February 24, 2019

Worship Schedule 88:30 AM English Worship Service 9:46 AM The 9:46 Crowd (Adult Forum) 10:00 AM English Worship Service 11:05 AM Sunday School combined English/Spanish 11:06 AM The 11:06 Crowd (Adult Forum) 12:00 PM Spanish Worship Service

Message from Pastor Triolo

Dear Sisters and Brothers,   Did you receive your copy of the slide presentation of the “Vision and Goals for 2019-2022” at our exciting celebration service on Sunday, February 10? To view them again and/or to print them, click HERE —you can also access the text that goes with the slides in English and in Spanish . These are the strategies that your elected Council has created to move St. Mark’s forward in the next few years, the vision and goals that came from your feedback in our Town Hall Meetings last year.   “New Connections” is the theme that our Synod has been working towards and this is St. Mark’s plan to make our connections. The short explanation of these slides during that service touched on how we as a congregation can make connections UP, IN, and OUT: •  CONNECTING UP:  Deepen our piety ( relationship with God ) •  CONNECTING IN:  Accompany one another ( in daily faith-filled living ) •  CONNECTING OUT:  Continuing action ( love and accompany our neighbors )   The vision and goals include enhancing our worship experience and wanting to grow connections within the congregation, to accompany one another in all of life’s ups and downs. We learned that there is a strong desire in the congregation to grow, to increase in worship attendance, and to have more people to partner with in God’s mission.   At our annual Spring Congregational Meeting on April 7, we will view the slide presentation and will discuss these visions and goals more in depth. Between now and then, we offer that you would read through them again and think about questions or suggestions you may have about our strategies so that through discussions at that meeting, we can move forward to reach our goals.   Yours in Christ, + Pastor Albert and Cheryl Dwyer, Council President

Announcements

Ash Wednesday, March 6:  English services will be at 10:30 AM and 7:30 PM,  our Spanish service will be at 6:30PM.   Midweek soup and services: 10:30 AM English service is followed by soup in the Fellowship Hall.   6:30 PM soup supper in the Fellowship Hall is followed by 7:15 PM services: English services will be in the sanctuary and Spanish services will be in the lounge. ***Notice the earlier-than-normal time of 7:15 PM.***   Holy Week begins on Sunday, April 14: Palm-Passion Sunday services are at our regular worship times: 8:30 AM and 10:00 AM, English and  12:00 NOON, Spanish. Holy Wednesday Prayer Service in Spanish is at 7:00PM with soup to follow.  Holy Thursday services in English are at 10:30 AM and 7:30 PM.  Good Friday services in English are at 12:00 NOON and 7:30 PM; Spanish Service is at 6:30 PM.

Next Military Packages Collection: Sunday, February 24   Our recipient this month is Ivy Warbis and her cohorts—she was suggested by one of our contacts who is a friend of Sandy Lind. Ivy has been in the Air force for 14 years. She is currently deployed on a remote one-year tour at Incirlik AB, Turkey, doing Special Duty as the Readiness NCO at the Airman & Family Readiness Center, which includes being the installation Casualty Assistance representative.  The only special requests she mentioned are Hazelnut Ground coffee (regular ground coffee, NOT K-cups), and bath stuff (bombs and bubble bath, etc.). (Don’t fret, we will NOT list the items as bath bombs on the customs forms!) She says she herself is partial to snacks on the more-healthful side, but they all will be ecstatic with any items we send … and you know how the recipients always rave about the brownies and other goodies you bake! Since this is the time of year we can send chocolates without them melting, if you end up with leftover   Valentine’s s Day chocolates and want them out of your way and not a source of temptation, we will be happy to include them in boxes we send—you know you can place them in the military packages box in the narthex any time, or bring them any last-Sunday-of-the-month military packages collection.   Thank you so very much for your continuing generous   support of our deployed service members via this project.

Thankoffering Collection/Bold Woman Sunday, February 24, 2019 St. Mark's Women of the ELCA (WELCA) will collect Thankofferings on Sunday, February 24, at the 8:30 AM, 10:00 AM, and 12:00 NOON services. Through Thankofferings we have an opportunity to show gratitude for God's blessings by offering special gifts to churchwide WELCA to support their work and ministries, such as educational resources, ecumenical partnerships, advocacy, global education, leadership development, Gather magazine, and much more. We invite the congregation to participate in this special offering. Please note that this offering is separate from your regular church offerings and are a donation to the Women of the ELCA. Thankoffering envelopes will be available in the Narthex and in the pew racks on February 24. Thank you! St. Mark’s WELCA will also honor a group of Bold Women for 2019: the Bazaar Crafters. These women—Mary Anderson, Mary Eskelund, Beverly Clemens, Norma Stuart, and Jan Pantin—have dedicated time weekly for years to create plans for craft items to sell and to put it all together for the Annual St. Mark’s Holiday Bazaar. Look for the Bulletin Insert on today to learn more about the Bazaar Crafters.

Surprise! Alice Carlson will be celebrating her 90th birthday on March 9th! There will be a "Happy Birthday, Alice!" box in the narthex if you'd like to send her a birthday greeting. We'll take the box to her on her birthday.

Friendly Reminder for Committee and Ministry Teams in St. Mark's Please be reminded that the deadline to submit annual reports is February 28, 2019. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the office. Submissions can be done via email at   ccontreras@stmarks-elca.org   or dropped off in the office.

* SAVE THE DATE! * SAVE THE DATE! * St. Mark's Montessori School's Annual Fun Fair will be held on Saturday, March 16th , from 11:00 AM-2:00 PM.

Food Collection for ECHO Once again it is time for St. Mark’s to help ECHO keep its food room stocked. This is the time of year when food donations drop, so ECHO relies heavily on its supporters. The following items are needed at this time. You can pick up a bag in the narthex this Sunday and return it by March 3. Items needed will also be attached to the bags—or you can bring your own bag.

*Jelly Vegetable Oil *Canned Pasta  *Tomato Paste (6/8 oz.) *Jello/pudding mix *Boxed Rice (2#) *Canned meat *Juice or Milk cartons (individual size) *Most needed items

Flour (2 lb) * Detergent *Deodorant Razors Shaving Cream *Facial Tissue Adult/child OTC pain medications Coffee/Tea

Help wanted : We are seeking a facilitator (leader) for either  The 9:46 Crowd  or  The 11:06 Crowd  (both English Adult Forums). Presently, Rodney Pendleton is handling both groups but would like some help with one or the other. If you are interested in helping, please contact Pastor Triolo, the church office, or any Church Council member. Help wanted : We are seeking volunteers for a new ministry at St. Mark’s to operate the audio system from an iPad during services and, eventually, assist in the live streaming and recording of our services. Our goal is to relieve our Pastors of any responsibility for the system during services. You will be trained on the very user-friendly system, and if you have an agile index finger and can use an iPad, you possess all the needed skills. Please contact Pastor Triolo, the church office, or any Council member to express interest.

St. Mark's Youth Group

Ministry Team February 24

Altar Flower Dedications

Communion Cards.  Please don’t forget to fill out a communion card each time you  worship . Cards are located in the pew racks. If your address has changed, you can include that information so the church office can update your records. In addition, use of the card allows the church office to enter your communion and attendance in the official church records. Thank you.

Kristin's Message based on the lectionary of the week by Kristin Berkey Abbott .

Visit our website

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 .