For your thought:

Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;

you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

you shall be called the repairer of the breach,

the restorer of streets to live in.

- Isaiah 58:12



Study this Sunday's Readings.

Important dates:

• Sunday, August 21, Ukraine and Russia: Common Roots, Contested History
• Friday, August 26, Deadline to enter the Portrait Show at St. Mark's
• Sunday, August 28 at 11:15 a.m. in the Library, Catechesis (Baptism & Confirmation) Introductory Gathering
• Sunday, August 28, Ukraine and Russia: Common Roots, Contested History
• Friday, Sept. 2, New Portrait Show Goes Up in Parish Hall Gallery
• Sunday, Sept. 11, Youth Pilgrimage to Ireland 2022 Presentation

COVID-19 Update: The CDC has Bernalillo County in the YELLOW (MEDIUM) level, so masks are ENCOURAGED indoors.

Useful links:

• Fill out a form to volunteer, donate altar flowers, fill out a new member/visitor form, and more!
• Access and/or edit your Member Directory information.
• Access previous sermons.
• To check CDC COVID-19 Risk for Bernalillo County, click here.

St. Mark’s Montessori School is Growing!

St. Mark's Montessori School (SMMS) is expanding and will soon been able to serve even more children and families in our community. Just this week, we began our 2022-23 school year with an “Under Construction” theme after undergoing a summer construction project to remove the wall between Anderson Chapel and the school. Our new space is designed with the intention of creating a large, open floorplan in our Primary Classroom, which is just what we now have! We anticipate that this will allow for the enrollment of 10 additional students in our Primary Program, which serves children ages 3 to 6 years.

Because of the repurposing of Anderson Chapel as school space, we are refurbishing a large classroom in the Undercroft as a new meeting room for church use. This room will contain the furniture from Anderson chapel and a lovely Turkish rug donated by one of our parishioners. We hope to have this meeting room ready for use just after Labor Day.

We would like to extend a special “Thank You” to Mike Reardon for his coordination of the school remodel project, which he was able to accomplish in a short window of time. We could not have completed the project in time for the return of students on August 15th without his expertise and efforts.

The school construction project is still underway with the addition of a bathroom on the horizon. Adding a bathroom to the interior of one of our classrooms will allow for additional enrollment in our Toddler Program, which serves ages 18 months to 3 years, and almost always has a student waitlist beyond the school’s current capacity for this age group. The State requires a bathroom be inside of a classroom in order to serve children of this age range. By having a greater number of Toddlers enrolled, we can “feed” our Primary Program and increase the number of long-term enrollments in the school.

If you would like to know more about these projects or are interested in a financial contribution to our largest outreach ministry, please contact one of our co-Directors: Tricia Morton at (505) 554 8823 (tricia@stmarksabq.org) or Jordyn Whisenant at (505) 304 3311 (jordyn@stmarksabq.org).

This Sunday & Next:  Ukraine and Russia: Common Roots, Contested History

Sunday, August 21 & 28, 11:00 a.m. in the Parish Hall (In person only)

Jesse Murray (Ph.D. in Russian History, University of Illinois) will walk attendees through the thousand-year historical context of the current war between Russia and Ukraine, focusing on the critical role that Ukraine has played in the development of beliefs about the origins of Russia and the ways in which Ukrainians and Russians have fundamentally incompatible understandings of the same historical events.

Come as you are; all are welcome.

St. Mark’s Catechesis Program for Fall 2022

St. Mark’s catechesis program is a flexible and individualized program 

open to all adults and teens interested in exploring baptism or confirmation, 

or simply learning more about the tradition, faith, and practice of the Episcopal Church. 

The program includes:

• 2 Large Group Gatherings
• Introductory Gathering: Sunday, 8/28 at 11:15AM at St. Mark’s
• Concluding Gathering: Saturday, 10/22 at 4PM at St. Mark’s 

• An Individual Meetings w/Clergy (Late August, Early September)
• Each “catechumen” schedules an individual meeting with one of St. Mark’s clergy to discuss formation needs and goals, so that clergy can provide appropriate guidance and suggest formation resources appropriate to needs & interests of each individual. Please contact Fr. Christopher (email him here), Deacon David (email him here) or Mother Sylvia (email her here) directly to schedule an individual meeting.

