Weekly Announcements

Week of April 27, 2008

Today at St. Mark's

1. Earth Day Celebration: We are celebrating Earth Day today with an Earth-focused liturgy. Please join us for pub lunch, sponsored by the Environment Committee, coupled with a great presentation on climate change by our own Bob Beauchamp. Bob has been giving presentations for Al Gore's group and has updated his presentation with the latest information since he last gave it at St. Mark’s. Come to learn why you should care about the climate crisis and what you can do about it! Nine-o’clockers, please come back for Pub Lunch – we will have plenty of food!
   
   

Youth & Family Ministry

2. Please Come to Sunday School Today! The 4th–12th Grade Sunday School classes are all invited to participate in a Passover Seder in the Adams Room during the Sunday School period. Seder participants should be downstairs now. All other participating students should come down following the 9 AM service and plan to stay until 11:00 or 11:15. There will be food, singing, and lots of grape juice, so get excited!
   
   
3. Wake Up The Earth: Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who came to Wake Up The Earth last Saturday and who otherwise contributed to the Honduras trip! We can’t do any of this without the support of the community and are grateful to everyone who came.
   
   
4. Honduras Youth Service Trip 2008: More important dates:
   
   
   • 1 May – Medical forms and copies of passport, insurance card, etc. due to Sian via mail
     
     
   • 9 May – Teens should be working on their lesson-planning “homework,” which is due at the retreat.
     
     
   • 9-10 May – Over-night retreat at FLOC. It’s only one night and is mandatory.
     
     
   • 31 May - Final pre-trip meeting between teens & trip leaders.
     
     
   • 22 June – Commissioning at the 9:00 AM. service.
     
     
   • 23 June to 7 July – The trip! Our current plans have us flying out of Reagan/National Airport at 2:15 PM. on 6/23.
     
     
5. Are you coming to Shrine Mont? The annual retreat in Orkney Springs, VA is June 6-8 and we’d like to get as many families & youth there as possible. Activities will be based on Dr Seuss’ book The Lorax and the idea of earth stewardship. Elementary and Middle School students will be invited to participate in a theatrical version of the story and in exploring the natural wonders surrounding the retreat center. We need parents and other adults to volunteer to help at various points during the weekend, so please let Sian know if you are willing and able. Also, if your kids are interested in coming but you can’t make it, let Sian know and we’ll see if we can work something out.
   
   
6. Summer Sunday School Starts June 15: Following on the activities planned for Shrine Mont, we’ll be focusing on earth stewardship and ecology this summer and doing a “Giving Tree” project to raise money for Sustainable Harvest International, the NGO that Sian and the teens will be working with in Honduras. Planning is under way, but we need parents to volunteer to lend a hand on one or more of the Sundays between June 15 and August 17, so please let Sian know if you can help.
   
   
7. Babysitting: Deborah and the Nursery team are looking for teens (12+) and adults (who are Safeguarding God’s Children-trained) who might be interested in helping in the Nursery during the summer when many of the usual babysitters will be away. Contact Sian if you are interested and she will forward your information on to be added to the substitutes mailing list.
   
   
8. Youth & Family Ministries Calendar: There is always a lot going on at St. Mark’s! This new, interactive online calendar is the best way to stay informed about all the activities available for youth and families (including registration deadlines). You can access it on the St. Mark’s website by going to http://www.stmarks.net/parish_life/index.htm and clicking on “Youth Calendar.” A few events you should check out are:
   
   
   1. 27 April – Sunday School Seder for 4th-12th grade students in the Adams Room from 9:45ish – 11:00ish
      
      
   2. 18 May – Last Day of Sunday School
      
      
   3. 1 June – Banner Sunday (one service at 10:00 AM.)
      
      
   4. 6 - 8 June – Shrine Mont. Time to get the annual parish retreat on your calendar!
      
      
   5. 15 June – First Day of Summer Sunday School.
      
      

Christian Education Pillar

9. The Family as a Moral Compass - North, South, Right, Wrong? Focus: The Challenge To Endow My Children With A Good Moral Compass in a Morally Ambiguous World. Please join us for a class to explore our moral grounding, where it came from and how our children will find theirs.
   
   Class meets in the Adams Room, three Sunday mornings: April 20 & 27 and 4 May, from 9:00 AM. to 10:45 AM.
   
   Child care will be provided. A sign-up sheet is on the bulletin board. Cost is $25 per person, $35 for couples. Leaders are Julie Murphy, Lou Bayard, & Beth Mahood, supervised by Bobbie Smith.
   
