July 24, 2015
In This Issue
From the Senior Warden
From the Associate Rector
From the Music Director
Service Notes & Music
Sunday Service Schedule
About the Gospel
Quick Links
The Gospel According to St. Mark's
From Peter Sherer, Senior Warden
  

A Visit to The Bishop Claggett Center

 

Hi All,

 

This week Linda Staheli, Marilu Sherer, and I drove an hour to see The Bishop Claggett Center near Frederick, Maryland. We wanted to see if it would be an appropriate replacement for Shrine Mont next June 11-12, 2016.

 

We loved it.

 

It is close by, beautiful, comfortable, and affordable. For more information and pictures go to www.claggettcenter.org.

 

I asked Linda Staheli to join me because she is so aware of the issues that face young families and teens and I especially wanted them to join the rest of the parish there.
Linda said afterward:

 

"While I will really miss Shrine Mont, I found Claggett to be in a spectacularly beautiful setting with accommodations to meet our various constituencies and lots of activities including a campfire ring, three cool chapels, an old barn for dances, beautiful trails for walking, and a fabulous ropes course. The best thing is that it is only an hour from DC so folks can also just join us for the day! I'm really excited about our inter-generational bonding and hope everyone puts the second weekend of June 2016 on their calendars now".

 

Marilu said:

 

"I was pleasantly surprised by the overnight accommodations and the reasonable pricing. In the newly constructed, comfortable Inn, a room with 4 meals is $148 and a room in one of the older, quaint, cottages is $128 with four meals."


The plan would be for all of us to drive up to Claggett on Saturday morning June 11th and stay through lunch on Sunday June 12th.

 

In order to reserve the space for St Marks we need a commitment from a minimum of 55 people prepared to make a deposit now. Since this is not in the budget we must limit the financial exposure to the church. In August I will be asked to sign a contract guaranteeing at least 55 participants at $50 per person. For couples it is $100. Please give a check to either Peter Sherer or Doris Burton and write "Claggett" on the memo line. The funds will be transferable but not refundable.

 

Many thanks in advance for committing to this major community building experience.  

 

Hugs,

Peter

From the Reverend R. Justice Schunior, Associate Rector

Friends,

This Sunday I will be away - just down the street at Christ Church, Capitol Hill, filling in for the Rev. Cara Spaccarlli while she's on vacation. I'm looking forward to being in a new location and seeing how our closest neighboring Episcopal Church does things; however, I'm disappointed to miss Michele's first Crab Fest. I know you'll show her a great time and initiate her into this unique St. Mark's tradition. 

Filling in at one of our neighboring churches reminds me that we sometimes try to grow membership (not "we" St. Mark's, but "we" the church in general) by attracting the congregants of other churches. This plan worked for a while. My parents came to the Episcopal Church because of their frustration with the churches of their upbringings. My mother was a scarred Southern Baptist, for example. She remembers weeping, as a child, over all the lost souls who would never know Christ. The Episcopal Church taught her to think about faith, sin, salvation, and other theological concepts in entirely new ways. This was life saving for them, at the time.

But I don't think this is a good recipe for growth these days. Faith communities, well all kinds of communities, need each other, even if we're on different parts of the progressive spectrum - for lack of a better term. We need to work together to meet people where they are in their search for meaning and commitment. Attracting members from other churches is a kind of cannibalism. We have to ask the question of whether we have anything good and helpful to offer someone who has no church upbringing and no obvious hungering for faith. Why would you hang out with us, with our strange words, windows, and way of being together? 

St. Mark's has many good and important gifts to offer those who are seeking; and we need the wisdom of these seekers ourselves. But we also need to reach out to other groups; form partnerships; learn from other communities. We can always stand to widen our perspective. 

Again, I'll miss being with you this Sunday, especially since I love picking crabs (a love I picked up during my time in this region that horrifies my seafood hating family). I expect you to fill me in on all the details when I'm back next week!

Peace,
Justi

 

From the Director of Music

Dear St. Mark's,

I invite you to attend the upcoming Capitol Hill Chamber Music Festival concert at St. Mark's this Tuesday, July 28th at 7:30pm. Jeffrey Cohan (baroque flute) and Joseph Gascho (harpsichord) will perform Bach Trios. Suggested donation: $15, $20 or $25, 18 & under free.  Visit www.chcmf.org for more info.

I will be away on vacation this Sunday and next.  Our guest o
rganist, Dr. Donna Whited, is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where she received her DMA in organ as a student of Russell Saunders. A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, she has lived in Reston, Virgina since 2004.

Peace,
JEFF

 

Prelude

Vater unser im himmelreich, Georg Böhm (1661-1733)

     - Dr. Donna Whited, guest organist     

Opening Hymn

51 We the Lord's people, heart and voice uniting, Tune: Decatur Place

 

Sequence Hymn

574 Before the throne, O God, we kneel, Tune: St. Petersburg

 

Offertory Solo

Panis Angelicus, César Franck - Erin Riley, soloist

 

Presentation Hymn

705 v. 3 adapted, Tune: Forest Green

 

Sanctus

S 130 from Deutsche Messe, Franz Schubert; arr. Richard Proulx

 

Fraction Anthem

S 164 from Deutsche Messe, Franz Schubert; arr. Richard Proulx

 

Music During Communion

Hymn 304 I come with joy to meet my Lord, Tune: Land of Rest

Andante & Largo from Sonata No. 2 in D minor

     Michel Blavet (1700-1768) - Madeleine, Caceres, flute

Hymn 635 If thou but trust in God to guide thee, Tune: Wer nur den lieben Gott 

 

Closing Hymn

Hymn 455 O Love of God, how strong and true, Tune: Dunedin

 

Postlude

Prelude in G Major, BWV 541, J.S. Bach (1685-1750)     

     - Dr. Donna Whited, guest organist

Schedule of Services 
Sunday, July 26, 2015
The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
 

10:00 am Holy Eucharist

The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Presider and Preacher

   

5:00 pm Contemplative Eucharist

The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Presider and Homilist

About the Gospel
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