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To Be and Make Disciples of
Jesus Christ
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Change of
Contact Information?
Click here to fill out an online form to help us update your information for our records.
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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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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.
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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.
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Schedule
9:00 am
"Come to the Table Worship"
with Holy Communion
Sanctuary
9:00 am
Celebration Worship
Saint Mark Center
9:15 am
Children's Church
Room A101
10:15 am
Sunday School
11:15 am
Traditional Worship
Sanctuary
12:30 pm
Church and Society Team Meeting
4:00 pm
Wings 'n Things
5:30 pm
In His Eyes
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Quick, easy and available
HERE
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Join us every day at 3:20 pm to pray for Saint Mark - our people and ministries.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Interested in LGBTQ+ Inclusion?
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Prayer Focus for This Week
Pray for the humane treatment of all varieties of animals. Pray for those persons who abuse or neglect the creatures that God has so graciously provided for our benefit and enjoyment. Pray for animals who are suffering due to the senseless injuries inflicted on them by humans who ignore God's command to be good stewards of God's creation. Pray for all who are called to foster, adopt and care for abused, neglected and abandoned animals.
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Submit Your Prayer Requests
Saint Mark is pleased to receive your prayer requests . . . for yourself or for friends or loved ones.
Click here
to submit your request to Pastor Todd Davis.
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THIS Sunday, April 29
9 am "Come to the Table Worship"
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Soon (if you haven't already) you will receive a letter in your mailbox to explain how we plan to "Move Forward at Saint Mark." Watch for more information in next week's Heart Beat.
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AND WHAT A CELEBRATION IT WAS!!
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Saint Mark Festival Worship 2018
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Thank You, Saint Mark,
For Your Servant Hearts!
I watched so many of you over the last few weeks diligently prepare for the wonderful
Saint Mark Festival we enjoyed this past Sunday. Thank you to the UMW (United Methodist Women) for beautiful decorations and the delicious meal. Thank you to all who worked on the church grounds to make everything beautiful. Thank you to everyone who helped to make worship wonderful! Thank you to the many hands and hearts that worked in their own special way to make our Saint Mark Festival a true celebration of the life and faith of our church. I am blessed to be one of your pastors!
Love and God's blessings to you!
Pastor Todd
If you were not able to be present for this annual event, click here to listen to Rev. Susan Leonard-Ray's message entitled, "We Are One."
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MENU
Egg Casserole
Pancakes
Link and Patty Sausages
Bacon
Orange Juice
Coffee (and other beverages)
COST
Adults -
$7
Children under 12 -
$3
Children under 3 -
FREE
There will be over 50 door prizes with 4 drawings throughout the morning! You don't have to be present to get your prize. Your ticket will be used for the drawing.
Proceeds from this fundraiser go to provide much needed glasses for children and adults. Each year, over the past six years, 100 pairs of glasses were given, first to children, then to adults. Lions Club will generously tithe their proceeds back to Saint Mark.
For more information, click here to contact Dean Garland.
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An Opportunity to Serve
Wilderness Way Girls' Camp
Thrift Store
Tuesday, May 1 and Thursday, May 10
9 am - 12 noon
Save the dates for a new opportunity for active discipleship, right here in Seneca! We are planning to hold two work-days (actually half days!) at the
Wilderness Way Girls' Camp School Thrift Store in Seneca. After serving on Tuesday, May 1 and Thursday, May 10 from 9 am - 12 noon, we will enjoy lunch together at a nearby restaurant.
We would like to get a team of 8-10 folks who will take on a variety of tasks from
sorting clothing, to moving furniture, to dusting or tidying shelves, to testing appliances, all in an effort to help the store increase sales, which helps fund the wonderful programs at the Wilderness Way Girls' Camp School. You will hear more about the school and have an opportunity to sign up for one or both of the work days at the Saint Mark Festival Luncheon on Sunday, April 22nd. Training will be provided, and there are jobs available for men and women, young and old, in great shape or physically challenged!
Click here to contact Jane Harlin at if you have questions or if you just can't wait to sign up!
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This very special service of worship will feature the Children's Choir, Wings for the Lord (youth), In His Eyes (youth), Saint Mark Ringers (bell choir), Celebration Worship Team, Gospel Choir and the Chancel Choir.
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Keep the Good Going, Pass it On
We committed ourselves to journey through the season of Lent, and we wore purple plastic bracelets around our wrists. These bracelets reminded us who we are and helped us to be connected as the people of Saint Mark. These bracelets urged us to do those things that point to God and to set aside those things that so easily distract. We committed to wear these bracelets for forty days, and now we have the opportunity to pass them on.
In worship on May 6, you will have the opportunity to give back your bracelet, we will bless them, and then we will send them to a congregation in South Africa where a friend of Pastor Shawna is serving as the Associate Pastor. They will distribute the bracelets to their people in their worship as reminders to them of their identity as beloved children of God, to live as disciples, and that despite living with an ocean between us we are connected as the body of Christ and committed to pray for one another.
