From the Reverend R. Justice Schunior, Associate Rector
Friends,
Since Sunday, I have not been able to think of much besides the shootings in Orlando last Sunday morning. I am sure many of you are feeling the same way. It was cathartic for me to be with so many others who are hurting on Wednesday night at the vigil in Dupont Circle. I hope you were able to find space to grieve as well.
It can be tempting to try to see this event through one lens - this was about guns, or about what is or is not Islamic terrorism, or about sexuality, or about race. And for those of us who are passionate about gun violence prevention, we must not focus so much on our anger at the gun lobby that we don't stop to listen to the grief of our LGBTQIA siblings. This shooting was the latest in a long and terrible history of homophobic violence. An attack at a gay nightclub was an attack on gay sanctuaries, a place where people finally felt able to be themselves. For many in the community, the attack opened a wound of a time when they felt unsafe or were bullied or were threatened. If you are a part of the LGBTQIA community, know that St. Mark's loves you and that we want to make our space a safe one for you to be yourself. If you not a part of this community, reach out to your friends who are - listen to them, take extra care of them in the days ahead, ask them what they need.
The social theory of intersectionality teaches us that there is no one way to look at this tragedy, there is no one narrative. We can be overwhelmed by the ways these different narratives intersect or we can strive to push the boundaries of our capacity for compassion ever outward, to encompass more layers of grief and loss than we may have ever done before. Sometimes the stretching of this muscle, like the stretching of our physical muscles, can be hurt. But my extremely talented massage therapist calls this kind of pain, "sweet pain". It is good, healthy hurt, that we can bear if we bear it together.
Peace,
Justi
From Peter Sherer, Senior Warden
Dear Ones,
I want to give a brief report on a very successful All Parish Retreat at Claggett last weekend.
The focus of the weekend was to get smarter about our financial and membership situation and to have a ton of fun. The evaluations that people completed at the end of the weekend told me that we had done both and that we wanted to return again every year.
We all owe a big debt to Josie Jordan, Jenifer Holland, Kit Arrington and Carolyn McReynolds-Adams for planning valuable content and handling the logistics of getting 146 of us up there and back in addition to getting us well fed.
On the fun side we swam, had a bonfire, square danced, watched a movie of the kids talking about why the loved St Marks, saw a wonderful skit the kids put on during worship on Sunday, and had plenty of time to make new friends.
So now to the facts about the membership and financial situation of the church that we learned together. 46 of the top 50 donors to the church are over 60 years of age. Last year the net loss of income from people who aged out of active congregational life was almost $50,000 and the loss will only pick up momentum over the next five to ten years. Newcomers in their early thirties give about 5% as much as the average long time parishioner who is leaving. This is to be expected given their stage in life. A recent study indicated that we have lost more than 20% of our active pledge units over the last five years. The reason the problem hasn't been more apparent is that remaining members have increased their gifts year over year. In order to maintain paying the bills we will need to attract 50 new pledge units each year for the next 5 years. This is twice as many new pledges as our current annual rate.
The Vestry's priority last year was to find Michele and to integrate her into the life of the church. We are now turning our attention to the big strategic challenge facing St Marks and all religious denominations. That is figuring out how to attract people to St Marks from a generation that in general has neither the tradition nor interest in church-based religion. Churches that figure this out will survive. The ones that don't will join an ever-growing number of churches that are shutting their doors permanently.
We decided that as first step in taking care of visitors who might be considering membership was that we would provide hospitality after each service on a regular and predictable basis for the next six months. People signed up to bring food after each service and most of the Sundays are covered. If you want to pitch in this way just let me know. We also decided to put more emphasis on lining up greeters for each service so people signed up for that too.
I am an optimist by nature. St Mark's is packed with smart and caring people. Church membership experts tell us that people generally start to investigate church in a serious way in their early 30s. Our job is to figure out what else attracts people in their 30s when marriage, baptism and other religious rituals may begin to seem helpful. The millennial generation is 100 million strong (the baby boomers are only 78 million) and DC has the most millennials of any major city in the US. The oldest millennials are 30 this year which means we will have a steady stream of 30 year olds over the next twenty years who are potential members. Our task is to understand what they need and provide attractive programs that reflect our values.
Interesting challenge.
Hugs,
Peter
From Doris Burton, Junior Warden
Around the House...
Thank you! To the volunteers who stepped forward to be founding members of the St. Fiacre Society! Jennifer Dalzell, Karen Getman, Thia Hamilton, Kathryn Powers, Liz Layton, Marika Klein, and Liz Blazovich (notice anything about that list, Gentlemen??) They will be weeding on their own schedule but I'm betting they'd be thrilled to have help. If you are willing and able, please contact any of them, or me, and join the group.
The Manciple from The Canterbury Tales
Manciple/ˈmænsᵻpəl/ (from Middle English "maunciple", Old French, which comes from the Latin "mancipium", "manceps") is a person in charge of the purchase and storage of food at an institution such as a college, monastery, or court of law. Manciples were sometimes also in charge of catering more generally, including food preparation. The title still survives in some Oxford and Cambridge colleges, at the Charterhouse in the City of London, in the Party of the Right of Yale University, in the name of Manciple Street in the borough of Southwark, London SE1 and at St. Mark's + Capitol Hill. Jack Burton is our current manciple.
