St. Mark's News June and July 2012

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June and July 2012

St. Mark’s News Volume 15/Issue 6

From the Rector On Sunday, May 27, we celebrated the Feast of Pentecost. We remembered that day recounted in the Acts of the Apostles when “suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind” that filled the house where the disciples were gathered. “Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” (Acts 2:2-4) It was on that day of Pentecost that the church was born. On that day 3,000 people were baptized, and they “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:41,42) Our own celebration of the feast was significantly more reserved. No one was thought to be inebriated at 9:00 a.m. No one was heard to be speaking in a language other than his/her own. The only flames of fire were those on our torches and candles. But, as was the case on that first feast of Pentecost there were baptisms and the Holy Spirit was present with us in our worship. I like what Barbara Brown Taylor has to say about our worship and the Holy Spirit: “What happens between us when we come together to worship God is that the Holy Spirit swoops in and out among us, knitting us together through the songs we sing, the prayers we pray, the breaths we breathe. It can happen with two people and it can happen with two thousand people. It can scare us or comfort us, confuse us or clarify things for us, but as far as I can tell the Holy Sprit never bullies us. We are always free to choose whether or how we will respond.” (Home by Another Way p. 142)

In This Issue From the Rector.....................................1 Vestry Highlights....................................2 Thank you Susie/Welcome Travis .........3 Outreach ................................................4 Parish Life..............................................4 Music Notes ...........................................5 Christian Formation ...............................6 Parishioner Highlights ............................7 Caffeine Ministry ....................................8 Celebrations ..........................................8 June ROTA ........................................... 10 July ROTA ............................................ 11 The Calendar can be found on our web site:

During this season after Pentecost in which we find ourselves, Taylor poses the question that is always the one http://stmarksaustin.org/communications/cale we need to ask: “Do we still believe in a God who acts like ndar/ that. Do we still believe in a God who blows through closed doors and sets our heads on fire? Do we still believe in a God with power to transform us, both as individuals and as a people, or have we come to an unspoken agreement that our God is pretty old and tired by now, someone to whom we may address our prayer requests but not anyone we really expect to change our lives?” She makes some suggestions that I intend to pay attention to during this season after Pentecost. Her first suggestion is that we pray, “Come, Holy Spirit” every chance we get. She suggests that we pay attention and learn to recognize the Spirit when that prayer is answered. The Holy Spirit blowing through our lives

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