Lion Tales - Amazon S3Lion Tales St. Mark’s Episcopal Church April 2016 March 29, 2016 ... grace...

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Page 1 The Rev Canon Linda Potter Interim Rector Lion Tales St. Mark’s Episcopal Church April 2016 March 29, 2016 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, A little over a year ago I was invited by St. Mark’s vestry to join you in ministry as the Interim Rector. You warmly welcomed me and involved me in the good work already in place here. I give thanks for the many, many gifts and talents being shared and exercised to the glory of God at St. Mark’s. I have been blessed in numerous ways during my time with you. Many of you have invited me into your homes and shared meals and stories with me. We have laughed at the joy of our children and the various activities of the parish. We have pondered where God is leading and how the Holy Spirit is speaking. We have cried at the loss of a loved one. You have witnessed to me of the amazing grace of God through your spirit of generosity in St Mark’s outreach to the community in so many ways. We have worked and played, prayed and sang together in Christ’s name. My time with you has been a blessing to me but not without controversy. As I write this letter the members of St Mark’s are prayerfully moving into a new phase of congregational life since the resignation of Dr. Margaret Evans as Music Director. My prayer is that God’s healing presence will be the transformative power within this parish. In January after a four week conversation with my primary care physician, she advised me that, for health reasons, I needed to leave the position here at St Mark’s. I responded that it wasn’t time for me to leave yet and she reluctantly agreed to me staying through spring. In spring and summer our nuclear family will be celebrating 3 retirements, 2 graduations and 1 wedding. These celebrations will be cross country affairs in Oregon, California, Georgia and New York. I want to be able to be fully present for these pivotal events in the life of our family. After speaking with Canon Neysa Ellgren from Bishop Hanley’s office and with the wardens, my last Sunday as Interim Rector at St Mark’s will be on Mother’s Day, May 8 th . To make this transition as smooth as possible, with the concurrence of Bishop Hanley’s office and the St. Mark’s vestry, Rev. Anne Bartlett and Rev. Tom Murphy will return as your “interim interims” for the final stages of the search process. Thank you for your faithfulness to our Lord’s work. With a grateful heart. Canon Linda ST. MARK’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH 426 W. 6TH ST. MEDFORD, OR 97501 541-773-3111 [email protected] www.stmarks-medford.org

Transcript of Lion Tales - Amazon S3Lion Tales St. Mark’s Episcopal Church April 2016 March 29, 2016 ... grace...

Page 1: Lion Tales - Amazon S3Lion Tales St. Mark’s Episcopal Church April 2016 March 29, 2016 ... grace of God through your spirit of generosity in St Mark’s outreach to the community

April 2016

Page 1

The Rev

Canon

Linda

Potter

Interim

Rector

Lion Tales

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church April 2016

March 29, 2016 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

A little over a year ago I was invited by St. Mark’s vestry to join you in ministry as the Interim Rector. You

warmly welcomed me and involved me in the good work already in place here. I give thanks for the many,

many gifts and talents being shared and exercised to the glory of God at St. Mark’s. I have been blessed in

numerous ways during my time with you.

Many of you have invited me into your homes and shared meals and stories with me. We have laughed at the

joy of our children and the various activities of the parish. We have pondered where God is leading and how

the Holy Spirit is speaking. We have cried at the loss of a loved one. You have witnessed to me of the amazing

grace of God through your spirit of generosity in St Mark’s outreach to the community in so many ways. We

have worked and played, prayed and sang together in Christ’s name.

My time with you has been a blessing to me but not without controversy. As I write this letter the members of

St Mark’s are prayerfully moving into a new phase of congregational life since the resignation of Dr. Margaret

Evans as Music Director. My prayer is that God’s healing presence will be the transformative power within this

parish.

In January after a four week conversation with my primary care physician, she advised me that, for health

reasons, I needed to leave the position here at St Mark’s. I responded that it wasn’t time for me to leave yet

and she reluctantly agreed to me staying through spring.

In spring and summer our nuclear family will be celebrating 3 retirements, 2 graduations and 1 wedding.

