October 2, 2015 
In This Issue
From the Music Director
From the Senior Warden
From the Junior Warden
Service Notes & Music
Sunday Service Schedule
About the Gospel
Quick Links
The Gospel According to St. Mark's
From the Stewardship Committee

It's that time of year again - time for St. Mark's annual stewardship effort to raise funds for our 2016 operating budget. This year, we are returning to something that St. Mark's used to do regularly, but has not done in more than a decade: a true "Every Member Canvass," with the goal of holding face-to-face meetings with every member and potential member of our community. In this time of transition for the parish, the leadership of St. Mark's believes this is the best way to enhance relationships, strengthen our community and, yes, raise as much money in contributions and pledges as possible to ensure that the parish is on strong financial footing as we welcome our new Rector in 2016.
 
Here's what to expect in the weeks ahead. First off, please join us for a short Town Hall meeting in Baxter Hall immediately following the "Earth Mass" on October 4. We'll provide a brief overview of the state of St. Mark's finances, describe how this year's Canvass will work and answer your questions.
There are nearly 50 "canvassers," members of the community who have stepped up to take on this important task. Each has been assigned 4-6 parishioners. Your Canvasser will contact you in the coming weeks to find a mutually convenient time to get together, engage in conversation about your experience at St. Mark's and ask you to consider making a financial pledge for 2016. We ask you to make every effort to meet in person with your Canvasser. Invite him or her to visit your home. Meet for lunch, dinner, or coffee. Have a conversation in a quiet corner of St. Mark's after the Sunday service. How, when and where you meet is entirely up to you. But please try to make time to sit down for a face-to-face conversation about what you like and dislike about St. Mark's and about how your experience of St. Mark's influences your financial support of the community. The goal is to complete the conversations by November 8.
 
There won't be any high-pressure tactics at these conversations. In most cases, your Canvasser will ask you to consider giving a specific amount in 2016. This number was provided to the Canvasser by the Stewardship Co-Chairs. Your Canvasser does not know how much you pledged in 2015, nor does he or she know how the "ask" number relates to your current pledge. We have kept current pledge information confidential, but have provided your Canvasser with an "ask" for 2016 to provoke you to think about your giving.
 
Your Canvasser will have pledge forms and other information available, and you can find additional forms (for things like making a contribution of stock or mutual fund shares, paying your pledge by payroll deduction and paying your pledge via automatic bank debit) on the St. Mark's web site, under Pledging & Finances. The online pledge form that we debuted last year will also be available. And we have just begun using a new vendor, Easy Tithe, for online giving through the web site. You can make credit card gifts to St. Mark's or set up a recurring pledge payment via the online giving tool. This new vendor is much more cost-efficient for St. Mark's, ensuring that more of the dollars you contribute online are going to St. Mark's programs rather than administrative fees.
 
We hope everyone has a good experience during this Canvass. The goal is not just to raise funds for our operating budget, but to deepen relationships and our sense of community. We are grateful for your support.
 
Mike Townsend and Nora Howell, Stewardship Co-Chairs
From Jeff Kempskie, Director of Music

Dear St. Mark's,
 
I hope you're planning to attend this Sunday's Missa Gaia/Earth Mass service with the Blessing of the Animals. From the music sung and played by the Chancel Choir, Boys & Girls Choir, and instrumentalists (saxophone, cello, piano, organ, percussion) to the liturgical dancers and the beautiful nature images that will be displayed, it is sure to be an inspiring and uplifting event!
 
Please remember that the choir is singing the Beatitudes as a choral prelude starting at 9:50, so do plan to arrive early (and enter the nave quietly!). Also, consider inviting a friend or family member to share in this special St. Mark's experience.

Peace,
JEFF 
From Peter Sherer, Senior Warden
 
Hi All,
 
Church Starts Early at 9:50 am on Sunday
The Earth Mass is beautiful and complex and the singing will actually start at 9:50 am so leave early for church so we can all be in our seats when it starts. Things will be unusually lively as we are also having Blessing of the Animals so all pets need to be in their places by 9:50 am as well.
 
Disposable Diapers
Marika Klein is organizing a drive to collect disposable diapers for Moms who find them absolutely necessary and too expensive. There is a special need for the large size. There was a very poignant story in the Metro section of The Post on Wednesday about poor mothers who run out of diapers before the end of the month. The article noted "Tabatha Pettigrew never feels more humiliated as a mother than when diapers run low for her two youngest children and she has no money for more. Anxiety builds and she stresses about how she can make what's left last until her next $600 monthly public assistance check. The 32-year-old dreads the walk when, as a last resort, she will knock on neighbors' doors in hopes they have some to spare. Worst of all, she feels like an inadequate parent because she can't provide such a basic necessity." I am on my way to Costco. Please join me.
 
