The Voice of St. Mark s-on-the-hill

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1 The Voice of St. Mark s-on-the-hill 1620 REISTERSTOWN RD PIKESVILLE, MD PHONE: WEB: June 2013 From the Rector s Desk Every year, right after we celebrate Pentecost and the church changes its colors to green, I tell myself the same lie. After 11 years of ordination, I still say to myself, Well, now that summer is upon us things will slow down and I will have more time to just do pastoral care, visit and build relationships, and take care of my family and myself. And every year, I realize that things are not slowing down all by themselves. In fact, the calendar seems to abhor a vacuum and whenever space appears, more things get scheduled to fill up the space. I must schedule camps and travel and childcare and events and. And. And. And. ENOUGH! The gift and goodness of slowing life down must be an intentional act and a Holy mindfulness of a life in retreat time. O God of Peace, You have taught us not to be anxious in our living. Release us from feeling frenzied about our commitments. Free us from the burden of our many fears, so that we may place our whole trust in your wise care and be at peace in the sure knowledge of your love. We offer our anxious hearts to you for the healing of faith. Through Christ, our living Lord. Amen. By Marjorie J. Thompson I will go on retreat June It is only a few days away with some other clergy who have similar lives of parish and family and chaos and joy. But the few days of retreat help me to reorient myself to a pace of life that brings life rather than expending it. It is hard to maintain this attitude of retreat. There are always deadlines and plans and schedules to be made and attended to. It is never a question of choosing between good and bad, but usually between good and good, or urgent and important. The tensions of daily life never really go away, even as the season changes and the weather warms. But we can change our orientation to them and let the pattern of our steps slow from running to a meditative stroll. What if we were able to be released from our anxious living and stay emancipated throughout the year? I know, I m really writing this article to myself. But I suspect I am not alone. How can we set our pace to a meditative stroll through God s garden and enjoy the gift of each moment, savor it, and look forward to the next? Let this summer be retreat. Through the open doors of St. Mark s you will find a beacon of hope that shines before all, so that they may see the body of Christ and give glory to our Father in heaven. We are a diverse inter-cultural church woven together by our relationships and we invite our neighbors to gather with us and share the sweet, sweet Spirit of this place. ~Vision Statement for St. Mark s on-the-hill Crafted August 2010 NEW This Summer at 9 at 9am each week will include a mystery item from the Gospel Box. Each week a family will be given the box with the gospel lesson for the coming Sunday inside. The family will read the lesson and over the course of the week replace it with an object that they feel speaks to this Gospel story. The family explains the item and the preacher must then incorporate the item into their sermon What Gospel will you receive, what will you put into the Box?

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3 St. Mark your Calendars June 2013 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Shepherding leaders: 2pm Concert: 4pm 30 Concert: 4pm Vestry Mtg. 7pm Finance Committee. Mtg 7pm Deadline for submissions to July newsletter Healing Service 12pm Bible Study 1:30 Healing Service 12pm Bible Study 1:30 Healing Service 12pm Bible Study 1:30 Healing Service 12pm Bible Study 1:30 1 Spaghetti Dinner 5:15pm Diocesan Stewardship Conference 9am - 3pm Raise the Roof Festival 9am - 1pm Want Weekly Up to Date Information? Get our weekly sent right to your inbox each Wednesday. In the Spirit of this Place includes a reflection, upcoming events, and information for the following Sunday. Go to our webpage, and sign up to receive the weekly ing under the News drop down menu, or use the link in the left side-bar under Communications. Page 3

