The Messenger of St. Mark's | After Pentecost | November 20, 2020
St. Mark's Pastoral Emergency Phone Line: 505-800-2422.
NEWS & EVENTS
FOR VIRTUAL WORSHIP/CLASSES/PRAYERS: For a complete listing and schedule of our online / in-person offerings available, please visit our website: https://www.stmarksabq.org/online
or click on the button below:
St. Mark's Mission & Outreach
St. Mark’s Thanksgiving Evening Prayer & Fellowship on Zoom
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St. Mark’s Thanksgiving Evening Prayer & Fellowship on Zoom 
Thursday, November 26th, 7PM (Mountain Time) 

Zoom Meeting ID: 893 9918 3469
Passcode: grateful

Get a piece of pie and a warm drink. Cuddle up with a pet, a loved one, a fire, or a cozy blanket. Light a candle. And join us for an informal time of thanksgiving, prayer, and fellowship!  
(You are welcome to remain in the “Zoom Room” following our service of Evening Prayer, for further fellowship. Feel free to bring a favorite reading, joke, game, song, or story to share!)
Celebration Sunday Results Are Here!
Thank you, St. Mark’s, for your strong support of the life and ministry of this community.

We enjoyed an excellent response to our Stewardship Celebration Sunday. More than 25 cars stopped by St. Mark’s to place their Estimate of Giving Cards in our large Giving, Growing, Grateful in Faith Giftbox during our giving parade. Additionally, the response in the mail this past week has been amazing. A huge thank you to all who made our Stewardship Celebration Sunday a rousing success. 

As of Friday, November 20, St. Mark’s – your faith community – has received  ____65_____Estimate of Giving Cards for a total amount of $__323,000________.

There is still time to add your gift to this total!

Please take a moment to fill out the Estimate of Giving Card and place it in the outgoing mail to send to St. Mark’s.

God calls each of us to give in response to God’s generosity in our own lives, as all that we are and all that we have belong to God. We thank you for your support and hope that you will join with us as we continue to be a people who are Giving, Growing and Grateful in Faith. 

We have created a webpage dedicated to our Giving, Growing, Grateful in Faith 2021 campaign. It has all of the mailed letters, enclosures, the parish devotional and the videos. You may check it out here.

Vestry / Delegate Individuals Needed
Three vestry positions open up each January at St. Mark's, as well as one delegate position. At our annual Parish Meeting (Sunday, Jan. 31), we will be saying a sincere "Thank You!" to Meredithe Sweeney, Ken Stalter and Susan Smith-Pierce. All have ably served St. Mark's in these leadership positions. 
 
Please prayerfully consider whether your time and talent could be best used in the guiding, collaborative spirit of our vestry or as our representative to the Diocese of the Rio Grande at Convention. Nomination forms are available here.
 
Elections are held during the annual meeting on Sunday, January 31, 2020. St. Mark's needs your patience, wisdom and vision to shape the future of this faith community.
 
All ministry Annual Report information needs to be submitted to Jennifer Lind via email (by Monday, January 18th).
Learn & Tell a Folktale Workshop & Saint Nicholas Folktale Festival
Saint Nicholas is the star of quite a few folktales and legends. We’ll be telling some of these stories as part of the St. Mark’s St. Nicholas Day Virtual Celebration (December 6), and we need storytellers.

Harriet Cole is offering a Zoom Storytelling Workshop on Sunday, November 22 during coffee hour (11-Noon). This workshop will give you the tools you need to select, learn and tell one of the stories. All are welcome, especially those who are interested in oral storytelling, even if one doesn't want to tell at this time! Just join this Sunday's 11AM Coffee Hour Zoom (meeting id: 894 5266 0070 and the passcode: liturgy) and you'll be directed what to do when you arrive.

Also, Harriet needs storytellers for the upcoming (virtual) Saint Nicholas Folktale Festival on Sunday, December 6 at 7 p.m. She is offering a “Learn and Tell a Folktale” workshop during Coffee Hour this Sunday (November 22, 11-Noon). This workshop is open to anybody who is interested in oral storytelling and will cover several simple story-learning techniques. And, if you discover that you want to learn a story to tell on December 6. she’ll have a wide selection of Saint Nicholas folktales on hand.

Questions? Email Harriet (send an email to her here), text her at 602-451-6830, or find her on Facebook - whatever works best for you.

Note: Some very young children may find the stories of the saints somewhat frightening, as many saints experience danger and suffer violent deaths. These stories of the Winter Saints may be best suited for elementary aged children, as well as teens and adults. If you are the parent of a very young child who is not quite ready for stories of saints, you might visit our Advent Storybook page for other nightly reading/devotional options to help you celebrate this season.
Advent Drive-Thru Event
Sunday 11/29, 11AM-Noon
Drive through the East Parking Lot at St. Mark's to pick up your Advent Devotions & Wreath Making Supplies!  

