Weekly Newsletter | April 20, 2021
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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.
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March 2021 – General Ministry Fund Financial Update |
Offerings for March were $15,480 above budget ($99,990 versus budgeted offerings of $84,510). This was a great result after three consecutive months of budget-relative declines in offering. We are now back above budgeted offerings on a fiscal year-to-date (FYTD) basis ($751,247 versus budgeted offerings of $740,403). This puts us just 1.1% below last year’s actual offerings over the same time period. As we enter the final quarter of this fiscal year, we continue to watch offering numbers closely in order to help inform a reasonable draft budget for next fiscal year. This budget – after being compiled and vetted by ministry teams, staff, Finance Committee, Personnel Committee, and Council – will be brought to the congregation for review and approval at the end of June.
Expenses for March were $2,159 below budget (spending $85,844 versus budgeted expenses of $88,003). FYTD, we are now $53,575 below budgeted expenses of $749,995 before including the final Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan offsets from July (and $78,169 below budgeted expenses including PPP offsets). Areas of budget-relative savings remain the same as in recent months, including lower-than-budgeted increases in staff benefits costs, facilities/office cost savings due to the ongoing COVID-19 closure, part-time staff that did not begin the work that they typically would at the start of a new ministry year, and lower-than-budgeted mortgage payments as a result of our most recent reamortization.
The bottom line for March is we brought in $14,795 more than we spent versus our projection to spend $3,218 more than we brought in. This put us $18,013 ahead of budget for the month. On a FYTD basis, before PPP offsets, we are $68,802 ahead of budget, bringing in $61,685 more than we spent versus a projection to spend $7,117 more than we brought in at this point in the fiscal year. Including PPP offsets, we have brought in $86,279 more than we spent, putting us $93,396 ahead of budget. The budget-relative savings in expenses described above are not expected to persist throughout the new fiscal year (i.e., when groups begin to meet and we are eventually able to worship again in person). This means that this bottom-line build-up of our General Ministry Fund should be considered a “one-time phenomenon.” Our draft budget for next fiscal year currently anticipates a return to full expenses.
Please feel free to contact Jennifer Droubay or Mike McKeller in the Church office with any questions. Thank you.
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Children, Youth, and Family Faith Formation |
Spring 2021: All videos for children 3 yrs old to 4th grade will be posted on the website each week by 4 p.m. and/or emailed out to families the Friday before.
Weekly Storytime PreK-K "Children's Storytime" (God's Stories and Ours"): April 25: Good Shepherd Sunday; May 2: We are all connected (Vine); May 9: Abide in my Love; May 16: Matthias; May 23: Pentecost Sunday; May 30: What does God look like?; June 6: Sing Praises to God; June 13: Beauty of the Earth.
1-4th grade Zoom Classes and Story/Videos:
Zoom Classes: April 25 (Good Shepherd); May 9 (Love); May 23 (Pentecost); June 6(end of the year party).
Video/Story: May 2 (We are connected); May 16 Matthias); May 30 (Vision of God); June 13 (Seeds).
Middle School Youth Group: Wednesdays from 3-3:30 p.m. over Zoom weekly through May 26.
Sunday AM classes at 11:00 a.m. through June 6
- 5/6th grade students with Angelie and Irv 11-11:30 a.m.
- 7/8th grade students with Linda W. and Bruce 11-11:45 a.m.
- 9-12th grade students with Ingelaurie 11-11:30 a.m. April 25--regular class. May 2, May 16 Minecraft realm builds--more information coming on this.
High School Youth Event: Pizza and Digital Escape Room. Sunday, April 25 4 p.m. Sign up here by April 18.
2021 High School Graduates from St.Mark's--here is who I have on my list: Jack Banken, Kyan Calhoun, Amber Gainey Robert Heckard, Grace Laubach, Anna-Liisa Mayor, Kellen Meade, Ava Montgomery, Carl Reese and Abby Reiser Please let me know if I am missing anyone.
2021 College/University Graduates--please send Ingelaurie Lisher current pic and your bio so we can celebrate with you through the St. Mark's Bridge and Social Media Pages. We will begin honoring all higher education graduates beginning in May.
