Last Sunday after the Epiphany

Welcome Guests - If this is your first Sunday here at St. Mark’s, may you find a gracious welcome. Your questions are welcomed. Even if you might be here just for this day, may St. Mark’s feel like home to you.

Today at St. Mark’s

8 Sermon Series: Discipleship - What does it mean to be a Disciple? The final sermon in Epiphany: Feb. 3 (Last Epiphany) A Disciple Follows Jesus to the Mountain. (God Knows What Can Happen There!)

8 Adult Education This Morning: Living the Question:: the class led by Vicki Garvey continues in the Rector’s office. Science and Religion meets in the Anniversary Room with George Martin. Recommended book: The Language of God by biologist Francis S. Collins, who was in charge of the Human Genome Project.

8 The Shrove Sunday Breakfast will be held this morning in Fellowship Hall at 11:15am. Please join Sarah Grubner, Don Svec and the crew for breakfast Suggested donation: $5 per person. Enjoy!

8 Childcare is available each Sunday morning from 8:45 until 11:45 a.m. in the last classroom on the left in the upstairs hallway.

8 Let us remember those celebrating their birthdays this week: Joan Carpenter, Nicole Anderson, Zachary Zambelli, Ellen Doree, Mackenzie Hunn, Kaye Zook, Bonnie Thompson, and Glenn Engelhardt.

This Week and Beyond

--Step Into a Holy Lent: Come to church this Ash Wednesday--

We have three services on Ash Wednesday: 6:30am, Noon, and at 7pm (Preceded by the first Soup Supper in our Lenten Program)

I've enclosed a sermon I gave four years ago on Ash Wednesday ("A Call to a Holy Lent") to help you think about the importance of this day in your walk with Christ. We'll be following the service in our Book of Common Prayer on this day as it reminds us about some of the realities of our lives. Any skeptic wondering if Christians are ever honest about life ought to come to an Ash Wednesday service. In the midst of this service, I will call myself and all in attendance to have a "Holy Lent." While we will have five Sundays of worship in Lent, most of us know that the real meaning of this season can only be fully known as it is lived out on a daily basis. This Wednesday is the first of those days. I look forward to sharing the Lenten journey with you. ghm

What a Church! - As we headed into this weekend we were counting almost 40 members of St. Mark's attending the consecration of Bishop Lee, the new bishop of the Diocese of Chicago, as of Saturday afternoon. I'll bet this was one of the best percentages of attendance by any congregation in the diocese. I know others of you would have liked to come. Be assured, you were well represented! ghm

LENTEN PROGRAM: Right out of Celtic Christianity - Scholars who have studied the early roots of Christianity in Great Britain have long noted the vibrant nature of the missionary Celtic communities, and how they weren't separate from folks living more ordinary lives. There was an openness and transparency between the so-called "religious" and ordinary people. In other times and places monks and nuns kept to themselves, supposedly "un-spotted" from the world, though historians have been able to discover some rather spotted stories. The Celtic religious were different. They welcomed people into their lives, and they kept in touch with their neighbors. As part of their daily lives, many people knew they were welcome to come to the Abbey church for morning or evening prayer or both. We'll continue that tradition in Lent, as we gather each Wednesday evening for a simple dinner of soup and bread. Chances are that the soup choices will be appealing as various members of our church will take turns making soup. A convivial atmosphere of old friends greeting each other and new friends being made will mark the first half hour together. In the second part of the 6pm hour, when a few folks will still be eating their soup we'll be reading a story to each other. We will have stories appropriate to all ages, thus making it possible for families with children to attend. Then at 7pm we'll gather in the church for a short quiet service of Evening Prayer. By about 7:20 each evening we'll be on our way home. If it sounds good to you please come. You'll be doing something quite old, and fitting with our tradition. ghm

Actors Needed for the Lenten Reader's Theater - Starting on Sunday Feb. 17^th, we will have a series of dramatic presentations of the Sunday gospels at each service during Lent. We will print the actual gospels in the bulletin, but we won't read the text as we usually do. Instead, these rather lengthy stories will be reformatted into shorter drama pieces featuring two to four actors each Sunday. We need actors of all ages. No lines need to be memorized. We will be practicing each piece ahead of time. Please speak to the Interim Rector if you'd be willing to be part of one of these dramas. ghm

Update from the Interim Rector - As many of you know I've been back in Minnesota most of the last three weeks helping Caroline who fell and broke her right hip on Jan 12th. She had partial hip replacement surgery that evening, and has been making great progress ever since. The healing process will continue, but she can get around the house on her own having graduated to a cane a few days ago. I was also able to make a three day trip to Texas in the middle of that time to check on my 96 year-old Dad who needed to have his care situation reformatted so that he could continue to live in his apartment in his independent living situation. We got him all straightened out. And now I'm back here for the next three weeks as we head into Lent. I'd love to meet you for coffee or go out to lunch or dinner with you. Please give me a call.  (651-216-2329) Thank you also for the prayers and good wishes you extended to Caroline and for allowing me to head home at such a crucial time. ghm

8 Journal Writing Workshop - The Fifth Gospel will be held on Sat. Feb. 9, 9:00am to Noon. In Sunday School and Confirmation classes we learn about the four Gospels, but there is also a fifth Gospel. If the first four gospels tell a story of Jesus from four different disciples, why can't there be a fifth gospel with your name on it? Or my name? If we think about our faith story in this way, we've had our times of falling away and we've had some mountain top experiences when maybe we understood something new and wonderful about God. If we take this concept to another level we can actually try to put our experiences into words. This is where a Journal enters the picture. Chances are that your grandmother or grandfather kept a journal, and you might actually have some of these as treasured parts of your family story. It is an art form still practiced in our time, but not often. We're going to have a Journal Writing Workshop on Sat. Feb. 9th when we are three days into Lent. I am suggesting that a positive and meaningful spiritual discipline can be "keeping a prayer journal." We'll not only talk about the spiritual aspects of journaling, but we will have some exercises to get us going. The workshop is free. It will run from 9:00 am to noon. If you can't stay the whole time, that's OK. All you need is a good pen and a journal, either a bound ones found at a bookstore, or a simple notebook you might have. Please call the office at 847-381-0596 if you plan to attend.  ghm

8 St. Mark’s Movie on the WEB - The movie that the Interim Rector presented at the Annual Meeting can be found on his Web site. The movie tells the story of all that has happened during the interim period. The stars of the movie are the people of St. Mark’s. It can be found at http://web.com/ georgemartin1 Then click on the link to the "3 Seasons Movie".

8 Thanks to our Social Committee: Joan Bennett, Holly Dietz, Linda Gray, and Anita Mathewson; for taking on another project: the Annual Meeting luncheon. Also thank you to all who brought salads and desserts. We all had a good time and shared a good meal together.

8 Bible Study 101...Come one, come all to this beginner's group led by Vicki Garvey held on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month, 7-8 pm in the Anniversary Room. Our next meeting will focus on Matthew (1,2), Luke (1,2,3) and John (1.1-18). This is an introduction to a "theme" reading in which we will start to learn how they told their story of Christmas. These readings are the beginning portrait of Jesus. Any questions, call Vicki or Mary Ann Roeser (815-353-7337). Please join us.