Update for the weeks of February 1 - 7, 2018
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Our Mission Statement

To Be and Make Disciples of  
Jesus Christ 

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Contact Information?
 
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Contact Us?
 
Saint Mark UMC
616 Quincy Road
Seneca, SC  29678

Call us:
9 am - 5 pm (M-Th)
(864) 882-2603
Pastoral Care
Emergencies or after regular office hours

call or text
(864) 888-7072  

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to  
send an email
Saint Mark 2018 Ministry Guidebook 
Click here to view the entire Saint Mark 2018 Ministry Guidebook with information about church structure, leadership, ministries and our 2018 budget. 
Check Out Our Entire Church Calendar of Events 
Click here to see what is going on at Saint Mark this week and the weeks to come.
February 4, 2018 
 
Souper Bowl of Caring Sunday

Sunday 
Schedule 
 
9:00 am 
"Come to the Table" Worship with  
Holy Communion  
Sanctuary 
   
9:00 am 
Celebration Worship
with
Holy Communion 
Saint Mark Center 
 
9:15 am
Children's Church
Room A101 
 
   
10:15 am
Sunday School for All Ages
 
11:15 am 
Traditional Worship
with
Holy Communion 
Sanctuary
 
4:00 pm 
Wings 'n Things 

5:30 pm 
Wings 'n Things
Super Bowl Party
 

Quick, easy and available HERE 

Join us every day at 3:20 pm to pray for Saint Mark - our people and ministries. 
Listen to Last Week's Sermon Today 
If you were not able to attend worship on any given Sunday, you can still listen to the sermon.   Click here to select and listen to sermons that you may have missed.
Got Information to Share in Next Week's Heart Beat?
Click here to send your Heart Beat post to us by no later than 12:00 noon next
Thursday.  On the subject line, please type in "Heart Beat" so that we can easily find your article among the other emails.
Got Good News To Share With Your Saint Mark Family?   
Good news lifts our spirits. Share your good news with us. We will publish your good news in our "People 'Neath Our Steeple" feature. Your news will be sent out as an email. Click here to share your good news (achievements, births, awards, etc.). Include pictures if you have them. 
Got Pictures? 
 
We are creating an archive of pictures taken at Saint Mark events and activities. If you have taken pictures and want to share them, please
click here and send them to us.

Or use our hashtag #stmarkumc and post your photos on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. 
Interested in LGBTQ+ Inclusion?

Click here for more information. 
Prayer Focus for This Week  

Pray for those in our community who have experienced real pain and suffering: those who have lost jobs, have run into financial difficulties, have lost homes, cannot pay for food, education and other basic necessities; the lonely; those grieving; those bullied and mistreated for any reason. Pray that, as people who live in privilege, we will not become cocooned in our routine and safe lives, choosing to be unaware of the fragility of what we think makes us safe and secure.  Pray that God will expand our hearts - to compel us to reach out to those in need. 
Submit Your Prayer R equests
Saint Mark is pleased to receive your prayer requests . . . for yourself or for friends or loved ones. Click here to submit your request.
WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY  

Traditional Worship Services 
with Holy Communion
THIS Sunday, February 4
9:00 am and 11:15 am
Sanctuary
 
"Wait on the Lord"
Bringing the message
Rev. Todd Davis

Both sanctuary services this Sunday will be identical, including full communion liturgy, and chancel choir.

Please note: On the first Sunday of each month, both sanctuary worship services at 9 and 11:15 am will be identical - with full communion liturgy.

Celebration Worship
with Holy Communion 
THIS Sunday, February 4
9:00 am
Saint Mark Center
 
"Living Water" 
John 4 
Bringing the message    
Rev. Shawna Darnall 

Our Alms Offering This Sunday . . .

This Sunday's alms offering goes to support the work of the Kairos Women's Prison Ministry. Our very own Kellye Rembert will be serving on a team of women who will spend a weekend in March sharing the love of Christ with women who are incarcerated. The team has to buy supplies, food, paper goods, etc. to help make the weekend a time of sharing, fellowship and spiritual growth for all, and they very much appreciate the support of our alms offering for this work. 

Souper Bowl Sunday Offering
Sunday, February 4
All three services
 
Each year, our youth participate in Souper Bowl Sunday, an opportunity to help the hungry in our community.  This year, all of the offering that you drop into the soup pots at the end of each service, will go to help our Aldersgate Sunday School Class fill boxes of non-perishable food for folks who come by the church looking for assistance to feed their families.  For more information, click here to contact Donna Poston.   
THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARK 

Wings 'N Things
Super Bowl Party
(for youth Grades 6 - college)
Sunday, February 4
5:30 pm
at the home of
John, Laura and Austin Wagner

LOOKING AHEAD

Our Lenten Journey. . .  

