The Lion's Pause

WE SEEK TO UNITE ALL PEOPLE WITH GOD AND EACH OTHER IN CHRIST THROUGH WORSHIP, FELLOWSHIP, EDUCATION, AND SERVICE

The Daily Office Lectionary lists John 6:26-35 as the Gospel reading for Morning Prayer. It follows the feeding of the miraculous feeding of the crowds. The reading begins, “Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”

Yesterday, most of us probably ate a little more that we should have. It is fine to do that occasionally. Feasting is a good thing when we do it in recognition of the many blessings that God has given to us. Giving thanks to God is key to our spiritual life and growth.

There will be many more opportunities to feast over the next several weeks. As we fest, it is helpful to remember that the point of these feasts are not to feed only our bodies. These are opportunities to give gratitude to God for the many blessings we have received. Most of us have many material blessings, but we must not allow them to distract us from the greater blessings that God has showered on us. We have the gifts of relationships. I am particularly grateful for the St. Mark’s community. It is a loving and welcoming community. I am most grateful for Jesus who is God incarnate. He is the one around whom we gather as a community. Even if we were unable to feast, we still have much to celebrate because Christ has gathered us into his eternal family.

Fr. RJ+

Reminder!

Please turn in your pledge by November 26th.

Sunday, November 26

Holy Eucharist at 8 am and 10 am

Lessons

Bulletin

Live Stream

Monday, November 27

Knitting, 1 p.m.

Tuesday, November 28

Lunch Bunch, 1 p.m. at Table Six

No Lunch Bunch in December

Wednesday, November 29

Evening Prayer, 4 p.m. on Zoom

Bulletin Zoom

Sunday, December 3:

Intergenerational Event at the 10 a.m. service.

Lunch to follow with a fun dessert provided by the Sunday School parents.

Join us at 9 a.m. in the library to help wrap gifts for Community Christmas (bring scissors).

THANKSGIVING BASKETS DOWNTOWN

We collected over $1,000.00 toward the turkeys and Stark Fresh food vouchers for almost one thousand families who had requested Thanksgiving dinner. Thank you for helping our sister church plus a consortium of churches and organizations who donated.

A COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS: This project is somewhat “under the radar” this year because months ago I had parishioners request to do the shopping. We adopted two families this year.

Any remaining money will be sent to Community Christmas. Because of the need, no family is adopted two years in a row.

One family is a married couple with two children. The wife’s father came to live with them in March and subsequently died in July. She paid for the funeral, exhausting her savings. She is unable to come to grips with this and has yet to return to work.

The second family is a mother with three children. She was a victim of domestic violence and has returned to Stark County, exhausting her savings in the move.

Both families requested clothing, household supplies, towels, blankets, gas cards, etc.

We will be wrapping the gifts on Sunday, December 3, between services, in the library. Pat Silagy-Wesson and Bobbie Gordon are in charge of the wrapping. Bring some scissors. We have plenty of wrapping paper, tape, and name tags.

Thank you for your generosity.

Sue Little

November focus on Choir Month!

NEW MEMBERS WELCOME!

As we prepare to "go over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go"…..we all know that song - along with all the other familiar songs we learned growing up, especially during this month of Thanksgiving. We count our blessings this month, and that includes the blessing of music, as we raise our voices, singing praise to the Lord. Preparing for the holidays is a special time of year. Music helps us celebrate the season, heals and soothes the soul, brings joy to the heart, and brings us closer to friends and family we love. It really is like praying twice.

Altar Guild is again offering red poinsettia plants at $15.00 per dedication. Payment in cash or by check to “Altar Guild” must accompany your order. Please note if you expect to take a plant home or if you only wish to have a dedication mentioned in the bulletin. Altar Guild is financially responsible for the altar flowers during the year, so money is always needed. Sunday, November 26 is the deadline for accepting orders. Poinsettia plants may be picked up after each Christmas Eve service unless instructed otherwise. Forms are available at church.

Thank you! Susie Hines, Kathy Wise

Many thanks to those serving at Hope Outreach Ministry!

The Diocese has continued to offer easy online giving. To use this, please select "St. Mark's Canton" from the dropdown, and choose either a one-time or recurring gift. We thank you for your continued support.

