For your thought:

Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."

--Luke 17:19



Study this Sunday's Readings.

Important dates:

• Sunday, October 9, 6:00 p.m. - LGBTQ+ Worship Service, Pet Blessing, and Potluck. Please bring a dish that can be served at room temperature. - Fish Garden.
• Monday, October 10 - Offices Closed in observance of Indigenous Peoples' Day.
• Saturday, October 22 at 5-7 p.m. - Oktoberfest - BBQ, Bratwurst, Potluck and Music. Please bring a salad, side, dessert and/or drinks. - Parish Hall
• Sunday, October 23 at 9:30 a.m. - Worship with Bishop Hunn. Please email Fr. Christopher (email here) if you are interested in getting confirmed, reaffirmed or received into the Episcopal Church when the bishop is here. Bring a pie - savory or sweet!

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.

LGBTQ+ Evening Prayer & Pet Blessing

Please join the

LGBTQ+ Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande

Evening Prayer & Pet Blessing!

Sunday, October 9, 2022, 5:00 p.m.

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church's Fish Garden 

(the grassy area outside on the corner of Roma & Richmond Place)

The Outdoor Service will be followed by a potluck of

 simple foods, salads, snacks, and drinks.

Please bring a dish that can be served at room temperature.

You can stand, sit on the grass, bring a lawn chair or blanket.

Everyone (with or without a pet) is welcome to attend.

For more information contact

Rev. Spencer Brown or Rev. David Martin at

LGBTQdrg@gmail.com

Stewardship 2023: Rising to the Challenge Reconnecting with Joy, Reaching out With Love

Our giving of tithes and offerings are meant to remind us what we need most for life - not material things or the things money can buy but an ever deepening and loving relationship with God. 

We are all called to live within God’s infinite love and to be transformed by it into joyful and generous people full of God’s bountiful grace. As members of this Eucharistic community, we are nurtured and sustained so that each of us might Reach Out with Love, to the world God created and loves. Recently a member of St. Mark’s reminded me that each Sunday is a time of recharging their spiritual life so that they can Reach Out with Love to their families, their work and their involvement in service. Together we encourage and inspire each other to be God’s people in the world. 

October 30th, we will have our fall Stewardship Celebration Sunday – Pancakes and Pledge. We’re planning several ways to celebrate Rising to the Challenge, Reconnecting with Joy and Reaching Out with Love in our lives and community including an Oktoberfest and Hymn Sing on Saturday October 22nd 5-7 pm (bring a side or drinks to share). We know the generosity of our St. Mark’s community and the strong commitment to growing in faith that we share. We invite you to join us in this act of worship in the coming weeks as we reflect on the various ways in which God has filled our lives.  

Oktoberfest Potluck & Hymn Sing

St. Mark's is hosting an Oktoberfest event on Saturday, October 22 from 5-7 p.m.  St. Mark's will supply the BBQ, Bratwurst and buns, but please bring a side dish, salad, dessert and/or drinks/beverage.  After eating, we'll sing hymns around the piano.  It's sure to be a great time had by all.  This will take place inside the Parish Hall.  All are welcome!

T-Coil - Loop Hearing System Now Operational at St. Mark’s

After several years of planning and preparation, St. Mark’s has installed a Loop Hearing System. Hearing Loops are a top choice for Hearing Accommodation and provide the greatest benefits to people who rely on assistive listening systems.

• Easy to Use: To hear clearly, individuals simply switch their devices to the telecoil program and automatically receive clear customized sound. There is no need to arrive early, stand in line, or wait to return equipment after an event or meeting.
• Quality Sound: A hearing loop sends sound directly to the telecoil receiver in a user’s hearing device. The system eliminates most background noise and greatly improves understanding of speech and music. Additionally, the sound received is customized by each user’s unique hearing instrument.
• Universal Access: Hearing loops are the internationally accepted standard for providing hearing accommodation. The universal symbol that identifies a venue as being equipped with loop technology welcomes people with hearing loss and communicates that their needs will be met in the best way possible.

