Category Archives: Parish Update

Summer 2011 Parish Update

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We have had a busy spring and beginning of summer at St. Mark’s.  After our Easter celebration, we had a rapid succession of fellowship events including our Mother’s Day invitational and two weeks later our All Church Family Picnic that honored the hard work of our Sunday School teachers.

In June, we held our Vacation Bible School and it was fantastic.  Two days of intensive fun centering on our understanding of the Holy Spirit and His coming on the day of Pentecost.  Both teachers and kids had a wonderful time identifying ways the Holy Spirit presents Himself in the lives of believers.

July brought the introduction of our new Curate, Deacon Ashley Classen.  He will be with us for some time as he works his way toward ordination to the priesthood.  In the mean time, Deacon Ashley will be busy with his ministry to us through our teaching and preaching rota as well as his presence among us on Sundays. Last Sunday, on July 24, Deacon Ash began  a several session program with the Adult Forum that meets at 8:30am on Sunday mornings.  He is leading a discussion of the book “Radical, Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream”.  This is a fantastic study on how to reclaim a full and lively faith in a culture that exalts the individual.  I hope you will join us.

On July 17 we had a baptism where we welcomed the son of members Christopher and Sara into the family of God.  We had a wonderful turnout and for those present, you had the opportunity to reaffirm our Baptismal vows to the Most High.

As for Outreach, our parish has been busy.  St. Mark’s has had a number of opportunities to serve others outside of our walls.  The annual Diaper Drive was a complete success and we fielded a team of parishioners  on the 15th who gathered to sort and store items for Captain Hope.  Look for at least two more opportunities in August to serve.  Thanks to Wende and Kathy W. for keeping us focused on the service projects that have the most impact in our part of the world.

Bylaws.  The Vestry has just ratified a new set of Bylaws for our parish.  There were just a few changes and updates that needed to be made.  They will be up on this website soon but in the mean time, hard copies are available on the half-round table in the parish hall.

Last Sunday, on the 24th, you heard about the plans for our worship space.  A few months ago, the Vestry began to move forward on some much needed maintenance of our worship space as well as add a few architectural touches.  Phase I will include wall repair, painting, electrical work, and some wood work.  I am very excited about the project and please take some time to look at the concept drawings in the parish hall.

February 2011 Parish Update

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St. Mark’s has been very busy since the New Year began, take a look at the highlights.

Annual Meeting: At the end of January we celebrated our successes and even our challenges at our parish Annual Meeting on the 23rd.  We spoke about ways we can thrive as a parish. First and foremost, we must, as a congregation, invite people to experience God at St. Mark’s. It seems so strange that we spend so much time in our ministries here and support this wonderful parish but we don’t invite as we should. Second, this is the year we begin to refine our vision and mission here at St. Mark’s. The Vestry Retreat on March 5th will feature Carrie Boren from the diocesan office. She is an expert in developing strategies for a parish to find its voice and mission in the world. And finally, Carrie will return two more times in 2011 to St. Mark’s to show us how to easily and quickly “tell our story” to those we encounter in our community. Friends, I can’t tell you how important it is for us to invite people into the presence of our Lord Christ as He is found at St. Mark’s.

At the Annual Meeting, we said thank you to Kathy Whitgrove and Vicki Redden as former Vestry members and to Jenifer Jones and Kathy Whitgrove as Delegate to Diocesan convention. We voted and welcomed to the Vestry, Jeff Gardner and Paulette Austin. We also reelected Kathy Whitgrove to Delegate and added Jeff Gardner to complete that team.  Thank you to those who served and to those who offered themselves to the parish election process.

Confirmation at St. Mark’s with Bishop Stanton: On February 6th , our own Bishop Stanton came to St. Mark’s to lead us in the offering the sacrament of Confirmation to seven of our membership. After the service, we retired to our Parish Hall to participate in our Annual Chili Cook Off.  If you were not there, you missed some great chili. Thank you to all who set up, cooked, and tore down the party, it was a wonderful time.


Jim Rider Oak Tree

Jim Rider Tree: We have two new trees in our yard through the generosity of members and members who have moved away. The first gift came from former members of this parish in memory of our own beloved Jim Rider. Another gift for a second tree came from a current group of members who wanted to pitch in to beautify our corner on 6th and O’Connor. The two trees, both Hybrid Red Oak, look great.

