Worship Schedule
8:30 AM English Worship Service
9:46 AM The 9:46 Crowd
10:00 AM English Worship Service
11:05 AM Sunday School combined English/Spanish
12:00 PM Spanish Worship Service
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Dear Friends in Christ,
Our plans for the upcoming iftar
*
have been confirmed. We will attend Ezher Bloom Mosque on Tuesday, June 5 at 7:00 PM. So far seventeen people from St. Mark’s plan to attend! If you would like to join us, please register at
here
.
To help our hosts better prepare, please RSVP by 5/31.
Yours in the Trinity,
Pastor Albert
*
An iftar is the daily fast break during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting. Shortly after 7:00 PM, we will receive a brief introduction to Ramadan and fasting and a tour of the mosque. This will be followed by evening prayers and a meal to break the fast. Over dinner we will share in great conversation and make new friends. Their goal for the iftar is simple: “to build friendship and understanding between those of all faith and no faith.” When we sit and break bread together, we discover our similarities and shared passions and find ways that we can work together for the betterment of our communities.
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Dear Friends in Christ,
Two years ago, I began a journey toward a Doctor of Ministry in Congregational Mission and Leadership at Luther Seminary. The topic for my research over the past several months has been how we, a bilingual-multicultural congregation, reflect the image of the Trinity in unity and diversity. Most of the activities involved in the research were ministries we have been doing for years, like our Christmas Pageant and Three Kings Celebration. Also relevant for the research were some new activities, like the series of town hall meetings with round table discussions and our 2018 church council retreat.
In the Fall of 2017, many of you participated in a survey to help to establish a baseline so that we might learn if and how the activities had an impact on our understanding of God’s Trinitarian nature and our reflection of that nature. Now that we have come to the end of the research, I would very much appreciate your participation once again, whether or not you completed a questionnaire in the fall. There will be hardcopies available at St. Mark’s but it is typically easier to complete the online version. It should take you between 10 and 15 minutes to complete.
Please note, I ask for your birthdate at the beginning of the questionnaire. This is not to identify individual members. Rather, it simultaneously tells me the age demographic and allows endline and baseline questionnaires completed by the same person to be paired. While the whole population of St. Mark’s is being studied, it is also helpful to see if and how individual participants were shaped by their experiences.
Gratefully, yours in Christ,
Pastor Albert
ENGLISH
SPANISH
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St. Mark’s Annual Spring Meeting
Fellowship and a good meal got the meeting off to a good start. Paul Palm reminded everyone that the Council is planning to review the fall worship schedule over the summer. They will be looking at worship attendance and education-hour attendance as well as our goals of increased fellowship between services, participation of youth and families, and integration of our English- and Spanish-speaking communities.
Rodney Pendleton gave a briefing on a proposed new audio system for the sanctuary. He reported on many of the improvements that will be made (better and more speakers, better and movable microphones for the choir, wireless mics for the pastors, and local controls). Project officers have learned a lot about the systems needed and that will fit our Sanctuary. A number of proposals have been received over the period of more than a year providing us with guidance on funding required. At the request of the Council, the Congregation gave Council approval to expend up to $35,000 with the funds coming from the Revitalization fund. The Property Committee will now negotiate a contract for work to be done over the summer.
Kerri Westberg and Bob Akers gave a briefing on Council deliberations in a retreat following the town hall meetings regarding the type of congregation we are. We agree that a hybrid of the pastoral model and the program model is probably best for St. Mark’s. To that end, some over-arching committees were suggested as a means of providing better communication between pastors, Council, and the congregation. Development of a worship committee and a music committee was given first priority. The Council will work in sub-groups to continue that development.
Paul Palm
Congregation Council President
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Military Packages Collection: Sunday, May 27
Our recipient this month will be Jamaal Mays and his cohorts. We received his name and information from a contact of Sandy Lind’s.
Because of their particular location and duties, they are not allowed to tell us much, but he did write this:
I lead a US logistics unit that is made up of US service members normally stationed all over the world. We load and unload aircraft, provide fuel, store parts, haul and ship cargo. We love our country and it is people like you that remind us of our families and why we are over here.
In earlier correspondence with him, he mentioned several things – in addition to your wonderful goodies – they would love to get:
We have a 75-person chapel here on base and we have been looking for a way to get k-cups for the chapel. Other goodies my guys love: Baby wipes, liquid Kool-Aid-type flavorings (to add to water bottles) or other drink flavorings, trail mix or nuts.
