Messenger
March 08
From the rector’s desk…
In
a recent sermon I shared with everyone the
It’s
been a hard winter on all of us, and we can only hope that Spring comes soon
and fast. It certainly can’t come soon enough. This year we also have a really
early Easter. At the rate we’re going, chances are we’ll be seeing fur coats on
Easter morning. We may be carrying icicles for our Palm
Sunday procession. Rather than washing feet on Maundy Thursday, we’ll be
cleaning salt off our boots.
I will also be engaged in saying “Good Bye” to all of
you. Following the contract
that I have with the St. Mark’s vestry, I have given
notice of my intention to conclude my interim ministry with you. My last Sunday
is scheduled to be April 20th.
You will find another letter updating you about the
status of the search. Things are a little up in the air, but the good news is
that the search committee is still in the interviewing process. With the help
of the diocese, there’s every reason to believe that a call can be made
shortly.
As a trained interim priest I came to
Some of you may remember that I called this a
“tethered interim.” Well, I feel the tug of that rope to head back to my home
and to try to retire again. Coming here was an example of “flunking
retirement.” This summer I’ll get my first Social Security check just before I
turn 66. It’s time to try not working.
We’ll have some time to reflect on this interim period
and we don’t even have to say good-bye yet. In my other four interim churches
I’ve never said “good-bye” as such to a whole bunch of folks, since we stay in
touch with each other. I hope that’s what happens with you, who I consider my
St. Mark’s friends. Thank you for welcoming me so and for putting up with me
and my crazy ideas. We’ve had a good year together.
Faithfully yours in Christ,
The Rev. Dr. George H. Martin
The 10 Commandments—
1.
Der's only one God, ya know.
2.
Don't make dat fish on yer mantle an idol.
3.
Cussin' ain't
4.
Go ta church, even ven you're up nort.
5.
Honor your folks.
6.
Don't kill. Catch 'n release
instead.
7.
Der's only one
8.
If it ain't yer lutefisk, don't take it.
9.
Don't be braggin' 'bout how much ya shoveled.
10. Keep yer mind off yer neighbor's hotdish.
Search Committee Update
Dear Fellow
After prayerful consideration of all four of our
finalists, the Search Committee has unanimously identified our
candidate-of-choice for the new rector at St. Mark’s. We have communicated to
him our desire to move to the final stages of the selection process.
As it sometimes happens in a job search, our candidate
is not quite ready to commit to us. He
feels he needs to finish his own discernment process, including one more church
visit, and has pledged to give us his final answer by mid-March. He is, however, very excited about the
possibility of coming to St. Mark’s.
Due to the uncertainty of our ability to successfully
conclude with this candidate, in conjunction with Bishop Lee and his deployment
officer, we will be getting additional new candidates for our
consideration. The Bishop is dedicated
to bringing only top quality priests to the Diocese and so has pledged his
support to quickly present us new, highly qualified candidates while we await
our candidate’s answer.
We had three additional candidates. After much deliberation, we felt two of the
three were not the right fit for St. Mark’s.
The remaining candidate, who is still very viable for us, may soon
accept a call to another parish.
So we ask for your patience and prayers at this
time. All of us we would like our search
process to be clearer. But we know the
congregation has charged us to find the best possible fit for our parish and we
are dedicated to doing just that.
We truly hope we will be able to communicate a
positive answer from our chosen candidate next month. If that is not the case, we will have lost
no time in reviewing additional candidates.
We ask for your continued prayers and are confident that God will lead
us to the right rector for our parish.
Faithfully,
From the Senior Warden
Your 2008 Vestry has gotten off to a fast start. During our Vestry retreat, held fireside in
the rectory on February 9 – 10, we collectively identified the three most
critical areas of concentration for the St. Mark’s Vestry for 2008. We then assigned each Vestry member to one of
three teams that will responsible for meeting our goals in each area and set a
deadline to develop both 30-day plans and a yearlong plan of work.
The three areas of concentration are enhancing our
worship and lives as a community of God, expanding our membership and
increasing our presence and reputation within our community. As our plans solidify we will share more of
the details with you. Don’t be surprised
if a Vestry member contacts you to help with this work.
A special thank you goes to former senior wardens Bob
Horn, Dick Poje and
As you have read in George Martin’s message, he will
be leaving us on April 20. The Vestry
and Social Committee will work to put together a fitting send-off for him. I personally would like to say that I believe
he has done exactly what we needed him to do.