You won't want to miss out on the ways we will journey through Lent and towards Easter this year!

The season of Lent is made up of the forty days (not including Sundays) that precede Easter. It is a time set apart for reflection and doing those things which will prepare us for the celebration that comes on Easter morning.

Throughout the season of Lent, we who make up the faith community of Saint Mark will each be given opportunities to remember and to live out our identity as disciples.

In worship each Sunday we will explore the covenant that we are all a part of, examining each aspect of our Service, Presence, Prayers, Gifts, and Witness. We will then be challenged to live it out in new ways in the weeks that follow. 

We will begin this special season in the life of the church, together as a family of faith. On February 18, the first Sunday of Lent, we will have two identical worship services - one at 9 am and one at 11:15 am (both in Sanctuary). This will allow everyone to have the same worship experience as we begin this forty-day journey.

In between the services, at 10 am, we hope you will join in the potluck style brunch (grits, sausage and drinks provided - bring a brunch item to share) in the Saint Mark Center where we will have an opportunity to remember again that though we worship in three services, and two styles, we are all disciples of Jesus who make up one church. 

Scouting Ministry Celebration Sunday

Next Sunday, February 11, 2018 we will celebrate Scouting Ministries in the United Methodist Church.  All Scouts (in uniform) and their families are invited to join us in Celebration Worship at 9 am in the Saint Mark Center (gym).  Saint Mark's Scout Troop 226 (led by Rex Blanton, Scout Master, and Joe Patterson, Asst. Scout Master) will help lead our worship celebration.  Hope to see you there!
 

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent, a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline.

Ash Wednesday emphasizes two themes: 1) our sinfulness before God and 2) our human mortality. The service focuses on both themes, helping us to realize that both have been triumphed through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

During some Ash Wednesday services, the minister will lightly rub the sign of the cross with ashes onto the foreheads of worshipers. The ash cross on the forehead is an outward sign of our sorrow and repentance for sins.
 
Will you join together with our brothers and sisters from New Harmony UMC as we make our preparations for the journey through the holy season of Lent?  For more information, click here to contact Pastor Shawna Darnall.

One way to observe Lent is to participate in our ecumenical Community Lenten Services. Let's join with other Seneca faith communities during this season of introspection and preparation. 

Tickets continue to be on sale in the atrium.  For more information, click here to contact Donna Poston.

The Gathering 
Supper and Worship 
Wednesday, February 21

5:30 pm - Supper 
Menu 
Beef Tenderloin 
Baked Potato 
Salad Bar 
Rolls 
Dessert 
Beverages 

Click here to make your supper reservation(s)  
for children, youth and adults. The Master List applies. 
 
6:15 pm - Special Service of Worship and Holy Communion  

An Evening of Games and Grazing

Are you 50+?  Let's chase away the winter blues and come together for great food and an evening of Bunco. Bring either an appetizer or dessert to share - for a time of "grazing" and chatting from 6 - 6:45 pm. At 6:45 pm, we will form our teams and play a couple rounds of Bunco. No skill is required to play - it is totally a game of chance. 

We need to know how many plan to attend, so click here to make your reservation.  Also, let us know if you will be able to provide a card table for the event, and if you need transportation.

There will be prizes!  Bring your friends and neighbors.  The more the merrier! 

Here is What You Need to Know
  • There will be only ONE session at 9 am in the Saint Mark Center
  • We are co-sponsoring the event with Trinity Baptist Church
  • We want to raise $8000 (out of a total of $14,500) to purchase the ingredients to package 50,000 meals that will go to a part of the world where hunger is a life or death problem.
  • Brochures and offering envelopes will be in the bulletins this Sunday and will be available in the atrium and Narthex.
  • Make your check out to Saint Mark UMC and note that it is for Rise Against Hunger.  You may put your envelope in the offering plate on Sunday mornings, or drop it off at the church office during the week. Help us reach our goal of $8000 by no later than February 25.
  • This Sunday, you may sign up to participate in the meal packaging event.  You will find volunteers in the atrium before the 11:15 service, or in the Narthex following the 11:15 service. 
  • You may also make your reservation online.  Click here to sign up today.
  • One of the major benefits of this event is gathering together as the larger community, and working together for a common purpose - alleviating hunger.  We will work alongside and enjoy the fellowship of children, youth and adults of different faiths and races.
Click here to look at our Rise Against Hunger brochure.  
 
Need more information?  Click here to contact Jody Gaulin.  