 
Buy Tickets to the "Saints and Sinners Dance"
The Middle Timers (people in their 40s and 50s) are putting on a costume dance for us all on Friday October 30thIt will be big fun and they are selling tickets in the foyer after the service on Sunday. Don't miss out.
 
 
Update on the DSC and the Canvas
After church on Sunday there will be Pub Lunch and a chance to hear from Jim Ashley and Nadine Hathaway about their progress and the anticipated timetable for calling a new Rector. Then Mike Townsend and Nora Howell our fantastic Canvas Co-Chairs will bring us all up to date on their plans for this year's canvas and our role in it being successful. They will have slides and excellent handouts so plan to stick around and hear the latest.
 
From Doris Burton, Junior Warden
 
For the past 30+ years, our Nave has been home for the St. Mark's Players. The company was one of the activities that drew us here in 1986. My husband Jack has twice directed for them: Camelot, the 1989 celebration of the Nave's 100th year, and The Fantasticks, in 1991, when the Undercroft was being constructed.
 
Over the years, they have produced an enormous variety of great shows, but it's no secret that this activity puts wear-and-tear on our nave floor...all that furniture moving, the lights, the cables, the 'stuff' around during the run of the show. It's the 'cost' vs. 'promise' that is who we are.
 
Jerry Dale of the Players and I have been searching for ways to reduce the impact on our floor. It was one of the driving forces behind using 'Street Shoe', a more durable polyurethane when we recently had the Nave floor refinished. One issue is the use of painters' tape to 'spike' the floor -- that is, mark it so stagehands know where to place set -- pieces for the next scene. The tape has been guilty of lifting the poly, partly because it is down for the 3-week run.
 
While testing the tape on the 'Street Shoe', I did some research and discovered fluorescent tempera paint (the stuff you used in elementary school) washes off yet remains visible for the crew. So-those little green dots aren't a sign your vision is failing...they are 'spike' marks and will be gone when the production is over.
 
And...thanks to music director Jeff Kempskie for generously moving the choir rehearsal to the Elders Room for the run of the show so the Players can be up on Thursday night to make up for their loss of the Sunday matinees. Compromise works amazingly well.
 
On Tuesday, my husband Jack and I will disappear for three weeks. So that the building remains standing (!), former Junior Warden Charlie Rupp will serve as Interim Junior Warden, assisted by members of the Fabric Committee. No one knows the building as well as Charlie. Please direct your questions/needs to him. And: a list of equipment and supplies for your use are in the rack beneath the Info Board (note: thanks to Jack Richards, the Baxter Hall light switches are now labeled!)
 
Lastly, please remember to: close doors firmly, wherever and whenever, especially exterior doors; turn out lights, return things to their proper spot, leave your space cleaner than you found it. Do for others whatever you would have them do for you. Should you 'miss the mark'? Well, Confession -- p.360 in the Book of Common Prayer -- is good for the soul. Interim Rector the Reverend Michele Morgan is available for Absolution.
 
(9:50) Choral Prelude
The Beatitudes, John Scott - Chancel Choir; Lou Bayard, soloist
 
Opening Hymn
Canticle of Brother Sun, Text: St. Francis of Assisi, Book of Job,
   F.S. Pierpont, adapted by Paul Winter, Music by Jim Scott and Paul Winter
   - Chancel Choir, Boys & Girls Choir, Dancers, with congregation
 
Kyrie                                        
Music by Alaskan Tundra Wolf, Paul Winter and Paul Halley - Chancel Choir            
 
Offertory Anthem
Ubi Caritas, Words: St. Francis of Assisi, attrib., and Yoruba and Khemitic texts
   Music by Paul Halley - Chancel Choir                                     
 
Presentation Hymn
412 Earth and all stars, vv. 1, 5, 6, Tune: Earth and All Stars
 
Sanctus and Benedictus                                   
Music by Humpback Whale, Paul Winter, Oscar Castro-Neves, and Paul Halley
   - Chancel Choir                    
 
Music During Communion
Agnus Dei, Music by Paul Winter and Jim Scott - Chancel Choir                    
Sound Over All Waters, Words by John Greenleaf Whittier, Music by Paul Halley
   - Chancel Choir; Marika I. Klein, soloist                
The Blue Green Hills of Earth, Words and Music by Kim Oler,
   Choral Setting by Paul Halley - Chancel Choir; Charmian Crawford, soloist        
 
Closing Hymn
Let Us Depart in Peace (Reprise of "Canticle of Brother Sun")  
   Music by Jim Scott & Paul Winter - Chancel Choir, Boys & Girls Choir,
   Dancers, with congregation
 
Postlude
The Promise of a Fisherman, Dorival Caymmi, arr. Castro-Neves, Winter
Schedule of Services 
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
 

10:00 am Holy Eucharist  

+ Blessing of the Animals + Laying on of Hands

The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Presider and Preacher

   

5:00 pm Contemplative Eucharist + Blessing of the Animals

The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Presider and Homilist  

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