The Remarks

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Congratulations Saint Mark United Methodist Church for being the newest North Georgia Conference Lighthouse Congregation

What is a Lighthouse Congregation?

Lighthouse Congregations are particularly equipped to welcome anyone whose church has closed or disaffiliated. If you find yourself in these circumstances, we first want you to know that we see you. We love you. And we will help guide you. A Lighthouse Congregation is a United Methodist faith community that will serve as a resting place with people who will care for you while providing a haven of peace and grace. Whether you are an individual or a group of people who have become displaced or churchless because of closing or disaffiliation, Lighthouse Congregations will be there for you during this difficult time.

Dinner begins at 5:30 PM.

$10 for seniors, $11 general

North Georgia Black Methodists

for Church Renewal - Mini-Hush Arbor

DuWanna Thomas

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

What is a Hush Arbor?

"The hush arbors served as the location where slaves could combine their African religious traditions with Christianity. It was safe to freely blend the components of each religion in these meetings. The slaves could let go of all their hardships and express their emotions. Here is where Negro spirituals originated. The songs created by slaves were known to contain a double meaning, revealing the ideas of religious salvation and freedom from slavery. The meetings would also include practices such as dance. African shouts and rhythms were also included."

2024 Publix Marathon

Sunday, February 25, 2024

Please take time now to plan your route to church on Sunday, February 25. The links below will give you “turn by turn” and roadblock information. After entering in the link information, you will receive a prompt asking you to download the file, click “OK.”

Turn by Turn & Roadblock Listings

http://tinyurl.com/2mm9c22k

Course Map

http://tinyurl.com/4yvu7kpz

Saint Mark Green Team Survey 

Please fill out this short survey to help steer Saint Mark’s engagement with environmental issues and creation care. Whether you are interested in getting involved or not, this survey will help our green team prioritize its goals.

http://tinyurl.com/SMUMCgreenteamsurvey

Find your Small Group Community at Saint Mark

Now during the season of Lent, is a good time to reestablish your spiritual discipline of going to a Sunday School or Spiritual Growth class. At Saint Mark, we have 5 classes that meet on a regular basis most Sundays from about 9:45 AM until 10:45 AM.    

Click here to download the flyer.

Join us for an unforgettable evening of "Songs of Love and Heartache" with Clint Clark Duke on Wednesday, February 28, 2024! 

Dinner starts at 5:30pm, followed by the concert from 6:00pm to 7:00pm in Wade Hall. 

Saint Mark United Methodist Church, 781 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30308. 

Tickets: $10 for seniors, $11 general (includes Wednesday night fellowship dinner). 

Don't miss this musical journey! 

Social Justice Corner

1816: The Methodist Church Splits to form the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church

Richard Allen, a formerly enslaved man, founded the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in 1816.  Allen faced numerous obstacles along the way, but he was also covered with God’s favor. This is his story.

In 1780, Richard Allen was enslaved to a man in Dover, Delaware. After Allen turned his life over to Christ (religion was encouraged by his owner), Richard spoke to his master about God and convinced him to listen to a Methodist preacher who was traveling through Delaware spreading the Good News. After attending a prayer meeting, the master began feeling guilty over owning slaves. He felt so convicted of this sin, that he offered all his slaves their freedom in exchange for $2,000 equivalent to $36,000 today.

Richard took on that challenge, working odd jobs for three years until he received a bill of manumission from his master.

After he was free, he began traveling to preach. It didn’t matter if the people he encountered were white or black he just wanted to tell them what Jesus had done for him. He found a preaching job in Philadelphia at St. George's Methodist?? Church (a predominantly white church) and, because the way he spoke was so profound, he started to attract more and more colored folk to hear him speak. During this time the church was building a second addition to their building, and the colored members volunteered to build the entire structure.

At the first Sunday after the addition was complete, many colored members attended Sunday service and when it came time for them to pray, they were being rushed by white members who said they were taking too much time. An elder was so frustrated by their reluctance to hurry that he grabbed a black man by his collar and told him he had better move on or he would call the law on the man. Distressed by the actions of the white elders of the church, Pastor Allen stepped in and stated: “Please allow us to finish praying, and we will trouble you no more.”