These celebrations will be cross country affairs in Oregon, California, Georgia and New York. I want to be

able to be fully present for these pivotal events in the life of our family.

After speaking with Canon Neysa Ellgren from Bishop Hanley’s office and with the wardens, my last Sunday as

Interim Rector at St Mark’s will be on Mother’s Day, May 8th.

To make this transition as smooth as possible, with the concurrence of Bishop Hanley’s office and the St.

Mark’s vestry, Rev. Anne Bartlett and Rev. Tom Murphy will return as your “interim interims” for the final

stages of the search process.

Thank you for your faithfulness to our Lord’s work. With a grateful heart.

Canon Linda

ST. MARK’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH 426 W. 6TH ST. MEDFORD, OR 97501 541-773-3111

[email protected] www.stmarks-medford.org

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Wardens’ Letter

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Wardens of

St. Mark’s

Penny Klabunde

Senior Warden Please contact her at:

pennyklabun-

[email protected]

Or 541-690-2855.

Susan Ladue

Junior Warden Please contact her at:

[email protected]

Or 541-941-2850

Beloved, You receive this letter along with Linda's letter, announcing her leaving ahead of schedule. Her letter is beautifully crafted and heartfelt, and to the point. And it was probably really hard to write. We, Penny and Susan, understand and share your pain and sorrow, and so, will wander a bit more in discerning our way through this. As with any grief process, our first reaction is anger: How can Linda leave us? We need her, dammit! The next stage is denial: She is God's love in our life – she can't leave now – He won't let her! The next step is coping with inevitability: Linda is leaving. We have Anne and Tom back. What do we do now? The last stage is fear of recognition that a time in our lives has ended: How will we continue in the growth of our joy without our Linda? We all knew that Linda was temporary, but she quickly became part and parcel of our lives, the living/breathing Spirit in our lives, and the heart of our parish – her irrepressible laughter and joy and completely open, God-given tears have fed us through this time of transition. Together we have blessed the dead and welcomed the newborn. We have learned that black and white is good, but sometimes, consensus, where all give up and all thereby gain because we remember that gray is a color, is better. We have learned that talking together is good, but intentionally hearing each other is better. She has been a wonderful shepherd to us. Now we are faced with her leaving early. It falls to us to remember that adage: “When you love someone, sometimes you have to let them go.” Hopefully, we will have Linda back for an occasional visit (she and Tom love southern Oregon and they love us). With Linda leaving, we once again find ourselves cupped in God's hands, and Tom and Anne's. They are back. They will nurture us as long as we need them to. Our Rector Search goes well, and we have the mantle of Michael's care upon us, his cornerstone in the south. God has plans for us. We need to exult quietly in silence to hear Him. And act on what Good Word – Gospel – He gives us. At the same time, we need to exult, not quietly(!) in Linda! PAR TAAAAAY!!!!! Your vestry is planning a splendid bon voyage for the interim captain of our ship! We will publish details every way we can, so keep a sharp eye and ear open, lest you miss it! We will celebrate Linda before she leaves. Join us, please, when we gather to rejoice in the interim we have been gifted with and we gift her in return with our love and gratitude and appreciation. We need to be conscious of what Linda needs. She has been God-gracious in giving up her own needs for us. Now, we have to step up in joy and gratitude for her time amidst us. Because...she was always admidst us. And then we must let her fly in joy, and cherish our wonderful memories of our time with her. We, St. Mark's Parish Family, thank you, Linda. Your Wardens, Penny and Susan

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April 2016

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Children’s Formation…...Pam Boston

Renovation

We are so grateful to those responsible for the renovations to the Nursery/Sunday School room downstairs: Kate & Marcus Choi, Kit & Jerry Nilles, Gail Plowman, Debra & David McFadden Randy & Susan Doyal and many more. Ryder Freeman and Lilly Choi helped with some of the ideas for the room. The room has been painted the same color that was used in the sanctuary. The carpet was professionally cleaned. Two new storage units have been built and are in place. The storage for the nursery toys was re-stained. The toys for the nursery children have been washed. A colorful rug and pillows have been added. The quilting group has donated a few beautiful quilts for our little ones. We have lovely new lime green chairs. Many parish members have decorated letters for our alphabet wall. Coat hooks have been installed. Upcoming additions will be a prayer bulletin board for children to post prayer requests for themselves or others. Two new tables should be arriving by Easter. Some canvases painted by Kate will soon grace the walls. And colorful curtains will soon be in the windows.