We tried new things, were challenged to deepen our individual and
collective faiths and were blessed with a healthy different perspective. So we
are in a very good place to receive a new rector.
You will read in
2008 will be an exciting year at St. Mark’s. Thanks to all of you who do so much to enrich
the life of our parish.
Ned Loughridge
Senior Warden
What’s in God’s Wallet?
Some time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I either
heard about or saw a bumper sticker that read: “If God had a wallet, your
picture would be in it.” Although I’m
not a big fan of bumper stickers, I like this one a lot. In fact, I’ve been intending to think and
write about it since whenever it was I first came upon it. Now, as our friend Jesus would say, is ‘the
acceptable time”.
Lent is one dandy season to think, REALLY think (and
perchance come to believe) that ours are among the photos God pulls out on
occasion. Ours, not just God’s friends from the bygone days of the Bible. I’m sure there are pictures of Jonah and
Judith and Miriam and Moses and the myriads of others who people those ancient
genealogies. And to be very seasonal about it, the stars of this year’s Lenten
gospels must be there: Nic who once
visited Jesus at night, and Sammi, saucy Samaritan woman at the well, and the
blind guy whose parents and neighbors were kerfluffled by his new-found sight,
and Martha and Mary and their newly alive brother Lazarus, all three of them
still blinking in the unexpected light.
Well, of course they’re in the divine wallet. They’re in the Bible and must be God’s
favorites. The point is: We are too.
When we pull out our own wallets and have them fall
open not to the money or plastic but to certain faces, or look again at the
pictures displayed in our homes or offices or lockers or [these days] on our
computers and phones, what do we and others looking over our shoulders,
see? Almost certainly we see the ones
who mean the most to us, the ones who have helped us be ourselves, whether
parents or children or lovers or friends.
We don’t, as a matter of habit, hang on to pictures randomly. Those faces mean something to us. There are whole stories – and precious ones
at that – behind those grinning or sulking or somber or dorky poses.
What if we were to venture the belief that God’s house
and wallet and refrigerator door and giant gig computer have each of us
prominently displayed? What might that
mean? That God does in fact treasure us,
knows our gnarly, knotted, peculiar stories and loves each of us wildly,
prodigally, illimitably because of them, despite them, through them. In a certain sense that is what’s at stake
and at the center of the twin mysteries of the Incarnation and the
Death-Resurrection of Jesus. The infamous tag line of John 3.16 that “God so
loved the world” is not simply a banner to be unfurled at football games. It is, we say we believe, the truth. No, it’s more; it’s the Truth. Got that?
Forget your virtuous eschewal of M&M’s and martinis and do something
a little harder and more important. For
the rest of Lent when you’ve got a moment, take the time to think on this
splendid mystery: God’s got your picture and smiles when looking at it. How’s that make you feel? And what are you going to do about it?
–
Wednesday Eve
Soup Suppers, Stories, and Service
Wednesday nights March 5th and 12th
will mark the fourth and fifth weekday Lenten program. We begin with serving
soup from six to
Journal
Writing Workshop, March 15th,
A Journal Writing Workshop will be held at St. Mark’s
Episcopal Church in Barrington Hills from
The workshop will be led by George Martin, the interim
pastor of the church. He has been journaling for many years having learned that
this is an ancient and honored spiritual practice grounded in the history of
Christianity. Participants will be thinking of their own walk in faith as a
kind of gospel story. Sometimes this is called writing a “Prayer journal.” Some
basic principles about how to uncorked creativity will be included in this
workshop, as many people wonder if they have anything to put down on paper.
There are some really helpful techniques that writers use to begin writing.
Everyone attending is asked to come with a journal or notebook. There will be
times in the workshop for people to practice some journaling exercises. Coffee
and tea will be provided.
Palm Cross
Workshop — March 15th
We need lots of hands to make hundreds of crosses. Why
that many? We want everyone to feel that they can take three or four crosses
home. Some will be given away. One may be put in the car, another over the
sink, while a third one will sit on a dresser for the year to come. It is fun and
easy to make these crosses. A five minute lesson is all that is required. Come
to the Fellowship Hall and share the joy of making these crosses to be given
away the next day.
Passion Sunday/Palm Sunday Worship
Please note that the worship will begin in the Anniversary
Room and the lobby outside the offices for each service. If the day should
somehow be magically warm, we’ll start outside.
