You might know about The Door, and you've probably heard about this Saturday's City-Wide Night of Worship at 6 pm, but we bet you might be suprrised to learn these five things:
- We were supposed to worship outside, but the cold front had other plans.
I
don’t know if you know this, but we live in Houston. Houston isn’t
cold. Except for this Saturday, it’s going to be in the 40s! Holding the
worship night outside was more than just a change in venue. Westheimer
is one of the main east-west arteries connecting the city of Houston. By
worshiping outside on Westheimer, we hoped to create a symbol of what
it means to be a light across Houston. No one wants to freeze, however,
so the worship program will move inside. We still pray that you will
consider how to impact the city, even from inside the heated Hall Life
Center.
- 20% of foster youth become homeless the
moment they age out of the foster care system. St. John the Divine wants
to help break that cycle.
Just a few weeks ago, our church announced the launch of a new non-profit, A Lighted Path. Its first program will help young adults aging out of the foster care system
find job support, mentorship, housing, and care through a program called Adults in Training in partnership
with DePelchin Children’s Center. In honor of the launch of A Lighted
Path, this month’s City-Wide Night of Worship will focus on what it
means to be a light.
- Tori Hope Petersen lived in
over 10 foster homes when she was growing up. She went on to be a state
track champion, Mrs. Universe, mother of three, and best-selling author
of Fostered. Now, she is coming to speak at the worship night this Saturday!
We
met Tori at the Global Leadership Summit this year, and knew right away
we had to ask her to visit. As A Lighted Path starts to partner with
young adults who are aging out of the foster care system, we wanted to
hear more of her story! Tori will share with us how becoming a Christian
changed her life and the power of showing God’s love to others.
- Anna
Lehnhoff visited St. John the Divine for the first time at The Door’s
first worship night. Now, she’s one of the worship leaders.
In
June 2021, Anna stumbled through the doors of SJD as a first-time
visitor. She had seen the Instagram ad for the City-Wide Night of
Worship and decided to give our church a try. Now, just a year and a
half later, Anna is part of the worship team at The Table on Sunday
mornings and is leading Be Thou My Vision at the worship night this
Saturday. If you haven’t met Anna yet, look for her after the program in
Sumner’s Hall during our food truck lounge and hang-out time.
- The Door has partnered with 25+ musicians since it started during the pandemic in 2020. Now, it wants to partner with you.
The
Door is more than a type of worship night St. John the Divine hosts
twice each year. As a ministry at St. John the Divine, it seeks to bring
worship music, biblical teaching, and episcopal and Anglican traditions
to a new generation of Christians. Pray about how you might be called
to disciple the next generation of Christians in your life. Will you
come on Saturday and feel called to support A Lighted Path? Will you
start to pray for your younger coworker, maybe even invite them to
lunch? Discipling others is a call placed on all believers. How might
you answer the call?
This Saturday at 6 pm, The Door hosts its fourth City-Wide Night of Worship with guest speaker, Tori Hope Petersen, author of Fostered. Tori will share her story of hope and finding faith as part of this one-hour worship evening and concert. Get your free tickets and make plans to stay for dinner with a taco truck, the Citizens Coffee Truck and representatives from The Riverside Project, and more. Child care is available for ages 0-8 from 5:30 – 8 pm.
Free Night of Worship Tickets