Sunday School was held in the room for the first time on Palm Sunday. The children were happy to have their own space.

Thank you to all who have given so much of their time, enthusiasm and energy. Thank you to the Vestry for the generous funding. Especially we would like to thank Kate Choi, who has spearheaded this effort. The children have been greatly blessed.

Easter We will have Sunday School as normal on Easter Sunday. The children will contribute to the worship by carrying in butterflies and placing them among the flowers in front of the altar.

Bishop’s Visit As we did for the Annual Meeting, the children will be given the opportunity to decorate the table covers for the Bishop’s visit. (We need stickers, please!) We will also learn about what Bishops do and make our own miters to wear.

Summer Plans are being made for summer events in July and August for our children and their families. Watch the Lion Tale for details of the visit to Kit & Jerry’s farm, along with ice cream sundaes!! Sunday School will resume in September.

During the second half of June until September, the activity bags for children will continue to be available.

Sunday School Class for Older Students The Sunday School is growing to the point that we need to think about starting a second class. We would have one class and one for the older children, 6th grade and up. Plans are to begin that older class in the fall. Over the summer additional teachers will be approached and curriculum for the older students will be discussed. Input from the students regarding choice of teacher, format and curriculum will be sought. What a wonderful opportunity!!

Youth Acolytes We have three young women who have asked to be acolytes. An informational meeting was held, and a training has been set for April 17th. We will have youth acolytes for the Bishop’s visit.

Our formation program for children is growing! We are having fun! We are grateful to God for each child. And we are grateful to the parents and grandparents who making Christian formation a priority.

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Shared Thoughts…….

Dear Parish Family,

Last month I shared with you an effort to meet with Peggy Evans in the hope of healing. At the end of a lengthy email exchange, Peggy elected not to meet with me.

Your vestry prepared and sent to Peggy a gift of appreciation and love. She re-sponded with a note of thanks. In case the adjoining copy is difficult to read, her words are transcribed below.

I am thankful for the healing and love our Lord pours down on each and every one of us.

Grace and peace,

Penny

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April 2016

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April 10

Prayer and Pastoral Care Forum with Canon Linda Potter & Susan Ladue

I thank my God every time I remember you. Philippians 1:3 (NIV)

I want to extend my thanks to the many, many folks who have contributed in a myriad of ways during our Lenten and Holy Week journey.

With gratitude to:

All who provided soup/bread for our various Lenten activities;

Our weekly prayer leaders;

The altar guild for quietly preparing and providing for the various liturgies;

Our acolytes, lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, ushers and greeters;

Our bell ringers, vocalists and organist;

Our office volunteers who assist with bulletins, Lion Tales preparation and miscellaneous projects, and

Particularly to June our parish secretary for her unfailing compassion, clarity of purpose and diligence to detail.

Thank you to all who have come to worship, pray and sing at St. Mark’s. May your life be transformed by the Holy Spirit.

Canon Linda

Reaffirmation of Baptismal Vows Bishop Michael Hanley will be visiting St. Mark’s on Sunday, April 24

th. As part of his visitation

he welcomes those who may choose to reaffirm their baptismal vows. Reaffirmation is for Episcopalians who feel a special desire to renew their public commitment and affirmation to the church. Others who have experienced a renewal of faith or desire to renew their Christian commitment may also reaffirm their baptismal vows.

If you are interested in renewing your baptismal vows please contact Canon Linda – [email protected] – 541-773-3111 by April 15th to receive additional information.

Shared Thoughts…….

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Your Vestry has been reminded that while our mission statement has gotten a lot of play in the newsletter and elsewhere, the 6 goals defined by YOU in your response to the 2015 Parish Profile Survey have not! They have been top of mind for us as we work, but we have not made them top of mind for you publicly. Forgive us, please. So...here they are!

