The Bridge
        
The Weekly Newsletter of St. Mark's Lutheran Church by The Narrows                  
   April 1, 2020  
        
 
Sunday Worship      
During this time when public gatherings are suspended, we will worship together online at 10 a.m. Please click here to join.
 
 
To hear podcast recordings of our Sunday Sermons
Click Here
 
       Contact Us  
St. Mark's Lutheran Church by The Narrows

6730 N. 17th St.
Tacoma, WA 98406

Office: 253-752-4966
Preschool: 253-752-4929
Join our mailing list.
Online Sunday Morning Worship at 10:00 a.m.

A great number of people joined us for our online worship service last Sunday, which was recorded in the homes of our worship leaders. It was a unique experience for all of us, and we grow together each week as we discover new ways that God is touching our lives with love and grace. We will continue to livestream our Sunday worship at 10:00 a.m. every Sunday morning on Facebook, and the services then remain on our website and our Facebook page to be viewed at any time. We are also setting up a St. Mark's YouTube channel where you will be able to view our worship services and other events as we post them. 

Images from Home Worship

Thank you to everyone who has shared pictures of your home worship spaces. It is really heart-warming to see how our ordinary homes are being recognized as sanctuaries. Going forward, we think this will have a life-changing impact for many of us as we continue practices such as this beyond the time of Covid-19 restrictions. Here, again, are some ways that you can prepare your home for worship on Palm Sunday and during Holy Week.
  • Invite God to bless the space you will inhabit while worshipping with us. This could even be done with a special prayer.
  • If possible, create some kind of "altar" with a candle and/or other sacred symbols in the space you bless.
  • Fill a bowl with water that you can use in the Thanksgiving for Baptism at the beginning of worship.
  • Set a table for communion, including bread and wine or grape juice that you will share after the Eucharistic prayer.
 

Prayers of the Church
 
We have created a new email address by which you can share your prayer requests with us. If you would like us to include them in the Prayers of the Church during worship on Sunday, please make note of that. Otherwise, our pastors will keep them in confidentiality. Simply share your prayer requests with us at:  prayers@smlutheran.org.

Daily Devotions

We have received many expressions of gratitude for the Daily Devotions that we post on our website every morning at 6:00 a.m. You can find all of them on our new Worship and Daily Devotions tab on the St. Mark's website. 

Compline Services 

Every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. we post a new recording of our Compline Service, including peaceful music, prayers, scripture, and words of wisdom from men and women who are commemorated in that particular week of the church year. You can listen to this podcast anytime by going to the new Worship and Daily Devotions tab on the St. Mark's website. 

Coming Soon! - Virtual Easter Choir!

Everyone who has been involved in Easter Choir - be watching in the next few days for information that will be sent out for how to take part in a virtual choir that we will all have the opportunity to be part of to create, through technology, the anthem of "Joyful, Joyful" that was planned for the upcoming Easter Sunday. 

Instructions for how to take part will be sent out, and everyone who is interested will be welcome to send in their videos to be part of the combined final product.

Cooper Sherry and Kirsti Ruud are devising the strategy for how to make it work as we type, so stay tuned! More to come soon ...

Financial Giving in March
 
As you can see from the graph below, our projected offering income for the month of March was $90,351 and we came fairly close to attaining it. Going forward, it would be really nice to make up the difference in the month of April. You can continue to support our mission at St. Mark's by:
  • Sending your offering to us in the mail.
  • Setting up an automatic payment plan with your bank (a great idea!).
  • Giving online by going to this link on our website.


Please Use Our New Online Form To Share Your Plan for Giving in 2020-2021 With Us

We are pleased that Plans for Giving continue to come in each week, either by mail or by the new online form which we created. During the past week, we received 40 new Plans for Giving which brings the total amount pledged for fiscal year 2020-2021 to $602,000. By the end of Spring, we hope to attain the same good results that we had last year, which would mean at least 85 additional Plans for Giving submitted and an additional $250,000. If you haven't sent your Plan for Giving to us, please use  this confidential online form to do so as soon as possible.

St. Mark's is Committed to All Our Dedicated Staff
 
Last week, we reported that our church leaders voted to continue providing salary to all our part-time church staff during this time when all gatherings are suspended. We want you to know that this includes all our Preschool staff, who are so vital to our congregation's ministry. We are not asking families to pay tuition during the time when our Preschool is closed, but we are thankful for the love and appreciation that these families continue to show to our dedicated teachers and leaders. 

Congregational Care at St. Mark's: Support While Social Distancing

Caregiver support group will meet virtually; Friday, April 3 and 17, at 10:30 a.m.

Grief support- for anyone who is feeling a loss right now, all are welcome to meet virtually; Friday, April 10 and 24, at 10:30 a.m.

Please note: if you would like to join either of these virtual groups please email Pastor Sigi ( sigi.helgeson@smlutheran.org).
You will receive a confirmation email with an invitation.  

Virtual visits- this is a difficult time for many of us who may feel isolated. Please know you are not alone; your church family is here for you. If you would like to visit with a care minister or one of the pastors for a "virtual visit" please feel free to contact Pastor Sigi ( sigi.helgeson@smlutheran.org).

