This Sunday is the Capitol Hill Classic. This annual race in our neighborhood shuts down a number of roads in the area. You may need to plan a few extra minutes or an alternate route to make it to church on time. Click HERE to find out which roads are closed and when. If you are participating in the race, good luck and may the wind be at your back!
From the Reverend R. Justice Schunior, Associate Rector
"[Ansel] Adams said, 'Chance favors the prepared mind.' Gifted people know this to be true. They look like geniuses to the outsider, and often they are, but there is a method behind their holy madness. They have learned to wait for and fully expect what Hungarian psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi brilliantly calls 'flow.' It is no surprise that our common metaphors for the Holy Spirit all honor and point to a kind of flow experience: living water, blowing wind, descending flames, and alighting doves."
-Richard Rohr
This is perfectly acceptable attire for this coming Sunday, the day of Pentecost. Pentecost is the day we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the Church. The color red symbolizes the tongues of fire that the writer of Acts says appeared to the disciples and allowed them to speak in different languages.
The Holy Spirit is that surprising, chaotic, unpredictable aspect of God. We can prepare ourselves in all kinds of ways, but the Spirit will sometimes disrupt all of our carefully laid plans with divine chaos and inspiration. Thank God for that!
So, wear red this Sunday; be flamboyantly joyful in whatever way the Spirit inspires you.
Peace,
Justi
From Doris Burton, Junior Warden
Around the house...Notes from the Junior Warden
Last Saturday, about 20 of your fellow St. Mark's-ers arrived to dig in the mud of the courtyard garden and continue efforts to make it glorious again. If you missed out-because of more important commitments, you'll have another chance: we will have a fall workday, probably Saturday, Oct 1 or 8.
Not only did they weed (and did they ever weed!), a team removed the dead shrubs and several 'volunteer' and very scraggly plants; they planted two new boxwoods, thinned out the Solomon's Seal along the building, raked and weeded the bed along the parking wall, added a passionflower vine along the fence, and prepped the remaining 'empty' bed (where the port-a-potties once stood) and added a number of plants from the original design-my goal is to restore as much of that plan as possible.
Nearly everything was mulched yet there is still work to do:
The tree boxes along the sidewalk still need weeding (only one was cleaned) a couple of areas didn't get mulched.
If you have periwinkle (vinca vine) that you want to thin out, please let me know. Ben Schaibly will be adding lamium to the parking lot garden and more vinca in there would be great.
And...to not forget...while most toiled in the ground, two folks worked on several small kitchen projects, another is refinishing the high altar rail while another began cleaning out the floor vents in the nave.
Is there more we can do to improve our parish home? Of course...so do think about coming out in October.
Meantime, please thank those listed on the info board for their wonderful work last weekend...and enjoy the beauty of our gardens.
AND...if you enjoy gardening and are willing, I am looking for 10 parishioners who will care for one portion of the courtyard area for the season. I have several volunteers and could use more so please contact me. You'd weed/work at your leisure, on your schedule, giving as much time as you can. That's all anyone can ask.
I've also been asked to put in a good word for coffee hour. Besides being a great opportunity for us to enjoy one another, it's also a way to engage with visitors and those looking for a spiritual home. I love visiting churches and one of my best experiences was the coffee hour at Trinity Church+Iowa City. The place was jumping-and we were handed from person to person, choir director, outreach volunteers, party planners...spending nearly 2 hours with those great folks. That's the kind of impression we would like to leave with visitors and potential new members for St. Mark's.
Its success depends on you: Fritz Henn and Jim Steed have agreed to coordinate coffee hour contributors. They're not providing the food but, rather, want to help you do that. We'd like to offer reimbursement so are asking that you put $1-2 in the box to defray the costs (the budget covers coffee but not food).
More important, please sign up to provide goodies. We have a 'how to' sheet and it's really very easy. Homemade is fabulous but store-bought works very well, thank you!
From Jeff Kempskie, Director of Music
Dear St. Mark's,
With the change of liturgical season from Easter to Pentecost, we also have a change in the service music (the Gloria in excelsis, Sanctus, Fraction Anthem, etc.). I will take a couple minutes to teach some of this music before the singing of the opening hymn. As always, I encourage you to listen to the choir and organ but also to take some chances and take your best guess while singing the music, which will be unfamiliar to some.
