St. Mark Lutheran Church CrossBeams

Transcription

1 St. Mark Lutheran Church CrossBeams April 2013 Volume 52 Issue 4 A publication of St. Mark Lutheran Church, Mount Prospect, Illinois God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. Genesis 1: 31 I walked out the door at church intent on getting to the next appointment on my day s full calendar. Some days are like that, me moving from one meeting or visit to the next without taking much of a break to, as the proverbial saying goes, Stop and smell the roses! But it s late winter, there are no roses to smell, and if I don t hurry I m going to be late. I fiddled with my car keys, looking up just long enough to see where I was, when I saw it a lone robin the parkway Bartlett Pear tree. Oh, wasn t he bright orange the gender tip-off a perky presage of spring! But then, as I moved, so did my eye, to the next tree, this one l-o-a-d-e-d with robins, hopping, chirping, jockeying for a perch. It was a stop-and-smell-the-roses moment if ever there was one. So that s just what I did I feasted eyes and ears on. But there was more The daylilies planted at my back door poke eager shoots into the midday heat. The tiny black poodle down the block has stepped up her squirrel patrol, unimpeded by mountains of shoveled snow. The first mail-order seed catalog arrived with the bills. The cat dashed out the door to harass unwary chipmunks. The neighborhood pre-teens cavort among each other s houses bare-armed and bootless. The after-school hunchedover hurry morphs into sun-seeking saunter. The moms come out pushing strollers bundled with wide-eyed, curious toddlers. The black and gray and brown and navy hats of winter yield to scarves of fuschia and turquoise and goldenrod and lime. The forecast is for four inches of snow. The president will visit yet another foreign hot spot. The two houses of Congress will sharpen the barbs they insist on jabbing at each other. The overnight murder rate in Chicago will climb. The ozone layer will continue to be depleted. The cure for cancer will not yet be found. Children will starve, the lonely will die unattended, flood and tornado will wreak havoc. There is work enough for many tomorrows. But I will not go there today. For this moment, in my portion of God s world, all is well. My smile at receiving God s little beginning-of-spring gifts is the outward sign of inner contentment, peace and joy. The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God. Isaiah 35: 1-3 See you in the pew! Pr. Linnea Wilson

2 Hearing My Own Sermon On the First Sunday in Lent, as I preached on the temptation of Jesus, the clear message was: God s way isn t fast. And it isn t easy. But it is amazing. You may remember it- it included the AT&T commercial with the kid talking about strapping a cheetah to his grandma s back. I preached it and then later that week it came back to haunt me. You see, I ve been on a slow track towards ordination, it seems, but trying to speed up the process. I started seminary in Most of the people I started with are now getting their assignments to synods and looking for calls after graduation in May. I however took a semester off for very good reasons, and thus have internship to still complete and 5 more classes. I ve been trying to finish seminary and find a first call as fast as I can. I planned to take all my classes in the fall, be in the October pool for assignment for first call, and hopefully be graduated and working as a pastor in a church by next February. To do this, I needed to write a 20 page essay by the week after Easter. I needed to do my final evaluation of internship four months before it was over and get Pastor Linnea and my internship committee to do the same, when it seems like we just finished midyear evaluations. I needed to fill out all sorts of paperwork and get all my ducks in a row at the same time as living my way through my first Lenten season in a congregation. I was pushing, gearing up, trying to psych myself up to do it all. And that is when I heard the words of my own sermon: God s way isn t fast. And it isn t easy. But it is amazing. Could it be that God s way forward for Dave and me was not the fast track, but the slow, steady way I so often see God at work in the world? Dave and I began to think of the possibility of staying another full year at seminary. We began to consider taking our time, enjoying our community, giving ourselves space to process the past few years so we can enter into the next stage with joy and energy. The minute we began considering it, the future seemed to bloom with energy and joy and possibility. Each person we ve talked to affirms our choice. Last week I let the seminary know that we will be going the slow track. God speaks, through us and to us. This past month I ve listened to God speak in my life and to my life through my very own sermon. Praise God. How is God speaking to you? Peace, Vicar Christie Thoughts from the Loft What is your favorite Easter hymn? My guess is probably Jesus Christ Is Risen Today (ELW #365). Usually we associate favorite hymn tunes with the season of Christmas, but Easter is filled with wonderful hymns as well. Take for instance Thine Is the Glory (ELW #376). This hymn tune is by George Frideric Handel, the composer of the Hallelujah Chorus! The tune comes from an oratorio Handel wrote called Judas Maccabaeus, and was originally set to the words See the Conquering Hero Comes. One of my favorite Easter hymns is I Know That My Redeemer Lives! (ELW #619). The text is based on Job 19:25: For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth. Enjoy the singing this Easter season! Tim

