October 9, 2015 
In This Issue
From the Senior Warden
From the Junior Warden
From the Music Director
Worship Update
Youth & Family Ministry Update
Service Notes & Music
From the Church Office
Sunday Service Schedule
About the Gospel
Quick Links
The Gospel According to St. Mark's
From Peter Sherer, Senior Warden

Hi All,
 
Some news you can use for this week:
 
Our New Financial Management System
We have a new bookkeeper who is great and her name is Patricia Schans (patricia.schans@stmarks.net). Patricia knows the church well because she and her family were members of St Marks several years ago. Patricia joined us last week to take the place of Warren O'Hearn. We have also contracted with an outside accounting firm, The Goldin Group, to track all money into the church and to pay all our bills. Susan Block has been out ill with severe back pain since August and her doctor expects that she will be unavailable for the rest of the year. So while she will be on short-term medical disability for the foreseeable future, Patricia will be working with The Goldin Group to do both the bookkeeper job and to manage Susan's responsibilities. As you can imagine, the simultaneous combination of new people and new systems, while great for the church, is causing a difficult transition. Michele and I with the help of Linda Ewald are managing the process every day to make sure that the highest priority financial issues are handled first. Everyone in the parish can be helpful by understanding that for the next month we will not be as efficient as we will be by Thanksgiving and for limiting your calls and emails to Patricia to only very high priority requests. Thank you for your understanding. The short-term difficulty is well worth the considerable long-term benefits of professionalizing our approach to our church finances.
The 12 Challenges Facing the Church and Our Plans to Meet Them
Last January 50 St Mark"s leaders met for a weekend at DuPont House to begin to prepare for the transition to a new Rector. During the weekend we identified 12 challenges facing the church for the Vestry to manage over the next two years. When I was elected Senior Warden I asked key people to be responsible for each of the twelve challenges and luckily for us very knowledgeable and generous people agreed to lead each of the challenge areas. This Sunday the Strategic Plan for 2015-2017 to meet the challenges will be inserted in the Bulletin at all three services. It will also be posted on the website and given to the Rector candidates by the Discernment and Search Committee. Please look at the plan carefully and contact the people responsible for managing the part of the plan where you can make a contribution of time or talent. Your thoughts will be very welcome. Thank you.
 
Signing up for the Costume "Sinners and Saints" Dance on October 30th
Don't miss the incredible Saints & Sinners Halloween Costume Dance Friday, October 30 in St. Mark's Nave.  6:00-10:30pm.  Nursery & children's activities are available but must reserve by Oct 18 at http://bit.ly/1hAK04t . You can also purchase Adult/Young Adult online tickets at http://bit.ly/1F0n2Jw or buy tickets after St. Mark's church services. See you there.
 
The 2016 Canvass is in High Gear
Mike Townsend and Nora Howell our incredibly hard working Canvass-Co chairs led a thought provoking Town Hall last Sunday that was loaded with information on the budget, our goal, and the process we should all expect. Over 50 people volunteered to canvass us over the next 5 weeks as we are trying to finish this year by November 8th. Please respond to your canvasser's request to see you in person soon. Thanks.
 
Hugs
 
Peter
From Doris Burton, Junior Warden

I am out of town until late October. In my absence, former JW Charlie Rupp is serving as Interim JW in my absence, ably assisted by members of the Fabric Committee. No one knows the building as well as Charlie. Please direct your questions/needs to him at stmarksjuniorwarden@gmail.com. Also, list of equipment and supplies for your use are in the rack beneath the Info Board in the Foyer.
From Jeff Kempskie, Director of Music
Dear St. Mark's,

I would like to thank all those involved in last Sunday's Earth Mass for doing such a fabulous job - the Chancel Choir, Boys & Girls Choir, instrumentalists including Chris Herman, Rosie Brooks and the dancers, Josie Jordan for working the slideshow, Christine Farrell for running the sound, the St. Mark's clergy & staff, Jerry Dale of the Players for helping to mount the projector screen, and Ed Green and his guys for setting up the nave and changing the configuration of the choir risers.  All in all, it took more than 50 people to organize the service and create the beautiful music, dancing, and accompanying images.  I was delighted with how everything turned out and hope the congregation was inspired and energized by the service. 

