The Messenger of St. Mark's | After Pentecost| November 22, 2023 | |
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For your thought:
"And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’"
--Matthew 25:40
Study this Sunday's Readings.
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Worship on Sunday is both in person and virtually, every week at 9:30 a.m. We live stream Sunday liturgies on our Facebook & YouTube channels.
Also, we offer a Midweek Eucharist every Thursday at 11 a.m. that is both in person and on our live-streaming platforms.
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Useful links:
Important Upcoming Dates (Download and Print an Advent-Epiphany Schedule Card here)
- Thurs., Nov. 23, 11a, Thanksgiving Liturgy & Holy Eucharist
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Sat., Nov. 25, 10a-2p, Gathering of the Greens & Potluck (RSVP)
- Sun., Nov. 26, 10:30a, Advent Extravaganza
- Sat., Dec. 2, 9:30a, Intro to Contemplative Prayer Small Group Begins (Library)
- Sun., Dec. 3, 9:30a, Advent 1
- Sun., Dec. 3, 11:15a, Christmas Pageant Rehearsal #1
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Sun., Dec. 3, 6p, The Chosen Season 3 Viewing & Discussion Small Group Commences
- Sun., Dec. 3, Last chance to purchase SMMS Basket Raffle Tickets
- Mon. Dec. 4, SMMS Basket Raffle Drawing for Fieldtrip Fund
- Tues., Dec. 5, 3p, Ken Eberhard's Funeral & Reception
- Sat., Dec. 9, 9:30a-2:30p, Advent Quiet Day
- Sat., Dec. 9, 11a, Church Unbound Sandwich Making
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Sat., Dec. 9. 12:30p, LGBTQ+ Ministry Lunch at St. Mark's (RSVP)
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Sat., Dec. 9, 3p, Gay Men's Chorus Concert (Click here for tickets)
- Sun., Dec. 10, 11:15a, Christmas Pageant Rehearsal #2
- Sun., Dec. 17, 11:00 a, Luminaria Construction
- Sun., Dec. 17, 11:15a, Christmas Pageant Rehearsal #3
- Sun., Dec. 17, 4-6p, Christmas Pageant & Potluck Dinner
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SAINT MARK'S MISSION, MINISTRY & OUTREACH | |
Saturday, November 25: Gathering of the Greens | |
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Saturday, November 25th, at Heather Gaume's Mountain Retreat, from 10-2. Everyone is invited to our annual Green Gathering Get-Together. We will work together to collect greens required for assembling Advent Wreaths on Sunday, November 26th, just after worship. There will also be a fellowship potluck lunch (bring a side dish to share) with plenty of wide-open spaces for our young people to explore. All ages are welcome. Dress warmly, as much of this will take place outdoors. Please RSVP to Heather via email.
Click here for instructions on how to get Heather's place (please note that if you plug in her address into Google Maps, you'll wind up in Rio Rancho...wrong way!).
Important note regarding weather: If there is snow on Forest Road 333, you will need 4-wheel drive to make to the Piedra Lisa parking lot where Heather will come and pick up folks. If there is more than 3 inches of snow, we will cancel. There will be an email sent to the parish if we cancel this event, so please watch your inbox.
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Get Your Advent Devotionals & Resources | |
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Advent Devotional Resources
The first Sunday of Advent this year is Sunday, December 3rd. In Godly Play we teach children that "Advent is the season that helps us get ready to come close to the mystery of Christmas". It is never too soon to begin leaning into prayer, contemplation, and other practices that help us get ready to come close to this mystery.
On a table in the entryway of St. Mark's you will find a variety of printed resources to help you and your loved ones get ready:
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"Low: An Honest Advent Devotional," by John Pavlovitz
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"Practicing Wonder" (a Living Compass Resources)
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"Heaven and Nature Sing" (an Advent Sticker activity Book)
- St. Mark's Advent-Epiphany Schedule Card
You will also find clipboards to sign up to participate in these in-person groups:
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An Advent Contemplative Prayer Group for Beginners (begins Dec. 2nd)
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An Advent Quiet Day for Everyone (Saturday, December 9th)
Suggested Online Resources include:
Online Advent Prayer Resources from Mother Sylvia
As well as Advent "Read Alouds" we created during the pandemic
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Sunday, November 26: Advent Extravaganza | |
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Sunday, November 26 at 11:00 a.m.
