SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
God's word is like the rain that waters the earth and brings forth vegetation. It is also like the sower who scatters seed indiscriminately. Our lives are like seeds sown in the earth. Even from what appears to be little, dormant, or dead, God promises a harvest. At the Lord's table we are fed with the bread of life, that we may bear fruit in the world.
THIS SUNDAY AT ST. MARK'S
9:00 am - Holy Communion with Children’s Time - Sanctuary
10:00 am - Refreshments and Fellowship Hour - Heritage Hall
11:00 am - Holy Eucharist Worship Service - Sanctuary
12:15 pm - Refreshments and Fellowship Hour - Heritage Hall
12:30 pm - Young Adult Gathering - Fireside Room
YOUNG ADULT GATHERING – SUNDAY, JULY 16
The young adults of St. Mark’s will be gathering THIS SUNDAY at 12:30 p.m. in the Fireside Room for a simple lunch and a time to get better acquainted with one another and talk about other desires for fellowship in the future. If you identify with this age group as a single person, couple, or parent, and would like to nurture your relationship with others, plan to attend this gathering and explore how we might continue to build this fellowship and invite others to join us.
St. MARK’S FOOD PANTRY - JULY 22
We are a part of the larger Interfaith Food Pantry group of 6 churches in San Francisco.
Our shared responsibility is to distribute groceries, from the SF/Marin Food Bank, to 300 patrons on Saturday mornings. Distribution takes place at Old First Presbyterian Church on Sacramento St. between Polk and Van Ness.
St. Mark’s does 8 distributions per year. Remaining dates in 2017 are:
July 22, Aug 26, Oct 21, Dec 2
We usually divide our morning’s work into 3 shifts.
Volunteers can sign up for 1-3 shifts as follows:
7:30 AM - 9:00 AMUnloading
9:30 AM - 11:00 AM Distribution
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM Clean-up
Come join the St. Mark’s volunteers at the next distribution.
Diana Gomez
dianamrsgomez@mindspring.com
NEW TO ST. MARK'S? WELCOME!
If you are interested in learning more about St Mark’s, we would love to talk with you! All questions are welcome. Contact Liv Beck (beckliv@gmail.com; 415-205-3292).
JULY 22 PROPERTY PROJECT MORNING
Please join the Property Ministry Team on Saturday, July 22nd, starting at 9 AM for a morning of activities and projects to improve the church building and grounds. If you have questions about the Property Team, please contact Gary Schilling at 415-218-2778.
WELCOME PR. TITA VALERIANO
Pr. Tita will be preaching and leading worship at St. Mark’s while our Pastors are on vacation and attending the St. Mark’s Family Camping trip. We are grateful to welcome back Pr. Tita after having served as St. Mark’s interim pastor from Sept. 2015 - February 2017. She will be at St. Mark’s July 23, July 30 and Aug. 6.
While Pr. Ron and Pr. Elizabeth are away, please contact Pr. Chuck Lewis, St. Mark’s Visitation Pastor, if you are in need of pastoral support. Pr Chuck can be reached at 415 956-2069 or through the church office: 415 928-7770.
ST. MARKS 6TH ANNUAL FAMILY CAMPING TRIP
This year’s camping trip will be at Portola Redwoods in the San Mateo mountains. it is a little over an hour from San Francisco and in a beautiful mountain area, but also not far from Pescadero.
Most people come Friday evening and stay through Sunday breakfast. We have hikes, games, campfire and outdoor Sunday Worship.
We do have a reservation on hold for Thursday night, August 3, if anyone would like to go up earlier, please let us know.
This is our 6th annual St. Marks Family Camping Trip, hosted by parents with Kidlettes. In late July, we will circulate a Sign up Genius list for families to sign up for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and campfire preparation. For more information contact Laura Dickinson at 415-730-9583 or larajdickinson@gmail.com.
SCHEDULING EVENTS AT ST. MARK'S
If you have any calendar items, including meetings, events, activities or groups that you would like included in the on-line calendar, please send them to Deidre Rettenmaier, Events Administrator at events@stmarks-sf.org. Thank you!
VOICE DEADLINE - MONDAY, AUGUST 7
The deadline for the next Voice newsletter is Monday, August 7 and will cover September, October, and November. Please send all submissions to Stefani Lawrence (lawrence@stmarks-sf.org). Thank you!
“TELLING THE TALE” – STORIES FROM A THAILAND HABITAT BUILD
In March of this year, St. Mark’s members, Brian Richards & Greg Jahnke traveled to Thailand to help build two homes with Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity. Join them in Heritage Hall on Sunday, July 23rd after the 9:00 service to hear stories from the build and to see slides of the work. Breakfast will be provided for all attendees. Children are welcome.