But, given our track record this winter, none of us think that it will
be likely that we’ll do much outside until May comes. The Palm Sunday
procession, following the guidelines of our Book of Common Prayer, will take us
into the church for the rest of our worship.
ghm
Keeping a Holy Week
I rarely think of myself as
a literalist, but then I realize that I am about some things. (Aren’t we all!)
Over 30 years ago I was blessed to attend a seminar at the
Good question. The answer is
that we can keep it a holy week through private prayer and Bible reading. We
can also be GATHERED IN TOGETHER as a people of God for the week.
Starting on Sunday, March 16, Passion Sunday and Palm Sunday, we’ll have a
worship service each of the next seven days. It can be a Holy Week if you
want it to be Holy. You will find the full list of services printed in this
Messenger. Will this be a real Holy Week
for you? That’s you call. We’ll make sure it can happen. ghm
Foot Washing
on Maundy Thursday
“YOU’VE
One of the accounts of the foot-washing that took
place at the Last Supper has Peter essentially saying to Jesus, “You’ve got to
be kidding.” He didn’t want Jesus to wash his feet, and yet Jesus said it had
to be done. Why? It all boiled down to the essential message about service. He
was calling each of those who followed him to follow his example of serving
others first.
So were going to have a real foot washing this Maundy
Thursday. And we’re going to do as Jesus suggested we do, “Wash each other’s
feet.!” Hard to do? You bet, if you have trouble kneeling as I do, especially
after knee replacement surgery. Hard to do, because it involves touching
someone else. Yes, that too. But it says a great deal about who we are and how
we are suppose to relate to each other. One of the great things about foot washing
on Maundy Thursday is that even the Pope has his feet washed, and even the Pope
engages in washing someone else’s feet. So, let’s get over our reluctance to
understand this sacramental action. Plan to come forward this Maundy Thursday
to have your feet washed, and if you’re able to wash the feet of someone else.
Husbands and wives, or parents with their children may find this particularly
meaningful. ghm
A Children’s
Service
Good Friday
Morning -
The interim rector will lead a half-hour service
especially designed for children on this day that is so hard to understand. We
can’t talk about Easter unless we’ve been through Good Friday. We also don’t
want our kids to think that Easter is just about bunnies and baskets. The kids
will get to wash the altar as their contribution to the church. We’ll sing a
couple of songs and pray together before we end. Please bring any friends or
neighborhood kids. We welcome all to come. ghm
Looking at
Holy Week:
March 16:
Sunday of the Passion — Palm Sunday
Worship at 8 &
Worship begins with a triumphant note of joy and
celebration, and ends in a gloomy silence as we step into Holy Week. Along the
way we read the entire Passion Story in a dramatic fashion reminding us that
this week is meant for us to walk in the Way of the Cross.
Monday,
March 17th — Monday in Holy Week
Worship at
A simple quiet service of Evening
Prayer with a meditation will held at St. Mark’s.
Tuesday,
March 18th — Tuesday in Holy Week
Worship at
A simple quiet service of Evening
Prayer with a meditation will held at St. Mark’s.
Wednesday,
March 19th — Wednesday in Holy Week
Worship at
A simple quiet service of Evening
Prayer with a meditation will held at St. Mark’s.
Thursday,
March 20th — Maundy Thursday
Worship at
The word Maundy means
“Commandment.” Jesus said we were to wash each others feet and to remember him
with bread and wine. We’ll keep both commandments. And in the evening we’ll go
out to share a meal together, before returning for the Stripping of the Altar.
For sign-up, see page 13.
Friday,
March 21st – Good Friday
Worship at
We begin with a “Children’s
Service” at
Saturday,
March 22nd — Holy Saturday
Worship at
*This one is new to St. Mark’s. It is a
service contained on a single page of the Book of Common Prayer. (p. 283). This is the worship that marks the
second day. It was on the third day that Christ rose. People involved in preparing
for worship (the Guilds) are asked to come to this service, for
this is the one time in the year when there is nothing to do.
EASTER Worship
Saturday, March 22nd The Great Vigil of Easter
Worship at
This is the BEST service in the entire year. We start
in darkness and sit in vigil remembering some ancient stories about God. We
announce that Christ is Risen, sing our first Easter hymn, and marvel in the
glories of the Easter flowers. Baptism and Eucharist follows. An Easter Party
concludes the evening.
