The Mark s. The Mark s. Special points of interest: God s Work, Our Hands Year: Responding After a Disaster. Inside this issue:

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1 The Mark s St. Mark s Lutheran Church, Conshohocken, PA. November 2016 Special points of interest: God s Work, Our Hands Year: Responding After a Disaster Stewardship Campaign Update Octoberfest Recap Election Day Prayer Vigil Poinsettia Order Form Chrismon Making Family Fun Night Inside this issue: Faith Formation 2 Home 3 Service 4 Worship 6 Altar Flowers 8 Fellowship 10 Calendar 11 Helping Hands 12 The Fall brings its share of disasters to the East Coast, usually in the form of hurricanes. This fall has been no exception as we watched Hurricane Matthew slam into the island nation of Haiti and track on into the Carolinas to cause devastating flooding. When tragedies like this strike, communities need help putting homes, work places, parks, and lives back together. Emergency aid in the form of food, shelter, and medical aid are usually the first things on the ground, but communities often need years of assistance to fully recover. That s why the work of Lutheran Disaster Response (an arm of Lutheran World Relief) is so important. LDR is on the ground first and longest as they work to repair communities that face traumatic events. How LDR Works Our church is a catalyst, convener and bridge builder; and so the work that Lutheran Disaster Response does is no different. LDR collaborates with other disaster response organizations and religious entities in the United States and around the world enabling the greatest stewardship of resources and maximum impact of response. LDR is a welcome partner in disaster relief because they work to respect the perspectives and strengths of others as they partner with local communities to recover after a disaster. LDR recognizes that every disaster is local. Because of this, every response needs to be rooted in the community; LDR works to accompany from immediate relief through long-term recovery. In international work partnering closely with companion churches and other Lutheran and ecumenical relief agencies to make sure local needs are being addressed and met. In the United States, LDR has an extensive affiliate network and other partners to address these same concerns; getting communities back to pre-disaster states. Lutheran Disaster Response strives to help the church continue to be church in the midst of disaster following Christ s call to bring hope and healing to our neighbor in need. Some key areas of work include: Providing emotional and spiritual care for people who have been affected by a disaster and for leaders who respond to a disaster Coordinating volunteers through our local affiliates Assisting refugees in a holistic way by meeting the varied needs of the community Promoting disaster riskreduction by helping communities build their assets thereby reducing the effects of likely disasters Providing long-term recovery efforts by addressing the unmet needs months or even years after a disaster strikes Our Impact Lutheran Disaster Response brings God s hope, healing and renewal to people whose lives have been disrupted by disasters in the United States and around the world. When the dust settles and the headlines change, we stay to provide ongoing assistance to those in need. Where Lutherans are responding: Hurricane Matthew Louisiana Gulf Coast Flooding Africa Drought West Virginia Flooding Nepal Earthquake Middle East and Europe Refugee Crisis AMMPARO: Migrant Minors Protecting Page 1

2 Theology on Tap on November 7:30 Have you tried Theology on Tap yet? It s a great informal way to spend some time getting to know some of the folks in our community as well as exploring about God. Each of the Theology on Tap sessions this year will feature a small discussion on the Small Catechism (our how-to guide for being a Lutheran). We cover topics like the Lord s Prayer, the 10 Commandments, the Creeds, and the sacraments. All are welcome to join us for these conversations about faith, our life, and enjoying the fellowship of one another!! Hope to see you at the Pub at 7:30pm!! Faith Formation Tweener s Book Study Join the Conversation Our book study conversations continue this month as we explore more about what the darkness has to teach us. Barbara Brown Taylor in her book Learning to Walk in the Dark points out that sometimes the darkness can be a place where God shows up. In fact, it might be that in the darkness, God does the best work. In her classic story telling voice, Barbara Brown Taylor explores the dark side of our faith and learning that quite possibly the darkness has something to teach us about ourselves and about how our God works. Doubt, fear, uncertainty, faithlessness, all things that she wrestles with in this book come to the forefront as we learn that even in these dark places, God dwells with us. Join us as we explore this great New York Times best selling book! Youth and Family Faith Formation Classes Each Sunday we explore the lessons with our young ones in a family friendly and kid friendly class upstairs following the worship service. Each of our classes features a reflection on the lectionary readings for that appointed Sunday as they continue to explore the stories we read in worship each Sunday. All are welcome to attend the class! We are currently looking for adults to help sign up to teach those classes. A Sign Up Genius has been created to facilitate folks to sign up for various weeks. The curriculum is very user friendly and if you would like more information about teaching please see Kim Kriebel, Beth Patruno or Pastor for more information. If you would like to Session dates and topics: November 8th (Who s Afraid of the Dark, The Fear of the Lord, Hampered by Brilliance) November 22nd (The Dark Emotions, The Eyes of the Blind, Entering the Stone) December 13th (The Dark Night of the Soul, Working with Darkness, Our Lady of the Underground). sign up please visit the following link: go/10c0948aba623a3fb6- stmarks Thanks to all those who have already signed up this fall to teach!! Page 2

