October 2012
St. Mark’s News Volume 15/Issue 9
From the Rector Saturday, September 22, was the first day of autumn. There were hints of the season in the morning, but by noon it felt like a hot summer day. The church parking lot was full of Yard Sale “treasures,” bargain hunters, and parishioners selling a variety of goods. It was also an occasion for me to be thankful for this most amazing and wonderful parish. I am thankful that Jill Collins and Al McKinney volunteered to cochair the sale and assumed the same excellent leadership as their predecessors, Jim Casparis and Beth Chenoweth. But the saying “it takes a village” is oh so true: it takes the village of St. Mark’s to make it happen, between generous donations made, the number of workers on both Friday and Saturday, and purchases made. The only thing that would have made it a more perfect day would have been more autumn-like temperatures once the sun rose. The day-after In this Issue initial count looks like we will have netted about $6,000 for From the Rector ..................................... 1 the sale. In the three years we have had the sale we have Vestry Highlights .................................... 2 netted enough to “pay it forward” so that some portion of the Mission and Ministry Meals .................... 2 proceeds can be set aside for the following year in case we Parish Life .............................................. 3 choose to take a year off from the sale. Outreach ................................................ 5 Music Notes ........................................... 6 Then on Sunday, September 23, we blessed and put to use the Christian Formation ................................ 6 new baptismal font that Bill Kibler and Mary-Alis Kelly made Parishioner Highlights ............................ 8 for the church (adorned with a Celtic cross made by John Caffeine Ministry .................................... 9 Birthdays & Anniversaries ..................... 10 Edgerton). The mission and ministry of St. Mark’s are ROTA ................................................... 11 enriched by the innumerable ways in which members of this parish share generously of their time, talent, and treasure. The temptation is to think that the only gifts of ministry are public engagement in teaching, in singing, in reading, or in serving the chalice. But there are innumerable gifts for ministry that are exercised in this parish: gardeners, wood workers, electricians, light bulb and filter changers, altar guild, the hospitality of the Marthas, the prayers of the Daughters of the King…the list goes on!
Mission and Ministry/ Time, Treasure and Talent /Stewardship are our themes for the month of October. On three Sundays (October 7, 21, and 28) we will share a meal, hear a program presentation, see the proposed budget for 2013, and be given pledge/commitment cards that we will return when we celebrate the Feast of All Saints on November 4. I have been thinking of stewardship as the intersection between gratitude and obligation. This season of stewardship invites us to make an accounting of what we are thankful for. Those people who have the capacity to be thankful even when in the midst of difficult circumstances always impress me, and I want to nurture that same “attitude of gratitude.” Every Sunday at the 7:30 service I say at the offertory, “All things come of Thee oh Lord and of Thine own have we given Thee.” Indeed, all that I have is gift and grace. And this is where gratitude and obligation intersect:
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