St. Mark's Episcopal Church | Evanston
Being in Place - Growing in Faith - Living from the Center
The eLion
All of us at St. Mark’s share a commitment to our faith and to our community, and we welcome visitors regardless of religious background, race, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Everyone is welcome here.
This Weekend
Lay Ministers for
Sunday, January 190, 2020

Eucharistic Ministers: Andy Howard, Ted Richardson, Edie Molumby
Lectors: Nancye Kirk (8 a.m.), Mike Johnson, Joanna Greene (10:30 a.m.)
Acolytes: Lydia Pappas, Kate Johnson, Malaysia Jackson
Altar Guild: Pat Bent, Rachel Easton
Altar Flowers: Dorothy Laudati
Ushers: Susan Lewis, Lisa Montgomery
Coffee Hour Snacks: Last names beginning with M - S
Coffee Hour Host: Carter Schram
Vestry Person of the Day: Doug Sondgeroth, Liz McElhatton
Staying Connected
Shining Our Light Annual Campaign: By now, you should have received a letter from this year’s Annual Campaign Team – Emily Kirchner, Ted Richardson, and Nancye Kirk – inviting you to consider your gift to the 2020 Annual Campaign to fund St. Mark’s operating budget. If you did not receive a letter or have misplaced yours, additional pledge cards are available on the table at the back of the Lady Chapel and at the back of the Sanctuary OR you can go to www.stmarksevanston.org for a link to print your own. We invite you to complete a pledge card and return it to the church on or before February 9, 2020. The Annual Campaign Team hopes you’ll join us together as we continue to shine God’s light in church, in our community and in our lives.

Welcome Paula Cosby! This week we welcomed a new Administrative Assistant, Paula Cosby, to St. Mark's staff. Her office hours are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Stop on by!

Jubi-latte and Tea Deum: Join Pastor Debra any Wednesday from 2 – 3 p.m. at Cupitol (812 Grove Street, Evanston) for a time of conversation over a cup of coffee or tea. Everyone is invited. It’s drop-in office hours without the office!

 Vestry: Did you know that the most recent Vestry Meeting minutes are always posted on the bulletin board outside of the volunteer office? Now they can also be viewed online by clicking   this link!
Annual Meeting
January 26th immediately after the one worship service
(9:30 a.m.)
Notice is hereby given in accordance with the Canons of the Episcopal Church that the Annual Meeting of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church will take place next Sunday , January 26 immediately following worship. Lunch will be served . Note – there will be only one worship service that day at 9:30 a.m. 

At this meeting we will elect new vestry members. The nominating committee announces the following members of St. Mark’s who we hope to have elected at the Annual Meeting: Seth Himrod, Junior Warden; Betsy Johnson (2-year term to complete the unexpired term of Seth Himrod); Florence Estes (3-year term); Andrew Howard (3-year term); Matthew Kirchner (3-year term). Brief biographies and photos will be shared as soon as they are available. Thank you to this year’s nominating committee for your hard work (Doug Sondgeroth, Rachel Easton, Deane Johnson, and Lisa Montgomery).

Additionally, we will be electing members to serve as delegates to the Special Convention on Saturday, June 20th when the next Bishop of the Diocese of Chicago will be elected. We can send up to three delegates. Donna Richardson has been nominated to date but we will still accept additional nominations from the floor of the meeting for delegate or alternates. We will also be electing delegates to the Annual 2020 Convention which will take place on a Friday and Saturday in November. Again, we can elect up to 3 delegates and 3 alternates. Julia Ferguson and Lola Himrod have been nominated to date. Nominees for both of these conventions must be at least 16 years of age at the time of convention and must be baptized members of the Episcopal Church. It is perfectly acceptable to nominate yourself.

Other Annual Meeting business includes receiving written reports and the 2020 operating budget. In addition to the regular business of the annual meeting, we will be receiving feedback from our Episcopal Church Foundation consultant, Joe Merlino, based on the Feasibility Surveys that were completed in December.

Please mark your calendars and make every effort to attend this important meeting of the church.
Worship & Formation
Noisy Collection:  As part of the Annual Campaign, the children will be conducting a “noisy collection” this Sunday, January 19 th  at the 10:30 a.m. service. Please bring your coins to help us make an abundant noise as we shine God’s light!