Emphasize a Children/Youth/Family Ministry

Broaden the style of our singing during worship

Increase opportunities for joy and fellowship

Advertise the parish more broadly

Raise local awareness of our community outreach programs

Establish a comprehensive greeting program From now on, you will see them everywhere. And you will feel them everywhere, as we as a parish family have already moved forward to actualize them. Just look around you! We have 22 youngsters in our church school program, five of whom are about to become acolytes. In this very issue, you will find a call for musicians of any talent to help us bring mu-sic to 5

th Sundays specifically for now, but with God's great grace and wisdom, who

knows where that might lead! We continue to come together, NO MATTER WHAT, in worship and celebration – whether of life or death – and so, be a family and rejoice. With the help of certain cherubs among us (okay, it's the Templins!), we've been getting great press about our ministries to the community! And soon you will not be able to drive through Medford without seeing our name somewhere on some sort of signage, thanks to the Welcoming Commission! (That's #4 and #5!) And our Greeters continue to outdo themselves and soar to new heights of wel-coming. So, see? We are rocking on as a parish family, and just doing what comes naturally to us, but with a little work and awareness, we are doing it better. THANK YOU.

Parish Goals

Mission Statement 2015

Living out God’s love and the Good News of Jesus Christ

by serving our church family and the wider community.

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April 2016

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Announcements & Opportunities

IT’S A PARADE, STRIKE UP THE BAND ST. MARKS

Save the date April 9th

2016 Pear Blossom Parade

Featuring the 1st annual

St Mark’s Pear Blossom Parade Pantry Float.

Come join the fun, everyone, children and the young at heart!

Ride the float, walk with the Soul Striders beside the float and celebrate together St Mark’s contributions to the Wider Community in this joyous event.

For Information Contact : Susan and Randy Doyal (541- 772-0997) or

Kit and Jerry Nilles (541- 864-9973)

St. Mark's website

I have been checking the site statistics for the St. Mark's web

page, and I hope that many of you are part of those numbers.

The statistics show that the website is visited at all hours and

times of the day, and the most popular page is the Calendar, with

over 217,200 hits since the site was started in May 2010. Aside

from the Home page, the next highest visited page was Music at

St. Mark's with over 7600 hits. Next is the Vestry page, followed

by Service Times, the Adult Forum, Newsletters, and the

Chancel Choir, all with over 4000 hits. News/Information and

Episcopal Church Women pages have over 3000 hits.

St. Mark’s Parish (Profile) Goals:

Emphasize a children/youth/family ministry

Broaden the style of our singing during worship

Increase opportunities for joy and fellowship

Advertise the parish more broadly

Raise community awareness of our community outreach programs

Establish a comprehensive greeting program

All so that we can live our mission statement to the fullest.

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Pat Ayers

Chairperson

Outreach Committee

Contact her, at:

541-608-7653

Outreach Committee:

Pat Ayers (Chair)

Kathy Garrett

Barbara Holley

Marilyn Myers

Jerry Nilles

Rita Shale

St. Mark’s Outreach

Pantry Update

The pantry is going well. We plan to have a quarterly lunch to

thank all the workers and to review how things are going. The first

lunch will be on April 7th.You are invited to join us if you would like

to know more about the pantry. Since Since January first we have

served total of 2,425 people (936 of the total were children). What we provide

allows a family to feed themselves for a week. We can provide the food for

$1.64 per person thanks to the generosity of our parish, the Medford Food

Project, Gleaners, and other donrs and grants. Keep up the good work you do

for the pantry at our monthly “Food on the Fourth” Sunday.

Medford Food Project

As most of you know the Medford Food Project (MFP) is a big

source of food for our pantry. The MFP collection weekend in

April is scheduled at the same time as the Pear Blossom

Parade, so there is a lot higher demand for volunteers. Randy Doyal and Rita

Shale are going to represent us at the food collection point at the ACCESS

parking lot. We could use help from a driver who can pick up food boxes about

2:00 p.m. and we need help with the assembly of boxes at 9:00 a.m. or

transporting them back to our pantry garage, please call Jerry Nilles at 541-

941-9146 for more information and to volunteer.