3 Faith Formation Home Activity Remembering People Talk About It With All Saints November 1, we remember those men and woman, lay and religious, who the church has lifted up as models for the rest of us. They are our fathers and mothers in our faith. They are honored for their willingness to live fully the Gospel in their time and place. with now for the gift of them. We ask for the grace to forgive any errors they committed through human weakness. The Feast of Thanksgiving, while it is not a religious feast, this celebration does remind us of even though we may have struggles and problems in our lives, that we have so much to be thankful for. Hopefully, as a community of faith, one of the things that we do is to help one another to grow in gratitude for the gifts that we have received in the past and the gifts that we are receiving right now. Activity Plan In this exercise spend some time and think of two people who have made a positive impact in your life. We can learn a lot from our ancestor stories of hope, faith, struggle, and turn to them for inspiration and intercession in our daily family life. We give thanks to God for raising them up. The Feast of All Souls November 2, we remember those dear to us who have passed away. We remember especially the good that they did during their live, their good qualities, we remember special occasions when through their love, generosity, affirmation they helped us through tough times and we give thanks to our God with whom we trust they are Share a time when you were younger and struggled with something and God sent someone into your life to lift you up. For example it could be a grandfather, grandmother, uncle/aunt, brother/sister, teacher, catechist, priest, deacon, nun, friend, etc. Then, each person can take a piece of paper and draw on it three gifts that God is blessing you with right now that you are grateful for and share them. To conclude, each one shares one thing that they learned through doing the exercise together. Adult Faith Formation Hour We offer an Adult hour of faith formation on Sunday mornings prior to worship starting at 8:30am. Each Sunday we explore the texts for worship in deeper ways to prepare you to hear the Lectionary readings read in worship and used in preaching. If you like taking a deeper dive into what is going on during the Sunday worship service we invite you to join us on Sunday morning for conversations around the texts using the "Feasting on the Word" curriculum. The lectionary really is a feast for our faith life, so come and get your fill of Spiritual food and the banquet that is the word of God. Page 3

4 Service Items for CNC: Help support our local food pantry by bringing in the following items: Shelf stable canned meats Boxed meals Peanut Butter and Jelly Granola Bars Paper Products (Toilet Paper, Paper towels) Soap / Shampoo Personal Care Items Deodorant, shaving cream, tooth brushes, tooth paste. November s Focus on Disaster Response Lutheran Congregational Services serves as our local contact for working with Lutheran Disaster response. As part of their work, LCS puts together what they call flood buckets to help in times of flooding - often after hurricanes and other periods of extended rain in our area. Families involved in the recent flooding are in need of assistance. With the right materials, many of them can continue the overwhelming job of cleaning up after a disaster or flood on their own or with the help of volunteers. Here is what is needed to prepare a Clean-up Bucket / Flood Bucket: One five-gallon bucket with re-sealable lid Bleach (two 1-quart or one 82 oz. bottle) Five scouring pads Seven sponges, assorted sizes One scrub brush Eighteen cleaning towels (reusable, like Easy Wipes ) One oz. box dry laundry detergent One 12 oz. bottle of liquid concentrated household cleaner (like Lysol ) One 25 oz. bottle liquid disinfectant dish soap (like Dawn ) One package of clothespins Clothesline, two 50 ft. or one 100 ft. Five dust masks Two pairs latex gloves (like Playtex ) One pair work gloves 28-bag roll of heavy-duty trash bags (30-45 gallon) One 6-9 oz. bottle of insect repellent (pump, drops or lotion, not aerosol) Do not think that you have to provide all of the items. Any contribution is welcome. Please provide all liquids in new, unopened plastic bottles. Be sure to provide only new materials. If the requested item size is not available, go down to the next available size. Help CNC fill Thanksgiving Baskets with Mashed Potatoes This year we will be helping CNC provide for families in need in our community for the thanksgiving holiday. We have been challenged with collecting 100 boxes of instant mashed potatoes to put into the family boxes that CNC will give out this year. Please bring in your mashed potatoes by November 20th so that we can get them over to CNC and placed in the baskets. Page 4