4 The choir season at St. Mark's has officially ended. And that means it's time to prepare for ! Congratulations to the St. Mark's Children's Choir upon finishing its first season! The group of 10 children has been rehearsing two Mondays a month since last September, learning how to sing and ring handbells. I'm so proud of how much they've accomplished this year: working together as a team to perform songs in harmony and on handbells, improving their aural skills by listening to and singing patterns found in tonal music, and experimenting with rhythm. The children s choir will pick up again after the summer, and I hope to see even more young faces ready to make music together! This past year we welcomed some new developments in the adult choir, including the introduction of two paid singers. The choir and I are thrilled with how much we've grown this year, and much of that growth is due to the musical leadership of Emily Frye and Emily Noel. This summer we need to raise about $4,000 to bring them back next year. Please consider making a donation to the St. Mark's Singers. Investing in our choir is an investment in our collective worship experience. I'm excited to see where next year takes us! Thank you for your generosity and support! -Katie Hunt, Director of Music Musical Notes Music at St. Mark s presents June Concerts! Ronald & Kathleen Bird Sunday, June 23 4:00pm Former St. Mark s musician Kathleen Bird accompanies tenor Ronald Bird as he sings a program of German Lieder, art songs, and selections from American Musical Theater. Talk about a dynamic duo! La Vie en Rose Sunday, June 30 4:00pm Soprano Bonnie McNaughton sings a program of all French art songs. Accompanied by Katie Hunt on piano, Bonnie s rich operatic voice will leave you stunned! Concerts are free. Donations gratefully accepted. Page 4

5 Solar Energy At St. Mark s Last month the vestry began a conversation about installing a solar array on the roof of the parish hall. Thanks to the brainstorming of Jim Rea, and his investigation of the possibilities we have discovered that we might be able to completely remove ourselves from using BG&E for electricity and rely entirely on the sun to power the parish hall and church. collect could be about equal to the would be converted into electricity created and didn t use would be electricity meter run backwards. How would this work? The south roof of the parish hall is not shaded by any trees and it is at the perfect angle for solar pan- els to be installed and receive the maximum amount of sunlight over the course of the day. If enough panels were installed the energy we electrical energy we use. The sun s energy to power our buildings and any extra energy we sold back to BG&E. Basically, it would make our How much does it cost? We have received two estimates so far and the cost seems to be about $55-60,000. This may seem like a lot of money to spend all at once, but if we take a long range view, the benefit to us would be significant. At the moment we spend about $2800 per year on electricity for the two buildings. We would save that money each year by using solar energy. In addition, if we went to so- lar energy, BG&E would pay us about $2800 per year to count our solar power as part of its renewable power sources since it is required to have a certain amount of clean energy. Looking at the amount we would save and the amount BG&E would pay us, we earn back the money we spent on the solar array in about 9-10 years. Then, after that we are earning money by collecting solar energy. So- lar panels last about 25 years and at the end of that time we would have earned $75,000. Can you think of any other investment that would grow your money 136% in 25 years? How do we proceed? Jim Rea is continuing to interview solar energy companies to see who has the best product and can offer us the best price. We are also investigating ways that we may be able to get some of the initial funds for the solar array covered or apply for a very low interest loan. The other option is to take a loan from ourselves and pay ourselves back. We are also in conversation with the Maryland Episcopal Environmental Partnership Committee about ways the diocese might want to help promote Solar Energy to the rest of the diocese. Page 5

6 New Vestry Member ~ Meet Nancy Fenton St. Mark's is truly filled with the "sweet, sweet spirit." I came to this wonderful community about three years ago. I was on a journey and in search of a new spiritual home. After experiencing the peace exchange, I knew this was a special church community. I knew this parish was alive and well. I have been part of a few Episcopal parishes during my adulthood. Each one was unique and holds special meaning to me. My two adult children were raised in the Episcopal Church. I was confirmed with my then-teenage daughter about ten years ago. As a new vestry member, I look forward to serving in the spirit of the gospel and supporting the vitality of St. Marks. I hope to learn how to serve, live, and grow together as a loving community built on faith and fellowship. I bring a long professional background in nonprofit work and social justice. My great hope is to carry the sweet spirit of St. Mark's out into the larger community and to be an agent of gospel-based change. The world needs the love that lives at St. Mark's. Vestry Information 2013 SCHEDULE OF VESTRY MEEETINGS June 3 July (no meeting) August 5 September 9 October 7 November 4 December 2 All meetings at 7pm in the basement of the Parish Hall - all parishioners are welcome to attend any meeting to see how the vestry works and to have a voice in what happens in our parish. Page 6 OFFICERS Senior Warden Harold Reid Junior Warden Jim Rea Treasurer Ellington Churchill Registrar Kathleen Schotto VESTRY MEMBERS John Reed Mary Davis-Long Cynthia Nelson-Dennis Alyson Pye-Hopkins Dorothy Richards Kwame Poku Robin Ayala Nancy Fenton Any Vestry Members or Officers are always willing to talk with other parishioners about issues in the parish. Please feel free to contact any of us or to ask to speak with us at church.

