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Confirm not Conform Commitment Sunday
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 This Sunday during our 10:30 a.m. worship, St. Mark's will celebrate the commitment being made by Katie Gallegos, Elizabeth Lele, Austin Suvari, and Jack Suvari to participate in the Confirm not Conform (CnC) program. Youth from St. Matthew's will be making the same commitments at their worship on Sunday as well. This is the culmination of a weekend retreat attended by 18 young people from our two congregations.
So what exactly is CnC? It is a youth program that takes confirmation seriously. It exposes our young people to a wide range of topics, including Scripture, sacraments, creeds, heresy, prayer, other religions, service, and - most importantly - asks them to think through what they believe and why. CnC is also a philosophy because it emphasizes finding one's own voice rather than simply conforming to an external standard. It is a program that respects the work youth do as they explore their faith. We trust that when people put in the effort to articulate what they believe and why, they will make good choices about their next step in faith.
CnC is also an opportunity for our congregation to grow in faith as we participate in the life of these young people as mentors, parents, leaders, clergy, vestry, or supportive onlookers who all make a commitment to support these participants in the program in their life in Christ. We grow as we promise to listen to our young person's questions and concerns with open minds and hearts, to take the contributions of our young people seriously and treat them with respect, to expose our young people to the fundamental questions of faith and explore these questions with them, to offer them help when they need it, and to keep them in our prayers at all times.
In a few weeks some of you will be invited to serve as mentors to these young people, meeting with them regularly and attending a few of the CnC class sessions. If this is something you might be interested in, please be in touch with me.
In the meantime, please make a special effort to be present this Sunday to honor Katie, Lizzie, Austin, and Jack's commitment to continued learning and spiritual growth through the CnC program.
- Pastor Debra+
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20th Sunday after Pentecost: Deuteronomy 34:1-12, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Matthew 22:34-46
"You are solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul." - Psalm 62:2 (The Message)
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Worship
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In the baptismal covenant, we are asked, "Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?" and we respond, "I will, with God's help."
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 Sesquicentennial Music Composition Competition Award Winner Announced
Congratulations to Daniel Bondaczuk, winning composer of St. Mark's Composition Competition for his celebratory anthem, "Gloria". His energetic and joyous setting of the Latin text is written for organ and choir and will be premiered at St. Mark's Episcopal Church on Sunday, November 23rd, as the capstone of our congregation's 150th year anniversary celebration. Bondaczuk, a native of Brazil, lives near Nashville, Tennessee as he pursues a Master's degree in composition at Middle Tennessee State University. He has 10 years of experience as an arranger in the recording industry in Brazil and describes himself as very passionate about delivering sophisticated music. Congratulations Daniel Bondaczuk! The competition received 24 entries from a total of 8 countries and 12 U.S. states. St. Mark's extends its thanks to all the other composers who entered the competition for their hard work and creative efforts.
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 Feast of All Saints Memorial Book
All Saints Day is a time to remember the saints who have gone before us and to give thanks for the blessings God has given us to share with others. When we faithfully place ourselves in God's presence, new possibilities for life and service become visible. We have a role to play, along with the saints of old, in the story of God's saving work. This year, the Feast of All Saints will be celebrated on Sunday, November 2nd at worship services at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
If you have loved ones who have passed away in the last year that you would like to have remembered in worship, please send their name, their relationship to you, and their date of death to Coty Colson in the church office at [email protected] no later than Tuesday, October 28.
Other loved ones will be remembered through St. Mark's Memorial Book which we have been adding to over the last several years. You are encouraged to contribute names, photos, or other papers (poems, letters, etc.) to include in the memorial book. Items can be brought to church on Sunday, October 26th or brought to the church office during regular office hours. We will offer the book to God during the offertory at the 10:30 service that day and it will remain on the altar throughout the remaining Sundays of November.
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This Week's Lay Ministers
Thank you to the following individuals for bringing their best gifts to God in ministries at St. Mark's. If you would like to become involved, please contact Pastor Debra.
