May 2015
St. Mark’s News Volume 19/Issue 5
From the Rector Among the many adjectives that describe St. Mark’s, on the top of the list is consistently the adjective “generous.” The members of our parish are generous with their time, with their talent, and with their treasure. You generously give to the mission and ministry of St. Mark’s – to ministries that support our life together as a community of worship and formation, and to ministries that take us into the community. You also give generously to causes outside the mission and ministry of St. Mark’s (Multiple Sclerosis, Cystic Fibrosis, AIDS, Eating Disorders, Juvenile Diabetes, for example). Because of your faithful and generous stewardship we were able to add a line item to the budget for 2015: Special Projects 2015 in the amount of $31,604.00. It has been my conviction that we needed to be faithful and wise with this treasure you have entrusted us with as we seek to serve God and God’s people. In general discussions about how we might allocate the money we have talked about a two-fold focus: outreach and worship (particularly worship at the 9:00 a.m. service). The Austin ministry, Mobile Loaves and Fishes began when five parishioners of St. John Neumann Catholic Church answered God’s call to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Alan Graham and his friends began delivering meals out of the back of a minivan to men and women living on the streets of the city. That first trip was in September of 1998. Since that first delivery Mobile Loaves and Fishes has served over 4 million meals, and with the support of more than 18,000 In this Issue volunteers they are the largest prepared feeding program to the homeless and working poor in Austin. Their newest venture is From the Rector ......................... 1 the Community First! Village. Through their years of feeding Vestry Highlights ........................ 2 Parish Life .................................. 4 the homeless grew a vision for housing the homeless as well. Music Notes ............................... 4 But the vision was larger than simply putting a roof over the Christian Formation ................... 6 heads of those who needed shelter; the vision was one of Parishioner Highlights ................ 9 providing the chronically homeless with a community in which Celebrations ............................ 11 to live. The vision is in the process of becoming a reality on 27 Caffeine Ministry ...................... 11 acres of land adjacent to the Expo Center. ROTA ....................................... 12 In March, Donna Emery, the Director for Development for Mobile Loaves and Fishes, came to St. Mark’s to talk to us about the Community First! Village, and to invite us to be one of the first Episcopal churches in Austin to be involved with the project. As of Saturday, April 25, there will have been three groups of St. Mark’s parishioners (about 40 of us) who have had the opportunity to tour the site. Among the builders of the Village is our parishioner, Tim Hendricks, who is the Senior VP for Cousins Properties. The goal in the next two years is to provide housing for 250 – 300 homeless men and women. There will be three housing options: 5th Wheel RV’s, Micro-Homes, and Canvas-Sided Cottages. In addition to housing, the Community First Village will have:
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