3 Thank You! Spiritual Gifts "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit" 1 Corinthians 12:4 Gifts have been blooming at St. Mark! Over the past two months congregation members have filled out a spiritual gifts inventory and a ministry interest sheet. Their gifts have been entered into our computer system, their names given to those who lead the ministries they were interested in, and their contributions folded into origami flowers. Look at the progression of growth in these pictures! The formalized portion of this endeavor ended Easter Sunday, but the inventory is still available to those who are interested. Talk to Vicar Christie for more information. Youth Service Day The Youth and Family Ministries would like to thank Barbara Wiebe for her very generous donation in honor of her late husband, Art Wiebe. The Wiebe's were very involved with the youth of St. Mark and especially loved working with teenagers. Through this donation, the Wiebe family will continue to minister to the youth and families of St. Mark and the greater community for many years to come." Dr. Seuss Day at Holy Family I do not like green eggs and ham but I sure do like reading to the students at Holy Family! Last month Pastor Linnea and Vicar Christie participated in Holy Family School s Dr. Seuss Day. Supporters of the school gathered to read our favorite Dr. Seuss books to classes of preschoolers and small groups of students of all ages. A rhyme performed by the event leadership, a poem recited by the third grade class, and Dr. Seuss hats galore made for a great day. Pastor Linnea even brought On Beyond Zebra, a Dr. Seuss book she received for her seventh birthday, to share with the group. The youth of St. Mark will be participating in a "Youth Service Day" through the Metropolitan Chicago Synod and the Lutheran Social Services of Illinois. The event will be held on Saturday, April 20th, and the registration fee will be $10. For more information, please contact Pastor Dan at ddurbin@stmarkmp.org."

4 Spring Fest 2013 This is a fundraising and community event you will want to invite your friends and family to! Don t miss out on fun for the whole family and help our youth help others by attending the St. Mark Spring Fest! Food, games and live entertainment for ALL AGES! Save the Date! Sunday, April 21st at the St. Mark Center from 11 am 5 pm Contact Kim Branch for information ~ 504branchie@gmail.com. Volunteer & Donation Opportunities Game Sponsors ~ Name on signage Pie Bakers ~ Win a Blue Ribbon Shift Workers [1.5 hour shifts] ~ Games, beverages, food, tickets, security, raffles Card Tables [for use at event] Photographer/Videographer[event only] Monetary Donations [help cover costs] We are so happy you want to help our St. Mark Youth help others!! Thank you! St Mark Foundation News of $875 will make a tremendous difference in the life of someone who is struggling. At the end of the day, everyone is on the road home--or wants to be. Our mission at JOURNEYS is to help ensure that there is a home at the end of every road: for those who are homeless, we will work to help them find or establish a home; for those who have homes and are threatened, we will work to support them and keep them in their homes. Again, thank you for lending a hand to those along The Road Home. Sincerely, Elizabeth Nabors (Executive Director), Margaret Suehr (Director of Development) JOURNEYS The Road Home What can you do for 7cents a day? In Children s Church we learned about Joseph and how helped the people of Egypt and his family during a time of famine, We asked, where are people hungry today? The answer is: in our very own backyard. People are hungry. And we can help. Bread for the World says that hunger could be cut in half in the United States and worldwide for 7 cents a day per American. We made banks so that we could put our 7 cents in each day. Abby and Claire brought their banks back this month with a total between them of $ That s about 380 days of savings right there in just a little over a month! Way to help cut hunger! St. Mark Lutheran Church Foundation, On behalf of the Staff and Board of Directors please accept our heartfelt thanks for your generous support of JOURNEYS The Road Home. There are many people and families who will be counting on JOURNEYS for food, shelter and assistance this winter. Your donation