   
10. Your Life--Dead or Alive? This is an upcoming Christian Education class that will help us explore how we seek to feel alive amidst the risks and complications of life, drawing on the teachings of Charles Penniman (author of the St. Mark’s functional education discipline). Penniman believed would death force itself on us one way or another – through physical death, our so evading life as to render it meaningless, or by bodily passions and impulses beyond our control. Using the functional method – i.e., looking at how we actually function in life, the decisions we make, and where those decisions leave us – we will stare into the challenges of living fully. The class will meet at the church from 7:30 - 9:30 PM. on May 7, during a weekend retreat in Rehoboth Beach, DE from Friday evening to Sunday noon on May 9-11, and then in a closing session at the church from 7:30 - 9:30 PM. on May 14. Fee: $270 (for the weekend). Scholarships and babysitting are available. Kathy Gerhard, Jack Harris, Bruce Sherman, and Martha Connor-Donnelly are the class leaders and will be happy to answer any questions.
    
    

Parish Life

11. Don't Forget to Sign-up for Shrine Mont! Forms and info available from Mary Thuell in the Parish Hall during Pub Lunch.
    
    
12. Fun in the Kitchen - Come Join Us! Kitchen Committee meets at 7:30, this Tuesday, 29 April in the Parish Hall to prioritize results of the Kitchen Survey and to build a list for a shopping spree at some local kitchen supply store. We’ll set a date for the shopping trip at that meeting if you want to come along. All are welcome! Questions? Email Tucker Harris, tucker@jacktuck.com, or call 202/363-1417.
    
    
13. St. Mark's and the World: How two fifty-something parishoners joined the Peace Corps and engaged the other. The Third-Age Spring Potluck on Saturday, 3 May 2008, will present a program that focuses on “close encounters of the third-world kind,” which Eileen Blumenthal and Nadine Hathaway experienced. Are you interested in such a transition in your own life? If so, we’re inviting you to join us—no age requirement here. Just sign up on the sheet in the foyer and bring food for 8-10 people. The social hour starts at 11:30 in the Parish Hall, with drinks, snacks. We hope to have a look at a slide show of Eileen receiving the Lillian Carter Award, which honors outstanding Senior Volunteers who have kept President John F. Kennedy’s dream of service abroad, alive. After lunch, we will show a short Peace Corps promotional. Then Nadine and Eileen will discuss their time in Lithuania and Nepal respectively, focusing on expectations, the reality, and after-effects. (signed Sara Rau)
    
    
14. St. Mark's Reading Group: The book selection for 2 May is Unbowed by Wangari Maathi. Our book for 2 June is 1185 Park Avenue by Anne Roiphe. For further information about participating, contact Linda Ewald at llerbe@aol.com. Hope to see you one of these first Mondays!
    
    
15. Back by popular demand! The Cathedral College and the Diocesan Young Adult Ministries Network are co-sponsoring the third in a series of retreats for people in their 20s and 30s. "Awakening to the Spirit" will take place on Pentecost weekend, 9 - 10 May at the Cathedral College. Retreat participants will learn several Christian prayer practices for everyday spirituality. The retreat leaders are a married clergy couple in their early 30s. The Rev. Megan Stewart-Sicking is a nationally certified instructor of Centering Prayer and also has training and experience teaching Lectio Divina, Ignatian Prayer with Scripture, and walking the Labyrinth. She currently serves as Associate Rector at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Burke, VA. The Rev. Dr. Joseph Stewart-Sicking is Assistant Professor of Pastoral Counseling and Spiritual Care at Loyola College in Maryland. He has extensive experience as a researcher and teacher on the role of prayer practices in the spiritual life, including work with a national study of congregations.
    
    Sign-up for the retreat at www.edow.org/news/calendar/upcoming.html. Space is limited. Questions? Contact Laurel Kemper at laurel2k@gmail.com or YAMN@edow.org.
    
    

Arts Pillar

16. Come, celebrate the St. Mark’s Players 25th Anniversary Season! The Wiz!
    
    Produced by: Sherri Haddad
    Directed by: Rick Hayes
    Music Direction by: J.N. Wickert III
    Choreography by: Rikki Howie
    Stage Managers: Jerry M. Dale, Jr. and Christine Farrell
    
    
    • Fridays at 8:00 PM. - May 9th, 16th, and 23rd
    • Saturdays at 8:00 PM. - May 10th, 17th, and 24th
    • Sundays at 4:00 PM. - May 11th, and 18th
    
    Tickets Available on Friday, April 18th at www.stmarksplayers.org or at the Door on the day of the performance. Ticket Prices are Adults - $20.00; Student/Senior - $18.00. Under 12 - $15.00
    
    

Outreach Pillar

17. Convience Food Items Needed: Everyday, Samaritan Ministry Next Step Program participants work to make changes in their lives. Many are homeless and struggling and your donation of conviencne food items and personal care articles may be just what the participant needs to inspire him or her to take that next step toward a better life. Honor your parents and help stock the shelves at Samaritan Ministry by filling a bag with walking food or personal care items on Mothers Day, May 11 or Fathers Day, June 15. What better way to honor or remember those that nurtured you? For more information and a list of needed items contact billflanders@earthlink.net
    
