It’s a miracle! Multiple miracles! The waters of holy baptism have healed us. The body and blood of Jesus in holy communion have made us clean. We have died with Christ and been raised with him. For all this we have returned to offer thanks. From this place we are sent on our way rejoicing to share the good news.

This Sunday at St. Mark’s
9:00 am — Holy Communion with Children’s Time — Auditorium
9:45 am — Sunday School — School Rooms
10:00 am — Confirmation — Youth Room
10:00 am — Refreshments and Fellowship Hour — Fireside Room
11:00 am — Choral Eucharist Worship Service — Auditorium
12:15 pm — Refreshments and Fellowship Hour — Fireside Room

Property Team Workday to Prepare for Our Return to the Church Building - October 15th
St. Mark’s will return to the church building for worship on Reformation Sunday, October 30th. To prepare for this homecoming, please join the Property Team on Saturday, October 15, from 9 AM until 12 Noon, to tidy up the building and grounds. Please contact Gary Schilling if you’re able to help on October 15th at 415-218-2778 or gary_schilling@yahoo.com.

Our Saturday morning activities will include:
Returning furniture to the narthex and balcony
Cleaning and re-lamping light fixtures
Rehanging drapes and artwork
General tidying up inside and outside of the church building

The new floors are looking wonderful. Your help in returning to the Sanctuary is much appreciated!

Women’s Monthly Study Gatherings
All women are welcome to come and study together at our evening and/or morning Women of the ELCA Gatherings. In October our groups will meet on:

Second Tuesday – October 11 from 11:00am to 1:00pm in the Fireside Room - All women are invited to come for study at 11:00 and then at noon to eat their sandwich or salad and share fellowship. Drinks and dessert will be provided. Our Bible Study will be on “Jesus and the Evil Eye: When God Blesses the Undeserving” as found in the September issue of Gather Magazine.

If you have any questions, please contact Suzanne Smith at 415.285.7438 or suzathome@comcast.net.

St. Mark’s Adult Forum Kickoff on Sunday October 16 & 23 with Dr. Barbara Pitkin of Stanford University, 10:00AM in the Auditorium

October 16 - Dr. Pitkin will talk about the 95 Theses in the context of late medieval Christianity. In 2017, Lutherans and others will mark the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses.
October 23 - Dr. Pitkin will widen the scope and talk about the Reformation as more than Luther. Even though many of Luther’s contemporaries—both supporters and critics—identified Luther as the Reformation’s first champion (or heretic, depending on your point of view), the movements for religious reform that sprang up across Europe and England had their own local and unique points of origin.

Oct. 30 - Dec. 4 - Together by Grace: Six Weeks of Introducing the Lutherans with Pr. Elizabeth Ekdale, Dr. Kyle Schiefelbein, and Dr. Margaret McLean
Who are the Lutherans and what do we believe? How do we live out our faith in the world? As we begin this upcoming year of commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, join Pastor Elizabeth andKyle for six weeks of exploring local and global Lutheran identity.

This interactive adult forum is designed for novice and experienced alike and draws upon multiple learning styles. Using the book Together by Grace: Introducing the Lutherans as the primary guide for the journey, each session combines focused topic questions, prayer, readings from the book and Small Catechism, and discussion of diverse experiences of Lutheranism.

Books are available on Sunday mornings to purchase for $8. Your homework: please read pgs. 7 – 47 before the first session. If you only have time to read a few pages, we suggest you focus on pgs. 19-22.

All participants are encouraged to download the free Augsburg Fortress Small Catechism app. on your cell phones.
A few hard copies will be available too!

Mosaic television show focuses on the homeless
Pr. Elizabeth’s upcoming Mosaic show will be broadcast on Sunday, Oct. 16 at 5:00 a.m. on KPIX (channel 5). Pr. Lyle Beckman from San Francisco Night Ministry and Ms Laura Slattery from the Gubbio Project - Sacred sleep and sanctuary - are her guests. Both Pr. Beckman and Ms. Slattery have extensive experience and compassion for their work with the homeless in San Francisco.

Winter Newsletter Deadline
The Winter edition of St. Mark’s Voice Newsletter will be in production soon and is scheduled to go out November 23rd. The content will cover December, January and February. Please send any Voice submissions by Friday, November 4th to be included in the newsletter. Contact Stefani (lawrence@stmarks-sf.org) to submit material or if you have any questions.