PLEASE NOTE: All donated jewelry should be dropped off at the church office ASAP. 
 
For more information, click here to contact Donna Poston 
OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS 

The Gathering
Wednesday, February 21
5:30 pm - Supper in the Saint Mark Center
6:15 pm - Worship and Communion
in the Sanctuary
Contact:    Rev. Shawna Darnall
 

Eleuthera Mission Trip
March 10 - 17
Contact: Bob Dobson 

The Gathering
Wednesday, March 21
5:30 - Supper
6:15 - Worship
Contact: Rev. Shawna Darnall  


Saint Mark Festival
with Rev. Susan Leonard-Ray
Sunday, April 22
9:30 am - Sunday School
10:30 am - Worship
Contact: Todd Davis

ELDERBERRIES EVENTS (FOR 50+)   

ARE YOU 50+?
Here are some Elderberries Events
that might interest you.  Save the date(s) on your calendar. 
 
Game (Bunco) and Grazing Night
Friday, February 23
 6:00 pm
Commons Room
  
Electronic Devices Class
Saturday, March 24
Commons Room
(watch for details) 
 
Day Trip to Hagood Mill
Greater Clemson Music Festival  
and Pickens County Sesquicentennial
Saturday, April 21
Click here for more information

CHURCH AND SOCIETY     

February is Black History Month
"Know the past.  Shape the future."

"I'm the descendant of a founding father and I have two black daughters - and I am racist" by Phil Lee 

"I am the co-owner of a successful business with clients across the U.S. and in 27 countries. We have a racially diverse staff of 22. Over the years I have supported efforts to improve the conditions of "underserved" blacks. And I think it's fair to say that, while I see the color of a person's skin, I am able to get beyond it. I am a white man but I attended an integrated junior high school, dated across the race line, and two of my four adopted children are black. There is a good chance my two beautiful daughters will one day bless me with black grandchildren.

And I am racist.

Racism, I recently came to understand, isn't about me having some kind of hate in my heart for black people in general, nor is it about me believing that the failures of individual black people in our society are because they are morally or intellectually inferior. Racism is more than individual beliefs and actions. It is a complex system that has given - and continues to give - my racial group a host of advantages and power by oppressing and disadvantaging others. Understanding and confronting that system begins with a history lesson and some simple math."

  Click here to read more . . . 
In Our Community . . .  

A love offering will be collected to benefit
Our Daily Rest
 
Click here to contact David Wilcox for more information.

Jazz 'N Jambalaya
Fat Tuesday at  
Clemson United Methodist Church
Tuesday, February 13
6:00 pm
Christian Life Center
300 Frontage Road

Seafood Bisque, Jambalaya, Salad, Beverage and Dessert (Takeout is Available)

Daniel High School Jazz Band Performing

$15 per person
$10 per college student
Children through 5th grade - FREE

Click here for more information, and to make your reservation(s)

16th Annual
Chick-fil-A 5K Race, Mile and Fun Run
supporting
Volunteers in Medical Missions
Saturday, April 21, 2018
South Cove County Park
 
Click here to learn more and/or to register before April 20.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION   

An "Official" Welcome to
Arrylee Satterfield

On Sunday, January 28, Arrylee joined Saint Mark by Reaffirmation of Faith. However, she is no stranger to Saint Mark.  She has been an active participant in our faith community for over 2 years and recently decided to make it "official."  She attends the Celebration Service of worship and is an active member of the Outreach Sunday School Class.  She is employed at Booksmith in Seneca. 

We continue to joyfully receive Arrylee as one of our own!  When you see her, give her an "official" welcome!

Re-establishing the Altar Guild 
at Saint Mark
An Opportunity to Serve

We are looking for Saint Mark disciples to help us reestablish the Altar Guild at Saint Mark. The Worship Team approved this action at their January meeting, and they are excited to offer men and women in our community of faith the chance to assist in preparing the sanctuary for worship and special services during the church year.

If you are interested, please meet in the Sanctuary on Wednesday, February 7 at 4:30 pm; they will do their best to answer your questions and hopefully get organized for the coming church year. If you cannot make this meeting and have an interest, or if you have any questions before the meeting, please click here to contact Jeff Weicksel, Worship Team chair. Or you may call him at (248) 767-3665.

Worship is an important way that we show our love for God and all that He has blessed us with. ALL are welcome to help in this effort! We look forward to seeing you on February 7!  Thank you!

The "E" Word...

