Parish Update

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+

Children’s Chapel Service – An Introduction To Our Liturgy

“Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14

A few short words on the Children’s Chapel Service that is such an integral part of the early childhood Christian Education curriculum at Saint Mark’s.

Here, the children experience the same Liturgy of the Word, albeit shortened, as we have in the church proper. In general, we open with a collect, read several lines of the day’s psalm, read the Gospel story, have a question/discussion-based homily, create a “prayer card,” discuss the cards, and confess our sins. When there is extra time we practice our formal prayers or sing songs related to the day’s lesson.

We will continue to keep you informed. Please feel free to ask questions and provide feedback. We encourage you to visit with us at Chapel this summer!

Jesus Fulfills the Law of Moses

“We continue this week with Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Paul is drawing conclusions about the law and a strong faith in the redemptive power of Jesus on the cross. Now we know the law is that portion of the first five books of our Old Testament that provide the do’s and the don’ts to God’s chosen people…”Listen here, or download the MP3!