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Top Secret!!!
VBS 2018
"Agency D3" will be accepting new cadets (pre registration for VBS) on
Sunday, May 6. Cadets, kindergarten through 5th grade, can register in the atrium during the Sunday School time (10:15 - 11 am). Dates for VBS are
Sunday, July 29 through Thursday, August 2 in the evening.
Volunteer opportunities are available. For more information,
click here to contact Lisa Kiser.
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Elderberries is sponsoring a 4-hour class to help you use your electronic devices more effectively. Your facilitators will be our own Jim Redmond and Anna Baldwin. Click here to register online. If you have further questions, click here to contact Marla Fuller, or call her at the church office (864) 882-2603.
Please note: If several weeks ago you filled out a survey/questionnaire about your devices, we were just collecting information about interests and needs. It was not a registration form. If you plan to attend, and haven't registered, please do so now by clicking the link above.
If possible, please plan to bring your device(s) with you to the class.
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Are you managing your estate and planning for "end of life" issues well???
Guess what? 70% of adults over the age of 55, living in South Carolina, have not completed their estate planning! SHOCKING??? Not really, since the problem is usually simply a combination of lack of knowledge and procrastination. Most folks just think that they have plenty of time to "Get 'er done!". That may work for "Larry the cable guy," but it certainly doesn't work for the average disciple at Saint Mark UMC.
Raymond Lanham, SMUMC member, who is retired from the American Cancer Society as the Estate and Asset Services Manager, will speak at an educational seminar luncheon on May 20, 2018 immediately following the 11:15 am Traditional worship service in the Commons Room. If you've "got it all together," come and share your expertise with our group! However, if you still have more questions than answers, then please join us for a bit of lunch and an informative discussion of the "perils of procrastination" when it comes to end of life issues.
No reservation is required to attend the event, however if you would like a bag lunch (turkey and cheese sandwich, chips, cookie, fruit, and drink is $8 per person - cash or check made out to Donna Jaynes on day of event), click her to email Donna Jaynes.
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The Saint Mark Elderberries (a ministry for seniors 50+) invites you to a community-wide workshop for family caregivers who have loved ones with dementia. If you, or someone you know, is caring for someone with dementia, please make them aware of this event.
Click here to register or to get more information.
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Pentecost and Confirmation Sunday
Sunday, May 20
Graduate Sunday
Sunday, May 27
Child Development Center
Yard Sale
Wings for the Lord Choir Tour
June 16 - 23
Wings for the Lord
Homecoming Concert
Sunday, June 24
Sunday School at 9 am
One Service at 10:00 am
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ELDERBERRIES EVENTS (FOR 50+)
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ARE YOU 50+?
Here are some Elderberries Events
that might interest you. Save the date(s) on your calendar.
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Need Help With Your Electronic Devices?
Electronic Devices Class
Saturday, May 19
10 - 2 pm (lunch included)
Cost: $10
"A Walk in My Shoes"
Virtual Alzheimer's Tour
Thursday, June 7
6 pm
(Includes a light supper)
Square Dancing at Oconee State Park
Friday, June 22
Supper at Puerto Nuevo Mexican
& Seafood Restaurant in West Union
6 pm
Square Dancing
8 - 10 pm
Tailgate at The Gorge
Saturday, July 28
More details to come . . .
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Fifty Reasons to Celebrate the
United Methodist Church
Date of Birth: April 23, 1968
Five decades is always an important milestone, and 2018 marks the Big 5-0 for The United Methodist Church. That's the reason a quick list was compiled of 50 reasons the world is a better place, thanks to the witness and work of the people of the United Methodist Church.
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Click here to read the entire Resolution (#1033) from the 2016 Book of Resolutions of the United Methodist Church.
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Foothills Chorale Spring Concert
Sunday, May 6
3:00 pm
Trinity Baptist Church in Seneca
The Foothills Chorale will present Franz Shubert's
Mass in G, Joseph Haydn's
Little Organ Mass, and other works for an exciting and diverse afternoon musical performance.
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A Set of Stoles for
Pastor Shawna
If you haven't already done so, it isn't too late to contribute toward the purchase of a set of four stoles for Pastor Shawna in recognition of the completion of her journey to Ordination as an Elder in Full Connection in the United Methodist Church at our annual conference the first week of June.
Click here to fill out a form to indicate the amount you will contribute. We would like to receive your contribution by in the church office by no later than this coming Monday, April 30.
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(Photo: Susan bringing the message at our
Saint Mark Festival)
Celebrating the Ministry of
Rev. Susan Leonard-Ray
Rev. Susan Leonard-Ray has faithfully served as our District Superintendent for the last eight years, and we at Saint Mark have been the beneficiaries of her God-given gifts and graces. She has been appointed to serve as pastor at Bethel UMC in Charleston, SC. She will be missed.
