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Dear Saint Mark Family,
A Blessed and Holy Advent to you.
Last Sunday, we celebrated the first Sunday of Advent and Holy Communion. We looked at what it means to hope as a people who are awaiting the return of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and how it can be an anchor for, and a witness of, our lives. We lit the candle of hope, and committed to go forth as vessels of hope in the world.
This Sunday, we will look at preparing the way for our Lord, and how our daily actions create openings for others to know Christ, and also be testimonies of peace.
Advent is a time of preparation, a time of reflection and action, and a time of anticipation. I pray you are mindfully living the hours of each of these days, and are not getting caught up in the cultural glamorized frenzy of the season. Prepare, reflect, act, and anticipate. Christ is near you. Christ is within you. Christ is with you.
This year Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday. We will have a Sunday morning Christmas Eve Communion Service at 11:00 AM. We will then have our regular Family Christmas Eve Service at 5:00 PM, a Festival of Lessons and Congregation Singing at 7:00 PM, and our Service of Holy Communion at 11:00 PM.
We invite you to come to one, or more, of these services and let us celebrate the birth of our Lord together. Come after or before your Christmas morning breakfast, and feast at the Lord’s table with your church family and friends. Come and listen to our children and youth retell an reenact the wonderful story of Christ’s birth. Come and hear again God’s promise to Mary and her song of praise, the angels’ proclamation, and the shepherds’ adoration. Come after dinner and the wrapping of presents to feast at the Lord’s table on the Eve of the most wondrous day. Come, bring your family, bring your friends, and let us worship God and celebrate the coming of Christ into our world and into our lives.
Two weeks ago, Johnny Sims, our coordinator of online ministries, shared in worship our pressing need for volunteers to join the multimedia ministry team that broadcast our online worship service, so we can continue to grow this area of worship and ministry. The volunteer opportunities include running the soundboard, remotely operating the cameras in the sanctuary, and controlling the captions displayed for different worship service segments. Whether you are multimedia savvy or not, you will be trained in how to use the equipment, so you will be equipped to provide the help needed. Please prayerfully consider volunteering for even one Sunday per month, or one Sunday every six weeks, and then contact Johnny at stmarkumc@techiebud.com and let him know you are interested in serving.
We also need volunteers in our Children’s Ministry. Many of you have shared with me your hope to see our children ministry become a robust and thriving ministry in the life of our church. Our new children’s minister, Madi Dunn, has been doing an incredible work to grow this vital ministry of our congregation. Please consider serving once per month, so our children, and the ones to come, will grow in the knowledge and love of Christ.
This past Sunday, we announced in worship that Bishop Dease has appointed Rev. Andy Peabody as our interim associate pastor, beginning January 1, 2024. Rev. Andy will be a great addition to our staff and ministry, and will be a blessing to our congregation. Please be in prayer for Rev. Andy as he makes the transition to Saint Mark.
This evening is our movie night, at 6:00 PM, on the terrace in front of Peachtree Street. Come on out and let us have fun, laughter, and food together as we watch “Elf.” It will be a great time.
I look forward to worshiping with you this Sunday.
God’s peace,
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