Weekly Newsletter | August 4, 2020
Worship and Devotions
Join Us Online for Worship Every Sunday at 10:00 a.m.
We are happy to have people from all over the world worshipping with us online through the livestream on our Facebook page. If you miss any of our services, you can find them on our website and Facebook page. 


Share prayer requests with us by sending them to: prayers@smlutheran.org. If you would like us to include them in the Prayers of the Church during Sunday worship, please make note of that. 

Join Us For Daily Devotions
A new Daily Devotion is posted every weekday at 6:00 a.m. on our St. Mark’s website and is available for listening at any time. 
Children, Youth, and Family Faith Formation
The next set of supplies for VBS were handed out Monday, July 27. Please contact Celesta Smith at celesta.smith@smlutheran.org if you still need to pick yours up. Note...there is ONE online component, each Monday morning at 10 a.m. via Facebook Live or later on the church website and then the rest is up to you at home with your family. Each week will feature a new story, new song, and a new activity or two. Click here for more information.

4/5th grade & Middle School (6-8th gr) Book Group: We will meet Wednesday, August 5 and 12, from 6-6:45 p.m. via Zoom. Contact Ingelaurie Lisher if you haven't received the link via email.

Confirmation Bible Pick up (last years 7 & 8th graders): Our next bible pick up will be Tuesday, August 11, from 10 a.m.-noon and then from 3-4 p.m. at the church. Bibles will be on a table outside Ingelaurie's office to pick up between those times. Please wear a mask. 

You are all invited to celebrate and join in via Facebook Live with the 2020 High School Graduates at the St. Mark's Baccalaureate service on Thursday, August 6, at 6:30 p.m. The face-to-face portion is for graduates and their immediate family members.
Adult Faith Formation

Join Pastor Hallie for text study this Wednesday at noon. We'll read and explore Matthew 13:22-33. Click here for link to join. 

This fall, Adult Faith Formation is looking for small group leaders to guide online discussions. If you would like to be a leader for one of these online cohort groups, please sign up here. 

Pub Theology: Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m., young adults are invited to grab their favorite brew, click on the zoom link here, and spend some time hanging out virtually and talking about sabbath time (and feel free to email Pastor Hallie for more details or just to say hi). 

Summer Book Groups: We have many busy readers this summer! Here's a reminder about when these groups meet:
  • Love Big is done; thanks to everyone who particiated these last 4 weeks.  
  • White Fragility continues to meet at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays, led by Ray Shjerven
  • Dear Church continues to meet at 7 p.m. Mondays, led by Pastor Hallie 
Job Opening at St. Mark’s

St. Mark’s Lutheran Church by The Narrows is seeking a person responsible for the coordination and support of the day-to-day activities of the church office and for operational support of the church facilities. This is a part-time position of 23 hours per week. Hours are 9:00 a.m - Noon on Monday to Friday for church office duties, 1:00-3:00 p.m. on Tuesday for staff meetings, and 1:00-4:00 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday for operational support. It is understood that functions may be performed in various combinations during those work hours. The position is offered with a 10-month Work Agreement from September 2020 to June 2021. Click here for the job description. Applicants should submit a Letter of Interest and Resume with 3 references by August 15 to: St. Mark’s Lutheran Church by The Narrows, Attention: Pastor Jan Ruud, 6730 North 17th Street, Tacoma, WA 98406. Application materials can also be emailed to Pastor Ruud at jruud@smlutheran.org.
June 2020 – General Ministry Fund Financial Update
In June, General Ministry Fund offerings and expenses were both slightly below budget, with the net result being positive in real terms and budget relative.

Offerings for June were $4,366 below budget ($90,320 versus budgeted offerings of $94,686). We ended the fiscal year on June 30th, $37,828 above budgeted offerings of $1,000,000 and 1.3% above last fiscal year’s actual offerings. 

Expenses for June – prior to accounting for expenses covered by Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds – were $4,692 below budget (spending $83,164 versus budgeted expenses of $87,856). The majority of the “underspending” was due to our pastoral transition and a lower-than-budgeted staff benefits cost increase in January. In the General Ministry Fund, we were able to spend $51,923 in PPP funds in June to offset certain staff and other expenses. We ended the fiscal year $62,566 below budgeted expenses of $1,003,298 BEFORE PPP offsets and $164,984 below budgeted expenses INCLUDING PPP offsets. Of this $165K in budget-relative savings, $40.8K is attributable to our pastoral transition; $21.8K is spread across various other General Ministry Fund line items; and the remaining $102.4K is attributable to spending PPP loan funds.

The bottom line for June, BEFORE PPP offsets, is that we brought in $7,670 more than we spent versus our projection to bring in $7,105 more than we spent. This put us $565 ahead of budget for the month. INCLUDING PPP spending, we brought in $59,593 more than we spent, putting us $52,488 ahead of budget for the month. For Fiscal Year 2019-2020, BEFORE PPP offsets, we ended $104,458 ahead of budget, bringing in $104,458 more than we spent versus a balanced budget projection of $0 (total income = expenses). INCLUDING PPP spending, we brought in $206,876 more than we spent, leaving the General Ministry Fund with a significant, positive balance as of June 30th.

A full financial report with additional details and commentary will be made available as part of our annual financial reporting process. In the meantime, please feel free to contact Jennifer Droubay or Mike McKeller in the Church office with any questions. Thank you.
Moral Voices, Moral Choices
The Peace and Justice Committee at St. Mark's invites us all to use our moral voices to advocate for justice and to make moral choices in our personal behavior.

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,” teaches Jesus in Matt. 25:35. The coronavirus (COVID-19) is a hunger crisis. Feeding America estimates that 54 million Americans will become food insecure by the end of this year. Globally, the number of people facing a hunger crisis could double, to 265 million, according to the U.N. World Food Programme. Please urge your members of Congress to prioritize investing in nutrition. Bread for the World has prepared a sample letter for you to personalize here.
Habitat for Humanity
 
Once again St. Mark’s is supporting the construction of a Habitat house, and you’re invited to help!
There are new procedures and restrictions due to the COVID pandemic, though. We are limited to smaller groups, but now have more than one workday available. The dates for St. Mark’s are August 29 and September 26 – and depending on the level of interest, we will probably be able to obtain another date, as well.
 
If you are interested in being part of a St. Mark’s team, please send me an email with the date that you prefer, and I will send you more information about the new health and safety restrictions at the worksite, along with instructions on how to sign up online.
 
Please contact me if you have any questions. Tom Geary, twgeary@aol.com, 253-549-2668
The Bazaar is in the works for 2020! 

Save the date: November 7

It might look a little bit different, we won’t know until we get there, more news to come.
 
Crafters, have you been working during the closures on those amazing items for the event?
Craft Items can be donated any time. Please contact Katie Cootsona to arrange a meeting.
 
Please only Craft items, we are unable to accept books or collectibles at this time.
Member Notes and News
St. Mark's member Clara Eickhoff will be married to Bergen Nelson on August 15 and they would like the congregation to (virtually) join them! The wedding will be livestreamed on their wedding website at https://sites.google.com/view/bergenandclaraswedding/ and the congregation is invited to visit the website and then watch the ceremony online. Clara and Bergen would like to know if you plan to watch so they can have a mental image of who would be sitting in the pews if it were safe to gather together; Clara can be emailed at clara.eickhoff@gmail.com.
UPDATED! Organizations in the community continue to need masks. Click below to see the list.
Click below to see ways you can connect and serve with community partners during the pandemic.
St. Mark's Lutheran Church by The Narrows