June 5, 2016
In This Issue
From the Music Director
From the Associate Rector
From the Worship Chairs
About Coffee Hour
Service Notes & Music
From the Church Office
About the Gospel
Quick Links
The Gospel According to St. Mark's
From Jeff Kempskie, Director of Music



Dear St. Mark's, 
 
Please join us this Sunday June 5th at 5pm for a Choral Evensong Service sung by the Chancel Choir.  This beautiful, meditative service, an example of the rich Anglican choral tradition we inherit as an Episcopal church, will include some new music for the choir as well as hymns, service music, and special organ works.  A reception will follow in Baxter Hall.


Plan to come this 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 tasty 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.  Also, this is a fantastic opportunity to invite a friend to St. Mark's!  Justi and I could really use some help with this, so please e-mail ASAP me if you'd be willing to bring a heavy hors d'oeuvre or an attractive non-alcoholic beverage, which we can reimburse you for.



Just a little further down the road, St. Mark's will host a series of fabulous early music concerts collectively known as Baroque Bonanza II beginning June 17th.  You can view the complete list of performances here on the St. Mark's website. 
 
Peace,
JEFF
From the Reverend R. Justice Schunior, Associate Rector



Friends,


Greetings from the Netherlands! Orange is kind of the national color here, so I look very patriotic and fit right in, but I'm wearing orange for non Dutch reasons. I wear orange for the 91 Americans killed everyday by gun violence; I wear orange to highlight the grip the NRA has on lawmakers; I wear orange to remember that gun violence is the leading cause of death for black males age 15-34; I wear orange for children who regularly see blood on their sidewalks as well as for those who are at the center of high-profile mass shootings. I hope you will join our bishop and many other Episcopalians and wear orange this Sunday, June 5. Watch this short video about the heart breaking story behind the movement to wear orange. 


Peace,
Justi
From the Worship Chairs

 
Reflections on Worship - from the Outgoing Worship Co-Chair Jessie Babcock:


On June 1, Valeri Byrd and I officially hand over the reins as Co-Chairs of Worship to Linda Chandlee and Mary De Nys. For me, the last two years have seen many joys and a lot of hard work - and I have loved every minute of it. The last two years also have shown me that St. Mark's is a place where it is possible to embrace new ideas in liturgy and worship, while still holding on to what remains core about this place. We are a congregation of many different faith backgrounds and beliefs, with sometimes radically different ideas about what makes worship meaningful. But as a community, we are open to trying new things, and I have been eternally grateful for that. You may not have liked everything we tried, but you went along for the ride - and we thank you.


Let me highlight a few accomplishments of the Liturgy Planning Team over the past two years:


* Spiritual Practices summer preaching series (2014) - Guest preachers included Suella Henn, Grady Hedgespeth, David Deutsch, and seminarian Emily Williams Guffey.

* Worship in the Park (2015) - Eucharist and Compline in area Capitol Hill parks during the summer, in partnership with Christ Church.

* Worship Participation Month (2015) - Recruiting volunteers for worship, making all welcome to serve in our worship.

* All Mothers' Sunday (2015), Prayers for Social Justice (2015) and Stations of the Cross (2016) all at the U.S. Capitol - Bringing our witness for love and justice into the world.

* Advent Word of the Day (2015) - Reflections and photos based on a word or phrase during Advent to spur creative and spiritual thought.

* Taize style of worship during Lent (2016) - a meditative style of worship that uses silence, repetition, and chant to create a contemplative atmosphere.

* Special Passion Narrative (2015-16) - spoken word by Gwen Dillard and Wendy Couchman; liturgical dance with Dance Studio members; original choreography by Rosie Brooks; and music composed and performed by Jeff Kempskie with guest cellist.

* Compline and morning prayer during Lent (2015, 2014) - Introducing contemplative spiritual practices to our worship during holy seasons of the year.

* Special footwashing during Maundy Thurs (2014-15); integrated with Eucharist (2016)

* Beautiful decorations for Christmas and Easter (2014-16) - Thanks to Lisa Ramish and many, many volunteers!

Whatever successes we've had in worship over the past two years have come about because there was a small group of committed people willing to meet once a month (sometimes more often) to discuss and plan liturgy - to put their heart and souls into the "work of the people." 


I treasure the counsel and wisdom of: Valeri Byrd, Linda Chandlee, Mary Cooper, Mary De Nys, David Deutsch, Mary Jo Detweiler, Mary Ellison, Raiford Gaffney, Jeff Kempskie, Hester Ohbi, Michele Rivard, Susan Sedgewick, the Rev. Michele Morgan, and the Rev. Justi Schunior. Thank you.


Thanks are also due to YOU, the parish community. Thank you to individuals who took time to praise or offer a critique of our liturgy. Thank you for those who cared enough to come and voice their opinions during our parish retreat, "Shrine Mont on the Hill," in 2015. Most of all, thank you for being patient with us during a period of transition.

Over to you, Linda and Mary!