Advent is the Holy Season of Waiting. This year we are not just waiting for Christmas and the birth of Jesus, we are waiting for the end of the pandemic; we are waiting for a time when we can all safely gather, and sing, and pray, and celebrate together in person again.  
 
This year, especially, it’s important to remember that we are never alone in our waiting. We are all waiting together, even when we are physically distanced. We can remember that we are waiting together whenever we share the beautiful Advent stories, prayers, songs, and traditions that bind us together. 
 
When you enjoy Advent Devotions & Advent Candles in your home, you can remember that we are enjoying them in our homes, too!
 
When you hear the stories of the Winter Saints or other Advent and Christmas stories and songs in your home, know that we are hearing those same stories in our homes, too.

As a Church Family, we are always watching, and waiting, and listening, and praying and singing together, even when we are apart!
St. Mark's Christmas Caroling Parities on Zoom
Because we know that the Baby Jesus will cry if we don't find a way to sing all the carols this Christmas season, and yet we don't want anyone to be overcome by Zoom fatigue or the coronavirus, we are planning not one, but three Zoom Caroling Extravaganzas for St. Mark's members and friends this Christmastide.
 
Team Miller-Mutia will host our 1st Carol Sing of the Season
 Christmas Day: Friday, December 25th, 7-8PM 
 
Team Hardy-Martin will host our 2nd Carol Sing of the Season
The 6th Day of Christmas: Wednesday, December 30th, 7-8PM
 
Team McLaren will host our Final Carol Sing 
“12th Night”/Eve of the Epiphany: Tuesday January 5th, 7-8PM 
 
All three caroling parties will be held in Mother Sylvia’s Personal Zoom Room:
 
You may pick up a photocopied caroling book and hymnal packet outside St. Mark’s, anytime, beginning Sunday, November 29th. Then join us for one, two, or all three caroling parties! 

We also need volunteers who would be willing to lead one or more carol for each party!  We have a couple extra caroling books with complete sheet music for anyone who may wish to assist with instrumental accompaniment for a song.

St. Mark's Member Directory
If you're looking for the Photo Member Directory online, you may download it, install the app on your mobile device or access it anytime from our home page by going to the menu item "About Us" to "Member Directory", or go here: https://www.stmarksabq.org/memberdir

Please note that the downloadable directory is updated regularly to include changes that members have made to their information.

If you are not listed, or need help accessing it, please email Erin Cook.
In-Person Worship at St. Mark's - Temporarily Paused
As the COVID test positivity rate in Bernalillo County remains above 10%, we are continuing to temporarily pause all in-person worship at St. Mark's:
 
Our regular Sunday Online Worship will continue each week as our primary gathering of our whole community.
 
We will be closely monitoring the available data and will resume activities when it is safe to do so. Look to our email communications for the most up-to-date information.
Get Involved with ABQ FaithWorks
St. Mark's is proud to be a contributing congregation to ABQ FaithWorks Collaborative. Discover more about for friends over at ABQ FaithWorks Collaborative and how you may get involved and help: https://www.abqfaithworks.org/
Gratitude from the St. Martin's HopeWorks Team!
Thank you, St Mark's! Thanks to your generosity, we served approximately 110 meals on Sunday. November 15. Thank you for the financial support, thank you casserole bakers, and thank you all who worked on Saturday and Sunday to make a successful breakfast at Hopeworks!
GIVE TO ST. MARK'S
All are welcome to give and/or pledge to St. Mark's by mail (St. Mark's has a secure mailbox and is checked regularly): 431 Richmond Place NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106
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You may give 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 (i.e.: pledge, congregational relief fund, etc.).
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You may give an Electronic Offering, donate to the Congregational Relief Fund, or make a Pledge payment to St. Mark's - securely via PayPal® - anytime.
DIOCESE & BEYOND
Weekly Update from Bishop Hunn & Canon Lee
Neighbor to Neighbor Learning Event
December 5th, 10am MST
The Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande invites you to consider a new way for DRG Congregations to support asylum seekers as we partner with Episcopal Migration Ministries in being a pilot diocese for the Neighbor to Neighbor program.
 
Neighbor to Neighbor is a new network designed to connect asylum seekers with Episcopal congregations in local communities across the US. Led by Episcopal Migration Ministries and the Rev. Cristina Rathbone, Neighbor to Neighbor seeks to provide a way for Episcopalians to accompany, assist and support asylum seekers who live close to them, and is committed to offering congregational groups training and support as their relationships with these newest neighbors develop and grow.
 
 
For any additional questions about this event, please contact DRG Bridge Chaplain Ana Reza at areza@dioceserg.org.
Email submissions should be sent (via email) to the Communications Coordinator by 5:00 p.m. each Thursday for inclusion on Friday e-news. Please see submission guidelines here.
St. Mark's Episcopal Church
431 Richmond Place NE | Albuquerque, NM 87106 |505-262-2484 | www.stmarksabq.org
© 2020