The Pear Blossom is coming...The Parade and Booth!!!!

Decorating the float and the booth!! It is an exciting way to share the

Good News of Christ and our wonderful church. We will be decorating the float

in our church parking lot Friday morning, April 8th at 10:00. We will assemble

the pieces and get the float ready. Following that we will decorate the booth in

the Commons.

Riding the Float

If you are riding the float, you will need to meet the float at Front Street at 9:00

a.m. As soon as we have our float number we will notify everyone.

Booth

If you want to decorate the booth be at the commons at 1:00 p.m. on April 8th.

Look around for the booth. The area needs to be ready by 4:00 p.m.

The Blessing for Pear Blossom Events will be done at the Pantry lunch the for

the many volunteers, T shirts, and water bottles!!!!

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April 2016

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Hygiene Kits

Thanks to our generous and wonderful congregation,

our assembly of Hygiene Kits for Homeless Teens was

a huge success! We filled 100 new back packs to the

brim with various toiletries and a journal, plus had left over, wash

clothes, hand towels, toothpaste and toothbrushes have the

Maslow Project distribute when the back packs run out.

Two representatives from Maslow gave an over view of the mission

of the Maslow Project. They expressed their deep appreciation for

all the support St. Mark's gives them and even asked if they could

help us with projects in the future! Outreach feels so good when you can see and hear

how it changes the lives of people.

Thank you St Mark's!

New Mom Kits Coming again in May

Outreach has decided that Mother’s Day would be the perfect

day to put together “New Mom” kits that are given to the public

health nurses. It seems like a perfect day because we are all

so blessed, that we wanted to bless others on this special day.

As many of you know, and for those who don’t know, we have been providing Diaper

Bags to new moms that are deemed high risk by the public health nurses for many

years. The bags are used for home visits by the nurses who make warm calls to these

new moms to help them with any issues they may be facing. We will also be having a

speaker at the forum that day before we assemble the kits so the congregation can

learn more about how these ‘New Mom Kits” are used. This is one of my favorite

Outreach Projects and I am hoping you all can join us on that day to leans more and

help assemble the kits.

Blessings,

Marilyn Myers

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FINANCE COMMITTEE UPDATE...BARBARA HOLLEY

Barbara Holley

Chairperson 2015 Finance Committee Please contact her at: [email protected]

Kevin Klabunde

Finance Administrator For more information, please contact him at:

[email protected]

Don Ogren

Treasurer

Please contact him at:

[email protected]

Committee members:

Margaret Bell Sally Bouwer Barbara Holley Kevin Klabunde Cal Lanfear Lyn McConnell Don Ogren

Last month I reported to you that our plate and pledge offering in January was

over budget by over $4000. It was hoped that this might be a new trend and not

simply some pledges being paid in advance. Unfortunately, the February

financial report shows the month’s income to be almost $10,000 under

budget. Since the expenses were only $1500 under budget, we ended the

month over $8000 in the RED. This deficit totally wipes out our surplus in

January and still leaves us with a deficit almost $5000.

The Search Committee is progressing in their search process and is

approaching the time when it will have considerable expenses to find the next

rector. This money will be taken out of savings and greatly limits feasibility of

covering a deficit with saving also.

We have also hired an interim organist for the 10:00 services so our savings in

personnel will be cut back in future months.

February 2016

Actual Budget

Income $13,974 $23,780

Expense 20,755 22,330

Net Gain $ (9,806) $ 1,575

Music at St. Mark’s Update

Sunday, April 17th at 3 p.m. featuring Dan

Kocurek, trumpet and Christine Eggert, pianist is cancelled.

Sunday, May 1 at 3:00 p.m. featuring Chris Potter with music for

alto and bass flute is still scheduled.

Sunnday, May 22, 3:00 p.m. The Fong-Stubson Trio;

Doug Fong, cello, Janis Rands, piano and Larry Stubson, violin

featuring works for piano trio is still scheduled.

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April 2016

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ADULT FORUMS …..JULIE DRENGSON

Formation

Programs:

Julie Drengson

[email protected]

&

Betsy Sharp

Forum

Sunday School

Book Group

Bible Studies

Library

April 3 -- Surf's Up!! We will be surfing the St. Mark's Parish website,

with Julie Drengson

April 10 -- Prayer and Pastoral Care, with Canon Linda Potter &Susan Ladue

April 17 -- Search Committee update, with Debra McFadden and Bob Wille

April 24 -- NO forum, single service Sunday; Visitation by Bishop Hanley,

and Feast of St. Mark

Lent Madness update --

With Holy Week almost upon us, we have gotten to the Elate 8 round, and the choices

have gotten much harder! The most difficult for me was Absalom Jones, who worked

nights to earn money to buy his freedom but first bought his wife's freedom so that their

children would be free, and Sojourner Truth who was a popular speaker in the mid-

nineteenth century, but she could not read or write, so she spoke extemporaneously! My

other personal favorites have been Kateri Tekakwitha, daughter of a Mohawk chief and

Algonquin Roman Catholic woman, and one of the first Native Americans to be canonized;

Vida Dutton Scudder, who was an educator, writer, and social justice activist among the

many other things that she did in her lifetime; and Constance, of the Order of St. Mary,

who with her sisters helped to care for the sick during the yellow fever epidemic of 1873 in

Memphis, and again during the outbreak in 1877, when Constance and some of the sisters

died, and became known as the Martyrs of Memphis. From the Elate 8, we had the

Faithful 4 of Constance, Julian of Norwich, Sojourner Truth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, more

tough choices for voting!

The 2106 Lent Madness Golden Halo is awarded to Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

A deciding factor for many of us was that though he had left Germany to escape

persecution, he willingly returned to help his people, and paid the ultimate price, shortly

before the camp he was in was liberated.

Another wonderful season of Lent Madness and learning about the saints in our history.

History note -- From the Medford Mail Tribune, Monday, April 17, 191 6, page 3

Contract let for Episcopal Church.

The contract has been signed and ground will be broken Tuesday for the new St. Mark's

church to be built at the corner of North Oakdale and Fifth Street. The church will be of

gray brick veneer with white stone trimmings and will seat 200 people. The size will be 84

x 48 feet over all. Major Geo. Butz is the architect. The contractor, Mr. Jansen, promises to

rush the work of building and expects to finish the church in about two months.

Two months was not enough time, since the church was not finished until at least October,

and the cornerstone and opening services were not until Dec. 17. Other articles during the

year mention that the cost was $5000, with the interior furnishings an additional $2000.

Some of the furnishings included a "very artistic altar", reredos and rood screen being

made in Portland.

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Margaret Dials 541-855-1851 [email protected] Susan Doyal 541-772-0997 [email protected] Barry Johnson 619-261-6367 [email protected] Penny Klabunde 541-690-2855 [email protected] Sr. Warden Susan Ladue 541-941-2850 [email protected] Jr. Warden Cal Lanfear 541-601-6007 [email protected] Jay Matheson 541-301-1241 [email protected] Emily Miller-Francisco 541-488-9816 [email protected] Kit Nilles 541-864-9973 [email protected] John Richardson 541-779-1609 [email protected]

V

E

S

T

R

Y

2016

St. Mark’s Updates

Forward in Faith Stewardship Campaign 2016

The final contacts for Pledging for 2016 have begun. Remember that even if you

are unsure of your pledge amount, each pledge helps us to carry out our mission at

St. Mark’s. It also determines the size of our delegation to The Diocesan

Convention. The Convention is our participation in the larger church that

governs all of us. Please prayerfully consider your pledge gift for 2016. If you have

not yet pledged we will be in touch soon.

John Richardson & Debra McFadden, Co-chairs

Vestry 2016

Episcopal T-Shirts

The T-shirts will be ready for pick-up Friday, April 1st

, in the Hafer House office. Please make your check out to St. Mark’s for the amount of $12.50 per shirt ordered. For questions about your t-shirt please call Susan Doyal at 541-772-0997.

