themessenger Monthly Newsletter of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
September 2015
VOLUME 104
ISSUE 8
FROM THE RECTOR
“Home is Where the Heart Is” IN THIS ISSUE: Finance Report Page 2 Adult Formation Page 3 Parish News Page 4 Youth News Page 5 Children’s News Page 6 Music News Page 7 Café Kairos Page 8
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
I had a wonderful awareness after returning from vacation recently. I was walking outside of the church after my first day back, the sun was shining, and I had a spring in my step. I thought to myself, “it is great to be back home.” It represented an important shift for me as I prepare to enter my second year of ministry as your rector. Much of last year was exciting, new, and thrilling. It was also a time of letting go of Atlanta and a dearly beloved ministry at the Cathedral of St. Philip. Change, even good change, takes time to fully become embodied. It is partly why I think we focus on the incarnation so often in our liturgy and prayer. When something is enfleshed, it is a much more powerful witness than an abstract idea. It is messier of course, because real life is not nearly so black and white as theoretical imaginings. But it is often in the day-to-day mess that we find God. To become fully incarnate is the work of a lifetime. We have different seasons of our lives, all of which inform and form who we are as the people of God. Community helps us with this, in that we help support one another and are changed by our relationships through the years. On August 30th we will have Homecoming Sunday. This, of course, does not mean that no one has been at church this summer; we’ve actually had a wonderful rhythm of formation and worship. It does mean we are coming back into our fall routines. Our normal service times resume, the choirs will be in full array, and we will have a baptism during the 9 am worship service. Our senior warden Carl Leafstedt will announce the results of our Future Directions appeal. He will share our plans for hiring a third priest and what resources will be available to address the debt. At the 10:10am hour we will have a Ministry Fair to see the many ways we live out our core vocation here at St. Mark’s. There will be fun for the kids and an opportunity to meet Amanda Quisenberry, our new Interim Director of Children’s Ministry, in the midst of balloons and face painting. It is St. Mark’s, so you can trust there will be wonderful food involved. We will have a St. Mark’s Parish Life Handbook that will have a calendar of events for the upcoming year and a description of our ministries. You will have a chance to sign up for ministry opportunities and for one of our ongoing One Body, Many Menus small gatherings. It will be a wonderful day. So, whether you have been here every Sunday or been away on vacation, please mark your calendars to be at church as we launch our next program year.
I hope that St. Mark’s feels like home to you and we continue to welcome new people to our parish. As we have continued to live into our theme this past year of One Body, Many Members, it has been powerful to see that take root in so many ways! As always, I am grateful for the calling to be here with you, and give thanks for this community. Peace,
Beth+