For your thought:

But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit."

--Matthew 1:20



Study this Sunday's Readings.

Important dates:

• Sunday, December 18, 11:00 a.m. - Luminaria Construction & Christmas Pageant Rehearsal
• Sunday, December 18, 5-7 p.m. - Christmas Pageant & Potluck Dinner
• Monday, December 19, 7:00 p.m., - Rosary for Remembrance (Hybrid)
• Saturday, December 24, 9 a.m. - Luminaria set-up 
• Saturday, December 24, 5 p.m. - Christmas Eve Family Service (Children’s Christmas Story)
• Saturday, December 24, 9:30 p.m. - Choral Prelude
• Saturday, December 24, 10:00 p.m. - Candlelight and Choral Midnight Mass (Incense in use)
• Sunday, December 25, 9:30 a.m. - Christmas Day Holy Eucharist (Christmas 1 Sunday Liturgy)
• Monday, December 26 at 3:00 p.m. Luminaria deconstruction and clean up.

CDC Guidelines show that local COVID levels are yellow. 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.

A Donkey's Christmas: St. Mark's Christmas Pageant

Everyone is invited to join the youth of St. Mark's for our annual Christmas Pageant this Sunday, Dec. 18 at 5:00. There will be a festive potluck after the performance (please bring something to share). This year we'll hear the story of the Nativity from the point of view of our beloved and bedraggled St. Mark's donkey. You can't miss it!

For those attending virtually, you may join us on Zoom here, Meeting ID 841 2650 8528, Passcode is manger  (there will not be a livestream to Facebook or YouTube or any other recording of this performance).

Luminaria Supplies, Construction, Placement & Clean Up

• The office is accepting luminaria supplies of bags and candles.

• Our goal: 1600 total candles and folded bags.

• On Sunday, December 18 at 11:00 a.m. we will ask anyone available to help with the construction of the Luminaria bags.

• On Saturday, December 24 at 9:00 a.m., anyone who is up and willing will be welcomed at St. Mark's to help place the luminarias.

• On Monday, December 26 at 3:00 p.m. we ask any and all to swing by the church and help disassemble the luminarias and put them away for the following year.

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day Liturgies

Christmas Eve Family Service (Children’s Christmas Story)

Saturday, December 24, 5 p.m.

Candlelight and Choral Midnight Mass (Incense in use)

Choral Prelude begins at 9:30 p.m.

Saturday, December 24, 10 p.m.

Christmas Day Holy Eucharist (Christmas 1 Sunday Worship)

Sunday, December 25, 9:30 a.m. 

Please note: We will not Celebrate Midweek/Thursday Holy Eucharist on Thursday, December 29, as the staff is off that week and several of them are out of town. The offices will be closed Monday, December 26 and will reopen on Monday, January 2.

Winter Rosary for Resurrection & Remembrance

Monday, December 19, 7PM

In person at St. Mark's and Join us on Zoom,

Meeting ID 852 5098 4644, Passcode is peace

As we move through seasons in the natural world, so too we move through seasons of grief. As we move through each season, new memories bubble up, and our grief might take on a variety of different qualities. In each season prayer, remembrance, and community are essential sources of support for our journey. We invite you to join us for our Winter Rosary for Remembrance, Monday, December 19 at 7PM Mountain time. We'll gather in person at St. Mark's and online via Zoom, for a quiet time of prayer, silence, poetry, and song in honor of all the departed. These gatherings are open to all, and we warmly welcome you, along with any other family members who might be interested, to join us. 

Take-Them-a-Meal Ministry

St. Mark's has a wonderful ministry that provides a little comfort and support to other parishioners experiencing a temporarily stressful time.

The mission of Take Them a Meal is to help members of our church family by providing dinner for their families when they need it the most, such as during or following a serious illness, a death in the family, returning home from a hospital stay, loss of employment, birth of a baby, and more.

It works through the Take-Them-a-Meal website, where the meal coordinator can quickly put together a schedule, menu notes and information, and detailed directions to the parishioner's home. The site generates a page where, with a protected password, St. Mark's Take Them a Meal team, as well as invited others, can sign up to provide meals on the schedule.

All anyone needs to do to be notified about a need is to send Fr. Christopher an email address, so that he can include you in the notification, as the needs arise. Being notified doesn't obligate anyone to actually participate; it just announces that there is a need. Meals don't have to be homemade, either. 

If you would like to be notified of opportunities to help your fellow parishioners, please contact Fr. Christopher via email here.

Asylum Seekers Need Your Help

Organization: Albuquerque Asylum Seekers Co-site Coordinators: Eleanor Milroy and Jane Braithwaite Donation Center: 2nd Presbyterian Church : 812 Edith NE, 87102

Hours: Monday /Wednesday: 4-6 pm Saturday: 1O am-noon

Director: Jan Hans: volunteers needed to sort donations, also very helpful in understanding the entire system. Text message info is available for contacting Jan.

Purpose: is to provide basic needs for approximately 200 men, women, and children every week who come in by bus from El paso. They are housed in a local hotel for ~3-5 days while travel arrangements are confirmed with sponsors who provide bus or plane fares.

Volunteers are needed. Spanish or another language helpful, but not required. Help is needed with intake, travel, food, clothing, and medical needs. St. Mark's member volunteers: Billie Abraham, Kate Spielman, Mary Beth Libby, Pauline Artery. For more information, please contact Pauline Artery via email here.

Please see the December Newsletter & Updated Needs List here.

The Barrett Foundation Outreach: Final Numbers

We wrapped up our Christmas project with the Barrett Foundation this week by delivering 12 gift baskets, and plenty of wrapping paper and tape. Our final estimate was $1075 in gift cards! The staff at Barrett House were very appreciative and they expressed how pretty all the baskets were. Thank you to all that participated in this Christmas outreach project. Many families will be touched by your generosity.  

Music that Makes Community

Monthly Albuquerque Song Circle

1st Tuesday of each month, 6:30 p.m., location varies

Join Mother Sylvia and other lovers of singing from throughout the community for a monthly Music that Makes Community Song Circle. We sing together the first Tuesday of each month for 75 minutes, beginning at 6:30pm, with the option to gather for fellowship beforehand. We rotate locations and responsibility for "hosting" among interested participants. We focus on teaching, learning, and sharing songs together in an "oral tradition" style of music-making. We sing songs from a variety of traditions as well as songs of our own creation. We lean heavily on musical forms that lend themselves to learning by ear and singing from the heart, including: simple melodies, rounds, simple songs with layered harmonies, echo songs, and "call and response" songs. We take risks. We experiment. We make mistakes. We laugh. We learn. We encourage one another. We sing. We welcome anyone to join us! Contact Mo. Sylvia via email here or call 510-932-1315 for more information or for the location of our next gathering! To learn more about the history, pedagogy, and practice of Music that Makes Community, visit their website here.  

Advent-Epiphany Schedule

Click here for a printable flyer.

...By Mail (St. Mark's has a secure mailbox and is checked regularly): 431 Richmond Place NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106.

...By PayPal®.

Please consider checking the box that reads, "I’d like to add to my donation to help offset the cost of processing."

...Electronically through the Diocese of the Rio Grande Parish Donation site and check the box next to "Albuquerque-St. Mark's".

Just fill out the rest of the information and click the Next button at the bottom of the page. Please make sure fill out "special instructions or comment" to let us know how to apply your gift (e.g., pledge, congregational relief fund, etc.).

1000 People Wade the Rio Grande to Claim Asylum in El Paso,

How You Can Help

1000 People Wade the Rio Grande to Claim Asylum in El Paso, How You Can Help. Start by watching Bp. Hunn's Facebook video here.