Best,

Jessie and Val 
About Coffee Hour, by Jim Steed



THE COFFEE BEAN AS A MEANS OF GRACE;
OR, WHY YOU SHOULD HELP REVIVE ST. MARK'S COFFEE HOUR


"The sacraments are outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace. . . What are the two great sacraments of the Gospel?  The two great sacraments given by Christ to his Church are Holy Baptism and the Holy Eucharist." [Book of Common Prayer, pp. 857-858]
And as we live out our common life together there are other activities that take on a quasi-sacramental character.  One of these, I suggest, is coffee hour.  The number of churches--and synagogues-that fail to offer coffee after worship services must be small to vanishing.  My reading of English crime fiction suggests to me that tea is equally ubiquitous in England.  And we offer these things for a reason-not, certainly, to replace the sacraments that Jesus Himself instituted-but because we want those who are looking for a welcoming place in this world to find it with us.
We know that coffee was first introduced to the world from Ethiopia.  AND one of the first biblical examples of outreach is St. Philip, who evangelized the treasurer of Candace, Queen of Ethiopia [Acts 8:26-40].  Even earlier we know that the Queen of Sheba had visited Solomon in great state and gave to him 120 talents of gold as well as gems and spices in great quantity [I Chron 9:9].  Surely we could infer that a knowledge of coffee passed at this same time to those to whom the Ethiopian monarchs [South Arabia in the case of Sheba, but right across the Red Sea from Africa] felt especially indebted.
So, let's consider the St. Mark's coffee hour.  Is it sacramental?  No, it is not.  But it does bespeak the outward and visible signs of hospitality and welcome that we extend to visitors.  I suspect there is not ONE Episcopal [or other?] church in America that does not offer coffee after its worship service.  St. Mark's has long done the same.  When I first arrived here, we offered Taster's Choice or Nescafe, or, on bad days, Maxwell House instant coffee.  Then we graduated to coffee made in large urns, but prepared with such vicissitudes that its quality ranged from suspect to truly dreadful.
Now, thanks to the foresight of the 2020 campaign, we have a coffee-making system that actually produces good, drinkable coffee, unlike the instant swill of yore.  A cadre of volunteers ensures that the coffee is enjoyed and made regularly available. We enjoyed a preview of a new, better run coffee hour on Sunday, May 8. [It was decided not to promote it as connected to Mother's Day, since its application is more general.] 
Fritz Henn [9 AM service] and Jim Steed [11:15] have agreed to co-ordinate coffee hour and refreshments going forward and will furnish the ingredients for a time, BUT WE NEED HELP TO MAKE THIS WORK REGULARLY.  There is no budgeted funding for this effort, so we are asking for freewill offerings, to be placed in a receptacle we will provide.  We also need people to step up with contributions in kind.  Coffee and tea will be provided, but simple contributions of crackers, cheese, breads and other snackable items are needed and welcomed from Sunday to Sunday.  While we will still have pub lunches from time to time as needed, with more complete food service, the two coffee hours are meant to give people a chance to talk over a nosh.  We look forward to building up community and to welcoming newcomers in this way.


Prelude
Prelude in C minor, BWV 546, J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
 
Opening Hymn
390 Praise to Lord, the Almighty, Tune: Lobe den Herren
 
Gloria in excelsis WLP 900 John Rutter
 
Offertory Anthem
Praise His Holy Name! Keith Hampton - Chancel Choir
 
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
(9:00) Something's Got a Hold On Me
(9:00) When In Our Music God Is Glorified, Words by F. Pratt Green
   Music by Don McAfee - Boys & Girls Choir; Libbi Rivera, director,
   Conrad Chaffee, piano
(9:00) Jubilate Deo, Michael Praetorius - Boys & Girls Choir
The Call, Ralph Vaughan Williams - Chancel Choir
(9:00) Alleluia, William Boyce - Teen Choir
WLP 774 From miles around the sick ones came, Tune: Tucker
(11:15) LEVAS 194 Lead me, guide me, Doris Akers
 
Closing Hymn
LEVAS 188 It Is Well with My Soul, Words by Horatio Spafford,
   Music by Philip P. Bliss
 
Postlude
Fugue in C minor, BWV 546, J.S. Bach
From the Church Office

 
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.
 

Upcoming 10:00 a.m. Morning Services: 
June 12 - All Parish Retreat 
July 3 - Fourth of July Weekend
July 24 - Crab Feast
September 11 - Kickoff Sunday and All Parish Picnic
October 2 - Earth Mass & Blessing of the Animals

Schedule of Services 
Sunday, June 5 
The Third Sunday after Pentecost, Year C
 

9:00 am Holy Eucharist + Laying on of Hands

The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Presider

The Reverend Rebecca Justice Schunior, Co-Presider

   

9:00 am Children's Chapel

 

10:00 am Sermon Seminar

The Reverend Rebecca Justice Schunior, Preacher

 

11:15 am Holy Eucharist + Laying on of Hands

The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Presider

The Reverend Rebecca Justice Schunior, Preacher and Co-Presider

 

5:00 pm Choral Evensong

The Reverend Rebecca Justice Schunior, Presider

About the Gospel
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St. Marks Episcopal Church-Capitol Hill | 301 A Street SE | Washington | DC | 20003