SYNOD Hunger Workshop: Saturday, October 15, Lutheran Church of the Incarnation, Davis, CA - 9:30AM - 4:30PM
Learn how faith and justice are intertwined in a hungry world! This hunger education workshop, by the Sierra Pacific Synod Hunger Network, explores both the life-saving work of the ELCA Hunger and Disaster Appeals, and how the immigration and refugee crisis impacts world and domestic hunger. For more information contact Pr. Tita at valeriano@stmarks-sf.org.

Support St. Mark’s through your Amazon Purchases!
St. Mark’s is now enrolled in Amazon Smile, which donates 0.5% of every purchase to charitable organizations. Make your Amazon purchases through the St. Mark’s Amazon Smile portal, using your Amazon log-in: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-1418294

You will see eligible products marked as “Eligible for AmazonSmile donation” on their product detail pages. Note that recurring Subscribe-and-Save purchases and subscription renewals are not currently eligible for donations.

Sunday School Schedule
All children ages 3 years old through 6th grade are welcome to participate in Sunday School. Sunday School rooms are on the ground floor of the Urban Life Center. Parents are welcome to stay and watch.

October 9th: Big Group, all classes meet together. The topic this Sunday will be Prayer and will be taught by Pastor Elizabeth.
October 30th: Big Group, all classes meet together. Reformation Sunday will be celebrated with a puppet show about Martin Luther.
November 27th: Big Group, all classes meet together. Advent Sunday will be celebrated with games and Advent craft.
No Sunday School December 18th, 25th and January 1st.
January 8th: Big Group, all classes meet together. We will stuff stockings for the homeless. Please bring toiletries or small items suitable for stuffing. (tooth floss, granola, bars, mints...)

Fall Knitting Retreat
A FallKnitting Retreat will be held on Saturday; October 22, 2016 from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. in theFireside Room. The theme of the

retreat is using mosaic knitting to make prayer squares. All are welcome. Please bring a lunch and a snack to share. Questions should be directed to mcclain@stmarks-sf.org.

Clergy Appreciation Month
The month of October has been designated as Clergy Appreciation Month and is a special time for congregations to honor and thank our pastors and their families for the hard work, dedication and multiple blessings they provide. We have some special things planned for October 23rd…mark your calendar.

ELCA Webcast: Ecumenical and interreligious witness and the Reformation anniversary webcast on Oct. 27, 7-8 PM CDT
Please mark your calendars for the next live webcast, “Ecumenical and Interreligious Witness on the Eve of the Reformation Anniversary,” on Thursday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m. CDT. As Lutherans, we have 499 years of history, but on this day we will explore:

What was the Reformation, and what does it mean for Lutherans and ecumenical partners?
What is “Declaration on the Way,” and why is it significant for Lutheran - Catholic relations?
What might ecumenical and interreligious relationships look like in the future, and what does this mean for our faith community?

Tune in to the live webcast on Oct. 27 by visiting ELCA.org/webcast, where a link to the recorded video will be made available after the broadcast. A live stream also will be available at Facebook.com/Lutherans. If you would like to submit a question to be considered during the live webcast, please send it to livinglutheran@elca.org and provide your name and your congregation’s name, city and state.

Your gifts are needed now for Hurricane Matthew
Your support through Lutheran Disaster Response will bring God’s hope and healing to those who have been or will be affected by this hurricane. Our response already spans across several countries. Together, we will work with trusted partners and companion
churches that know the communities well and are preparing recovery efforts. Although the hurricane has not yet reached the U.S. coast, Lutheran Disaster Response coordinators are collaborating with local community leaders, civic organizations, ecumenical partners and officials to begin planning the proper response.

The storm is not over. You can help now. Gifts designated for “Hurricane Matthew” will be used in full (100 percent) until the response is complete to help disaster survivors recover and rebuild. https://community.elca.org/donations/hurricane-matthew

Worship Leaders This Sunday

Director of Music...Dr. Timothy Zerlang
Assisting Ministers...Liv Beck (9); John Barton, Linda Jackson (11)
Lectors...Barbara McCormick (9); Rachel Letchumanan (11)
Chalice Bearers...Jane Borg, Shannon Cheng (11)
Acolytes...Grace Ekdale-Hoch, Nora Hurley
Sacristan and Altar Guild...Richard Boyle, