St. Mark s Lutheran Church February 2019

Transcription

1 St. Mark s Lutheran Church February Putnam Blvd. Pleasant Hill, CA Dear Friend s of St. Mark s, My first semester, freshman year of college, I slept through my final exam in French. This didn't bode well for my hopes of becoming a French major. At this low point in my life, during our weekly Wednesday soup supper my campus ministry pastor said to me, "God is so not finished with you yet." In his words I found grace and encouragement. What's more they were, it turned out, true. The doom and gloom I had wallowed in did not come to pass. After I mustered up some feeble courage to ask, my T.A. graciously offered to proctor a second chance exam. How often we mistake our present condition for final completion. What *is* for what should be or ever shall be. It's a message at the heart of our faith. We may think we've come to the end of our rope. We see no way. With this God, there's more. Or maybe we think we are already at the pinnacle of enlightenment and achievement. Sorry, you're not all that. There's more. So much more. With this God, there's more. Hope for the discouraged; challenge to the smug. There's more. God gets the last word. Thanks be to God, Pastor Bekah

2 Council had a retreat to plan for 2019 in January. Good discussion about the budget and many thanks for the end of the year giving which we are grateful to begin the year in the black. We look forward to more fellowship events this year. Our new President is Patti Hein, VP is Tom Bell, & Secretary is Mona Varner. Monthly Budget YTD Actual YTD Budget Offering 24, , , ,928 Monthly Outreach Giving 245 9,373 Total Expenses -10,163 17, ,183 Current financial statements and council minutes are available in the binder on the shelf in the back of the sanctuary. Rwanda Book Club February 17th at coffee hour February s New Book is: Shake the Hand of the Devil, by Romeo Dalaire

3 February Calendar Of Events Sunday 8:30 am Worship (Traditional with Choir & Organ or Piano) Social 9:30 am in Saint Mark s Center 10:30 am Worship (Contemporary with Guitars & Drums) 10:30 am Nursery Care Available 10:30 am Sunday School 11:40 am Confirmation Class This Month February 10th, 12:00 pm Council Meeting February 16th, 12:00 pm-2:00 pm Plant Pure Pod Cooking Class February 17th, 9:40 am Rwanda Book Club in Meeting Room February 17th, 6 pm, Taize Service at Resurrection, 399 Gregory Ln. February 18th, Office closed for President s Day Holiday February 24th, Tom Carter, of the San Francisco Night Ministry preaches February 22-24, Sierra Pacific High School Retreat at Mt. Cross 2nd Tuesday of the Month Social Ministry Meeting 10:00 am MR Wednesday Crafty Ladies 10:00-2:00 SMC Thursday Night Choir Practice 7:30 pm in SAN Friday Morning Adult Bible Study 10:00 am SMC Saturday Worship Band practices at 10:00 am in the SAN Upcoming Events March 6, 7:00 pm Ash Wednesday Service Starting Lenten Wednesday Services on March 13th, 7:00 pm March 31st, 10:00 am Combined Service April 14th, Palm Sunday April 19th, Good Friday April 21st, Easter

4 February Birthdays Date 5 Diane Lenzi 6 Connie Geranen 9 Cindy Gade 10 Joy Fehrenkamp 11 Jasper Valmores 13 Drew Klingelhafer 14 Dylan Follmer 17 Jared Wilson 19 Cydni Lukk February Anniversaries 19 Steve & Debbie Wilson

5 Thanks to Mayor Ken Carlson and the Pleasant Hill Clergy Group for attending today's meeting at St. Mark's on homelessness!

6 All Are Welcome to Attend February 16th Meeting of Healthy Lifestyle Group A new group of individuals dedicated to improving their health and wellbeing is meeting at the church on Saturday afternoon, February 16, from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m. All are welcome and participation is free. The group, Planted, is part the national Plant Pure Community Pod Network, which is committed to building stronger, healthier, and more sustainable communities by supporting and educating their local communities about the benefits of a whole food, plant-based lifestyle. At our last meeting, a culinary arts graduate demonstrated knife skills and we enjoyed some delicious food together. Anyone who would like to learn about ways of implementing healthy lifestyle habits to achieve optimal health is invited to attend. Feel free to contact Patti Hein for more information. The January meeting of the Plant Pure Community Pod Network Cooking Class

7 February 2019 Outreach: San Francisco Night Ministry ( The San Francisco Night Ministry provides crisis intervention, counseling and referral services every night, rain or shine, including holidays. Trained volunteer counselors staff a crisis telephone line that is open for any issue someone needs to discuss. Night ministers walk the streets of San Francisco offering face-to-face conversations to the lonely, anxious and afraid. The Night Ministry also sponsors two Open Cathedrals (one in the Tenderloin and one in the Mission), which provide a weekly worship service and a time of sharing food. We are looking forward welcoming the new Reverend of the Night Ministry, Pastor Tom Carter. He will preach at both services on Sunday, February 24th. In addition, our Pastor Bekah also serves on the board of the Night Ministry. How Can We Help? Monetary donations are very important for maintaining the work of the Night Ministry, particularly staff salaries for the night ministers who walk the streets. Just indicate Night Ministry on your check..

8 ARE YOU A MEMBER OF THRIVENT? CAN YOU HELP? Every benefited member of Thrivent Financial is eligible to lead up to two Thrivent Action Team projects each calendar year (leading a team means that you would submit for the funds). Thrivent will give $250 for each approved project for seed money. St Mark s has been able to use that seed money in the past to donate socks for the SF Night Ministry, to purchase materials for quilt supplies, to purchase food for the spaghetti dinner fundraiser to help get youth to the ELCA National Youth Gathering, to purchase food for providing meals at Shelter Inc. and much more. If you are a benefited member of Thrivent (at least 16 years old with insurance/annuity products through Thrivent in your name) and you don t already lead two Thrivent Action Teams, please consider letting the Social Ministry Team know that you would be willing to help. Just Debbie Wilson at mommymook1@comcast.net or put your name on the sign-up sheet that will be in the narthex. SOCIAL MINISTRY SUGGESTION BOX While the Social Ministry Team has the 2019 schedule for outreach set, we would love to get feedback from the congregation on any other organizations you would like us to support in the future. If you have an idea on an organization that you would like us as a congregation to support in the future, please drop a note at any time in our new suggestion box that will be placed in the narthex. Thanks!

9 3051 Putnam Blvd. Pleasant Hill, CA (925) Pastor: Bekah Davis Cell: (415) Office Administrator: Cheryl Wight Directors of 2 nd Service Music: Sherry & Mike Doyle Choir Director/Organist: Joyce Porter Pianists: Lisa Farnitano & John Yeh Childcare Attendant: Christina Aiello Weekly Adult Bible Study Please join us for a weekly Bible Study at 10 am on Friday mornings, open to all. We have begun studying the Book of 1 Corinthians, which is also the focus of the current lectionary. Please contact Lisa Farnitano (lisa.farnitano@gmail.com) or Nichole Coggiola (ncoggiola@hotmail.com) for more information.