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We are a Stephen Ministry congregation Christian Care, Compassion, Listening — when you need it most.
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Worship Schedule
8
:30 AM Worship with Holy Communion in English
9:40 AM Sunday Church School and The 9:46 Crowd
11:00 AM Worship with Holy Communion in English
1:00 PM Worship with Holy Communion in Spanish 1:15 PM Sunday School in Spanish
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Throughout Lent, we will gather at 10:30 AM for morning prayer
and 7:30 PM for evening prayer.
The AM service will be followed by a soup luncheon and the PM service will be preceded by a soup supper at 6:30 PM.
(We do not have Wednesday morning or evening prayer services
during Holy Week.)
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Please join the Northern Virginia Chorale and the NVCC Annandale Chorale for an evening of masterworks Saturday, March 25 at 7:30 PM in a program stretching from J.S. Bach to Maurice Durufle, and including Mozart, Brahms, and Mendelssohn. The fine acoustics of St Mark’s Lutheran Church will provide the perfect venue for choral pieces created for cathedral settings. Order tickets on line at: www.northernvirginiachorale or call 703 239-2180.
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Message from Pastor Triolo
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Dear Friends in Christ,
Our Tuesday evening session of Listening for God in Acts was cancelled on account of the snow. Our Thursday morning group met as scheduled to read chapter 8. We read Verses 1-8. I thought we'd have a short conversation on what seemed to be a transitional passage. Instead, it took up the entire hour! :-) What caught our attention so mightily? The following phrases:
+ Saul approved of [Stephen's] execution
+ Great persecution [arose] against the church in Jerusalem
+ They were all scattered throughout ... Judea and Samaria
+ Saul was ravaging the church
+ [Saul] committed [men and women] to prison
+ Those who were scattered went about preaching the word
+ Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed ... Christ
Each of these raised great questions and much conversation. The "Saul" spoken of in chapter 8 is St. Paul. His conversion to faith in Jesus as the Christ is coming in chapter 9. This short passage demonstrates how ruthless he was in his persecution of the church. "Ravage/ravages/ravaging" are not words one reads much in the Bible. In fact, they appear just 15 times: 14 times in the Old Testament and just this once in the New Testament. The Greek word may also be translated as outrage, harm, violently maltreat, reap havoc, or ruin. While our conversation focused more on the chaos in the early church and how that compares and contrasts to what the church in America faces in the 21st century, I am struck by how the raging maniac, Saul, will be transformed by Jesus. I wonder in what ways God has brought transformation to our lives? What former ways have given way to new life-giving ones?
We also wondered about the scattering. Did the believers scatter in light of the persecution? Or, was Luke (the writer) referring to the Jews (now Christian) who were already scattered as a result of the second exile after the Southern Kingdom's defeat at the hands of the Babylonians? The passage can be read either way. Whichever, these new converts to Christianity (including the Greek Jew Philip) were teaching about Jesus well beyond the borders of Jerusalem. The church as a missional movement—as a body on a mission to bring the Good News of Jesus' death and resurrection to the whole world—had begun.
The week of 3/19, both Tuesday and Thursday groups will be in chapter 8. The week of 3/26, we will read about Saul's conversion in chapter 9. We hope you can join us!
In Christ,
Pastor Albert
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LUTHERFACTS Martin Luther had a way with words, often able to find just the right phrase. One example can be found In 1515 as he began a series of lectures on Paul's Letter to the Romans. He began this effort with the prevailing view that Paul called for Christians to live by the law. In short order, however, as he moved beyond the Latin translation to the original Greek texts, Luther's view shifted dramatically. "Here the door is thrown open wide for the understanding of Holy Scriptures," he declared to his students, "that is, that everything must be understood in relation to Christ ..." Luther concluded Paul's letter was not that we should live "by" but rather "in" the law. In so doing, the law would set us free. God's desire was, he proclaimed, for believers to experience a life of faith, which then led to good works. In advocating justification by faith, Martin Luther laid the basis for a new, radical reading of the Bible, a significant break with existing interpretations. Moreover, the insights he found in Romans would lead him, in time, to call for other doors to be "thrown open wide" in the existing churches of his day.
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Stephen Ministry
…and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit…Acts 6:5
One of the first lay people commissioned by the Apostles to provide caring ministry was Stephen. The modern Stephen Ministry program was developed in 1975 and has been an integral part of St. Mark’s for over 10 years. Did you know that Stephen Ministers receive 50 hours of training before they are commissioned to provide one-on-one Christ-centered care to individuals facing life challenges? Our Stephen Leaders receive an additional one week intensive training. And both Stephen Ministers and Leaders participate in continuing education and training.
This Sunday at both morning services, we will commission our newest Stephen Leader, Steve Hendrickson. Steve has been an integral part of St. Mark’s Stephen Ministry program for eight years, and we congratulate him on completing leadership training. To learn more about Stephen Ministry, contact one of our Stephen Leaders: Debbie Griffes or Steve Hendrickson.
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This Military Packages Collection: Sunday, March 26, 2017
Our March recipient will be Patrick Carr, who was suggested by Janice and Wes Carr. He is their nephew and is in the Marine Corps with the MPs. His unit would love goodies and snacks from home—they say they will love everything and have no particular requests.
We’re always looking for names for recipients for April and beyond. Please let Mary or Gerald Eskelund or Gayle Parsons know of any deployed person who would like to get packages. If you can give us their email address in addition to their regular mail address, that would be wonderful. We will try to contact them to see if they have any particular needs or likes.