    
18. Next Step Breakfast: Samaritan Ministry is hosting its second informational / fund raising breakfast at the National Press Club on Thursday, 8 May, 8:00 - 9:00AM. Judy Woodruff, broadcast journalist, will be mistress of ceremonies. We want you to know how Samaritan Ministry is changing lives. Hear remarkable stories from Next Step program participants, volunteers and others. Listen to our vision for addressing homelessness and poverty in out region and helping other people believe in themselves and their ability to transform their own lives. This is a complimentary fund-raising event with no expectations for minimum or maximum giving. We want to share our story with you. Contact Penny Hansen to sign up (202/362-3150; pennyhansen@aol.com.) Thanks for your interest.
    
    

Housekeeping

19. Avoid Round-trips for Your Packages: Every time you order widgets or whatevers for St. Mark's and designate that the widgets or whatevers be delivered to Baxter House (118 Third Street, SE), please call or email Kathrine Ebert (202/543-0053, ext. 306; kathrine.ebert@stmarks.net) in advance with the following information:
    
    
    • To whom will your widgets or whatevers be addressed.
    • Who or what (person/company) is sending the widgets or whatevers.
    • Date you expect widgets or whatevers to be delivered.
    • Method/Means of Delivery: USPS, UPS, FedEx, your Great Aunt Fanny.
    • What do you want done with the widgets or whatevers, e.g., call you to pick them up; store them in the basement of Baxter House; ask Ed Green to store them in the Nave/Parish Hall, etc., etc.
    
    Please understand that absent the foregoing information, the widgets or whatevers will not be signed for or accepted by the Staff or Front Desk Volunteers. Instead, delivery will be refused and the items will be "Returned to Sender."
    
    Why? Too many "mystery items," including some that a reasonable person could think were legitimately intended for St. Mark's, have landed on our doorstep but-- turned out to be only sales gimmicks. Increasingly, uninvited, unidentified junque has, lurking in its packing slip, a clause that says if we don't return it by X-date—we are on the financial hook for it. More often than not, we have to pay the postage or other fees to return the junque we didn't order in the first place. Plus, the Penniman Room is a little short on long-term storage space. Thank you for your cooperation. (signed Katherine Ebert)
    
    

From around our Diocese...

20. Religion and Peacemaking in the Holy Land: Rabbi Rosen, chairman of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations and an advocate for respectful coexistence between religious communities, particularly in Israel and the Middle East, will speak at Washington National Cathedral at 7:30 PM. April 28. The presentation is free and open to the public and a question time will follow. RSVP to tickets.cathedral.org
    
    
21. 69th Annual Flower Mart: Flower Mart The 69th annual benefit for the gardens, grounds and woodlands of Washington National Cathedral sponsored by the All Hallows Guild.
    
    
    • Friday, May 2, 10:00 AM. - 6:00 PM.
    • Saturday, May 3, 10:00 AM. - 5:00 PM.
    
    Free Admission. Open rain or shine. Join us for two day of fun for the whole family, including:
    
    
    • Music and Entertainment
    • More than 50 booths with gifts for the home and garden
    • Cathedral tower climb
    • Childrens games, rides, and puppet shows
    • Tours of Olmsted Woods and Cathedral gardens
    
    This year's celebration honors the Republic of South Africa. His Excellency Welile Nhalpo, ambassador of South Africa, opens the festival with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, May 2, at 10:30 AM. The art and artistry of South Africa will be celebrated during the entire festival as the Lesole Dancers demonstrate colorful rhythms as more than 35 volunteer chefs in the St. Albans Tea Room prepare traditional foods of South Africa.
    
    
22. Lighting to Unite: On 9 - 11 May, from sunset to midnight, the West and South sides of the Washington Cathedral will be illuminated as never before: Lighting to Unite--Lighting the Nation, Uniting the World. In celebration of the conclusion of the Cathedral's centennial year and to help proclaim the Cathedral's mission of unity and reconciliation, Swiss lighting artist Gerry Hofstetter is making his U.S. debut through a wonderful donation of a three-night artistic display. The event, is aimed at reaching the broad public to help raise awareness of the Cathedral's mission, spotlight its role as a spiritual beacon for the nation, and proclaim hope for all humankind.
    
    Special Live Musical Performance on Saturday at 6:30 PM., with intercultural, interfaith music. The three-day celebration culminates in the Feast or Pentecost on Sunday (11 May) at 11:00 AM.: Sent Forth By the Spirit--A Worship Service Of Celebration And Commitment, featuring vibrant worship and diverse music and dance. Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Shori, is the celebrant and will help commission this Cathedral and all who are present for the vital work ahead in the Cathedral's second century of service. As we conclude our centennial year, we want to focus on unity - the unity among all the groups and communities of the Cathedral, and the unity we are called to build across our city, the nation, and the world.
    