5 Service Fall Stewardship Drive : Series of Cottage Meetings What is Stewardship? Stewardship is how we talk about responding to the goodness we receive out of God s grace. Everything that we are, everything that we have, is a gift from God s goodness stewardship is a way for us to say thank you to God for that goodness we receive, by giving thanks with our time, our talents and our treasures. This years campaign is a l i t t l e d i f f e r e n t. Over the last two years for our fall stewardship campaign, we have completed a survey of congregational time and talent as we seek to include and equip our newer members to join our various ministry efforts of the congregation. This year we will be doing something a little different. As we begin to discern new directions for our congregation, we continue to grow and expand the ministries of St. Mark s. We will be holding a series of Cottage Meetings which will be informal gatherings of St. Mark s members at their homes to talk about the future and ministry of St. Mark s. A time of reflection as a congregation These cottage meetings will be a chance for us to listen to one another and listen for what God is calling us, as a congregation, to do with our growing ministries at St. Mark s. These meetings will be a time for members to hear about how our congregation is growing and some of the challenges that face a growing congregation. We hope to have the preliminary 2017 budget at these meetings so we can begin to talk about dimensions of the 2017 budget prior to the upcoming congregational meeting when we vote to approve the budget. These meetings will also offer a time to hear from and meet with our church leadership. Leadership is ready to outline and propose several future projects that they would like to see the congregation work towards in the coming years as we continue to be a growing congregation poised to teach a new generation of what it means to be church. We will spend some time reflecting on our sense of stewardship together It s no secret that we live in a consumer society so how we talk about money and how we relate to it is part of our spiritual well being as well. Pastor will be leading a small bible study to talk about our sense of stewarding our treasures and give us a few ways to look at our resources as we seek to live a life of generosity grounded in the abundance of grace we receive from God. It s also about fellowship too!! Of course, in these informal settings, it will also be a chance to get to know one another as we have quite a few newer members who want to get to know who we are and what we are about! It will also be a great time of fellowship for us as we work together as a congregation as we grow our congregation. We hope that you will plan to join us for these cottage meetings please be on the look- out for your personal invitation to one of these cottage meetings and we hope that you will plan to attend one in the coming months. We look forward to the ways in which the Spirit will speak to us through these conversations and planning for the future of St. Mark s. Page 5

6 All Saint s Sunday November 6th On Sunday, November 6th, we will celebrate the feast of All Saint s Sunday a day in the life of the church year where we give thanks for the faithful departed and celebrate the fact that one day we will be reunited with them at the great feast banquet in heaven. As part of the celebration of this feast day, we will read a list of names of all those who have died since last All Saint s Sunday. We invite you to submit names for the prayers this year if you have a loved one who has died this year. To submit a name please call or the church office. We also invite people to bring in pictures of loved ones that have died that you wish to remember on this day so that we may decorate the sanctuary and worship surrounded by the cloud of saints who have gone before us. Please bring with you pictures of loved ones that you would like to honor and remember as part of our remembrance that through the body of Christ we are united with all the faithful from all time and space. Also on All Saint s Sunday we will be dedicating our new albs to the glory of God. The alb is a vestment used in worship to symbolize our unity with all the baptized perfect for dedication on All Saint s Sunday! Worship Advent Starts November 27th Advent is the start of a new liturgical cycle for the church year. We spend four weeks in the season of Advent as we prepare our hearts and our minds for the arrival of Christmas. As we learned last year during Advent it is a season of waiting as we anticipate the arrival of the gift of the Christ child. But Advent is also a season of watching as well. As our world continues to be come more and more visual, watching for Christ and looking for Christ to show up in our world around us is becoming more and more important. During the weeks of Advent and throughout Christmas, we will be spending some time reflecting on how we see Christ in the world through a series of visual reflections during our worship time. The Christian tradition has a rich history of depicting the story of Christ in the arts and we will be picking up some of that art to reflect on during the weeks of Advent. We hope you will join us as we watch and wait for the coming of the Lord this season of Advent! The Visitation Dr. He Qi is a professor at the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary and a tutor for master candidate students in the Philosophy Department of Nanjing University. He is also a member of the China Art Association and a council member of the Asian Christian Art Association. This image is of the Annunciation and Visitation, and it specifically connects with the lectionary reading of the Magnificat in Luke Page 6