 

Peace,

 

JEFF
Worship Update
Friends,

If you came to worship at St. Mark's in September, you may remember hearing about Worship Participation Month. This idea was an experiment in which we recruited volunteers to take part in worship as they walked in the door for service roles ranging from greeters and acolytes to lay servers and readers. The genesis of this innovative approach came from our own Associate Rector, Justi Schunior, who was inspired by a blog post about a similar experiment at a UK parish, appropriately also called St. Mark's. You can read more about it here.

So, how did we do? What did we learn? As with many things, the answers depend on your perspective. Our challenge was to make worship more inclusive. By that standard, we were fairly successful at finding young people, newcomers, and long-time parishioners to take part in worship in new ways. The smiles of two new acolytes following one service and positive comments from many individuals were, for us, a testament to the benefit of this experiment.

We learned that there are challenges to this approach. Coordinating volunteers at the last minute involves a lot of moving parts, and we often called upon some of our long-term volunteers to fill in gaps. We also needed volunteers to train our new participants. We owe a debt of gratitude to all those who stepped up and helped ensure our worship continued with (mostly) no lapses.

Was it worth it? We think the answer is yes. We pushed ourselves beyond what was comfortable to try a new, innovative approach to worship. Innovation in worship is not just about the words we say - it is about reimagining how we worship in our space, and how we invite all to join us. We may or may not have another Worship Participation Month, but we hope to continue encouraging everyone in our midst to be part of the service, to find new meaning in our communal worship. If you did not get a chance to participate in worship and are interested in doing so in any capacity, please email us at stmarkslpt@gmail.com.

-- Jessie Babcock & Val Byrd, Worship Co-Chairs
From Caroline McReynolds-Adams, Director of Youth & Family Ministries
 
Dear St. Mark's,
 
It has been a full, energizing first couple months as Director of Youth and Family Ministries!  I have loved meeting and getting to know some youth over the past few weeks! Between the Parish Picnic, Teen Retreat, Sunday School Open House, and awesome Teens Dream event, I have come to conclude that St. Mark's has some of the coolest, smartest, most talented kids in the city. I am definitely honored to get to work with you all!
 
The hope, the continued work, is that this community will be one where young people can deeply connect with one another.  It is this connection and sense of community that helps us each other figure out what it means to be people of love in this world and carry it out passed the walls of St. Marks.  To move towards realizing that goal, I have been working on communication this fall. The Youth E-News publication has launched including weekly updates, news, and information to serve as your one-stop-shop for information. If you are a youth, family member, or interested parishioner and you have not yet seen the E-News in your inbox, please let me know.
 
We are also starting our new text reminder service for youth and families. This easy and free service through www.remind.com will ensure that you receive the most updated, age-specific information about programs and events including reminders and last minutes changes, all while keep your phone number private. Contact me or refer to the most recent E-News for more information and subscription instructions. 
 
All of these communication improvements are an effort to prepare the youth and families of St. Mark's for some exciting new programming that is in the works for 2016.
 
Looking forward,
Caroline

 
Prelude
Solemn Melody, Henry Walford Davies (1869-1941), arr. John West
 
Opening Hymn
488 Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart, Tune: Slane
 
Sequence Hymn
684 O for a closer walk with God, Tune: Caithness
 
Offertory Anthem
O How Amiable, R. Vaughan Williams - Chancel Choir
 
Presentation Hymn
424 For the fruit of all creation, v. 1, Tune: East Acklam
 
Sanctus & Fraction Anthem - Susan Calvin Fletcher  
 
Music During Communion
(9:00) Seek ye first the kingdom of God, Music by Karen Lafferty
   Boys & Girls Choir; Elizabeth Rivera, director
(11:15) Hymn 711 Seek ye first the kingdom of God, Tune: Seek Ye First
Hymn 383 Fairest Lord Jesus, Tune: St. Elizabeth
 
Closing Hymn
655 O Jesus, I have promised, Tune: Nyland
 
Postlude
Rondeau from Abdelazer, Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
From the Church Office

The Church office will be closed Monday, October 12 in observance of Columbus Day.  
Schedule of Services 
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
 
9:00 am Family Eucharist
The Reverend R. Justice Schunior, Presider
The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Co-Presider

10:00 am Sermon Seminar
The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Preacher 
 
11:15 am Holy Eucharist
The Reverend R. Justice Schunior, Presider
The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Co-Presider and Preacher 
 
5:00 pm Contemplative Eucharist
The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Presider and Homilist 
About the Gospel
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