- Lector: Byron Scott & Edie Molumby
- Eucharistic Ministers: Joanna Greene & Lisa Montgomery
- Acolytes: Debbie Nee, Betsy Johnson, Leela Gaede
- Altar Guild: Louise Behrends, Dorothy Laudati, Char Wiss
- Flower Guild: Virginia Beatty
- Vestry Persons of the Day: Lori Geode & Dale Seifert
- Ushers: John Fitts, Tacia Johnson, Richard Forst
- Coffee Hour Snacks: Last names beginning with
J - N - Welcoming New Worshippers: All the People of St. Mark's
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Christian Formation
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Lifelong Christian faith formation is important for lifelong growth in the knowledge, service and love of God as followers of Christ. Regardless of where you are on your spiritual journey, no matter what season of life you are in, you are invited to enter into a prayerful of continuous learning.
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Adult Forums Return on November 2ndOn Sunday, November 2nd from 9:30 - 10:15 a.m. Adult Formation returns to Bethlehem Chapel with conversations sparked by Sparkhouse's Animate Faith series. Nov. 2nd Bible | A Book Like No Other: Why read the Bible? This is Lauren Winner's central question. For Lauren, an avid reader, there remains something odd about the way Christians read the Bible. Why do we keep turning to the same stories in search of some new revelation? What is it about the Bible that makes it worth repeated reading? What gets in our way as we read the Bible and try to make sense of it? These are issues the church has wrestled with for centuries and yet we keep at it. We keep coming back to this book and its strange narrative full of plagues and miracles and destruction and rebirth. So why do we do it? Nov. 9th Church | An Imperfect Family: Bruce Reyes-Chow knows he's not inventing the metaphor of the church as family. So he suggests we take our changing notions about what it means to be a family and let them seep into our understanding of the church. For Bruce, it's the messiness, the dysfunction, and the joy that comes from complex relationships that make church worth hanging on to. So how do we stay connected to this sometimes-broken family system? What does it mean to commit ourselves to the church family, for better or for worse?
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Children's Sunday School
This week's session invites the children to hear about the start of a new chapter in God's story as Joshua assumes the leadership from Moses. They will consider the ways in which they, like Moses and Joshua, are part of God's unfolding story. Pray for the children, that they will know a real sense of belonging and deepen their identity as beloved children of God. Thank you to this week's teachers and classroom assistants: Pat Acha / Luke Urbanowski (ages 3 - 5), Anne Heinz / Dorothy Szczepaniak (ages 6 - 8), John Lucadamo and Lori Goede (ages 9 - 12).
We need your help: If you are able to assist (ages 6-8) on either November 16 or November 23, please get in touch with Pastor Debra.
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This Week at Saint Mark's
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Wednesday,
October 22
6:00 p.m.
Music Night
(ages 5 and up),
Choir Room
6:30 p.m.
Music Night
(youth and adults),
Choir Room
7:00 p.m.
Evanston English Country Dancers,
Cunningham Hall
7:15 p.m.
Evanston String Quartet Rehearsal,
Sanctuary
Thursday,
October 23
7:30 p.m.
Choir Rehearsal,
Choir Room
Friday,
October 24
6:00 p.m.
St. Mark's and St. Matthew's Middle School Halloween Party,
Cunningham Hall
Saturday,
October 25
7:30 p.m.
Chicago Chamber Choir Concert,
Sanctuary
Sunday,
October 26
LifeSource Blood Drive
8 a.m. - 2 p.m.
LifeSource Blood Drive,
Cunningham Hall
8:00 a.m.
Holy Eucharist
Traditional,
Lady Chapel
9:00 a.m.
Coffee Hour,
Parlor
9:30 a.m.
Children's Formation,
Classrooms
9:30 a.m.
Adult Formation,
Bethlehem Chapel
10:30 a.m.
Holy Eucharist with Music,
Sanctuary
11:45 a.m.