7 Worship Chrismon Making Workshop Friday December 9th On Friday December 9th we are inviting folks to an evening of Chrismon ornament making. these symbols and learning how they relate to how we understand the birth of Jesus. Each attendee is invited to make a new Chrismon that we will place on our tree in the sanctuary for Christmas, and to also make one to take home with them. This is a great kid friendly evening, as well. After the Chrismon making workshop, we will offer pizza and a movie for our young ones in case parents need to leave to do a little - ahem - shopping. The Chrismon is a special kind of Christian Christmas ornament that represents the name of Christ. Each symbol has a way or representing a name for Jesus. We will spend time learning about We hope that you and your family will plan to join us for this evening of fun and fellowship as we learn more about celebrating the birth of Jesus this year! Schedule for the evening: 5:00pm 6:30pm Chrismon Making 6:30pm Pizza 6:30pm 8pm Movie and games in the Auditorium. Election Eve Prayer Service Monday, November 7, at 7:30 p.m On Monday night we will join with St. Luke Lutheran Church in Devon for an ecumenical service of prayer for our country on the eve of our national election. We invite you to this service of prayer and reflection as we pray for justice, hope, and peace for all people in the coming day. It s a good time to center ourselves before the work that will be done on Election day if you work in the polls, work as a volunteer for campaigning, voting, or are otherwise anxious about the outcome of the election join us in prayer and reflection as we remember the God who holds us fast no matter what happens on November 8th. Prayer service will begin at 7:30pm at St. Luke Devon which is located at 203 N Valley Forge Road, Devon PA. Pastor is planning to attend and if you would like to ride with him please him, so we can carpool together. Page 7

8 Worship Whirl Worship Sunday On Sunday, October 22nd we had our first ever Whirl Worship Sunday a kid friendly, family friendly, adult friendly worship experience. Thanks to all who participated and enjoyed the fun we had in worship. Our young ones enjoyed worship a lot and found the extra special welcome in worship to be a big welcome to church. Our next Whirl Worship Sunday will be in January, so stay tuned for more details! Altar Flowers this Month Nov. 6th Nov. 13th Given by Joanne and Thomas Popowicz Given by Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Moore Nov. 20th The McClure and Koch Families In loving memory of Robert P. Donovan and John F. & Anna Mae Popowicz In loving memory of our parents Elizabeth Norman Leezer and John and Katherine Moore In loving memory of their parents, Doris & Caldwell McClure Nov. 27th Open Upcoming open flowers in November 11/27, to sign up for these flowers, please contact the church office admin@stmarksconshy.org Memorial Service for The Rev. J. Donald Rea Please plan to join us on Friday, November 11th at 2pm as we honor the life of The Rev. J. Donald Rea who served as pastor of St. Mark's from The Rev. Clarie Burkat, Bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod (and former student St. Mark's) will be preaching and The Rev. Bryan Penman will be presiding. In lieu of flowers the family has asked that donations be made to the J. Donald Rea Memorial Scholarship St. Mark s. Condolences may be sent to Diane Rea, Shannondell Drive, Audubon, PA & John Rea, 633 W Rittenhouse St. Apt A1126, Philadelphia, PA Page 8

