The Missive January 2019 A Message from Father Joshua. Warm New Years greetings to you all! January is an important month for our church. Perhaps one of the most distinguishing aspects of the Episcopal Church is how it governs itself. The governing rules for the Episcopal Church (called canons) were created around the same time as the US Constitution itself and shares some of its core values. Unlike the Roman Catholic Church and even the Church of England, the Episcopal Church USA vested strong powers in the people for self-governance. Very briefly, at our most local level (the parish) it is the general worshipping assembly that elects the governing body (the vestry) and it is the vestry that elects the rector (or priest-in-charge, who assumes responsibility for the administration of the worship, the property, and religious education of the parish). That very election will happen at the end of this month! Our annual parish meeting is January 27th after the 10am service (we'll eat together for a potluck lunch). In this meeting there will be a brief presentation on the various ministries and outreaches of our church and a "state of the parish" report from the vestry itself. Also during this meeting the parish is charged with electing new representatives to the vestry. This is often the only issue the entire parish is asked to vote on. With your vote you entrust the vestry with the responsibility to support the rector, to promote the "spiritual welfare of the cure," and with the upkeep of the parish property. According to the canons "all worshipers" are offered a vote in the annual meeting, with a couple exceptions: you must be baptized and 16 years or older. If you are able to give financially then you must also be known to the parish treasurer. Lastly, the requirements to be a member of the vestry are a bit more restrictive: a vestry member must be confirmed, 18 years old or older, a "frequent attendant" of church services during the last 6 months, and a regular financial contributor. These are the basic outlines to our parish governance. Of course, the most basic value of our church is our call to the life of Jesus, but it is in these ways that we collectively discern how those convictions will become a reality here in our corner of the world. Father Joshua
Ye Olde 53nd Annual Pancake Day At St. Mark s Episcopal Church 531 W. College Ave - Jonesboro, AR 72401 Saturday, January 26th 6:30 am - 12:00 pm The Men s Club of St. Mark s will host its 53rd annual Pancake Day Breakfast on Saturday, Jan. 26th, from 6:30 am to noon. We are asking you to buy or sell 10 tickets to help us with this year s breakfast. Some people prefer to buy the tickets and give some away to friends or family. You may return your ticket money to Al Poston, Perry Moses, or the church office. Please note that Pancake Day is an important event that brings many visitors to St. Mark s. It also lets the Men s Club do many projects for the church, such as giving money to our youth program, purchase a new air-conditioning unit for the church and twenty other projects this past year. With your help, this year can be the biggest pan-cake breakfast we have ever had at St. Mark s! Tickets are $6.00 each and will be mailed to everyone on January 2.
* Attention Parishioners: Book and Bake Sale ECW s annual Book and Bake sale will be held again this year in conjunction with the Men s Club s Pancake Breakfast. Please consider baking something for us to sell, or donating used books, CDs, Puzzles or Videos. If you are setting aside items for donation, please do not bring them to Church until the week before the sale, since storage space is limited. St. Nicholas Feast Day Our first St. Nicholas Feast Day celebration was awesome. Before entering the nave for the St. Nicholas service, children left their shoes outside the door. After services they were delighted to discover chocolate coins had been left in their shoes! During the services everyone was thrilled when St. Nicholas entered the nave. I appreciate the donation of cookies, milk, and hot coco. We are indebted to Perry Moses, who portrayed St. Nicholas. Perry s gentle features and ways made him the perfect St. Nicholas. There are some photos of our St. Nicholas Feast Day in the nave.
Vestry Elections St. Mark's has four vestry members ending their terms in January, and will need to elect four new members. The vestry functions as the leadership council of the church, caring for facilities upkeep, financial endeavors, and church policies. Serving on the vestry can be a very fulfilling way to offer your gifts of creativity and service to our St. Mark's community. We are looking for positive, dependable folks who are passionate about St. Mark's to run for vestry at our annual meeting in January. If you are interested or would like to nominate someone, please call or email the church office. Men s Club News we will meet on Friday, January 25 th this month at 6:00 pm to begin preparations for Pancake Day, which is on Saturday the 26 th. We will have the customary bacon sandwiches and set up the Parish Hall on Friday night. All men of the church are invited! Annual Meeting/Potluck- Will be Sunday, January 27, 2019 following the 10:00 am service in the Parish Hall. Please plan on attending.