HEJ FROM SWEDEN!
The Sall family sends warm greetings to St. Mark’s! They are in Sweden and doing some summer traveling before school starts. If you’d like to check in on their sabbatical year, their blog can be found at ourswedishyear.wordpress.com.
ST. MARK’S EL SALVADOR TRIP NOV 21-26, 2017: RELATIONSHIP BUILDING WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS AT CORDERO DE DIOS!
All members of St. Mark’s are encouraged to participate in the next accompaniment journey with Cordero de Dios, El Salvador on November 21-26, 2017 (Thanksgiving week). Singles and couples and families with children are all invited to travel with the delegation.
St. Mark’s is a sister parish with Cordero de Dios, in Soyapango, El Salvador. We have visited them several times and always learn and grow and share much as we build wonderful relationships with our Salvadoran Lutheran brothers and sisters!
Let Mary Ritter mlrpeds@aol.com know as soon as possible if you are interested in going, or have questions about travel and safety issues.
We have started purchasing airplane tickets - the tickets prices are good right now but will likely go higher. We hope to have all tickets purchased by mid to late July 2017. We will set dates in late summer and fall for learning and conversation about the trip. Watch for information about upcoming planning events.
YOUTH MINISTRY TEAM
As we move into our fall program, Pastor Ron would like some assistance in thinking through and planning what our Youth Ministry at St. Mark’s would entail. If you have an interest and investment in the youth of our congregation, please let Pastor Ron know if you desire when he returns from vacation in early August. This team can consist of adults and youth.
OUTREACH TEAM
As Pastor Ron has described in the summer edition of the VOICE, the time has come to reconstitute an Outreach Team that would envision and strategize how we might make St. Mark’s more visible in our community and reach out to the people in our community to invite them to become a part of our faith community. If you have any interest in this ministry, please let Pastor Ron know when he returns from vacation in early August.
MID-YEAR TREASURER’S REPORT
JULY 2017
On behalf of the Church Council as your Treasurer, I submit to the congregation a summary of St. Mark’s fiscal picture. This summary captures the months of January through June 2017. It is the goal of the Council and myself to be transparent with how we are stewarding our finances on behalf of the congregation.
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church and Urban Life Center
Our total income through June 30, 2017 is $370,887, which is 2.2% below our projected income of $379,352. The income figure includes offerings (pledge fulfillment, Sunday and special offerings), in addition to building and parking use income for both the church building and Urban Life Center. Offerings and pledges typically run below plan during the first half of the year, so some shortfall is considered normal. Several office units in the Urban Life Center have been vacated and parking income is down due to a decrease in stall availability, as spaces are being used for our elevator construction, which has contributed to the shortfall.
On the other hand, the total expenditures through June 30, 2017 is $397,773, which is 3.6% below our projected budget of $412,564. The lowered expenses are largely due to the timing of our planned programs and expenses.
All in all, the bottom line is that we are very close to our planned budget at this point in time.
Capital Campaign
Just taking a quick look around, you can see that the stained glass and elevator projects are well underway! As we have planned, we are drawing on internal funds, including the Housing Equity Fund, to supplement our Capital Campaign pledges and offerings designated toward the campaign, in order to pay invoices as they arise while we wait for additional pledges to be received.
As previously anticipated in our cash flow planning, we may need to borrow from outside resources to cover our Elevator and Stained Glass expenses in the fall. There will be ongoing discussions as I closely monitor our cash flow throughout this project and will keep the congregation advised of any developments.
Respectfully Submitted,
Steve Ernst
Treasurer
CELEBRATING LGBTQ PEOPLE AT CHRIST THE GOOD SHEPHERD
Since 1987 Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church has been publicly
proclaiming God’s love to all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Join them on their anniversary as they continue to celebrate LGBTQ people. The party begins with stories & musical performances at 4:00PM on August 19 at 1550 Meridian Avenue, San Jose, CA.
WORSHIP LEADERS THIS SUNDAY
Director of Music...Dr. Timothy Zerlang
Assisting Ministers...Kyle Schiefelbein-Guerrero (9); Marge Okuley, Steve Ernst (11)
Lectors...Suzanne Smith (9); Rachel Letchumanan (11)
Chalice Bearers...Mark Semonian (9); Jane Borg, Cora Rose (11)
Acolytes...Linda Jackson, Nora Hurley
Altar Guild...Sharon Reinbott, Cora Rose
Sacristans...Ed Chitty, Kyle Schiefelbein-Guerrero
Ministry of Welcome...Omer Voss (9); Debra Varian (11)
Coffee Hour Chairs...Kate Knickerbocker, Eva & Matthew Dober
Next Week’s Coffee Hour Chairs...Barbara Bock