themessenger Monthly Newsletter of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church NOVEMBER 2013
VOLUME 102
ISSUE 10
IN THIS ISSUE: Consecration Sunday -Page 2
Search Committee Update -Page 3 Adult Formation -Page 4 Christmas Flowers -Page 11
Transition Times Keep Things Moving 1 Chronicles 29: 14-17 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your own hand. For we live before You as foreigners and temporary residents in Your presence as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. Yahweh our God, all this wealth that we’ve provided for building You a house for Your holy name comes from Your hand; everything belongs to You. I know, my God, that You test the heart and that You are pleased with what is right. I have willingly given all these things with an upright heart, and now I have seen Your people who are present here giving joyfully and willingly to You.”
T
his time last year we were as a congregation trying to live through the transitioning into new space in our old setups. The worshiping community met in Gosnell Hall. Dress was casual and things were sort of casual too! A sense of new things happening was intriguing and we anticipated getting on with being St. Mark’s soon, at least by Christmas. A new transition began with the announcement of Mike Chalk’s retirement. Here we go again! New facilities, new leadership, new things to get into and through as we begin a new adventure as the people who are St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. Calling a new Rector is not unlike looking for a new spouse. What do we want, what do we need? How are we going to proceed? We are enjoying the newly refurbished buildings and a steady kind of leadership is being provided by the Holy Spirit. A “Search Committee” has been formed and is being prepared for the search. Their job is to discern who God has been preparing to be our new Rector. No small job! They are on task.
The really important task is left to the rest of us, the people who are St. Mark’s. We are to recognize that the soil we grow in has been loosened and we may feel a little at ease, some feel more relaxed, others perhaps feel left aside or perhaps left out. Loose soil makes good matter for things to grow, and familiar resistance to growth might take a differing shape. Be sure of one thing, God is in the midst of what is happening around us, circumstance is important, but God’s presence is primary and very real.
ST. MARK’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH 315 E. Pecan St. San Antonio, Texas 78205 (210) 226-2426 www.stmarks-sa.org stmarks@stmarks-sa.org Office hours: Monday thru Friday 9:00a.m.-5:00p.m. Emergency Pastoral Care: 210-507-0256
Next week we receive your “estimate of giving” during all three Sunday services. The primary purpose of gathering as God’s people is to offer praise and to give thanks as we recall that “All things come of thee oh Lord and of thine own have we given”. This requires the biggest transition of all, being God’s people, and not just our own. Let us remember “Who we are” and Whose we are” as we move together during these times of change and transformation. Let us live in grace! Faithfully in Transition through Jesus Christ,
The Ned F. Bowersox