Sesquicentennial Anniversary Blood Drive

LifeSource will continue to accept donations to help us meet our goal of 150 blood donations to mark our 150th anniversary year through December 31st. If you gave blood at St. Mark's in October, you are eligible to donate again beginning December 26th. Please sign-up at https://donateblood.lifesource.org/ to donate at LifeSource, 2436 Main Street, Evanston, at a time that is convenient for you. When you donate blood, identity our blood drive by using the special code O57G (zero, five, seven, g). If you have any questions please contact Donna Richardson at 847-677-0701.  

Wednesday Lunch Program

A sub-group of St. Mark's Social Justice and Outreach Ministry Team has found a partner in St. Matthew's to prepare and distribute sack lunches to the homeless in Evanston every Wednesday! We are targeted to launch in early February.

"Wednesday Lunch" will involve preparing and packing somewhere between 50-100 sack lunches on Tuesday after school/work and serving on Wednesday at St. Mark's when the Interfaith Action of Evanston Hospitality Center closes for the morning.

This will be a multi-generational and zero-waste ministry! We hope that families, students, existing small groups (choir, vestry, Sunday School teachers, people with brown hair, familes with small children, teens with (or without) attitude, young adults with zip - you get the idea) and new small groups from just St. Mark's, from just St. Matthew's and from combinations of the two will be chomping at the bit to start planning and packing lunches! Any person of any age who wishes to pack and/or serve are welcome. Remember - this is EVERY Wednesday!!! Those who want this to be a part of their daily lives can make it so. Those who want to participate occasionally or rarely, are encouraged to do so!

There is a sign-up sheet in the Parlor so you can let know that you want to be a part of the process --- you'll be contacted by a team member who can best match your interest and time commitment with the needs of this exciting ministry. In the meantime, for more information speak with or email parishioner, John Lucadamo ([email protected] ) or Community Engagement Coordinator, Jacqui Zeng ([email protected]).

A Snapshot of St. Mark's Wellness: We Need You!

If you haven't already done so, please go to go to http://www.livingcompass.org/wellness-intro.html to take the Wellness Survey. You will need to provide a group code. St. Mark's group code is: 1509. Then click "Start." When you are done you have the option of creating an account for yourself and/or of printing your individual results. We encourage you to do so. St. Mark's Congregational Wellness Advocates, Lisa Montgomery, Beth Johnson, Andrea Nowack, and Pastor Debra will receive the aggregate results for St. Mark's (your individual results will be visible only to you). This snapshot of our congregational wellness will help us see where to focus our attention in the year to come. The survey takes 10 - 20 minutes to complete. This Sunday, December 21, work stations will be available in the Volunteer Office. Beth and Andrea will be on hand to walk you through the process if you need assistance. Thank you to all who have already completed the survey.

Year-End Tax Credits

Did you know that you can donate stock to the church?  In doing so, you can offset any gains with a tax credit based on the appreciated value.  To make a gift of stock to St. Mark's Church, please contact the treasurer at [email protected].  Your gift helps St. Mark's and helps your tax implications!  A Win-Win! 

Annual Meeting / Annual Reports

Mark your calendars for St. Mark's annual meeting, January 25, 2015, after our one worship service at 9:30 a.m. that day. Coty will be compiling the annual report highlighting our ministries. If you help lead a ministry (outreach, St. Mark's Guild, choir guild, acolytes, lectors, etc.), please send (1) a brief paragraph summarizing your work during the year and (2) a digital photograph of St. Mark's members engaged in that work. All items should be sent to Coty at [email protected] no later than Thursday, January 15 for inclusion in the report. 

St. Mark's Anniversary History Booklet

The Sesquicentennial Steering Committee is pleased to announce that St. Mark's Anniversary History booklets have been printed and are now ready for distribution to parishioners. Members of the parish can pick up their copies in the parlor throughout the season of Advent. The committee wishes to express our appreciation to Bruce Gaede, church historian, for assembling and editing the booklet. If parishioners would like to purchase an additional copies, the cost is $5 per copy.

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. 

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.

"While no single conversation is guaranteed to change the trajectory of a career, a company, a relationship, or a life...any single conversation can." Fierce Conversations will take place at Saint James Commons, 65 East Huron Street, Chicago IL 60611. Wednesday, January 21, 8:30am-4:30pm, and Thursday, January 22, 8:30am-4:30pm. The cost is $100. Registration is capped at 60 participants. Breakfast, lunch, snacks and materials are included in the cost of training.

If you would like your loved ones added to (or deleted from) the prayer list at any time, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. Thank you.