5 Ladies Night Out... at the Movies All Women are invited to join us for fellowship, fun, and laughter while we relax enjoying the 2 movie selections. Use a Center chair, or bring your own comfortable chair. Sit back, eat some popcorn, and laugh or cry with your friends. A wonderful evening. 1 st SHOWING: Roman Holiday 1953 Featuring: Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck 2 nd SHOWING: The Reluctant Debutante 1958 Featuring: Rex Harrison, Sandra Dee, John Saxon Friday April 19th ~ Center Assembly Room ~ 7 pm - 11 pm. Contact: Kim Perlich at For more information. Men's Corned Beef & Cabbage Dinner Friday, May 3, 2013 at St. Mark Center 6 pm ~ doors open 7 pm ~ dinner served Tickets are $35 per person and MUST be purchased in advance. Cash or Check payable to St Mark Lutheran Church. Available for Sale on Sunday April 7, 2013 through April 28, 2013 Catered by HARRINGTON'S of Chicago. Dinner includes: Corned beef, cabbage, boiled potatoes, rye bread & apple pie. Join us for an evening of fellowship, great food, and fun. We look forward to seeing you there for a great evening. Questions: Contact Hans Perlich at hans.perlich1@gmail.com and Enrichment Center News April will be an especially busy and fun month for the students of St. Mark and Enrichment Center. The children will be learning about construction and transportation, a unit that culminates in a Trike-a-thon to benefit St. Jude s Hospital. The children bike around St. Mark s parking lot, even going through a car wash designed by our creative teachers. Many families donate money to St. Jude s during this event, which supports children receiving cancer treatment. We invite both the St. Mark church and school community to attend Sunday during the 10:00 church service on Sunday, April 21. The children will sing and share their artwork and a slideshow of special pictures taken throughout the school year. Everyone is invited for treats following the service. Current and incoming preschool and enrichment families are invited to Family Fun Night in the St. Mark Center from 3 5 pm on Saturday, April 27th. A wonderful committee of parents is planning snacks, crafts, and games. The children especially will love crawling through the giant box maze in the gym! This year Master Kris of Taekwondo Revolution will teach our families some basic moves. We may have some black belts in the near future! Now that spring has finally arrived, we are able to think about gardening. Please keep your eye out for Plant Sale order forms in early April. Once again, the preschool is working with Bartel s Nursery to bring you gorgeous, hearty hanging baskets and flats of beautiful flowers and plants.

6 Orders will be due on Friday, April 19. Plant pick-up is Saturday, May 4. Thank you to St. Mark and Enrichment Center s parents for supporting our fundraisers throughout the year. Because of the families generosity, Mrs. Lebrecht has ordered two new safety floor mats for the school s block room. A Pastoral Letter from the Conference of Bishops of the ELCA A Pastoral Letter on Violence adopted by the ELCA Conference of Bishops, March 4, 2013 A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more. Jeremiah 31:15 and Matthew 2:18 (NIV) Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: Every faithful caregiver who sits with victims of violence knows what we know as God's church, we are called to reduce violence and should, in most cases, restrain ourselves from using violence. Whether or not statistics show that overall violence has declined in recent years, every person wounded or killed is a precious child of God. As bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, we lament the tragedy of gun violence in our country. We are grieved by the way violence threatens and destroys life. We affirm the current soul searching and shared striving to find a way to a better future. While the church grapples with this call to reduce violence and make our communities safer, we recognize that before God we are neither more righteous because we have guns nor are we more righteous when we favor significant restrictions. Brokenness and sin are not somehow outside of us. Even the best of us are capable of great evil. As people of God we begin by confessing our own brokenness revealed in both our actions and our failure to act. We trust that God will set us free and renew us in our life's work to love our neighbors. In this time of public attention to gun violence, local communities of faith have a unique opportunity to engage this work. As bishops, we were thankful to recognize the many resources our church has already developed (see below). We begin by listening: listening to God, to Scripture, and to each other. Providing a safe place for people to share their own stories, together we discern courses of action. Together we act. And together we return to listening to assess the effectiveness of our efforts to reduce violence. In the Large Catechism Luther says, We must not kill, either by hand, heart, or word, by signs or gestures, or by aiding and abetting. Violence begins in the human heart. Words can harm or heal. To focus only on guns is to miss the depth of our vocation. Yet, guns and access are keys to the challenges we face. We recognize that we serve in different contexts and have different perspectives regarding what can and should be done. But as we live out our common vocations, knowing that the work will take many forms, we are committed to the work of reducing and restraining violence. This shared work is a sign of our unity in Christ. We invite you, our sisters and brothers, to join us in this work: The work of lament creating safe space for naming, praying, grieving, caring for one another, and sharing the hope in God s promise of faithfulness The work of moral formation and discernment listening to scripture,