You have the opportunity to show your appreciation for her leadership and ministry by making a contribution toward a "love offering" that will be given to Rev. Leonard-Ray at a reception later in May. If you would like to contribute, please make your check out to
"Saint Mark UMC" with
"Leonard-Ray gift" in the "for" line, and drop it by the church office by no later than
Tuesday, May 8.
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Crosses recognizing our 17
founding members.
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Gallery of Crosses - Expansion
Last spring, we dedicated our first wall of crosses just behind our Sanctuary, which were donated by members of our church in honor and memory of persons special to them.
This past Sunday, during our Saint Mark Festival, we had the joy of dedicating two new walls of crosses on either side of our current wall of crosses. One of our new wall of crosses represents the 17 founding members of Saint Mark church. The other wall of crosses represents thirty + signature ministries of Saint Mark since its founding.
Special thanks to Basil Carney for his donation of the two large crosses that will be the center of each wall. And we want to especially thank Doug Manson, who made the 50 crosses that represent our founding members and signature ministries. Additional crosses are also being dedicated that were recently donated by Saint Mark members and friends.
We are grateful to the members of our Aesthetics team who have meticulously placed the crosses on all three walls. They are Joyce Carney, Lily Blue, Cheryl Cherry, Kathy Graves and Lisa Kiser.
We encourage you to take a moment to visit and appreciate our new wall of crosses.
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Crosses representing the 30+
signature ministries of Saint Mark.
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Sanctuary Flowers
I want to thank the disciples of Saint Mark who have donated beautiful flowers for the sanctuary the past four months.
If you would like to remember or honor someone by placing flowers in the sanctuary, please check the 2018 Flower Calendar that is located in the hall outside the sanctuary (near the music suite).
We need flowers for Mother's Day, and other open dates in May and July. Please sign up and you will get a reminder when your date comes up.
If you have any questions, please call me, Sandra Stricker, at 882-8641.
Many thanks,
Sandra
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New Saint Mark Logo
We hope that you have noticed our new Saint Mark logo that was officially unveiled during our Saint Mark Festival worship this past Sunday. The design is very intentional, describing our belief that discipleship is the very heart and soul of who we are as a community of faith. The distinctive and recognizable cross and flame remind us of our wider connection with the worldwide United Methodist denomination. The hands and feet represent our call to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world. Our Saint Mark mission statement is showcased in the center of the logo in the simple words,
"Be and Make Disciples." Ringing the design is a familiar scripture text
(Matthew 28:19) that calls each and every one of us to a life of devoted discipleship.
Our logo was designed and produced by
Allen Vargo and
the Graphic Communications class of the Fred P. Hamilton Career Center. Allen is the instructor of this class. Special thanks to him for beautifully capturing our mission in this logo design.
If you haven't already done so, we hope that you will pick up one or more
FREE decals to affix to your car(s) to identify yourself as a Saint Mark disciple. The 5" decals are located in the Atrium and the
the entrance to the sanctuary on the music suite side.
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The Saint Mark Library Team
Is Looking
for Short Term Volunteers
Our Library Team is looking for a few volunteers to help on one or both of our Library Work Days, Tuesdays May 15 and 22 at 4:30 pm. Some of the ways you can help include:
- Sort donated books and check for suitability to put on the shelves
- Check our donated books for duplicates
- Correct some of our book labels
- Glue card pockets inside of books
- Stamp the card pockets
If you are interested in helping, click here to contact Marla Fuller.
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Transform a Child's Future!
Each year, Epworth Children's Home provides care to children in our own communities who have experienced abuse, neglect, and loss. Epworth's care breaks the destructive cycle and encourages children to aim higher in life. The physical, emotional, academic, and spiritual care they receive transforms lives. On Sunday, May 13, 2018, our congregation will support Epworth by collecting the Annual Epworth Mother's Day Offering. We invite you to give generously to the children who call Epworth home. Epworth does not receive apportionments from the United Methodist Conference. This offering is our opportunity to support this vital ministry.
Click here for more information about Epworth Children's Home.
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UMC Abundant Health Initiative
As United Methodists, we are committed to creating abundant health for all - a global connection striving for mental, physical and spiritual well-being. Lifesaving health ministries are enriching the lives of people around the world, from South America to Africa, from India to the Philippines and the U.S.
UMCOR Health Kits cost $12 each, so the South Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church needs your help to raise at total of $122,400 by Tuesday, May 15. Click here to watch a short video about the initiative.
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May Calendar of Events
and Birthdays
Click here to view the entire church calendar for May and the list of those in our church family who will celebrate May birthdays.
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SAINTS IN SERVICE
HELPING YOU PLUG IN . . .
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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!
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