Thank you for your always-generous support!
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ESOL News–Help Needed for Syrian Family
Following a telephone request from Lutheran Refugee Services, Joan Smith volunteered to assist a family of eight from Syria who was recently settled in Virginia in the Huntington area by their sponsor, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church of Georgetown. Holy Trinity’s efforts to locate much needed ESOL classes for two adults in the family had been unsuccessful until they contacted our ESOL Ministry.
At present, Joan is tutoring the adults on Tuesday and Wednesday from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM. They are studying at the Literacy level*, and Literacy classes in the Huntington area are full this time of year. Unless another opportunity arises, Joan has suggested that the adults should be placed in the Fairfax County ESOL Literacy class at the Bryant Adult Center beginning April 17th. She will continue to tutor the couple until then. Joan has also requested Diane Brody, ESOL Director at St. John’s Lutheran Church, to be a part of the conversation about the couple’s language needs because St. John’s is also sponsoring a family from Syria. Please call Joan at 703-354-2350 if you wish to help.
* The “Literacy” level is learning basic words and phrases, such as “What is your name?”, “My address is_____,” numbers, months, names of objects in a room, and colors.
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Easter Breakfast
The Congregation Council will be hosting two potluck continental breakfasts on Easter Sunday, April 16th. The first breakfast will follow our bilingual sunrise service at 6:30 AM, and the second will be after the 8:30 AM service. If you plan to attend either breakfast, please sign your name and check the item you would like to share on the poster provided in the Narthex. Please join us as we celebrate the Good News of Our Risen Lord.
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Holy Week
Palm/Passion Sunday, April 9
8:30 AM and 11:00 AM in English
1:00 PM in Spanish
Holy Thursday, April 13
10:30 AM in English
7:30 PM Bilingual
Good Friday, April 14
12:00 Noon in English:
Noon Prayers
6:00 PM in Spanish:
Stations of the Cross
7:30 PM in English:
Tenebrae
Holy Saturday, April 15
10:00 AM-12:00 Noon Easter Eggstravaganza
Meet in Fellowship Hall. Bring a basket to hunt eggs.
Easter Sunday, April 16
6:30 AM Bilingual Sunrise Service
8:30 AM and 11:00 AM in English
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Eggstravaganza
One of our favorite children’s events is
Eggstravaganza. This year Eggstravaganza will be on Saturday, April 15th, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. All AM and PM Sunday School children along with their friends and family are welcome. We will begin together in the Fellowship Hall with the Easter story and then rotate in our age groups to the following stations: egg hunt, crafts, and egg dying. Once again, the grand finale will be our piñata!
Parents are invited to stay and rotate through the stations with their children. Please bring a basket for the egg hunt and be ready for a fun morning as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
*We would appreciate candy donations for the egg hunt from the congregation. Candy should be individually wrapped and small enough to fit into a plastic egg. (Example: Starbursts, chocolate eggs). A collection box will be in the Narthex. We thank you for your donations, and we also would like to thank our youth who will be stuffing and hiding the eggs for the children.
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Invitation to Friends And Visitors
Interested in membership at St. Mark's? Sunday morning, April 23 at the 8:30 AM Worship Service new members will be received into the St. Mark's congregation.
If you are interested, please contact the church office or call 703-451-4331 or Welcome Chair Sandy Lind at or call 703-451-1593.
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Registration for Upcoming Women of the ELCA Events
For the Metro DC Synodical Women's Organization annual convention to be held Saturday, May 6, 2017 at Peace Lutheran in Alexandria, VA, you may either register online at http://www.swo2017convention.eventbrite.com or print out the registration form HERE and return to Fran Eck with your check. Find out more about it by viewing this FLYER.
For the Tenth Triennial Gathering to be held July 13-16, 2017, in Minneapolis, you may find out more about it at http://www.welcatg.org/ and you may register online at http://www.welcatg.org/registration-2017.
Questions on either event? Email Cheryl Dwyer or call her at 703-690-4409.
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Shekinah 2017 – DC Synod Junior High Youth Retreat March 17th-19th at Front Royal 4H Center
We had an amazing weekend learning about God’s Grace while we were a part of large and small groups, as well as E (experiential) groups with other youth and leaders in our ELCA Metro DC Synod. We learned about accepting grace, letting grace transform you, and sharing grace with those in our families, in our communities, and in the world. It was a fun time to connect together while making life-long memories in our journey of faith. Thanks to all those that came and for the prayers and support that come from our St. Mark’s Lutheran Church family.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves it is a gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” – Ephesians 2:8 NIV
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Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Erland Herfindahl, Stephanie Ogle, Joseph Triolo, Kathryn Wolfe, Kenya Wallace, Kara Barnes, Harriet Latta, Julia Bogstad, Lauren Meiser, Anna Stock, and Nils Herfindahl.
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Left to Right: Harriet Latta, Kathryn Wolfe, Julia Bogstad, Lauren Meiser, Erland Herfindahl, Nils Herfindahl, Stephanie Ogle, Kara Barnes, Joseph Triolo, Kenya Wallace, and Anna Stock
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Article Deadline
We need YOUR help! In order that ALL OF US receive the necessary documents for This Week, The Messenger, and the website, please send all articles you wish to have published no later than 5:00 PM on the Tuesday before the Sunday you wish for the articles to appear. Send those articles to communications@stmarks-elca.org.
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