We realize that it may take some effort to enable your assisted listening device to pick up the T-Coil / Loop Hearing signal. We encourage those using hearing accommodation to consult with their audiologist and or user’s manual to enable this technology. We also welcome feedback on this new system as we work out the bugs and adjust the system output to work at peak efficiencies. 

St. Mark’s is grateful for the generous donation of $5,000 by a member our congregation several years-ago that made this Hearing Loop installation possible. The overall cost of the project was $7,400 (off-setting gifts may be made to Capital Fund – Hearing Loop). A special thank you to Mike Langner, a member of St. Michael and All Angels for his help and expertise in designing the Loop Hearing System and his persistent and excellent help in the installation and testing process. We also give thanks for members, Mike and Liz Reardon, for their expertise in the design and planning for the picture molding on the north wall which now holds the hearing loop wiring and serves as an elegant gallery style hanging system for our large Feast Day Icons. Construction and Installation work was done by Ken Kemmerer of Wildwood Incorporated and Richard Summer of Alpha Sun Audio. 

Bishop Hunn to Visit St. Mark's

Join us on October 23rd for worship with Bishop Michael Hunn of the Diocese of the Rio Grande. This will be his first visit to St. Mark's since his ordination.  

Confirmands, Reaffirmations and those being Received into the Episcopal Church will meet with Bishop Hunn at 8:30 a.m. that morning.

Let's show Bp. Hunn some of the parish's generous hospitality by bringing a pie (savory or sweet) to be shared following worship. 

Feast of All Saints Ofrenda

To celebrate The Feast of All Saints at St. Mark’s each year, we build an ofrenda.

Traditionally, an ofrenda (“offering,” in Spanish) was put together around the Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos) in Latin cultures to welcome those who have died back into your life. Photographs, mementos, and favorite foods were offered to entice loved ones to return.

In our Christian tradition, we make an ofrenda to celebrate and honor the lives of the saints who have traveled this journey before us – loved ones who have helped build the foundation of our spiritual lives and showed us how to be faithful servants of God.

We invite you to participate in this beautiful tradition. Please bring photos of your loved ones who have died: people who made a difference in your lives, from whom you learned unconditional love, who were instrumental in making you the person you are today.

For in-person ofrenda submissions, framed photos, which can stand on their own, work best, but all photos are welcome. We would also encourage everyone bringing in photos or frames to have the name of the departed and the name of the individual who it should be returned to on the back (a small piece of tape or something of that nature works well). If you would like to drop them off at the church during this week, place them in the basket in the narthex and we can put them on the ofrenda for you. You are also welcome to bring photos anytime until and on Sunday, November 6th.

The ofrenda will go up for Sunday, October 30th and will remain in place through our All Saints’ Day Celebration on Sunday, November 6. Afterwards you may take your photos home.

We hope everyone will take advantage of this opportunity to celebrate the lives of loved ones.

Formation Classes

St. Mark's is offering a variety of classes after worship on Sundays for both youth and adults. Please consider our offerings and we look forward to the gift of your presence on Sundays. Check out our full class descriptions and schedules here:

https://www.stmarksabq.org/class-schedule

World Food Day

Sunday, October 16 is World Food Day. There is a flyer on the welcome table in the entrance with more information. Please pray (suggestions below) and gather one non-perishable food item each day leading up to World Food Day. The food collected will be given to The Storehouse.  

• Sunday - Pray for hungry people to be fed.
• Monday Pray for violence to cease.
• Tuesday Pray for just the right amount of rain.
• Wednesday Pray for crops to grow.
• Thursday - Pray for multitudes to escape the bondage of poverty
• Friday- Pray for children to receive the education they need to break out of generational poverty.
• Saturday - Pray for others to join with us in the fight against hunger.

Midweek Morning Prayer & "Video Visits"

 Wednesdays 8-9am (Mountain Time) 

On Zoom (or in person in the library at St. Mark’s)

Join us on Zoom here

Join Mother Sylvia on Wednesdays (on Zoom, or in St. Mark's Library) for midweek morning prayer and conversation. We'll begin with morning prayer, view a weekly video update from our bishop, and enjoy a little conversation before we tackle the rest of our day! Feel free to drop in for the whole hour or for any portion thereof!