It was a mass exodus, and now these colored Methodists had no place to worship. Allen decided to build a place of worship specifically for colored people. When the White Methodist elders of St. George heard Allen was trying to build a colored church, they objected and threatened to “disown him from the Methodist connection.” Allen would not back down. He was not deterred even though they harassed and insulted him. Allen raised money and started building his first church. When the new construction was nearly complete, an elder from St. George’s tried to coax Allen into coming back, but Allen still refused. At St. George’s, the church treated the colored members like a nuisance, and Allen refused to allow his people to feel that way again. Allen was adamant about not going back to St. George’s. So, the elder offered to help by filing the legal paperwork to have the new church incorporated. Allen agreed because he figured it would save money. Once the paperwork was filed, he found out the elder had deceived him and incorporated the church under the Methodist organization. He no longer owned the land or the church and the Methodist Church now owned the building and the land.

Allen sued to get his building and land back and won. Although Allen was no longer recognized as a Methodist, he still believed in the teachings of John Wesley and thought they were what was best for colored people as well as whites. About the same time, coloreds in Baltimore and Philadelphia were being treated in a similar manner by the white preachers and trustees of other congregations, and many of them were driven away without a place to worship, which pushed these colored people to form the African Methodist Episcopal Church we know today.

We have another video for you. This video highlights Rustin’s accomplishments as a proud black, gay man. Miraculously, he organized a peaceful protest of more than 250 thousand people in less than two months. Yes, he was the organizer of the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which preceded passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. He was an innovator, a pioneer, a strategist, and a believer. He believed in civil rights for all; not just for African American’s but also gay people. In a line from the movie, Rustin says “on the day I was born Black I was also born gay”. We present to you Bayard Rustin.

Click the link below to view the video:

Bayard Rustin: The man who transformed the civil rights movement

Looking for things to do for Black History Month, click the button below for a list of events.

Tithes & Offerings

Your generosity allows us to love, accept and serve the people of our community. 

Using your Smartphone’s camera, scan a QR Code below and follow the prompts.

Disciple II

Sundays | Room 204 | 9:45 AM

Tuesdays | Zoom |6:00 PM

Vespers

Wednesdays | Chapel |6:30 PM

Young Adult Book and Bible Study

Wednesdays | Room 201 |6:30 PM

Four Quartets Study

Wednesdays | Room 205 |6:30 PM

Fast Track Disciple I – New Testament

Wednesdays | Room 111 |6:30 PM

Moms Demand Action Rally at the GA Capitol

Wednesday, February 21 | Central Presbyterian | 8:30 AM

Hope Is Here Book Study begins

Wednesday, February 21 | Room 111 | 5:00 PM

Cabaret with Clint Clark-Duke

Wednesday, February 28 | Wade Hall | 6:00 PM

LifeSouth Blood Drive

Sunday, March 3 | Outside | 9:00 AM

Midtown Alliance Annual Meeting

Tuesday, March 5 | Fox Theatre

Safe Sanctuary Training

Sunday, March 10 | Wade Hall | 12:30 PM

NGUMC Laity Gathering

Saturday, March 16 | Impact Church - East Point | 11:00

Palm Sunday

Sunday, March 24

Midweek Fellowship Dinner

Thursday, March 28 instead of Wednesday, March 27

Holy Thursday Service

Thursday, March 28 | Sanctuary | 7:00 PM

Good Friday Service

Friday, March 29 | Sanctuary | 7:00 PM

Easter Eggtravaganza

Saturday, March 30

Easter

Sunday, March 31

7 AM | Sunrise | Terrace

9 AM & 11 AM | Sanctuary

12 PM | Brunch | Wade Hall

Race for MAC

Saturday, May 11 | 8:30 am

Festival Singers of Atlanta

Saturday, June 1 | Wade Hall

Vacation Bible School (VBS)

Monday, June 3 – Friday, June 7

North Georgia Annual Conference

Thursday, June 13 – Saturday, June 15

Soul Shop - American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Saturday, June 22 | Wade Hall

As a United Methodist Church we are proud to be a congregation with open hearts, open minds, and open doors. We strive to be a congregation that embodies God’s absolute love and hospitality, proclaiming Jesus as our savior and as our model of the ultimate embodiment of God’s love. We believe that all persons are of sacred worth and dignity as part of God’s good creation. Saint Mark United Methodist Church welcomes all persons into the full life and ministry of our congregation, regardless of race, culture, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, family, or socioeconomic status, physical or mental ability, or faith history.

The Remarks is a weekly publication of Saint Mark United Methodist Church, Atlanta, Georgia.

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