9 Worship Join us for Dinner Church Dinner Church meets on Thursday evenings at 6pm and is a growing community that gathers around the table for a meal, sacred story telling, prayer, singing, fellowship, and celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Volunteers are welcome to sign up to bring soup or salad for our meal to share we usually have between 15 and 20 people for dinner. During Christmas, we decorate our sanctuary with a few festival decorations and we place poinsettia plants on the altar for Christmas Eve. If you would like to help us decorate the sanctuary for Christmas eve, we are asking folks to purchase plants for the sanctuary for Christmas Eve. Order form is included to the right and orders need to be placed by December 11th. Christmas Poinsettia Order Form All Plants are $11.00 each I wish to order: Poinsettia (s) I plan to pick up my plants following the Christmas Eve Service OR I would like to donate my plants to a shut in (Please note that following the Christmas Day Service we will be taking all remaining plants to a nursing home to be shared with residents) WORDING for Memorial in program: NAME: PHONE: Please return this form with check payable to: St. Mark s Lutheran Church 508 Harry Street, Conshohocken, PA or you can place them in the offering plate marked Christmas Flowers Page 9

10 Evangelism / Fellowship Conshohocken Beer Fest Thanks to all those who helped pass out water and talk with people in our community at the Beer Fest we passed out well over 700 water bottles and nearly doubled our crew working the St. Mark s Booth this year! As always, people were amazed that we were giving away free water! Octoberfest Fundraiser Dinner A HUGE THANK YOU to all who helped make Octoberfest such a success this year!!! To those who helped make food the week of - THANK YOU, to the Scouts from Troop 140 who helped by earning service hours - THANK YOU, to those who helped set up the banquet room - THANK YOU, to those who helped bake for the bake sale - THANK YOU, to those who came to eat and those who got take out - THANK YOU, and to those who helped clean up afterwards - THANK YOU. Of course a hearty thank you also goes out to Joanne Popowicz for her efforts to organize and cook this year!! This year, with the generous support of Thrivent action team funds, we were able to keep more of the proceeds this year: Ticket sales Bake Table Excess Food Sales When we subtract our supply costs we made close to $ way to go St. Mark's!!!! Page 10

11 November 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat :30am: Pastor s Bible Study 7pm: Worship and Music Meeting 6pm: Dinner Church Engaging Worship Trinity Lansdale Engaging Worship Trinity Lansdale :30: Adult FF 9:30: Worship 10:30 Youth FF Fellowship Hour 10:30am: Pastor s Bible Study 7pm: Tweener s Book Study 6pm: Dinner Church 7pm: Choir 7:30pm: Theology on Tap 7:45: Bell Choir 2pm: Memorial Service for J. Donald Rea :30: Adult FF 9:30: Worship 10:30 Youth FF Fellowship Hour Church Council 10:30am: Pastor s Bible Study 6pm: Dinner Church 7pm: Choir 7:45: Bell Choir :30: Adult FF 9:30: Worship 10:30 Youth FF Fellowship 10:30am: Pastor s Bible Study 7pm: Tweener s Book Study Office Closed NO DINNER CHURCH OR CHOIR Happy Thanksgiving Office Closed :30: Adult FF 9:30: Worship 10:30 Youth FF Fellowship 10:30am: Pastor s Bible Study Page 11

12 Saint Mark s Lutheran Church 508 Harry Street Conshohocken, PA THIS IS CHRIST'S CHURCH. There is a place for you here. We are the church that shares a living, daring confidence in God's grace. Liberated by our faith, we embrace you as a whole person questions, complexities and all. Join us as we do God's work in Christ's name for the life of the world. Phone: info@stmarksconshy.org stmarksconshy.org God s Work. Our Hands. Worship Assistants for the month November Comm. Assist. Joanne Popowicz LJ Kriebel Joanne Copestick Lauren Parkin Acolytes Don Turkowski Garrett Kriebel Theodora Morley Evan Fazzari Readers Stephanie Conklin Sue Dryburgh Pam Keebler Erin Fazzari Advent Wreath Brooke Kenna Nursery Fike Family Hoffman Family Ruggiero Family Jones Family Altar Guild Sandy Portzer Stef Conklin Jen Schreiter Sandy Portzer Joanne Copestick Pam Keebler Karl Schreiter Joanne Copestick Ushers Jim Orman Bill Portzer Donna Kobi Dolores Lush LJ Kriebel Pam Keebler Terry Spence Erin Orekar Assist. Minister Sheldon Erb Joe Jacovino Katie Colaneri Theodora Morley Counters Rhea Moore Susan Dryburgh Joan Holohan LJ Kriebel Pam Keebler Susan Jacovino Erin Orekar Pam Keebler Recorder Kathy Pokalo Nate Ramsden Jeanette Nazaryk Jen Schreiter Page 12