• 8AM Morning Prayer
• 8:20 View Weekly “Video Visit” from Bishop Hunn 
• 8:40 Conversation 
• 8:55 Closing 

A Call to Artists

This is a Call to Artists for our next gallery show here at St. Mark’s.

The title of this show is Small Works. All media are accepted and the maximum size limit is 12 x 12, including framing.

Please contact Audrey Minard (via email here) for a prospectus form.

Athletic Shoes Needed for  Asylum Seekers

We are still working to help immigrants, mostly Venezuelans, who are coming through town on the way to sponsors. They still need athletic shoes, lace-up or slip-ons, for men, women and children. The sizes for men are 7-12 and women 5-10, children's all sizes. We are only collecting new (or could-pass-as-new) shoes at this time. Please bring the shoes to the big box in the narthex (entry area). We are grateful for your continued help and support. 

Albuquerque Bowen Theory Workshops

Last Sunday, the adult formation class was a primer of the Bowen Family Systems Theory that was facilitated by Michael Jupin (you may download the class slides here). If this topic sparks an interest in you, there's a workshop being held on October 12-13th. You may download the flyer here.  

NM Voting Information: Registration Deadline is October 11

Register to vote, get your absentee ballot, plan your voting location and more at NMVOTE.org.

Important Deadlines for the 2022 General Election:

• October 11: Voter registration (by mail or online) closes.
• October 11: First day that absentee ballots can be mailed to voters (who have submitted an absentee application), and first day of Early Voting (at the county clerk’s office).
• October 22: Expanded Early Voting begins at alternate voting locations.
• November 3: Last day to request an absentee ballot.
• November 5: Last day of early voting.
• November 8: General Election Day.

FaithWorks Volunteer Opportunities

If you are interested in any of the volunteer opportunities below, please call the FaithWorks office at 505-457-1728.

ID Clinic- In partnership with Central United Methodist Church (CUMC), we are holding a weekly ID Clinic to assist clients in both of our programs to obtain ID documents such as Birth Certificates, Driver’s License Renewals, Real ID’s, etc. We are looking for volunteers to help clients every Wednesday from 10AM-12 PM at CUMC on 201 University BLVD (near UNM Campus). Training will be provided. You do not have to commit to attending

every Wednesday, but we do ask that you are available at least 2 Wednesdays a

month.

Christmas Party for Asylum Seeking Children- Every year, the Asylum Program has a Christmas Party for the children in our Asylum Program. We are looking for a committee to plan, organize and implement the party this year. If you are interested in working on this committee, you can participate in one part or many parts of this committee, such as shopping for the gifts, wrapping the gifts, attending and helping on the day of the party, etc. The date of the Party will be Saturday, December 3, 2022, location TBD. This is a time limited commitment.

Family Liaison- Our Asylum Program currently has nearly a dozen families waiting to enroll into our program. As a Family Liaison, you will be assigned to work with a family to ensure they have their needs met through our program. There is ongoing training and several of our current Family Liaisons will share their expertise with you to help you get started in this crucial role with our families. Time commitment is initially a few times per week, then as much or as little as your family might need. (Typically, at least a weekly check in with your family by telephone).

New Mexico Immigrant Law Center (NMILC)-

We are partnering with NMILC to assist asylum seekers with applying online for asylum and/or work permits. NMILC will provide training and will have specific times/days to volunteer at NMILC to work directly with clients in this process. You must be bilingual and commit to at least one time per month.

“Soul Songs for Every Season” Three-Day Retreat

Date: October 13-15, 2022

Location: Santa Maria de la Vid Abbey in Albuquerque

October 13-15 – Music that Makes Community Workshop at Santa Maria de la Vida Abbey in Albuquerque. Sing and reflect on the theme “Soul Songs for Every Season.” Three-day and one-day options available. Please pick up the flyer on the entry table for more information. Registration required.

Register here.