We use the term to identify the Junior Warden's 'assistant', often the Fabric Committee Chair. In some cases (as in the present), the Manciple is a former JW. The advantage of that arrangement is, of course, s/he has a wealth of knowledge about the building that the new JW can depend on. Additionally, I have the great good fortune of a Fabric Committee made up of four JWs, two who have also served other JWs as Manciple.
While Jack is not in charge of purchases of food (and definitely not in charge of catering or food prep!), you can see we've modified the definition considerably.
So what does a Manciple do?
Assists with keeping the JW books: we manage four budgeted and four designated (accounts that accumulate from donations, fundraising, etc.).
Resource person: It's a steep learning curve but with an experienced Manciple, the curve flattens ever so slightly. S/he knows where everything is located (which air handler/condenser services which part of the building) which can save loads of research time.
Resource for contractors/vendors: Each time a repair is needed, an experienced Manciple can direct the JW to someone who can do that work. A lot of the time spent on this in the past has been mitigated by the Monarc Service Contract but occasionally we've stumped even Monarc: the sandstone that broke and fell from the tower a month ago has yet to be repaired. We have just this week located a company in Baltimore that works with this material.
Meets Monarch or contractors: While not as critical as in the past-when a new contractor was frequently used-we still like to have either the Manciple or someone from Fabric on-site to answer questions. Charlie Rupp has been kind enough to frequently be our go-to on this job, particularly regarding our locks and security system. Jack and I have met with reps from flooring and window companies, etc. gathering the information then presented to Fabric for discussion and decision.
Handy-man: The number of 'small jobs' (loosely) that Jack has done over the past 14 months has saved us a great deal of money. Each Tuesday (and often other days), Jack can be found somewhere in the building re-organizing a interior storage closet or the garden storage (three + times), changing light bulbs (PMM will soon take this on), painting the bench in Adams, installing storage pins in the copier closet, cleaning out/reorganizing the supply room (Ed Green's old office), setting mouse traps, framing and hanging a SS class map, re-gluing and caulking the Formica on the Adams Room sink area, changing the storage closet lock in Adams to provide free access for chairs. sorting/distributing filter for the various HVAC units, installing paper towel holders, repairing the chain on a nave door, etc., etc.
In some respects, the Manciple can be as important than the Junior Warden.
Another Award Last Tuesday evening, St Mark's received the Award of Excellence in the Historic Architecture category. The category qualifications were: Building design projects involving the preservation, restoration, rehabilitation, or sympathetic adaptive reuse of older structures. Projects must remain historic in character.
A presentation by one of the jurors gave a synopsis, with photos, of what made the project a winner - it was very impressive. (It will be posted online at WWW.AIANOVA.ORG/DA16 under 'Winner's Galleries').
Ed Corr, a member of the Vision2020 team represented us at the event attended by many of the professional team we worked with from Bonstra/Haresign.
From Jeff Kempskie, Director of Music
Dear St. Mark's,
All are invited to participate in the Summer Choir! This fun and easy way to make music is perfect for those unable to commit to singing with the choir during the September-June season. It's also great if you're looking to get your feet wet and just see what it's like to sing at St. Mark's. Here's the current schedule:
June 26 Summer Choir at 9:00 a.m. service
July 10 Summer Choir at 11:15 a.m. service with Jason West, substitute
July 24 Summer Choir at 10:00 a.m. (9:20 rehearsal) with Donna Whited, substitute
August 7 Summer Choir at 9:00 a.m. service
August 14 Summer Choir at 11:15 a.m. service
Unless specified otherwise, rehearsal times will be 8:20 for the 9:00 a.m. services and 10:30 for the 11:15 a.m. services.
388 O worship the King, all glorious above! Tune: Hanover
Commissioning of Youth Service Trip
First Reading
1 Kings 19: 1-4, 8-15a
Gospel
Luke 8:26-39
Offertory Solo
O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing, Words by Charles Wesley, Azmon, arr. Richard Walters - Sarah Headley, soloist
Presentation Hymn
Hymn 653 Dear Lord and Father of mankind, Tune: Repton
Sanctus, Fraction Anthem - Crisafulli
Music During Communion
Balm in Gilead, African American Spiritual, arr. Harry T. Burleigh - Sarah Headley, soloist
LEVAS 113 How Like a Gentle Spirit, C. Eric Lincoln & Edward John Hopkins
Closing Hymn
506 Praise the Spirit in creation, Tune: Finnian
Postlude
Pasticcio, Jean Langlais (1907- 1991)
Schedule of Services
June 19, 2016
The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
9:00 am Holy Eucharist + Laying on of Hands
The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Presider
The Reverend Rebecca Justice Schunior, Presider
9:00 am Children's Chapel
The Reverend Rebecca Justice Schunior, Leader
10:00 am Sermon Seminar
The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Preacher
11:15 am Holy Eucharist + Laying on of Hands
The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Preacher & Presider
5:00 pm Contemplative Eucharist
The Reverend Michele H. Morgan, Presider & Homilist
About the Gospel
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