restoration of the home of one of his parishioners. We have an initial team of committed high school students. Another parish expressed interest in some of their college-aged students joining our trip. Since there still will be available slots, we would like to open our trip to college-aged parishioners of St. John the Beloved. An application may be found attached to this email. Please return it to the Parish Office, c/o Mr. Kevin Corcoran no later than our next Mission Trip meeting on Sunday, January 26th at 5 pm. By the same token any high- school aged St. John parishioner can taken advantage of this window of opportunity and register if they have not done so already.

All college students interested in attending also will need to follow diocesan policy by becoming Virtus trained and OPCYP compliant since they will have prolonged contact with minors. All paperwork may be obtained from me in the Parish Office or by contacting Kathleen Johnson in the RE office.

The price for the trip is $1,600 but is subject to decrease based upon the number of participants. We will raise most of this money through fundraising, but parents are responsible to cover what remains out of pocket. The nonrefundable deposit of $250 for the trip is due Sunday, January 26th, at the same time as the application and commitment, which may be found on page 6 of the application.

Please encourage the young Christians in your home to consider sacrificing part of their summer to serve some of God's poorest.

If you would like to receive the nascent parish eBulletin, please send me your email address.

God bless you.

Fr. Christopher J. Pollard
[email protected]