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Adult Faith Formation
"Reign of the Gathering God" with Mark Gravrock each Sunday! Join us on Sundays in April and May at 11 a.m. (or following worship). Click here for Zoom link. A weekly handout is available here. To listen to the accompanying podcasts, please click here.
On Tuesday, April 20th at 7pm, PLU will host Rev. Dr. George "Tink" Tinker for a lecture, "World Balance vs. Personal Salvation: An American Indian Postcolonial View." For more information, and link to register for the lecture, please click here.
For the month of April, pub theology members invite you to a virtual Madagascar-inspired dinner party on Saturday, April 24, at 7:30 p.m. We have missed gathering with others over food and connecting with the global community through travel as these are sources of great spiritual nourishment. This website houses recommended recipes, a possible cooking timeline, a link to register, and other decor/music/video inspirations to help you travel virtually to the island known as the footprint at the end of the world. During the virtual party, we will eat, be in fellowship together, and learn a bit about Malagasy culture and history.
"Around the table: Conversations with the Global Church" begins on Wednesday, April 21, at 6 p.m. We will host Andrew Larsen as he shares about volunteering in the Philippines this past year. Click here for Zoom link.
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Scholarships are now open for continuing students! Please go to our website for the application and the letter of recommendation template. For more information, please email Pastor Hallie.
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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.
It’s Earth Week. Earth Day is Thursday, April 22. It is appropriate this spring that our stewardship packets, Greening the Church policy review by Church Council, and Earth Week occur at the same time. It is a great opportunity to integrate our reflections about our annual giving with care for creation. David Rhoads has said that “Creation care and sustainable living need to be as natural and inescapable as loving our neighbor. Our entire church—congregational life and mission, theology, ethics, worship, pastoral care, spiritual practices—need a radical overhaul if we are to care for the life of God’s creation and contribute to our endurance as a species."
This year during Earth Week we can reflect on our stewardship of creation in a variety of ways. There are many resources available to assist in this endeavor. Please visit the following links to access ideas that are appropriate for your family:
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Earth Day.Org
- Earth Ministries
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Project Draw Down
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Revisit Laudato Si by Pope Francis
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Local Earth Day ideas prepared for St. Mark's Lutheran members by the Church Greening Committee.
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Antiracism Resources
Over the past few months, many members at St. Mark’s have been engaged in an urgent conversation about racial justice. The killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others have brought into focus the reality of systemic racism in our country and in our church. We have begun this journey through book studies, movie discussions, and extended conversation.
We all find ourselves in different places on this journey. Fortunately, there are abundant resources available to help us. St. Mark’s Peace and Justice committee hopes that you will look at the attached list and find some useful tools. We will be posting this on the church website soon, and we welcome new additions to the list.
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Earth Day is coming--it is on Thursday April 22. Organizations in Tacoma and Pierce County have planned a cornucopia of events to celebrate God's Creation. Earth Day.Org has a wonderful website that families and organizations can use to acknowledge Earth Day. You can avail yourself of that resource here. Finally, the Greening of the Church and Care of Creation Committees have organized the activities shown on this document specifically for members of St. Mark's Lutheran by the Narrows. Check these out and join in!
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Emergency Food Network Hunger Walk and 5K |
St. Mark's has a team for the 2021 Virtual Hunger Walk--walk anytime between May 1-31. Go here. Click JOIN. A virtual walking plan and/or date will be sent out to all who sign up towards the end of April. Contact Ingelaurie Lisher with questions.
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Chase the Chill
We continue to collect items for Chase the Chill through these cold winter months. Useful items are hats, scarves, mittens/gloves, and socks. The many generous donations we have already received have been given to those living on the streets here in Tacoma and are greatly appreciated. We are also collecting gently used coats, blankets, and other warm clothing. These items will be delivered to Peace Community Center, which has a clothing ministry serving the Hilltop neighborhood. Items can be delivered to St. Mark’s any time before 4 p.m. on Wednesdays. Please place your items in a bag and leave them outside the office door near the fountain. If you have any questions or need to coordinate a different time for drop off, contact Teresa Handy at 253-752-4966 x112 or teresa.handy@smlutheran.org. Thanks!
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St. Mark's Lutheran Church by The Narrows
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