Advent typically lasts four weeks, but this year, Advent 4 lands on Christmas Eve, so we are going to get started on the Advent season a week early!
Following worship on Sunday, November 26, stop by the Parish Hall and partake in our Advent Extravaganza! There, we will be holding a festive coffee hour with wreath making, crafts, music and fun for all!
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Building Renewal Committee Update | |
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This Fall, amid busyness and happiness at St. Mark's, the Building Renewal Committee has served us well. Last week, the BRC marched through an aggressive agenda with Paul Barribeau and Robert Habiger, guided by co-chairs Maribelle Oglevie and Thad “Stretch” Cole. As we continue in the planning and listening phase, Paul’s team at the Groth Design Group have assembled detailed research needed for significant decisions. For example, how many square feet are needed for the organ console? What is the effect of glass on acoustics? Which options will make our undercroft space most accessible and efficient?
Paul’s and Robert’s patience with us affords creative imagination grounded in research and experience; Maribelle’s and Stretch’s persistence assures we’re being diligent in representing all our best interests and concerns.
Over and over again, our key intentions are supported and advanced. We continue to listen to our fellow parishioners, welcoming comments. Recent comments have come to committee members regarding safety concerns and the state of our worn and deteriorating carpet.
On Sunday, January 14, 2024, following our morning Eucharist we are hosting another all-parish meeting with our architect Paul Barribeau of Groth Design Group and Robert Habiger our Liturgical Consultant as we continue to move forward in planning for a hospitable and vital and adaptive future. It is essential that we move together in Building something Beautiful for God at St. Mark’s and for generations to come.
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Widening the Welcome Annual Giving Week-Four Update | |
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Pledging Households
91 / 150
60% of our Goal
(Over halfway!)
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Dollars Pledged
$466,741 / $610,000
76% of our Goal
(Three-quarters there!)
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SMMS Outreach: Basket Raffle & Montessori Material Registry | |
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Our Montessori school is showcasing the baskets available to win for our Gift Basket Raffle! All proceeds go to the St. Mark's Montessori School (SMMS) Fieldtrip Fund. Raffle tickets may be purchased through December 3. The drawing will take place on December 4.
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SMMS also has a Montessori Material Registry (you may view it here). Our school is opening up an additional classroom and will need to furnish it with new Montessori materials! There are binders of materials that our school needs, and you can sponsor part of or a full set of a material. You may purchase colored stickers (priced between $30-$100 plus misc. donation amounts) which you will then stick to which material you would like to sponsor. Cash, check, or card are accepted.
You may also donate funds electronically via PayPal here.
- Please select "Montessori School" from the category dropdown
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Add "Fieldtrip Fund" or ""Material Registry" in the memo field
- Submit your donation
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Outreach: Blanket & Coat Collection for Church Unbound | |
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Please donate blankets, coats, sweatpants, and hoodies for our neighbors who are unhoused. There is a box in the narthex for your donations. Please make sure all items are new or extremely gently used and laundered.
One aspect of St. Mark’s Community Work is helping with Church Unbound each Sunday. The people who attend this outdoor worship event need extra help keeping warm as the seasons change.
Please contact Deacon David, via email here, if you have any questions.
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December 2: An Introduction to Contemplative Prayer | |
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Saturday, December 2 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (Library)
Tuesdays, December 5, 12, 19 & January 9, 16, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. (Chapel)
In contemplative prayer (meditation in the East) one uses some means (a word, phrase, image, breathing, etc.) to quiet the mind so that eventually thoughts disappear, and one sits in silence. The silence provides an empty space in which we can be present to the every-present God. This is the crucial underlying intent at the heart of all prayer: to be present to and know communion with God. In this silent communion, over time and with consistent practice, the person at prayer receives all things from God: guidance, instruction, healing, forgiveness, etc. In a word the person receives her or his very self in God, what Thomas Merton and Richard Rohr have called the “True Self,” the person who God created and the only person who God knows.
This form of prayer will be introduced in six sessions. The first session, Saturday, December 2, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (bring a brown-bag lunch) provides an important foundation for the following five ninety-minute sessions on Tuesdays, December 5, 12, 19 & January 9, 16, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Each session includes an introduction to and practice of a particular way or means for entering into silence followed by small and total group response and discussion.
The Saturday session is required for participation in the following Tuesday meetings. While not required, it is very much hoped that each participant will commit themselves to all the sessions as part of their Advent discipline.