Coffee Hour,
Parlor
12:00 noon
Handbell Choir Rehearsal,
Balcony
Monday,
October 27
7:00 p.m.
Vestry Meeting,
Bethlehem Chapel
Wednesday,
October 29
6:00 p.m.
Music Night
(ages 5 and up),
Choir Room
6:30 p.m.
Music Night
(youth and adults),
Choir Room
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October 3
Lily Consiglio
Otober 4
Margaret Forst,
Betsy Sagan
October 5
Sydney Johnson
October 8
Carol Martin
October 10
Leela Gaede,
Ayden Lettner
October 12
Owen McElhatton
October 13
Movelle Das
October 18
Abby Stahr
October 21
Doug Sondgeroth
October 23
Darlisa Himrod
October 25
Hardy Murphy
October 31
Tacia Johnson
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October 7
Charlie and Judy Kopp
October 11
Bob & Edie Molumby
October 25
Kevin & Debra Nee
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Fellowship
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Where are you today? Lonely and afraid? Joyful and confident? Somewhere in between? Wherever you are in your journey of faith, know that there is a place for you here, companionship for the journey in this community gathered.
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The Chicago InterPlay community is excited to offer weekly community classes at St. Mark's Episcopal Church starting on Tuesday, November 4th and continuing through May of 2015. Congregants of St. Mark's are invited and encouraged to test out these classes. First time participants are welcome to show up to any of these weekly classes. No experience is necessary. The classes will be held each Tuesday from 7:30-9:00 pm, with doors open at 7:15 pm for registration and meeting other participants. The cost to attend the classes is $10 per class or $40 for a five class card ($8 per class).
InterPlay is an easy to learn creative process that invites participants to express themselves through storytelling, movement and vocalization. Through well-established methods of play participants can simply have fun. They can also discover new things about themselves and others. Although many people have not heard about InterPlay, InterPlayers across the world are celebrating its 25th birthday this year.
To learn more about InterPlay, visit www.meetup.com/ChicagoInterPlay and www.InterPlay.org. You can also email event leaders Christina Ernst at [email protected] or Jeff Breting at [email protected]
About the Event Leaders:
Christina Ernst, originally from Switzerland, has been
active for over 35 years as a dancer, teacher and choreographer with many
dance and theater companies, both nationally and internationally. At the local
level, Christina has taught dance in schools in and around Evanston and Chicago for over 30 years including being on the faculty at Dance Center Evanston. Currently she serves as the Artistic Director of the Evanston Dance Ensemble. She enjoys participating in InterPlay because it enables her to to explore and create in a safe and playful environment. In her leading, she seeks to share her joy of InterPlay with the community.
Jeff Breting holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering and has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 15 years. During that time, Jeff has worked in numerous teams with a diverse range of people to produce pharmaceutical drugs in laboratory and manufacturing environments. While working in various technical roles, Jeff also expanded on his interest in human communication by completing the core
writing and communication studies curriculum at Northwestern's School of Continuing Studies. In InterPlay, Jeff has found activities and principles that enable him to explore the content of his life, have fun and connect with others. In his leading, Jeff invites participants to try new out new activities and learn principles that enable them to have fun, build connections with other participants and develop their expressive capabilities.
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Social Justice & Outreach Opportunities
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St. Mark's continues its commitment to young people through its many social justice and outreach opportunities. Each Sunday we pray, "Bring newness and change to our streets, O God, that we might commit ourselves to our young people and address the epidemic of gun violence which plagues our communities, our country, and the world. Awake, O Streets, rise from death!" Following are a list of ways in which you can get involved with the St. Mark's community in helping to create a better world.
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Social Justice and Outreach Team Meeting
St. Mark's Social Justice and Outreach Ministry Team will have a brief
meeting on Saturday, October 25th at 10 am in the Library. We'll debrief
the CROP Walk and discuss our potential involvement with the Making Change
at Walmart campaign. Newcomers are always welcome!
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 North Shore CROP Walk: Thank you!