Please mark your calendar on Wednesday June 8th for Hymns & Hoopla! Formerly known as Beer & Hymns, this fun evening will provide an opportunity to sing some of your favorite hymns while sampling a variety of beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks) in addition to snacks and treats. Social time begins at 6:30 and the singing starts at 7:00. Feel free to drop in anytime - we'll wrap up by 9:30.
On Sunday June 5th at 5pm the Chancel Choir will sing for the last time this season during a Choral Evensong Service. This beautiful, meditative service, an example of the rich Anglican choral tradition we inherit as an Episcopal church, will include Preces & Responses by local composer Gary Davison, canticles by Walmisley, and a delightful a cappella anthem by Alice Parker & Robert Shaw. A reception will follow the service in Baxter Hall.
Just a little further down the road, St. Mark's will host a series of early music concerts entitled "Baroque Bonanza II" beginning June 17th. You can view the complete list of performances here.
Peace,
JEFF
Summer Service Schedule...aka there is no summer service schedule!
For the past several years, in July and August, we have moved from two morning services to one service at 10:00 am. Lots of us go away on vacation for part of this time; the choir takes the summer offl; and sometimes, for large stretches at a time, there is only one clergy person. This is why we made the change in the past.
However, as we focus more and more on how we can grow our church and be welcoming to new people, we have decided to keep all three services throughout July and August. While there's no hard data that proves that when churches cut services, membership declines, there is strong anecdotal evidence for it. The diocese tells us that when they've tracked ANY kind of service changes in the few parishes they have tracked, they all resulted in near term attendance loss.
When services change, the challenge isn't for the committed few, it's for the rest of us mortals. Most families need months to get into a new routine, and summer brings enough change without also changing church time. And for the newcomer, it can be a disaster -- they either don't come because of the new time (not realizing it will soon be the old time), or they come and start to build an expectation about it and then are asked to change that expectation before they've become committed. These are reactions we want to avoid.
So, this summer, keep coming to church! We will have offerings for children and families all summer long (Summer Sunday School; Children's Chapel; Family Services). If one of the things you liked about combined services was the chance to meet new people and worship in a different way, consider visiting a new service for a few weeks. There may be a few less people in the pews, the choir may not be leading us in music every week, but St. Mark's is open for business all summer long!*
* of course there are some exceptions. On special days of celebration or when we expect many folks to be away we will have one morning service at 10:00 am; the 5:00 pm service will continue as normal.
May 22 - Banner Sunday & Michele's Installation as Priest-in- Charge
June 12 - All Parish Retreat
July 3 - Fourth of July Weekend
July 24 - Crab Feast
September 11 - Kickoff Sunday and All Parish Picnic
From Saint Wilfrid's Suite: IV. Veni Creator Spiritus, Andrew Carter (b. 1939)
Opening Hymn
225 Hail thee, festival day! Tune: Salve festa dies
Gloria in excelsis WLP 900 John Rutter
First Reading
Acts 2:1-21
Gospel
John 14: 25-27
Procession to the Baptismal Font
LEVAS 134 Take me to the water, African American Spiritual
Offertory Anthem
Greater love hath no man, John Ireland - Chancel Choir; Marjorie Coombs Wellman & Lou Bayard, soloists (9:00), Charmian Crawford & Adam Caughey, soloists (11:15)
Presentation Hymn
380 Praise God, from whom all blessings flow, v. 3 alt. Tune: Old 100th
Sanctus, Memorial Acclamation, Amen, Fraction Anthem, Peter Crisafulli
Music During Communion
LEVAS 120 There's a sweet, sweet Spirit, Doris Akers
LEVAS 115 Spirit of the Living God, Daniel Iverson
Closing Hymn
LEVAS 114 Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit, African American Spiritual
Postlude
Every Time I Feel the Spirit, African American Spiritual, arr. Adolphus Hailstork (b. 1941)
Schedule of Services
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Pentecost
9:00 am Holy Eucharist + Holy Baptism + Laying on of Hands
The Reverend Rebecca Justice Schunior, Presider
The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Co-Presider
9:00 am Children's Chapel
Ms. Caroline McReynolds-Adams, Leader
10:00 am Sermon Seminar
The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Preacher
11:15 am Holy Eucharist + Laying on of Hands
The Reverend Rebecca Justice Schunior, Presider
The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Co-Presider & Preacher
5:00 pm Contemplative Eucharist + Holy Baptism
The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Presider & Homilist
About the Gospel
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