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: Join us this Sunday, January 19, 2020 for some special music and liturgy in honor of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Our guest soloist that day will be Marquise Andre Neal and the choir has prepared “Total Praise” by Richard Smallwood. We will be using hymns from  Lift Every Voice and Sing  hymnal throughout the worship service.

Flowers: If you would like to remember a loved one by making a donation for flowers on a Sunday morning, add your name to the sign up sheet in the parlor. The suggested donation is $50 (but any amount is welcome). There are several dates still available!
Social Justice & Outreach
Thank You for the 97 cold weather items (hats, socks, ear muffs, scarves, throws, t-shirts, headbands, and gloves/mittens) collected during our Mitten Tree drive. Items were delivered to Evanston School Children’s Clothing Association (ESCCA), Sue Murphy, for Hospitality Center Guests and Baby Toddler Nursery . A special thank you to Dave Himrod, Rudy Burke and Ted Richardson for their help with the setup and decorating our tree.  

Walk for Warmth: St. Mark's supports the efforts of Interfaith Action of Evanston to help our hungry and homeless neighbors. This year, the emergency overnight shelter opened on November 17th and will remain open every evening this winter until March 31st. A Walk for Warmth fundraiser has been scheduled for the Martin L. King Holiday, Monday, January 20th, to raise funds to keep the shelter open. We hope to have a team participate in the walk, which is two miles along the route of the 6 faith communities that host the shelter. Please support this effort with a donation, our St. Mark's goal - $575 has been established. Everyone in Evanston deserves a warm place to sleep. Please make a donation on the St. Mark's page to keep the shelter open and meet our goal! Here is the link to our page: https://tinyurl.com/20warmthwalk

Sandwich-Makers and Lunch Servers Wanted: Every week St. Mark’s and St. Matthew’s serve lunch to between 50 and 70 guests in Cunningham Hall AND, you can get involved by helping to make those lunches on Tuesday evenings! Sandwich-making takes place on the 2 nd , 3 rd , 4 th , and (when it exists) 5 th  Tuesday of each month in the kitchen from 6 – 6:30 p.m. but we need your help. If you can spend 30 minutes even once in a while, we could use your help. In addition, especially during the summer weeks, additional help is needed on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. to set up, serve, and clean-up lunch. Sign up is easy:

·     Tuesday sandwich making -  http://tinyurl.com/y3xwbcda
·     Wednesday Lunch -  https://tinyurl.com/wedlch

If you have any questions, please contact Donna Richardson at 847-712-0705 or  dlynnrich322@gmail.com.
3rd Sunday Juice/Socks collection: Please remember to put jugs of juice (cranberry or apple juice are preferred) or socks on your shopping list for our Wednesday Lunch program or Hospitality Center guests.  Our next RED CART collection will be this Sunday January 19th; please place the jugs/socks in the cart at the back of the sanctuary. Thank you.
Pastoral Care Notes
Birthday Celebrations:
Susan Lewis (1/16)
Patrick Nee (1/16)
Andrew Howard (1/17)
David Himrod (1/18)
Beth Johnson (1/19)
James Lettner (1/21)

Anniversary Celebrations:
Matthew & Emily Kirchner (1/17)

Prayer List
Names remain on the prayer list for 5 weeks (2 weeks for those who have died).
  
We bid your prayers for: Veronica Braithwaite, Carolyn Brooks, Dick Brooks, Mary Pat Buckley, Gerritt Dangremond, Caroline Frowe, Charlie Lettner, Grace Lettner, Paul Lettner, Katherine Tyson McCrea, Andrea Nowack, Jan and Jeri Offutt, Kate Lewis, OJ Mabwa, Rick Artwick, Demetrie Augustinos, Michael Collins, Kathleen Cook, Pat Ryan, David and Donnie Cresap, Lynn Kissell, Ahemd Mahmoud, Holly Nelson-Johnson, Herb Reese, Lisa Smith, Brian Styron

We pray for those who have died: George, Claudette Woodard, Pam Atchinson, and Parker Williams; friends of Jan Baker-Offutt.
If we have missed your birthday or anniversary, or if you have a name you would like added to the prayer list (or removed from the list) please send an email to Timothy at office@stmarksevanston.org
Beyond Our Walls
Once again this Winter,  Tai Chi  classes will be offered in Cunningham Hall on Saturday mornings at 11am. Everyone is cordially invited to a  Free Introduction  on Saturday, January 18 from 11:00 - 12:30. For more info, please visit  thehumanprocess.org .