7 repenting, modeling conflict resolution in daily life, addressing bullying, conducting respectful conversations, and discerning constructive strategies to reduce violence The work of advocacy acting to address the causes and effects of violence Knowing that we are not saved by this work, we undertake it trusting in Christ Jesus, who laid down his life for the world and who calls us to be peacemakers, to pursue justice, and to protect the vulnerable. In this, as in all things, Christ is with us. Thanks be to God. We have Work to Do, by Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson Community Violence, a social message Believe/SocialIssues/Messages/Communit y-violence.aspx The Body of Christ and Mental Illness, a social message WeBelieve/Social-Issues/Social- Statements-in-Process/Mental-Illness.aspx Hearing the Cries: Faith and Criminal Justice, a proposed social statement Issues/Social-Statements-in- Process/CriminalJustice/Study- Document.aspx For Peace in God s World, a 1995 social statement WeBelieve/Social-Issues/Social- Statements/Peace.aspx Ban of Military-Style Semi-Automatic Weapons, 1989 social policy resolution Issues/Resolutions/1989/CA89,-p-,02,-p-,10Ban-of-Military-Style-Semi-Automatic- Weapons.aspx Community Violence Gun Control, 1993 social policy resolution Issues/Resolutions/1993/CA93,-p-,06,-p-,10Community-Violence-Gun-Control.aspx All are welcome to submit an article for our Guest Column. [we reserve the right to edit for content and space] Oh, What a Beautiful Morning by Roy Damer A number of years ago, a Sunrise Service was held at St. Mark on Easter. It was as dark as the Ace of Spades when my son Rod and I left home to sing in the choir. the sun was shining brilliantly when we returned several hours later. My wife, Marlene, was at the kitchen door to greet us and she asked, How did the choir do? Without a moment of hesitation, Rod replied, We arose to the occasion. It was a beautiful answer on a beautiful morning. Then there was the case of Maury White, a clever columnist for the Des Moines Register. Amidst all the fuss and hype surrounding the Super Bowl football game, Maury observed, I always thought Super Sunday was Easter. And, of course, it is!

8 St. Mark Lutheran Church Cash Flow Statement Summary ~ General Fund/ ~ February 28, 2013 MTD Actual YTD Actual Annual Budget INCOME Offerings/Bequests $29, $54, $470, Administrative $ $ $2, Facility Usage $ $ $7, Facility Usage-Booster Cl $0.00 $0.00 $3, Fac Usage $0.00 $0.00 $7, Facility Usage Parsonage $1, $2, $15, Ministries $57.00 $ $3, */Daycare Fund Income $14, $29, $168, Total $46, $86, $676, EXPENSES Administrative $8, $11, $57, Compensation $24, $52, $313, Property $5, $11, $82, Ministries $1, $2, $16, $18, $38, * Daycare Expense $206, Total $58, $116, $676, Net Income (Loss) includes preschool ($12,074.26) ($29,928.93) $0.00 * = These totals are taken from the /Daycare Fund Detail Cash Flow Statement St. Mark Lutheran Church ~ Income & Expense-Benevolence Fund ~ February 28, 2013 MTD Actual YTD Actual Annual Budget INCOME Benevolence Offerings 4,351 7,571 50,000 Other Income Total Income 4,351 7,571 50,000 EXPENSE Total Expenses 4,167 8,333 50,000 Net Income (Loss) 184 (762) - St. Mark Lutheran Church ~ Income & Expense-Capital Fund ~ February 28, 2013 MTD Actual YTD Actual Annual Budget INCOME Capital Offerings 2,342 4,274 24,000 Other Income ,000 Total Income 2,453 4,480 25,000 EXPENSE Total Expenses* ,000 Net Income (Loss) 2,453 4,480 (40,000)

9 1 PADS 2 Bible Study 3 Volleyball FaithWalk 4 Adult Choir 5 6 First Communion 12:00pm Private Event Foundation Meeting Basketball KC 7 Chapel Service Worship 5:30pm SHINE 8 1:00pm Book Club PADS Mary Circle 9 10 Volleyball 3:30pm WOW! 6:00pm Children's Choir FaithWalk 11 Bell Choir Adult Choir Basketball KC 14 Chapel Service Worship 5:30pm SHINE 15 PADS 16 Council Meeting 17 Volleyball Quilting FaithWalk 18 Bell Choir Adult Choir Ladies Night at Movies Basketball KC 21 Chapel Service Worship Sunday 11:00am Spring Fest 22 Bridge PADS 23 Quilting 24 Volleyball 3:30pm WOW! 6:00pm Children's Choir 25 Bell Choir Adult Choir 26 Private Event Family Fun Night Set Up 27 Private Event Family Fun Night FaithWalk Basketball KC 28 Chapel Service Worship 5:30pm SHINE PADS

10 St. Mark Lutheran Church 200 South Wille Street Mount Prospect, Illinois April 2013 St. Mark Lutheran Church 847/ Fax 847/ Staff Lead Pastor Linnea Wilson Associate Pastor Dan Durbin Vicar Chrisite Webb Music Director Timothy Spelbring Parish Administrator Nancy Hundley Director Kris Lebrecht Office Administrator Linda Zimmerman Sunday Worship Chapel Service ~ 8 am Worship Service ~ 10 am Fellowship/Education Hour 9 am Office Hours Monday Thursday 8:30 am 4:30 pm Friday 8:30 am 12 pm noon