To register email Fr. Michael Jupin via email here, call him at 505-295-3975, or sign-up at the church. The meeting place for the Saturday session will be in the library of St. Mark's. The Tuesday sessions will take place in the Chapel.
Since 1979, Fr. Michael has led over five hundred people in learning and practicing contemplative prayer. First studying with the Rev. Ron del Bene, he received an STM in Spiritual Direction from the General Theological Seminary in New York City in 1986. He also completed training in the Group Leaders’ Program of the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, Bethesda, MD, in 1992.
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December 3: The Chosen Christmas Special & Season Three | |
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“The Chosen” Christmas Special + Season 3
Sunday Night Small Group
6:00 p.m. Mountain Time (Note the earlier meeting time!)
In-person in St. Mark’s Library AND on Zoom
All are welcome! Join us on site or online! Bring snacks or drinks to share! We’ll gather to share our “highs and lows”, watch a film or an episode from a series together, enjoy some small group discussion, and close by praying a brief service of Compline.
Schedule:
All may catch up on seasons 1 and 2, for free, here.
Find weekly zoom links and more at https://www.stmarksabq.org/online.
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December 5: Celebration of Life for Ken Eberhard | | |
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Ken Eberhard's funeral and celebration of life will be held on
Tuesday, December 5 at 3:00 p.m.
in the Nave of St. Mark's.
A reception will follow in the Parish Hall.
Or attend virtually:
May light perpetual shine upon Ken, and may all the departed rest in peace.
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December 9: LGBTQ+ Lunch & Gay Men's Chorus Concert | |
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The LGBTQ+ Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande invites you to join us at the New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus holiday concert, “Something Must Be Wrong with My Mistletoe”, on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 3:00 pm. The concert will be held at The Hiland Theater, 4800 Central Ave SE, Albuquerque. Please join us for this annual festive event. Bring your friends and family.
The Chorus is offering us a 25% group discount on tickets. The discount is good for this Saturday afternoon concert in Tier 2 and Tier 3 seats only. To purchase your tickets, click here.
Scroll down and select “Get Tickets” at the right-hand side of the page. At the top of the next page, you are asked for a Promo Code. Enter EDRG-GROUP and then click “Apply.” Select the number of tickets you desire from Tier 2 or Tier 3 and then complete your purchase.
St. Mark’s is hosting a lunch for the LGBTQ+ Ministry that day, Saturday, Dec. 9 at 12:30. Let’s meet for social time and good food together before the concert. Please RSVP to the lunch at LGBTQdrg@gmail.com.
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December 9: "The First Incarnation," An Advent Quiet Day | |
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“The First Incarnation,” An Advent Quiet Day at St. Mark’s
Saturday, December 9, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Chapel.
Fr. Richard Rohr has said that “The Big Bang” is the first incarnation and that nature is the first Bible. On this quiet day we will explore the creation and nature as the first incarnation and how such an experience might shape our understanding and appreciation of the Incarnation in Jesus at this Christmas time. The Rev. Michael Jupin, spiritual director and contemplative prayer group leader will lead the day. Bring a brown bag lunch (water, coffee, tea provided) and sign up on the table at the church entrance or register with Fr. Michael via email here, or call him at 505-295-3975. Please register by Thursday noon, December 7.
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Last Chance for Purchasing from the Silkworks and Beyond Exhibit | | |
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The Silkworks & Beyond exhibit, by Anne Gordon Fritz, is now on display in the library of St. Mark's. This exhibit will be showing from November 3 through November 30th. Twenty percent of all exhibit sales go to St. Mark's. This is the final week this exhibit will run, so purchase your favorite art pieces before it's too late!
See more about the artist, Anne Gordon Fritz, by clicking here.
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Give by mail (St. Mark's has a secure mailbox and is checked regularly). Send to: 431 Richmond Place NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106. | | |
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Give electronically through By PayPal®.
Please consider checking the box that reads, "I’d like to add to my donation to help offset the cost of processing."
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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 (e.g., pledge, congregational relief fund, etc.).
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Movie Night with the LGBTQ+ Ministry | |
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All are welcome to join us for worship during our Thursday 11 a.m. midweek Holy Eucharists and our Sunday Holy Eucharists at 9:30 a.m. You may join us in person or on Facebook & YouTube.
Come as you are!
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Email submissions should be sent (via email) to the Communications Specialist by 9:00 a.m. each Wednesday for inclusion on Thursday's e-news.
www.stmarksabq.org
© 2023
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