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April 2016

Page 13

Search Committee Update

Sunday Coffee Hours

We need volunteers to sign up for coffee hour. The

sign up sheet is up in the Parish Hall. Team up with

others to celebrate our parish family with some

refreshments after the two services.

Remember, it is a way for our parish to socialize with each other after services and a

way to welcome visitors and new people to the parish. The coffee and hot water are

always on so the hosting of the coffee hour is providing whatever food, sweet and

savory (and maybe a juice) that each host wishes to share. The Sign up sheet is on the

Parish Hall bulletin board.

Use your imagination and plan a theme! Perhaps a commission would like to sponsor a

coffee hour, feature what your ministry does and recruit some new members. Please

sign up. Contact Kit Nilles with questions at [email protected].

Welcome Committee

On the Welcome Committee we focus on how we can welcome prospective new mem-bers into the parish. Ultimately the task is nothing more than one person inviting one person.

In our committee we have had some interesting discussions about our name. We are clear that we are a committee. Commission (another possible name) sounds false and pompous, which we reject. Although we are welcoming, we also do evangelism. Unfor-tunately, this word carries a lot of baggage. First, it conjures up images of all sorts of disreputable television preachers. Second, it reminds us all that when we are asked to invite a friend to church, or are asked to greet a newcomer at church 85% of us say that we don’t want to.

So let’s beat the odds. Be the one person inviting one person. Be part of the 15%. You will find that it is very worthwhile.

Bill Dames, Chairman

The countdown for receiving candidate applications has passed, with

the final deadline being March 31, 2016. As the applications have

come in they are being vetted by the Bishop. By the end of the first

week in April, the committee will receive the applications and begin

the next step in the process. This is an exciting time for all of us.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. The committee: Margaret

Dials, Molly Kerr, Penny Klabunde, Jan Martin, Debra McFadden,

Craig Prewitt, Jim Rockwell, Bob Wille.

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Page 14

Life at St. Mark’s

Holy week

St. Mark’s Parish (Profile) Goals:

Emphasize a children/youth/family ministry

Broaden the style of our singing during worship

Increase opportunities for joy and fellowship

Advertise the parish more broadly

Raise community awareness of our community outreach programs

Establish a comprehensive greeting program

All so that we can live our mission statement to the fullest.

Three Baptisms at Vigil: Faith Anne Prewitt, Jean Lindahl,

Hudson Charlie Andrew Rooks

Betsy and all her

Paschal Candles–

gracing the Sanctuary

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April 2016

Page 15

Life at St. Mark’s M

ission

Statem

ent 2015

Liv

ing

ou

t Go

d’s lo

ve an

d th

e Go

od

New

s of Jesu

s Ch

rist

by

servin

g o

ur ch

urch

family

and

the w

ider co

mm

un

ity.

Newly Renovated

Sunday School

classroom and nursery

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Page 16

NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE

PAID MEDFORD, OR Permit No. 626

We’re on the web! www.stmarksmedford.org

and also on Facebook

S T . M A R K ’ S E P I S C O P A L C H U R C H A P R I L 2 0 1 6

R E T U R N S E R V I C E R E Q U E S T E D

H E R E B E G I N S T H E G O O D N E W S O F J E S U S C H R I S T … ( M a r k 1 : 1 )

426 W. 6th Street

Medford, OR 97501

541-773-3111

[email protected]

www.stmarks-medford.org

Please contact us with changes in your email address, telephone number

and addresses so we have the correct information in our database.

Email: [email protected] or call 541-773-3111

Mission Statement 2015

Living out God’s love and the Good News of Jesus Christ

by serving our church family and the wider community.

St. Mark’s Parish (Profile) Goals:

Emphasize a children/youth/family ministry

Broaden the style of our singing during worship

Increase opportunities for joy and fellowship

Advertise the parish more broadly

Raise community awareness of our community outreach programs

Establish a comprehensive greeting program

All so that we can live our mission statement to the fullest.