Thank you to all who helped Team St. Mark's in this year's CROP Walk: Ted Loda, Jacqui Zeng, Doug Sondgeroth, Eva Sondgeroth, Asher Sondgeroth, Elsa Sondgeroth, Aina Guiterrez, Dave Himrod, Beth Johnson, Kate Johnson, Deane Johnson, Betsy Johnson, Abigail Seifert, Lizzie Lele, Tyler Maegawa-Goeser, Rachel McElhatton, Liz McElhatton, and Patrick Nee. And thank you to all who donated. St. Mark's raised more than $1600. We have still not heard the total for the entire North Shore CROP Walk but will report as soon as we hear!
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Sesquicentennial Anniversary Blood Drive
LifeSource will be at St. Mark's on Sunday, October 26 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. to help us meet our goal of 150 blood donations to mark our 150th anniversary year. Please sign-up at https://donateblood.lifesource.org/ to donate blood. If you cannot donate blood on October 26 at St. Mark's, you can also sign-up at that same website to give blood at LifeSource, 2436 Main Street, Evanston, at a time that is more convenient for you. When you donate blood, identify our blood drive by using the special code 057G (zero, five, seven, g). If you have any questions please contact Donna Richardson at 847-677-0701.
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 Curt's Caf� Second Annual Gratitude Bash
Everyone in the St. Mark's community is encouraged to enjoy coffee, sandwiches and more at Curt's Caf�, 2922 Central Street, Evanston. Curt's Caf� is a non-profit organization that provides training in food service and life skills for at-risk youth in Evanston.
Curt's Cafe invites you to Party with a Purpose at their Second Annual Gratitude Bash! On the Menu: Dinner, Drinks and Dancing to Evanston's own Suite Mollie 7! Special of the Day: We're honoring Eddie Lakin, owner of Edzo's Burger Shop, with the Curt's Cafe Life Changer Award Hours of operation: 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday, November 1, 2014. Where: Alice Millar Chapel-Northwestern University, 1870 Sheridan Road, Evanston. Attire: Festive and fun. Cost: $100 per person
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 ♪♫ Music Night ♫♫Come meet us upstairs in the choir room every Wednesday night from 6:00-7:30. Younger children, starting at age five, are welcome to join with all ages from 6:00-6:30. Youth and adults can come (or continue) from 6:30-7:30. People with any level of musical background-even those with no music experience-are welcome to come! If you like music, but can only play the radio, come join us! If you love to sing, but only sing in the shower, come join us! If you're young and want to join a group where you'll have fun with music, join us! If you're old and have always wanted to be in a music group but just haven't gotten to it yet, join us! If you're a professional musician and want to simply relax and have fun with music, you won't be bored! Please contact David with any questions you may have at [email protected]. |
 Old Treasures-New Treasures-Something for You---The Gift Shop Sale is coming up Sunday, November 23rd. Plans are being made by Ellie Bergman, Mary Pat Buckley, Joanna Greene, Dave and Lola Himrod, Tacia Johnson, Dorothy Laudati, Bonnie Lindstrom, Rima Lockwood and Natasha Oussenko for a great event. St. Mark's 150th anniversary will be honored by some items. YOU are invited to help by donating baked good, preserves, etc. (what do you make that others would enjoy?) and/or by volunteering to help at the sale. No books, media or other old items are being accepted other than Christmas items in very good condition. Contact Lola Himrod with offers of donations or help at 847-864-7815 or [email protected].
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Social Media and St. Mark's
If you have your mobile device it would be good if you put it on silent when in worship. But if anything in Sunday's service - a prayer, reading, hymn or the sermon-moves you, please feel free to tweet it or post it to Facebook #StMarkEvanston. While you're at it, "check-in" with us on Foursquare!
St. Mark's website has up-to-date information on all that's new at St. Mark's - including a current calendar of events - check it out at http://www.stmarksevanston.org. Also, we are on Facebook and Twitter! Find us at http://www.facebook.com/StMarkEvanston and follow us @StMarkEvanston.
