14sep22

Dear Parish Family,

We are working on several opportunities to gather and some training sessions for many of our ministries that will happen soon so please mark your calendars. On the first Saturday in October, (10/1/2022 at 5:30) we will be having a fellowship event called “Taste of Home.” We are asking our parishioners to bring a dish to share that reminds them of home along with the recipe. If there is a story behind the dish we ask that you include that as well. We will be collecting the recipes for the Diversity and Inclusion committee of Saint Mark’s School which is putting together a cookbook that shows the diversity of our community through food. We will plan other First Saturday events for each of the coming months.

On September 25, 2022, we will have training for the Lay Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors, and Lay Eucharistic Visitors between the services, and Acolyte training following the 10:30 am service. If you are interested in any of these ministries, please plan on coming. For some of those ministries, there is also an online requirement to have Safe Church training. That will be scheduled at a later date. 

Yours in Christ,

Grant +

The Guild will meet tomorrow Thursday, September 15 at noon in the Ministry Center for prayer, a short program, and a potluck lunch. James Jana, a familiar figure to many of us and a Franciscan, will be speaking on the life of Saint Francis, a topic dear to his heart. Knowing James, there might even be a little bit of theatrics in his talk. We are a group of retired members who enjoy getting together once a month every third Thursday for fellowship and growth. If you have questions, contact Lynne Coughlin, at lynnecoughlin@gmail.com or 954-741-6566.  

Vestry meetings are usually held each month at 10:00 am on the third Saturday of the month. Vestry meetings are public – all parishioners are welcome to attend as guests.

The Vestry conference room is on the second floor of the middle school building. There

is a staircase in the corner of the courtyard that goes to the second floor, across from

the Vestry room. There is also an elevator. For the elevator go through the glass doors

on the east side, and turn right to reach the elevator. In order to add a topic to the

agenda, parishioners must submit their request to the Rector at least a week in advance of the meeting.  

If profit is our primary goal, we are not Christians. In Sunday’s gospel, Jesus states in no uncertain terms that to follow him, we must choose God over wealth. This means that justice and compassion must determine our decisions and not wealth. Years ago, I was investing in real estate, and my first objective was always to maximize my profit. Justice and compassion never played a role. I was a baptized Christian and deacon, but I was really a card-carrying capitalist. Christ surely approves of profit, but not at the expense of the love of God and neighbor. Jesus states this clearly, “You cannot serve God and mammon”. Karl Barth, the renowned Swiss theologian, proclaimed forcefully, “That God is identified with success is the greatest obstacle to [healthy] religion. (Norm Carroll)

All women in every episcopal congregation are automatically members of ECW and we are all invited to be active participants in the organization’s ministries. On Saturday, September 24, at 9:30 am in the Parish Hall, the women of Saint Mark’s will gather to regroup and enliven our chapter of the ECW. Please join us.

All Church and School families are invited to Family First Saturdays the first Saturday of most months, beginning October 1, 2022, at 5:30 pm. The theme of the inaugural event will be A Taste of Home potluck dinner and game night for all ages. Bring a dish that most reminds you of home and please share the recipe with us for inclusion in the Cookbook the Saint Mark’s School Diversity and Inclusion Committee is putting together. Bring your family’s favorite game.

The Fall Wednesday night dinners will begin October 5, 2022, and run through November 2, 2022. The buffet dinner begins at 5:45 pm and will be catered by the school cafeteria chef. The dinner will cost $10.00 per person or $25.00 per family of 3 or more. At 6:25 pm the choir members will leave for rehearsal and there will be a program for all parishioners remaining. The planned program for October will be instruction and assistance for enrolling in our Church Realm. Volunteers will also be available to take pictures if you don’t have one you want to upload to your profile on Realm.

I’m Sorry No One Explained Jesus to You by Jordy Searcy;

 A Crazy World by Henry Mancini

Asael Cuesta Cardona, the choir’s alto section leader and a performer, beautifully sang this song at the 10:30 service, accompanied by our talented choir director, Gordon Roberts. You can subscribe to Saint Mark’s Church music channel. The subscription button is just below the songs on YouTube! We have a lot of musical talent in our choir and congregation. (Robin Dreyfuss)

Father Grant has a daily blog in which he starts each morning with a prayer which he shares with everyone at www.atwinfather.com  When you go to the prayer of the day, there is an option to receive the daily prayer by email so you don’t have to type in the

URL everyday.

Invitations to join our Church Realm have begun being sent by email, as of last week, with many other invites on the way. Please check your email and sign up by creating your personal log in and to upload your digital photo. If you have not received an email invitation to join our Church Realm, please contact Kelly Harris at kharris@saintmarks.com. Church Realm will serve as a great opportunity for our parishioners to connect with one another. Also, this will be an online directory and gateway to church information. This will be an online directory and the gateway to church information. You will have the option to choose which information you want just the church office to have and what contact information you want to share with fellow parishioners.  If you do not have a digital photo , Father Grant or a parishioner will be available to take a photo of you at the October 5th parish dinner.

Now that the cases of COVID have thankfully abated, wearing a facial mask is encouraged, but not required. Please respect the space of those who choose to be more cautious.

Father Grant, our rector is currently available to provide pastoral care for our parish. You may contact Fr. Grant at 954-334-0131, or by email at gwiseman@saintmarks.com.

Please check for our parish updates on the church website at: https://saintmarksftl.com/parish-news/

Got news to share? We’d love to receive your submission at: https://saintmarksftl.com/submit-post/