St. Mark s Day School Santa was very good to the children and staff of St. Mark's Day School. The holidays were a well deserved break! We are excited to return to school January 2nd and see our children and co-workers. We have not had much in the way of winter weather but just in case remember that St. Mark's Day School closes follows the Jonesboro Schools closings for inclement weather. School will be closed January 21st for Martin Luther King Day. Thanks, Peggy Children s Christmas Eve Pageant Thank you to all the children who participated in our annual Children s Christmas Pageant. Our practices help the kids feel more comfortable in the roles they play. So, I am thankful for parents making sure their children came to practice sessions. As a result of parent commitment all the children did an outstanding job of either reading or enacting the Gospel. Special thanks to our adults who will be helping out during the practices and during the pageant. A big THANK YOU to Blake Coe, Fr. Joshua and Gary for putting our props and costumes in the attic until our next pageant. Salvation Army Angel Tree The Salvation Army thanks St. Mark's for their support of an Angel Tree. You can rest assured that your gifts will definitely make some child's Christmas much better. Thank you and God bless you for your generosity. Sincerely, Al Poston Warm and Fuzzy Tree ECW Thanks you for your participation in the Warm and Fuzzy tree for the Family Crisis Center. It was a huge success this year because of the generosity of the St. Mark s Congregation. Thank you as well for the contributions to our Salvation Army Sock drive.
Christian Education for Children Happy and holy New Year! It is hard to believe we will soon be ending and beginning another new year. The new year comes bringing Fresh HOPES, Fresh PLANS, Fresh FEEL- INGS, Fresh COMMITMENT. Here is to welcoming 2019 with a fresh ATTITUDE! Our elementary Christian Education program has been blessed in so many ways. Parents and children have been committed to participating in Christian Ed activities and sessions. Our teaching staff is caring individuals who are faithfully bring the good news of Christ to the children of St. Mark s. We will need your continued support and prayers during the up coming new year. The generosity and kindness shown by our parish family do not go unnoticed. Without this, it would be difficult for me to do the work I am called to do. May God blessed you all richly for what you do and for the support offered to the young people of St. Mark s. We had our Family Christmas party on December 19. Parents provided all kinds of wonderful finger foods for our gathering. During this time, fall semester Christian Education progress reports were made available to parents. Progress reports helps the catechist to see how we are doing in our sessions and help parents to see how their child is progressing in Christian Education sessions. Our Christian Education sessions will resume on Wednesday, January 9 at 6:00pm. We will celebrate Epiphany with a special activity with the children. Please contact Fr. Joshua or Rose Mary (935-0236 or rosemarylatanich@gmail.com ) if you have any questions about our Christian Education program. Please note that Christian Ed follows Jonesboro Public School Inclement weather policy. When Jonesboro schools are closed due to weather, Christian Ed will be cancelled.
HAPPY NEW YEAR from ST. MARK S ECW!! ECW will meet Saturday, January 12 h at 9:30 for our January meeting. We will be electing officers for the coming year. We will also be planning our Book and Bake sale. Fellowship time will be at 9:30. The business meeting begins at 10:00. Please send any agenda items to beckycarr_asu@hotmail.com. ECW s annual Book and Bake sale will be held again this year in conjunction with the Men s Club s Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, January 26. Please consider baking something for us to sell, or donating used books, CDs, Puzzles or Videos. If you are setting aside items for donation, please do not bring them to Church until the week before the sale since storage space is limited. Also, if you don t want to bake, we would appreciate a cash donation. Our meetings are always fun, and a nice way to start off the New Year with the women of St Mark s. Reconnect with some long-time friends and make some new ones. We have a wonderful group of women at St. Mark s. All women 18 and up are members of ECW. Two Saints January Schedule Jan 5 - Team 6 Jan 12 - Team 7 Jan 19 - Team 8 Jan 26 - Team 9
Birthdays 01/01 Gail McDonald 01/01 Ruby Daniel 01/03 Reneilia Hampton 01/04 Linda Cobb 01/05 Robin Dauer 01/06 Ann Fritz 01/06 Caleb Worlow 01/07 Jenna Daniel 01/07 Donna Gilbert 01/07 Ashlyn Holland-Moore 01/07 Dennis Zolper 01/09 Greta Grace Troutt 10/18 Ava Grace Elam 01/20 Dan Bishop 01/21 Pam Garofas 01/21 Adel Johnson 01/21 Phillip Poston 01/23 Matthew Dauer 01/23 Teresa Fuller 01/26 Beth Smith 01/27 Maizie Henry 01/27 Lydia Howard 01/27 Danielle Ledet 01/28 Sally Coleman 01/30 Rhonda Dauer 01/30 Carroll Scroggin 01/31 Timothy Penley January Anniversaries 1/02 Erik and Donna Gilbert
Upcoming Events.. January 2019 Jan Daughters of the King Jan 12 ECW Meeting Jan 21 Martin Luther King Day, Office Closed Jan 21 Vestry Meeting Jan 25 Men s Club Meeting Jan 26 Pancake Day and Bake/Book Sale Jan 27 Annual Meeting and Potluck Lunch Jan 27 Daughter s of the King Financial Update December Year to Date Pledges and Offerings Received $ 21,269 $ 240,198 Needed to meet budget $ 21,369 $ 251,344 Budget Surplus (Shortfall) $ 100) ($ 11,146) Actual Expenses Paid $ 27,701 $ 279,384 Actual (Shortfall) $( 6,431) $ (39,186) Loan Balance $ 137,647