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In The Community
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God calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Loving finds all of its meaning in relationship. The following are opportunities to be in relationship with one another and with the community of Evanston.
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Chicago Chamber Choir "From the Heart: A Joyful Retrospective"
All are invited to the Chicago Chamber Choir's concert at St. Mark's on Saturday, October 25 at 7:30 p.m. Their fall concert will pay tribute to 15 years of Artistic Director Timm Adams' leadership music making, and innovative programming, featuring his personal favorites from over 40 concerts with CCC. Included in this treasure chest of choral gems will be classical works by Brahms and Faur�, contemporary pieces by Eric Whitacre and Carol Barnett, as well as some of Timm's favorite hymns and spirituals. Tickets are available online at www.chicagochamberchoir.org.
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Science Confronts Race: A Contested History On Thursday, November 6 at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie, Dr. Evelynn M. Hammonds of Harvard University will review some of this history and discuss why the use of race in science, especially the new genetics/genomics, raises significant ethical issues that require more meaningful pubic dialogue. Understanding differences between human groups using the concept of "race" has a long and troubled history in the biological and biomedical sciences. The evening begins at 5 p.m. with a reception, Dr. Hammonds talk begins at 6 p.m. and a tour of the exhibition, "Race: Are We So Different?" begins at 7 p.m. Advance registration is required. RSVP by November 1 to [email protected]
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Grief Support Groups
NorthShore Hospice sponsors two free support groups that are open to the public. One is called Soul Mates and is for those who have experienced the death of a spouse or life partner. The group meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The other, called Legacy, is for adults who have experienced the death of a partent. The group meets on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month from 6:30 - 8 p.m. All groups meet at the NorthShore Hospice office, 4901 Searle Parkway in Skokie. For more information, please call Thom Dennis at 847-982-4364 or e-mail [email protected].
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55th Annual Episcopal Charities Ball
Join hundreds of friends on Friday, November 7 at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel beginning at 6 p.m. for a cocktail reception, auction, dinner and dancing 'til midnight with The Joe Lill Orchestra. This is a black-tie optional event that has the diocese coming together around a common goal: to raise support for the life-changing ministries of Episcopal Charities and Community Services in the Diocese of Chicago. To purchase tickets or to make your sponsorship gift online, go to https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=610310. If you have questions or need more information, contact Michael Cleavenger at (312) 751-3578 or send an email to [email protected].
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Parish Prayer List
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If you would like your loved ones to remain on the prayer list or if you have additional names for the list, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. Thank you.
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We bid your prayers for:
Helen Baker, Louise Beem and her family, Louise Behrends, Ellen and Tom Bergman, Veronica Braithwaite, John Burnham, Karen Cornelius, Kendric Das, Bob Easton, Lynn Erickson, Hal Griffith, Mary Hair, Charlie and Judy Kopp, Ann Lettner, Ayden Lettner, Grace Lettner, Kathy Lettner, Sadie Mysen, Mary O'Dowd, Jan and Jeri Offutt, Joan Barr Smith, Carol Albertson, Carol Beatty, Barbara Bishop, Susan Murrell Cataneda, Dorothy Clarke, Ward Clarke, Jim and Cathy Dillman, Jessica Erickson, Ruth Formen, Dave and Jan Gurniak, Darrell Huddleston, Kinzie Hughes, Katie Iles, Yvonne Johns, Leo Padget, Alison King, OJ Mabwa, Mary Joyce Menzies, Mike Nee, Pam Oshlo, Maureen Puleo, Revaldo,Ean and Neale Smith, Tim and his family, Carlo Trovato, Blanca White, Jordyn White, Jill Vannattam.
We pray for those who have died: Victoria Fortner, close friend of Bruce and Lee Gaede; Wayne Gerard Wiley, friend of Jan Baker-Offutt
We pray for the people in: the Diocese of Southeast Mexico and in the Diocese of Renk. |
Stay Connected
 
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