• Small group and/or Independent study (September & October)
• Small Group Zoom Sessions (Mon/Wed, 7-8:30pm on Zoom): A series of topical small group sessions will be held on zoom, facilitated by St. Mark’s Clergy, using group course materials and videos from ChurchNext  drawing insights from three books: Walk in Love: Episcopal Beliefs & Practice, Taking the Plunge: Baptism and Parenting, and Godparenting: Nurturing the Next Generation. Participants are welcome to attend any sessions that interest them. In addition to (or instead of) these small group sessions, participants are welcome to design their own course of study including readings and/or online courses and materials of interest.  
• Wed 9/7: The Episcopal Tradition (Fr. Christopher) 
• Mon 9/12: Intro to Baptism in The Episcopal Church (Mo. Sylvia)
• Wed 9/14: NO CLASS 
• Mon 9/19: Preparing for Adult Baptism (Mo. Sylvia)
• Wed 9/21: Introducing Episcopal Worship (Fr. Christopher)
• Mon 9/26: Preparing for Infant/Child Baptism (Mo. Sylvia)
• Wed 9/28: Instructed Eucharist for Groups (Fr. Christopher)
• Mon 10/3: Preparing for Godparenting (Mo. Sylvia)
• Wed 10/5: The Sacramental Journey (Fr. Christopher)
• Mon 10/10: Marking Time (Mo. Sylvia)
• Wed 10/12: Basic Beliefs (Fr. Christopher)
• Mon 10/17: The Church (Mo. Sylvia)
• Wed 10/19: The Trinitarian Life (Fr. Christopher) 

• For more details, including links to Register and links to join Zoom sessions, click here
• To Register, click here
• Zoom Link for Small Group Sessions is here
• Watch the "Video" Intro here

For a printable version, click here.

Important: Sunday Nursery Care Survey

Sunday Nursery Care Survey (for Parents/Caregivers of Young Children), Fall 2022

At St. Mark's we value the presence and participation of people of all ages in our common life of worship, worship, formation, and fellowship. We welcome the participation of infants and children in all aspects of our common life. At the same time, we understand that the availability of nursery care at certain times can support the ability of parents and families to participate more fully and easily in the life of the church.  

If you are the parent or caregiver of a young child (ages 0-3), please let us know whether and when the availability of professionally staffed nursery care at St. Mark's would be helpful for you and your family.  Please complete this brief Nursery Care Survey so that we can take your family's needs into account as we plan for the upcoming program year at St. Mark's. 

Attention Gardeners & Landscape Stewards: Help Needed!

St. Mark’s is in need of help catching up on weeding, pruning, and general cleanup around our campus grounds. If you are available to weed or work one hour during the week, that would be a great help.

Please contact Jennifer Lind in the office (505-262-2484 or email her here) to coordinate time and get an assignment.

New Air Conditioner

If you were in the church offices during July, you probably noticed all the fans blowing and the staff looking a little warm. The air conditioning unit that cooled that space had failed and it took almost six weeks to receive the replacement. The cost of the new AC unit was almost $12,000, which was paid using capital reserves that the Vestry had previously set aside for emergencies like this. Now our capital reserve could use a little recharging! If you feel called to help, please write “Capital Reserve” on your check or PayPal contribution  memo.

Join the Choir of St. Mark's

The St. Mark’s Choir will begin rehearsals next week, Wednesday, August 17, and you are invited to join. The choir rehearses every Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. and gathers on Sundays at 8:50 a.m. to prepare for worship. All teens and adults are welcome to join; no audition is necessary. Choir is a fun and spiritually enriching way to serve the parish and training is provided. If you feel uncertain about your singing, new members are offered three free (and optional) voice lessons to help them get started. Many members of the choir have children and a variety of childcare options are available. If you have questions about joining the choir please contact our Choir Director, Jeremy Wirths by emailing him here.

Deadline to Enter is Next Week: Upcoming Show Opportunity!

St. Mark’s is pleased to invite portrait artists to show their works in our Sacred Arts Gallery September 2, 2022 – December 2, 2022. “Portraits” meaning human bust or figure, although an animal may be included with the human portrait. All media accepted.



First come, first serve. Up to 3 pieces per artist and no more than 30” wide. Deadline, Friday, August 26th. Images not required. We can accommodate approximately 50 pieces, depending on sizes. This is not a juried show.

Feel free to contact either Heather Gaume and/or Audrey Minard (email them here) with questions or to request entry forms. There is no entry fee although, should your artwork sell, the Sacred Art Guild retains 20 percent of the purchase price for use in promoting the arts. However, the artwork need not be for sale.

St. Mark’s is still collecting athletic shoes (slip-ons and laces) for the folks on the buses coming here from El Paso’s Annunciation House. There's a big box in the narthex (entry area), so drop the shoes off there and we'll get them to where they are needed.  

Especially needed are men’s sizes 7-9, women’s sizes 5-9 and children’s shoes of all sizes. Don’t break the bank. Discount and big box stores are OK. New or slightly used only, please.

For further information, click here. 

LGBTQ+ Potluck Cookout & Worship

Music That Makes Community