7 Raise the Roof! Summer Festival June 22nd Three summers ago St. Mark s held the first ever Raise the Roof Summer Festival on a beautiful Saturday in June. There were a host of people in attendance, selling things, buying things, and enjoying our beautiful campus. This summer we are going to have THREE TIMES the FUN! June 22 from 9am - 1pm. Also, July 27 & August 31 There are many ways to get involved and help as well as attend the festival day and celebrate! Do you want to rent a space to sell your stuff or promote your business? Do you want to help with food? Music? Kids games? A raffle? Do you want to recruit vendors and do marketing? Contact: Dorothy Richards sacdro@comcast.net Outreach Help us fill up our wagon with food! JUNE FOOD ITEMS : Hot or cold cereals The offering of food and give it to the food pantry at Mt. Olive Methodist church on Old Court Rd. Cutting Costs The next newsletter you receive will be printed at no cost to St. Mark s on the Hill! That s right, it will be printed by a company called FATA, INC. who will solicit advertisements from local businesses to cover the cost of our monthly newsletter. The 7th page of the newsletter will include advertisements. Weddings, Birthdays, deaths, and baptisms May 18th First Communions ~Primera Comunion Andrés, Stephanie, Yeimy, Jennifer, Tiffany, Jaelyne, Kenia, Brandon, Andrew, Giselle y Vanessa June Birthdays 6/5 Dahvnee Pettiquoi, 6/6 Dana Muldrow, 6/7 Will Vandeven, 6/11 Cynthia Nelson-Dennis, 6/16 Edwin Harmon Sr.,, Madison Zollickoffer, 6/22 Alayna Johnson, 6/23 Guy Tracy, 6/26 CJ and JP Harmon, 6/30 Mary Davis Long Weddings Joseph Colón and Rakeah Glass Deaths Kenneth Roy Allison Nov. 4, 1927-May 23, 2013 Baptisms May 21: Nyla Lei Wilson May 19: Luis Mosquera Page 7

8 Deadline for the July Edition June 12, submissions to: For More Information Contact the Staff at St. Mark s on the Hill or go to our website Mother Adrien Dawson, Rector cell , revdawson@comcast.net Deacon Lew Bradford cell , lew.bradford@gmail.com Pastor Jesus Rivera, Pastoral Assistant for Latino Ministry cell , jesusriveracpcc@verizon.net Ms. Florence McLean, Parish Administrator office , office@stmarksonthehill.org Ms. Katie Hunt, Director of Music and Organist cell , Katherine.h.hunt@gmail.com WORSHIP SCHEDULE Sundays 9am: for all ages 10am: Christian Formation for all ages 11am: Traditional Service 12:15 Coffee Hour : Spanish Language (La Misa) Writers, Cartoonists Commentators and Critics! We invite you to submit materials to be published in The Voice. We are collecting stories, humor, book or movie reviews, family news-anything that will make our newsletter a fuller expression of the diversity of our parish community. Letters to the editor, questions about church history, architecture, liturgy or theology, social issues of peace and justice, outreach and mission, personal experiences of faith-even responses to sermons-we would welcome your participation. Our relationship goes beyond the confines of our membership too, so there are many opportunities to share ideas, advertise events and stimulate dialogue. Join us! Materials may be submitted via at office@stmarksonthehill.org or mail to the church office. St. Mark s on-the-hill 1620 Reisterstown Road Pikesville, MD 21208