 

Future Offerings and Notices: Please make some space in your calendars for up coming events:

  • Beginning Sunday February 20 through April 3, 2011 the Bodybuilding group will kick off an Easter basket drive for Captain Hope’s Kids.  We need baskets, eggs, candy and other goodies to go into Easter baskets for kids of all ages.
  • On Wednesdays, beginning on March 2, St. Mark’s will be offering a Wednesday Bible Study at 11:15am and Wednesday Noon Holy Eucharist.
  • Our Annual Haiti Fundraiser kicks off on March 6th, after service.  The funds will go directly to offer scholarships to the Bishop Tharp Institute in Haiti.
  • Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper in the Parish Hall on March 8th from 6 to 7:30pm.
  • Ash Wednesday Services on March 9 at 7am and 6:30pm.
  • Wednesday Evenings in Lent, we will gather for Stations of the Cross and Holy Eucharist.
  • Quiet Day sponsored by the Daughters of the King on March 19, 2011.

November 2010 Parish Update

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I want to offer a huge thanks to those of us who could make the Stewardship Pot Luck yesterday afternoon.  It was glorious to have a gathering of St. Markians coming together for food and fun.  The different foods were too numerous to list but trust me, they were outstanding as always.  Thanks to all who set up, served, cleaned up, cooked, and all who came.

Our Thanksgiving Service will be celebrated on Wednesday, November 24, 2010 at 6pm this year.  I am moving our annual Thanksgiving Service from Thursday to Wednesday evening so that more of us can return thanks for our many blessings.  It is my hope that with this move, we may have THE Thanksgiving in church before we eat the thanksgiving meal at home.  For those who have friends in town, I am asking that you bring them with you to our parish worship service – we would love to see them.

Bylaws may be found on the half round table in the Parish Hall.

The Annual Meeting is set for Sunday, January  23, 2011.  This is the meeting where we gather as a parish to celebrate our common life together, the things we have accomplished, and determine who will serve us as delegates to diocesan convention or/and sit on our Vestry.  Please mark your calendars.

Nominations for Vestry and Delegate. I have asked all individuals of our parish to begin praying about serving St. Mark’s as a delegate to our diocesan convention and/or serving on our Vestry.  This year the process is a bit different in that those who believed themselves called by God to serve in either capacity will be using a form for nomination.  This form is Addendum I in our Bylaws and can be found on the half round table in the Parish Hall.  This form will be used by our parish to determine who will lead our delegation and our parish.  The forms for nomination are to be in the hands of the Nominating Committee (Vicki Redden, Kathy Whitgrove, Tootsie Morton) by Sunday, January 2, 2011 so the Committee may assure the qualifications for service are met.  The Nominating Committee will then photocopy the approved forms for distribution to the parish.

The Revised Common Lectionary for Sundays is almost in use.  A Sunday lectionary is a list of scripture readings by date.   On the first Sunday of Advent, the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas will move to a new lectionary that allows us to hear more of the Old Testament than we do currently.  If you would like more information on this important move, there is an introductory page on the half round table in the Parish Hall.  If you have any questions after reading the introduction, give me a call.  For our lectors, the shift will be transparent in that nothing will change in the way you serve as a reader.

Rev. Kesner Ajax will be visiting us on Sunday November 21.  He will be giving us a report on what is happening in Haiti and how our Women’s Guild is helping that country by providing scholarships to Haitians for enrollment in the Bishop Tharp Institute.  Please mark your calendars and set aside some time after the service on the 21st to hear the good work being done.

Email Updates from our website.  Are you receiving updates from our fantastic website?  If not, I urge you to go to www.stmarksirving.org look to the right of the pictures on the main page and put your email in the ENEWS AND UPDATES space.  By doing so, you will receive the most up to date information about the goings on at your church.

Thank you again for a wonderful pot luck yesterday and may God bless you and St. Mark’s.

Fr. Greg+

Fall Parish Update

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Fall Festival
Last Saturday we were hosts to Captain Hope’s Kids for our Fall Festival.  As you may remember last year, we had plans for a large number of kids to be our guests but many were too ill to come.  We did not have that trouble this year.  The Bodybuilding crew worked like trojans, the parish responded to the call for help – even friends of the parish were in force.  I counted no less than 43 plus our own kids thrown in for good measure.  We had games, food, face painting, bags for the TONS of candy and prizes given to the children.  The crew needed to sponsor an event like this is large.  The adults have to be willing to submit to Safe Church, set aside time in their busy schedules, and then be open to having a conversation with children who are in less than idyllic situations.  Thanks to all who came, supported, worked, and prayed – each one of you truly brought the Kingdom of God down to earth.

Vestry/Delegate Elections
In a previous Parish Update, I informed that St. Mark’s has made some significant upgrades to our Bylaws.  Bylaws are those rules and procedures that the parish leadership agree to follow.   I encourage you to review the Bylaws to understand how we conduct the business of our parish.  The Bylaws are on our website and also a printed copy is posted on the vestry bulliten board in our Parish Hall.