Pew presence- In an effort to stay connected there are several care ministers who will be calling our members to just check in with you. If you would rather not be called please let the church office know and we will take you off the list.  

For more information on congregational care go to the St. Mark's website and click on the red Stay Connected tab.

Mask Shortage Concerns


 
We have received several requests for masks to be made at home, Below is the updated information received this week.
 
CHI Franciscan & St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma
have updated their website to include a specific pattern and construction for the home made masks. The new design can be found on the website under donations:  https://www.chifranciscan.org/patients-and-visitors/covid-19/covid-19-donations
 
They will accept all masks made from any pattern. Thank you for your donations. You can deliver in person or send by mail to the below addresses:
 
Contact: 253-426-6202 (Command Center-Logistics) 
St. Joseph Medical Center
 
In Person Drop Off:
Franciscan Education and Support Center (FESC)
2420 South State Street
Tacoma, WA 98405
(Donations accepted 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. daily)                                                                                             
Mail Delivery:                                            
St Joseph Medical Center
Attn: Supply Chain Donation
1717 S. J st
Tacoma, WA 98405

For comments or questions email: Katie.Cootsona@gmail.com

Crafters Corner

Welcome to our new article in The Bridge; while so many are home-based we thought it would be an opportunity to provide craft project inspiration. 
 
This week we have a NO-SEW project that is family friendly, can be made for general or any holiday, and a is great item to donate to the Bazaar. If you are 'Spring' cleaning during these days at home, hold on to denim, ribbons, lace, neck ties, key rings, wine corks- we will have fun projects for those items in the weeks to follow. This week we are using scrabble pieces- did you clean out the game cupboard yet?
 
Scrabble Ornaments


Directions and links to inspirational images available here .
 
Thank you Pat Buck for the suggestion and crafting ideas. 
While the Church office is closed please send any craft suggestions & comments to katie.cootsona@gmail.com .

Youth and Family Ministry:  Online Youth Programming

Thursday Youth Group--Middle School youth only 5:30-6:00 p.m. weekly. Bring your own snacks. We will be playing charades this week. 
Zoom Meeting link has been emailed to families.*  

Sunday The Well for High School student--weekly 6:30-7:00 p.m. Bring your own snacks. 
GSuite Google Meeting link has been emailed to families.*

*Contact Ingelaurie if you did not receive it. 

Faith in the Home...Children and youth Sunday morning take homes will be sent out to each grade level later this week by either Char Leone or Ingelaurie Lisher--stay tuned. Don't forget to post your pictures to the St. Mark's Facebook page (St. Mark's Lutheran Church by The Narrows) Instagram (smlcbythenarrows)  #stmarksathome or text/email them to  ingelaurie@smlutheran.org to post. 


Update...May Holden Youth Weekend has been cancelled for this year. Look for refund checks sometime in May or June. 

Graduation--Quilts...Quilt pick up will probably need to be moved to later in May. High School Seniors be on the look out for an email from me coming after Easter. 

Young Adults

Next Tuesday at 7:30, we are moving our pub theology night online. Bring your favorite beverage and snacks. Email  hallie.parkins@smlutheran.org  for a link to connect. 
 
Adult Faith Formation

Look for an email about joining Pastor Sigi for discussion on the Lenten devotional, 'Practicing courage' this week. We will join virtually from 6:15-7:15. Email  hallie.parkins@smlutheran.org for a link to join the conversation. 

If you would like to join us for a bible study, email  hallie.parkins@smlutheran.org to for a link to join us this Wednesday at noon. Pastor Hallie will be leading us through a study of Matthew 21:1-11. 

St. Mark's Scholarships

St. Mark's scholarship applications for continuing students are now live. Please go here for the application and letter of recommendation. Scholarship applications and letters of recommendation for continuing students are due to  scholarships@smlutheran.org by April 26. 

Moral Voices, Moral Choices

The coronavirus pandemic poses challenges and opportunities for families, churches, the planet, and student learning. E3 Washington, the environmental education association of Washington, has posted a resource full of recommended "outside activities" for families. These activities include online games, virtual field trips, and videos. The activities are sponsored by a number of organizations including Project Learning Tree, South Sound Green, INaturalist, Journey North, and many more. Please access E3 Washington and go outside here



Call for Nominations

The Greater Tacoma Peace Prize invites nominations from individuals and organizations. The purpose of the Prize is to recognize, honor, and encourage peacebuilding by members of our community; and to promote peace and understanding locally, nationally, and internationally.

"GTPP places a spotlight on the amazing peacemakers in our own back yard who donate their time and resources to the cause of peace."
~ Janet Lee Ruud, GTPP President

For information about the GTPP and a nomination form,
Phone: 253.564.2832

Nominations for 2020 end April 17.

GTPP would like to thank St Mark's for its continued support.

Have an item for The Bridge?
Send it to communications@smlutheran.org by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. All items will  run for two weeks prior to the relevant date, and will be edited for length. Don't forget to send your member notes and news!