The Upper Room Daily Devotion by Carol Purves of Cumbria, England for January 31, 2018 wrote,

" Faith by itself, if it has not works, is dead - James 2:17 (NRSV). My friend Sheila was asked to help at a church function. So one wet and windy evening she made a considerable effort to be at the church. When she arrived she found she was not needed, so she started her journey back home.  A man sitting in front of her on the bus turned around and said, "I'm going to ask J. C. to stop this rain." Sheila quickly replied, "I think Jesus Christ is more interested in your soul." They got off the bus at the same stop and continued their conversation. Sheila gently explained the love, sacrifice, and redemption offered by the One whose name the man had taken so lightly. It turns out that Sheila was just where God wanted her to be.  Sheila's story reminds me of the Apostle Philip. He was where God needed him to be at a particular time (Acts 8:26-36, 38-40) . Philip was ready to follow where God led him and was eager to share the scriptures and his faith.  Only God knows when and where we will have the opportunity to share God's love and power. Our job is to be ready to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit as we share our faith. "

The "E" Word (Evangelism) is the winning of persons to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord by sharing our faith! From the Latin word "evangelium," meaning good news or gospel, evangelism is the proclamation of the gospel to individuals and groups by preaching, teaching, and personal and family visitation. It is the seeking by the Christian to bring others into a vital personal relationship with Christ.
 
The Evangelism Team at Saint Mark is asking for recycled Upper Rooms or devotional pamphlets/books that could be included in our Food Box Ministry (supplied by the Aldersgate Sunday School class).  We are also planning to include our new Welcome Flyer with information about services as well as contact information.  We see this as a small way to share the gospel in our community and to invite others to worship with us! A box marked recycled devotional materials (Evangelism Team) is located in the church office for your donations. 

In the article on the UMC website entitled, "5 ways to reclaim Wesleyan evangelism," Heather Hahn states, "And the good news is so good, Christians have every reason to invite others to share in it."  Thanks for joining the Saint Mark Evangelism team as we share our faith in Jesus Christ!

We Are Still Looking for Singers and Instrumentalists!

You are invited to join our Celebration Praise Team! Do you sing or play an instrument?  Do you enjoy contemporary worship? If so, this "gig" is for you!   

There are only two "rules."
1.  Love Jesus
2.  Plan to have fun

For more information, or to volunteer, click here to contact John Glenn, our Celebration Worship Leader.

Help Is Needed to Plan a  
Community Event
The Annual Minister's Cook-off  

The annual Minister's Cook-Off to benefit Safe Harbor (a ministry that provides a continuum of services for victims of domestic violence and their children) is held in the fall each year at Clemson United Methodist Church. A representative from Saint Mark is needed to serve on the Cook-Off Committee of about 9 members (everyone pitches in using their own strengths - organizing, keeping the books, getting sponsorships, decorating, advertising, etc.). 
 
Monthly planning meetings begin in April 2018 and are held in the Conference Room at CUMC on the first Monday of each month at 4:30 for one hour.  If planning events like this are "right up your alley," please contact Sybil Sevic at (864) 882-1588 (home) or (864) 982-0526 (cell). 

Spring Anderson District
Lay Servant Ministries School
April 14-15
Grace United Methodist Church
Williamston, SC

It's spring, a time full of new possibilities and new opportunities for serving the Lord. Have you heard a call to be a Lay Servant and want an overview of what it means to be a Lay Servant? Would you like to learn how to plan an effective worship service? Would you like to learn how to share your faith with others in a more meaningful way? Would you like to be a better disciple? Now is the time for you to explore these options.
 
Please join us for the Spring Anderson District Lay Servant Ministries School.

Courses offered: Basic Lay Servant Ministry, Worship Planning, Evangelism, and Discipleship
 
Cost: $45 if registered before March 2, $50 if registered between March 2 and March 9, 2018.
 
Click here for more information.

Classes are open to everyone, regardless of whether or not they are interested in becoming a certified lay servant. For those who are or wish to be a certified lay servant, remember that you must take a course beyond the Basic course at least once every 3 years.

For more information contact Gwendolyn Brown, Chair of the Anderson District Lay Servant Ministry Board at 678-480-5176 or click here to send her an email.

Click here to see who is celebrating birthdays in February!  Happy Birthday to all of you!!

Click here to see our calendar of events on our Saint Mark website.
SAINTS IN SERVICE
HELPING YOU PLUG IN . . . 

LET US KNOW HOW YOU WANT TO PLUG IN!
Click here to discover the many ways to serve at Saint Mark. Fill out the form and return it to Marla Fuller in the church office. We will get you plugged in!    
 


Saint Mark United Methodist Church

616 Quincy Road
Seneca, South Carolina 29678-3820
mfuller@smumcsc.org

864-882-2603    

Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors