March 30, 2025

9:45 AM English Worship

in person, on Facebook and YouTube

11:00 AM Sunday School and Confirmation Classes

12:15 PM Spanish Worship

in person, on Facebook and YouTube

Flowers from March 23, 2025

My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Thank you to everyone who has already completed the survey Bill Turner (our St. Mark’s council vice president) and I sent out last week. We already have almost fifty responses! The more people who respond to this, the better. Bill and I are leading the 2025 Council Retreat this coming Saturday. Part of our time together will be to review the history of St. Mark’s and to consider our values as a congregation through the decades. The most important part of this segment will be to discuss our values at the present time. Your participation will make this much more fruitful. If you have not already done so, please complete the simple six-question questionnaire by following the link below. This survey is completely different from the property survey that closed last week. This will help us to better understand our overall values as a congregation as we prayerfully discern God’s direction and mission for His St. Mark’s congregation. The survey will close at 11:59 PM on Thursday, March 27. So, please do not delay in responding.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfkjgiunM3uXJlMYqcizgzay4ZZTgEmSj2c5V2h3iEX6lTkEg/viewform?usp=sharing

Gratefully, yours in Christ,

Pr Albert

2025 Lenten Series ~ Each Wednesday at 10:30 AM and on-demand

Experiencing God: Every Sense Engaged

Week 3: “Hear” Chant & the Strepitus

Chant

We continue our five-week series on engaging God with our senses with the sense of hearing. As Christians in a Lutheran church, we know the importance of sound. We hear the Gospel proclaimed through the Scriptures and sing songs and hymns of praise and prayer at every liturgical service. While most Lutheran church buildings would emphasize the spoken word, St. Mark’s was designed to enhance music, both vocal and instrumental. Our parish has historically been one of the most musical congregations in our synod, which is true for both our English-speaking and Spanish-speaking communities. Liturgical Christians of every variety come from a shared history in which much (or even all) of the liturgy was in some way sung. St. Mark’s has continued this important tradition.

The human voice is used in worship for speaking, intoning, chanting, and singing. Intoning is basically speaking but using a singing voice, usually in the same tone or a few different tones. Chanting is a more developed form of intoning that incorporates musical phrases. Modern Western music has its roots in Gregorian Chant. And, all Christian chant, both Western and Eastern, comes out of our Jewish roots, where the books of the Bible, particularly the Psalms were chanted as part of worship. Chanting is heard at St. Mark’s Sunday mornings at the English service in the Kyrie, Hymn of Praise, Dialogue and Preface before communion, and the Lord’s Prayer. We have not been chanting at our Spanish services recently. I will lead us in chanting the Psalm at the Spanish service this coming Sunday. Chanting allows us to slow down and reflect differently on the text and has been a powerful tool for helping Christians engage God for millennia.

Strepitus

St. Mark’s has three different services on Good Friday. The evening English service is a Tenebrae (meaning darkness in Latin). Lights are dimmed and candles are slowly extinguished until the congregation is in darkness. Once the last remaining candle is hidden, a strepitus (Latin for “great noise”) is heard. It can be jarring even when it is expected. I have always found this to be one of the most powerful moments of the liturgical year. The original meaning of the strepitus is unknown. Three possible explanations include: the earthquake that accompanied Christ’s death, the sealing of His tomb, or the confusion of the disciples as their Lord was buried.

Possibly as striking as the strepitus is the silence that follows. As we sit in darkness, we ponder the meaning of it all. This silence reminds me of Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God,” and 1 Kings 19:12 where God comes to Elijah not in wind, fire, or earthquake but in a silent whisper. We are accustomed to filling every moment of our liturgies with action or sound, but God is no less present in the silence. The strepitus is traditionally the final piece of the Tenebrae service. The “great noise” and sudden silence invites us into the tomb of Christ where we might cling to the promise that though His earthly body lays dead and bloodied, He is very much alive contending for our souls in Sheol. We break the silence with the quiet singing of a hymn followed by a reminder that: “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness could not overcome it. Even in the tomb God is at work.”

Chant in Other Christian Bodies:

• Roman Catholic

https://paracletepress.com/blogs/landing-pages/the-history-of-chant

• Eastern Orthodox

https://stanthonysmonastery.org/pages/history-of-byzantine-chant?srsltid=AfmBOoro1nbqbHJe8kgl9Me4So6ftr7tsPQx5yiArbMUB2gSYZpxYiO2

• Evangelical Protestant

https://zachicks.com/incorporating-chant-into-worship-even-modern-worship-a-primer/

News This Week

Women of the ELCA circles continue to meet monthly, promising Bible study and fellowship for members. Our project this month will be support for Lutheran Social Services (LSS). 

Martha Circle will meet on Tuesday, April 1 at 10:00 AM in the lounge. The program, led by Linda Pendleton, will be the final lesson from the Proverbs Bible Study entitled “Ordinary Heroes—Proverbs about Character.” Julie Brimmer will be hostess. Let Linda know if you will be attending via Zoom.

Esther Circle will meet on Wednesday, April 2 at 9:30 AM in the Friendship House. We will have a business meeting, then attend the Ash Wednesday service.

Deborah Circle will meet on Saturday, April 5 in the Church lounge, beginning at 10:00 AM. This will be a hybrid in-person and ZOOM meeting. The ZOOM link is https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85945099360?pwd=eonDDz276jDax6vtyU6JYHwvzTg087.1. Linda Vretos will be our hostess and Cindy Hausch-Booth will be the program leader as they continue their study from the January/February Gather magazine in Session Two on Faithfulness entitled “Faith in the Depths: Psalm 22.”

Tabitha Circle is now meeting in the Friendship House on Thursday evenings, beginning at 7:00 PM. They continue studying the book of Matthew.

WELCA invites all St. Mark’s women to attend one of our Circle meetings. Just show up—you will be warmly welcomed!

Military Care Packages Collection: Sunday, March 30

Our recipients for the end of March will be another group of recently-deployed Marines, as we partner with the Love-in-a-Box group. Their team leader is Caleb Gaffield. We do not know a lot about these recipients yet, but we do know that your wonderful boxes always bring them cheer! The Love-in-a-Box team was formed specifically to send packages to deployed Marines. March 30 is the "official" collection day, but you know you are always welcome to contribute items in the box on second floor near the elevator and church office.

A huge thank you to all of you for your continuing support of this project; this thank you comes from us and comes from the deployed troops who are the beneficiaries of your kindness!

Sunday: Saul Cardona; Nancy Hellwig.

Monday: None.

Tuesday: Deb Johnson; Grieving family of David Velde, father of Megan Braith and grandfather of Elliot, Isaac, and Alice.

Wednesday: Marquita Lister, friend of Edie Weekly; Grieving Family of David Giuliani, husband of Elizabeth Giuliani.

Thursday: None.

Friday: The grieving families and friends of Jim and Mike Bower, younger brothers of Peggy Morrison; Grieving family and friends of Jim Rhine, cousin of Jim Kyger.

Saturday: Grieving family and friends of Mildred Wolf.

Birthdays this Week:

Mar 30: Marla Bianchetta, Deborah Mays, Abigail Miller

Mar 31: Suvidha Daniel, Kathy Dinnison, Carter Wickline

Apr 1: Esther Herfindahl

Apr 2: Anne Daniels, Cesar Noe Espinal

Apr 3: Oscar Palacios Rivas, Griffin Westburg

Apr 4: Melinda Noll

Birthdays Next Week:

Apr 6: Margaret Ancona, Victor Nelson

Apr 7: Yovani Flores, Colleen Struss

Apr 9: Kassidy Pate

Apr 10: Lauren Meiser

Apr 11: Anna Ferrari

2025 Lent, Holy Week, and Easter at St. Mark's

+  Midweek Wednesday services, 10:30 AM (Streamed live and on-demand via YouTube and Facebook). Soup will follow the services. 

+  Sundays, 9:45 AM (with preservice music beginning at 9:40 AM) 

+  Easter Eggstravaganza, (4/12): 10:00 AM (lessons, activities, and worship for young children—This date is a week earlier than usual.)

+  Palm-Passion Sunday, (4/13): 9:45 AM (with preservice music beginning at 9:40 AM) 

+  Holy Thursday, (4/17): 10:30 AM and 7:00 PM (Holy Communion and Foot Washing). Soup will follow the services.

+  Good Friday, (4/18): 12:00 NOON (Musical Meditations) and 7:00 PM (Lessons and Choral Selections for Choir and Congregation) 

+  Resurrection of Our Lord, (4/20): 9:45 AM (with preservice music beginning at 9:40 AM)

(There is no Easter vigil this year.)

Eggstravaganza

Saturday, April 12, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Our annual Easter-themed event for children will be on the Saturday before Palm Sunday this year. We’ll review the Holy Week and Easter story through a scavenger hunt, crafts, and worship. It would be very helpful to know how many children to expect, so we're asking everyone to please register for this event at https://forms.gle/hZ1kXnChmFBSEdmd7.

Dwelling in the Word Bible Study

"Dwelling in the Word Bible Study" meets via Zoom meetings (see church calendar for Zoom link) every Thursday at 10:30 AM. Please plan to join us as we begin to study the Book of Hebrews! 

Men’s Bible Study

The Men’s Bible Study Group is reading the Book of Daniel and meets on Wednesdays at 9:00 AM in-person in the Lounge and via Zoom. (See Church Calendar on the web site for Zoom details.)

Driver Needed for Food for Others!

Once every 4th Tuesday—pick up in Merrifield about 4:30 PM and drop off to Fellowship Hall. Need to have space in car for crates/boxes of food. We’d appreciate it, even if you can help temporarily.

Contact Nan Ackerman or Debbie Brown.

Kristin's Message based on the lectionary of the week by Kristin Berkey Abbott.