Sunday, March 23rd Easter Day
Worship at 8 and 10:15
Wearing our Easter best, we sing the wonderful hymns
of praise to God. It is a great time for us to welcome many guests. We never
know whose faith might be resurrected on this day. Nursery
open
Sundays, March 30 through May 4th
Easter Sundays at 8 and 10:15
The Easter Spirit continues as we recall all the
stories of the resurrection of Jesus. And it still looks like Easter at St.
Mark’s! ghm
Little Blue Boxes are coming!
There is a wonderful and most honorable tradition in
the Episcopal Church called The United Thank Offering. Started over 125 years
ago by the Episcopal Church Women, this offering takes all the coins and daily
contributions of people throughout the church and then brings them all together
in what is called an “Ingathering.” Having collected what is now millions of
dollars each year, this money is then sent off to help churches around the
world. It is all about mission and helping others. We’ll be handing out Little
Blue Boxes in church during March. If you can’t make it and want us to send
you a box, please call the church office. Our first “Ingathering” will take
place in May and will be coordinated by Cornelia Skoulund and Shirley
Horn. Typically, people not only put
their coins in their blue boxes, but many will write out a nice check on the
day of the ingathering. ghm
Confirmation Classes for Adults
We’ve been asked by some adults about getting
confirmed or received into the Episcopal Church. This is a good sign. Churches
like St. Mark’s need to always be helping people ask the key questions and
rededicate themselves to their faith. We wonder how many others in this church
just might be ready to come before the Bishop this June and receive the laying
on of hands. To do so is to step back into history and be in that line of
disciples of Jesus, that goes all the way back to the hands of Jesus.
Starting on Wednesday night March 5th , the
first class will be held at
Light, Light and More Light
It’s almost here. Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday
morning, March 9 at
The
The annual African
Team Ministries Sale is back! This year offers
a great selection of jewelry, carved items, accessories and textiles. Proceeds
fund training and provide employment for persons living in undeveloped areas of
Travels of the
Interim Rector
(Then Looking to Borrow A Car)
I will be with you from Saturday, March 1st
through our worship services on Easter Day. Then I will head home for close to
the next two weeks, missing the Sunday after Easter. When I get back to
World Day of
Prayer
World Day of Prayer will be held at
Please come and bring a friend. Call Barbara Schmidt
at
Passages
We
extend our sympathy to:
Clayton & Shirley Bond and the Bond family on the
death his mother, Gloria White Bond, who died
We extend
our congratulations to:
Sue and
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- - - - -
Lenten Quiet
Day –
A Lenten Quiet Day will be
held Tuesday, March 11 at
I(we) plan
to attend the St. Mark’s Church Lenten Quiet Day on March 11 at the home of
Barbara Schmidt beginning at
Name(s)
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
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- - - - -
Maundy
Thursday Dinner-
I(we)
__________________________________will attend
the Maundy Thursday dinner.
I(we) will
bring ________a casserole; ___________a
dinner salad.
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Planning for the Easter Season!
First of all, note that it
is called a “Season” not a “Day.” It will mean a number of things as we
keep the meaning of this season for the seven Sundays of Easter. The most
dramatic change in terms of a tradition at St. Mark’s is that we want to KEEP
the EASTER FLOWERS in the church for as long as we can throughout the
season. It will be glorious to see the
church on Easter morning, but we want to continue that “WOW” factor on the
Sundays that follow.
Members of St. Mark’s have
traditionally taken the Easter flowers home after the second service on Easter
Day. Then we’re back to the regular flower arrangements on the Sundays that
follow! That’s not the way to keep the Easter Spirit.
As you make your Easter
flower gifts please see it truly as a gift to the church. We want to keep the
flowers here for as long as possible. ghm
Easter
Flowers
Following a long tradition, the church will be dressed
with spring flowers which are provided in memory of loved ones, in thanksgiving
for a special blessing and in celebration of life and family. Please
remember that you are helping us have Easter flowers for the entire season
thereby making this church welcoming for seven weeks in a row while we proclaim
that Christ is Risen. Your extra gifts will be used wisely and you'll see
visible evidence of your gifts at work. Please return this form to the
parish office or place in it the offering plate by March 17. Thank you.
My flower donation for Easter flowers this year is:
____$25 ___$50 ___$100 $_____.
Your Name: _____________________________________
The flowers are given by ________________________________________________
In Memory of :__________________________________
In
Thanksgiving for:______________________________
In
Celebration of:________________________________