One area of modification is our Vestry/Delegate election process.  We have returned to ask those running for elected office to complete a very short form (Addendum I of our Bylaws).  This Application For Vestry/Delegate Nominee Consideration allows the candidate to communicate directly with those who will be casting votes.  We returned to these forms because the parish wanted more information from the candidates about their vision for St. Mark’s than just the few words that were spoken right before the elections at our Annual Meeting.  This form, once completed, will be given to the Nominating Committee by the candidate for processing, printing and distribution to the parish before our Annual Meeting on Sunday January 23, 2011.

This year’s Nominating Committee is composed of outgoing Vestry members Kathy Whitgrove and Vicki Redden along with Tootsie Morton as the unelected representative from our congregation.  As in previous years, this committee continues to exercise broad authority in shaping the Vestry of the following year.

Two weeks ago, I asked the congregation to begin to pray about serving at the Vestry level.  There is plenty of time to continue in your prayerful deliberations but the forms must  be received by the Nominating Committee by January 2, 2011, three weeks before the elections on January 23, 2011.  This gives our office time to gather the information, assure the qualifications are met and then print early enough so all will have a chance to review the information and decide who will lead our parish.

This will be a critical election in my opinion.  We continue in our ministries, we are seeing new faces in our congregation but we do need to do more in asking people to try St. Mark’s.  This is fast becoming the most presenting issue to be addressed by our parish.

Sunday School
Sunday School continues to be a bright spot for us.  The Sunday School teachers are now in the second unit of the catechism, “Believe In The Creed”.  There will be a Sunday School meeting soon to begin discussing the goings on in Christmastide.  I am so grateful for all who participate in this important ministry to our children.

St. Mark’s Fall Take Out
The Women of St. Mark’s is having their Fall Take Out on Sunday October 24.  Proceeds from the sale of quiche, meat pies, side dishes, dessert pies, and other baked goods will go to the Women of St. Mark’s outreach ministries.  Please mark your calendars and come  hungry and ready to support their efforts.

As always, if you have any questions, please contact me or a member of the Vestry.

May God bless you and St. Mark’s,
Fr. Greg

September 2010 Parish Update

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I used to think summer was a time of rest, when the church refreshed itself for the balance of the year.  I now think that while the number of ministry activities is reduced,  the ones that take their place require equal effort in the Lord.

Take VBS for example (see the photo albums).  We had 18 formal team members who came together and delivered an outstanding message to the kids.  But just underneath those 18 were another cadre who cooked taco meat, brought extra items, and let’s not forget the ever present Jr. Warden’s posse among others.  VBS was a little different this year in that the food, art, music, teaching, and activities were formed around the Parable of the Sower.  The program was wonderful.  We had our own VBS-aged kids plus some of their friends and by any account, they enjoyed the program.  This was a huge effort by our parish for our kids – thank you!

Now that summer is waning, the ministries that take a siesta are gearing back up.  The Tuesday night Bible Study is returning along with a full semester of Sunday school.  The choir will resume practice just after the Labor Day break, and the First Sunday EYC meeting starts up just after service.

We have a lot going on in the parish right now so there is a ministry opportunity for every person.  As God continues to lead His people deeper into His service, consider speaking with any of the ministry heads about how to participate.

May God bless you and keep you,

Fr. Greg

Parish Update

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To the families and friends of St. Mark’s.

Summer Sermons: I wrote last month about the deep season of Pentecost and what that means for our discipleship.  To support this season of learning, you will have noticed that I am preaching through the Letters, or Epistles, of the Bible.  These letters are rich with instruction, pastoral advice, and even some admonition to a Church trying to find its own way after Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father.  Further, these letters help Christians today see the Trinity at work in the world.

Hearing sermons from this portion of the Scriptures can be difficult simply because the material may be less familiar than the Gospel readings.  In your devotions during the week, it might be helpful to review the readings from Sunday so as to get a sense of the issues and solutions that the authors are offering.  It is important to realize that it is not only the Gospels that are the inspired Word of the Lord.  I hope you will find these portions of Holy Scripture to be very relevant to us today.

Our Cool Church, went through a spell of not being so cool, as you no doubt remember.  As of now, we still are not completely sure what caused at least three of our air conditioning units to fail and one other unit to reduce its efficiency but we are working on the issue with the proper professionals.  I am so grateful for the ministries of our Jr. Warden, Bill Martichuski, Dave Brudi, and not least of all our own George Watson (who did the hot roof top work for us).  None of these men would want recognition but I want each of you to know how much our parish relies on them.

Please remember your parish as we move through this summer season.  With so many people taking time off, large expenditures must be paid for out of church savings.  If you can, please consider adding to your regular pledge to help us meet our budget and replace our savings account.

May God bless you and keep you.

Fr. Greg+