He adds:
We truly appreciate your thoughtfulness and whatever you send will be treasured. Thank you again.
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English Classes for Adults
Basic English and Beginner Civics
June 5, 2018 to July 25, 2018
Tuesday and Wednesday Evenings
7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Book Fees: $15
U.S. Citizenship Classes
Every Saturday
5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
One-Time Fee: $5.00
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
5800 Backlick Road, Springfield, VA 22150
703-451-4331
Entrance to classes through Door 5
There are no classes or childcare for children.
Children are no allowed in the classrooms during class.
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Just a reminder:
Friends & Family Chamber Orchestra & Chamber Choir
concerts are finished for this season.
(No June concert)
We will be in touch with you
about the new season that begins in the fall.
Thanks for your wonderful support this year.
Have a great summer!
Wayne & Ginny Taylor
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Children’s Church Update
Children’s Church will be taking a short break during the summer months. Our last Sunday for Children’s Church will be June 3. During the summer, we will continue to have our Children’s Sermon. We look forward to resuming Children’s Church beginning September 9
th
at the 10:00 AM worship service.
Adult volunteers are still needed for the fall! If you are interested in spreading the “Good News” to God’s children, please contact Cathy Snider at
csnider4@verizon.net
or 703-455-5395.
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Contemporary Worship Music Team
A small group of singers/musicians has been meeting on Thursday nights from 6:00-7:00 PM, reading through music and working on accompaniments and vocals. New participants are welcome to the group so please join us. Feel free to contact
Pastor Albert
or
Debbie Griffes
with inquiries/questions.
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St. Mark’s WELCA/MIELA Circle Meetings are scheduled for June. Please plan to join us:
Se programan reuniones de San Marcos WELCA/MIELA Circle para junio. Por favor planee unirse a nosotros:
WELCA's Social Concerns Project for June is monetary donations for
Food for the Poor
(
http://www.foodforthepoor.org/
), which works mainly with people in the islands of the
Caribbean
.
Tuesday, June 5:
Martha Circle will meet at 11:00 AM at Milano’s Family Restaurant at
6230-G Rolling Road in Springfield (703) 569-7550.
Wednesday, June 6:
Esther Circle plans their annual potluck luncheon at 11:30 AM at the Friendship House.
Program leader: Kathy Kalmar, RSVP Kathy Kalmar
kathykalmar@verizon.net
,
(703) 451-2611.
Deborah Circle will meet at 6:00 PM for a potluck supper at Linda Vretos’s home at 9829 South Park Circle, Fairfax Station, VA 22039, (703) 455-4841,
cvretos@cox.net
.
June schedule TBD
Círculo de Tabita: summer plans are to meet once in July and once in August with details forthcoming. Pastor Varinia Espinosa, líder del programa,
gvespinosa@stmarks-elca.org
(571) 336-6864.
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Thank you very much for your overwhelming response to the “Noisy Offering.” Your donations of loose change filled two large plastic paint buckets to the point that they were very difficult to lift, with additional donations of $177 in rolled change. All told, your generosity totaled over $1400 and will go to support Lutheran Disaster Response.
If you have an idea for a special offering—or if you have a fund raiser idea for St. Mark’s operations in general, please contact Bob Akers (703.569-9504;
akersfam@verizon.net
) or leave a message for the Stewardship committee with the church office (703.451-4331;
info@stmarks-elca.org
).
Thank you for your continued generosity to support the Lord’s missions.
St. Mark’s Stewardship
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Thank you to all who made Youth Sunday Worship Service a meaningful experience!
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Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Alex Ferrari, Will Makinen, Nayla Avila, Oriana Avila, Joy Weekly, Nils Herfindahl, Jessica Noel Sheridan, Lauren Meiser, Joseph Triolo, Michael Bianchetta, Ava and Stephanie Ogle, Anna Ferrari, Elli Makinen, Emilie Dajc, Katie Wolfe, Julia Bogstad, Kara Barnes, and Sarah Sheridan.
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Calling all St. Mark's
Graduating HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS!
St. Mark's Quilts & More wants to celebrate this important milestone in your life by giving you a quilt made especially for you. Please contact
Mary Anderson
, if you will be graduating this year.
We don't want to miss anyone.
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Save the Date (click on picture for info)
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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.
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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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