May 20, 2018

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

Pastor Albert's Message

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,   Part of our congregational meeting this Sunday evening (from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM with a potluck supper beginning at 5:00 PM) will be to continue our town hall meeting conversations. In addition to the annual program meeting agenda items, this month we will spend some time talking about ministry teams. As you may know, St. Mark’s has several committees, such as Finance, Property, Personnel, Stewardship, and Publicity; but we are lacking committees for other areas, such as Worship, Christian Education, Youth, or Evangelism. We plan to change that! Part of begin a reflection of the social nature of the Holy Trinity means: 1) that St. Mark’s has within itself all the gifts we need to carry out the work to which God is calling us and 2) that the people of the congregation are called to work together, sharing these gifts to accomplish God’s work. We are looking for members of the congregation to participate in the above ministry teams (and some others) to do the work we believe God is calling us to. The new teams will be made up of both English and Spanish speakers; will meet together about five times a year (that’s only about ten hours each year for “committee meetings”!); and, in coordination with the pastoral staff and council, they will work together to discern, plan, and implement a variety of ministry programs in their specific areas. This is important work God is calling us to. I look forward to exploring this more with you on Sunday and seeing all whom God will lead into this new venture.   Yours in the Trinity, Pastor Albert

Announcements

Join The 9:46 Crowd/The 11:46 Crowd : Lesson for Sunday, May 20 Biblical Wisdom Literature  [Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job]  Questions about the meaning of life abound in the Bible’s books of wisdom literature: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job. Join Professor Koester as he unpacks each book’s distinctive character and outlook, the answers it offers to life’s questions (sometimes straightforward, sometimes nebulous), and its contribution to a fascinating dialogue on how to live.

The annual St. Mark's Spring Congregation meeting will be held May 20, 2018, at 5:00 PM in the Fellowship Hall . We will begin with a potluck supper and fellowship, and then we will discuss the town hall meetings and the Council retreat proposals for structuring program committees.

COUNCIL RETREAT                                                                           May 7, 2018                      Council convened in retreat on April 28 with an agenda to discuss the topics of the town hall meetings. We wanted to review the opinions expressed and with them discern where the Holy Spirit is guiding our congregation. Acknowledging the preferences indicated by the surveys, Council considered an organization format for St. Mark’s that is a hybrid of a program and pastoral model. St. Mark’s has a large number of social action groups that can be included more fully when planning directions for the congregation. Should they be aligned within a limited number of overarching committees? Worship, Christian education, youth, evangelism, and music were proposed as possible committees. None of the management committees (Finance, Personnel, Property) would be changed. Establishing worship and music committees have the highest priorities. Further discussions of this approach will be held during Council meetings. We will update you on our progress. Paul Palm, Council President

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.

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, and 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 they would love to get—in addition to your wonderful goodies:   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.

The prayer group has had a good beginning, with five people attending. We welcome all to join us! We meet on Wednesdays at 10:00 AM in the Narthex. If you have prayer requests, you may give them to an usher, a Pastor, or Stephanie Ogle. If you do not want them published in the bulletin, please mark them “Confidential.”

St. Mark's Youth

Youth Sunday   Just a reminder that THIS coming Sunday is Youth Sunday at the 10:00 AM worship service and we will be practicing THIS Friday night at 7:00 PM. Please let Stephanie know if you can or can't make it? Thank you! :-)   Youth Sunday Practice Friday May 18th, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Narthex & St. Mark's Sanctuary   Youth Sunday Worship Service   May 20th, 10:00 AM - Meet at 9:30 AM to practice in sanctuary St. Mark's Sanctuary

Save the Date (click on picture for info)

Ministry Team May 20

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 .

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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 .