    
23. Eucharist to Commemorate Thurgood Marshall: A special evening Eucharist to commemorate Thurgood Marshall on the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education is set for 5:30 PM. May 18 at St. Alban's, D.C., in concert with Washington National Cathedral. The Rev. Canon Eugene Sutton, Bishop-elect of Maryland, will preach, the Rev. Timothy A. Boggs will celebrate and music director Sonya Sutton will lead a special music offering. In 2006 the diocese passed a resolution asking the General Convention of the Episcopal Church to recognize Marshall in the in the book of Lesser Feasts and Fasts. This also calls for parishes throughout the diocese to remember Marshall on a date near May 17 - the anniversary of the famous Supreme Court case he argued for school desegregation.
    
    
24. One Sky--Solving Climate Change Together: Discussion with Majora Carter, executive director of Sustainable South Bronx, K.C. Golden, Climate Solutions policy director, and Betsy Taylor, co-founder of 1 Sky at 7:30 PM. May 20 at Washington National Cathedral. Hosted by the Rev. Canon Eugene Sutton. Tickets: $16; $9 students, seniors 65+. Visit www.nationalcathedral.org/register or information at 202/537-2221.
    
    
25. Art of Spiritual Companionship Course: Applications are now being accepted for the 2008/2009 Art of Spiritual Companionship course, which is designed to introduce the theory, spirituality and practice of the ancient Christian tradition of spiritual direction. Graduates may serve as spiritual resources to their faith communities to help others discern the work of the Spirit in their lives. Further information is available at www.cathedral.org/cathedral/programs/ArtofSC.shtml or from Terri Lynn Simpson at tsimpson@cathedral.org or 202/537-5246.
    
    
26. A Day of Conversation with Dr. Diana Butler Bass: Diana Butler Bass set out to explore what’s right with religion. With support form the Lilly Foundation, she discovered neighborhood churches that are thriving and enriching the communities in which they reside. Join her as she talks about her research, encounters and conclusions in the intimacy of Ludlam Hall. Listen as she explains how churches - people like you and me - are respecting tradition and heritage while embracing the new.
    
    Saturday, 17 May, 9:00 AM. to 4:00 PM. St. Luke's Church, Ludlum Hall, 6030 Grosvenor Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814-1852. ($25 suggested donation, includes lunch) Copies of Christianity for the Rest of Us will be available for purchase. For further information, please contact The Rev. David C. Wacaster at 301/530-1800 or asst@stlukesbethesda.org.
    
    

News to Use

27. Moving? Whenever you change your address, phone number, or email address, please advise Susan Block, the Parish Administrator, so she can update the parish database. Please send changes to susan.block@stmarks.net or to St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 118 3rd St., SE, Washington, DC 20003, or call Susan at 202/543-0053, ext. 305. Thanks.
    
    

Oral Announcements Policy

28. Oral Announcements Policy: The recent worship survey indicated that our oral announcements are highly valued but too long. The Worship Committee would like to establish an ethos of intentionality in regard to these announcements. The oral announcements have the important function to connect a real live person to the printed announcement in the bulletin. Nonetheless, the bulletin announcement should be the primary source of information. To help us focus on this policy of intentionality the Worship Committee has set forth some self-regulating guidelines.

    Oral Announcements Policy
    
    Prepare in advance what to say. If you feel that your announcement is important enough to share with others, give that announcement the thought it deserves.
    
    

    • Announcements are to be no longer than 30 seconds.
      
      
    • A limit of two announcements (two Sundays) for the same event. The exceptions are those announcements concerning Life Community & Faith, Shrine Mont, The Canvass, and Elections/Annual Meeting.
      
      
    • Only one announcement (one Sunday) for non-St. Mark’s events
      
      
    • Suggested content:
      
      
      1. Your name
      2. Reference the announcement number in the bulletin and activity
      3. Tell where to sign up or who to contact
      4. Correct any mistakes concerning the announcement in the bulletin.
      5. Do not duplicate the bulletin announcement. Relay only the essentials.
      
      Note that the deadline to have a written announcement put into the bulletin is Noon on Wednesdays. E-mail the announcement to Kathrine Ebert, our Program Associate, at kathrine.ebert@stmarks.net or leave a copy in her mailbox in the Undercroft.
      
      

    The 30-second time limit, along with the rest of the guidelines, is self-enforcing. No longer will the verger ring a bell to signal that time is up. Remember, if 10 people make one minute announcements, a huge 10 minutes eats into Sermon Seminar at 10am and into the middle of the liturgy at 11:00 AM. The issue is not one of control. The key concept is intentionality and unselfishness. The less time we spend before our peers talking, the more we give back to the worship service.