Designate a Gift to St. Mark's

A Friendly Security Reminder

Keeping St. Mark’s building a safe environment is our highest priority, and to do so we need all parishioners who are coming to St. Mark’s to make arrangements to be let into the building. Weaver’s staff absolutely cannot allow anyone not connected to Weaver CDC into the building, and there will be no exceptions to this rule.

Please schedule any visits with Fr. RJ or Katie with as much lead time as possible.

Also, if you have a new fob, if you enter the front doors and the system is beeping, please tap your fob to the entry keypad. Some fobs are not always disarming the system. This is something we are working on.

Newsletter Additions

If you are adding something to the Lion's Pause, please submit it here by the Monday prior to Friday publication.

NOTABLE - Bob Morrison

The classrooms of my youth were adorned with handwriting charts - the letters of the alphabet inscribed in neat cursive, and we did exercises in loops and lines to make our penmanship legible. My dad attended the Baltimore Business College and learned writing so well that his skills approached calligraphy. Business machines were rare in his day and bookkeeping had to be neat and accurate.

But, alas, these efforts, in spite of valiant practice, did not result in neat script for me. The late composer Robert Hebble, who played one of St. Mark's organ dedications, had picture-perfect penmanship. A letter from Karen Violand is a masterpiece of neatness, as is anything from the hand of Beck Rand. My organist friend Mary Foulks writes with a neat flourish.

But I often can't read my own handwriting, so - it's a blessing to have typewriters and computers. My prayer is that my attempts at the organ and piano will be neat and clear, and convey a message of musical thankfulness in this special season.

December Birthdays

2 Dave Thorley

10 Kathy Wise

12 Al Korosi, Pam McCarthy

14 Gary Mull

16 Patrick Watters

24 John Wise

25 Christy Thorley

27 Marilyn Thorp

29 Rebecca Watters

December Anniversaries

13 Wayne and Sandy Paradis

27 Rick and Julie Werren

29 Barrie and Marilyn Thorp

*Please note: Your birthday/anniversary will only show up if you've completed your profile on Instant Church Directory.

Need to log in? Go here.

Prayer Concerns

Vonda Temelkoff, Henry Aegerter, Jim Weaver, Jane Schutrum, & Ron Brookes

Family and Friends: Chuck Boone (cousin of Bruce Hixon), Ashley Stockman (friend of Katie & Ryan Kuceyeski); Tim Swihart & Michelle Graber (friends of the Gordons); Larry Aclaska & Judy Heisser-Turner (acquaintance & sister of Bert Heisser); Lee, Theresa, & Addelyn and Chuck Boone (friends & cousin of the Hixons); Nori Shawk (friend of Brynn Pelger); Heidi Hoekstra (friend of Father RJ); Tracey Davy, Alison, & Johnny Willoughby (friends & grandson of the Willoughbys); Middle East & Heather Armington (request & friend of the Watters); Jane King; Don Siegfried; Elaine Campbell (friend of the Turners); Sammy (friend of Leslie Redmon); Bob Rownd (friend of John Werren & Anne Coen); ; Melanie & Trish (friends of Paulette Frech); Pam Lagodich & Bill Allen (friends of the Mulls); Pat Walter & family (friend of Barb Whitehouse); Don Martin & Mark Osterhage (classmate & neighbor of the Watters); Alycia Geis (Karen Violand’s friend’s daughter); Janet Sheatzley-Morgan (sister of Barb Siegfried); DaNay Jackson (friend of Ron Brookes); Allison Cornell-Hood, Jody Serentsis, & Anne Higgins (daughter & friends of Diane Cornell); Finnigan Savage (friend of Pam McCarthy); Lynnda Hoefler & Jimmy Little (friend & son of Sue Little); Yanette Pysher (Vonda Temelkoff’s cousin); Tony Donahue (friend of the Boyds); Marc Hostetler (brother of Susan Hostetler); Baby David (acquaintance of the Nadels).

For those who have died.

For those in the armed forces.

PRAYER CHAIN:

St. Mark's has a group of prayer warriors who pray for the specific needs of those on the prayer chain. If you would like to place yourself or a loved one on the prayer chain, please contact Bobbi Gordon at ggordon24@sbcglobal.net

Prayer requests may be placed on the private Prayer Chain or on the Prayer Concerns list appearing in The Lion's Pause and Sunday bulletin or in both places. Please let Bobbi know your preference. Unless otherwise instructed, names will be listed as we receive them. Please update Bobbi or Katie on the status of your friends or family members as to when they may be removed from the prayer lists.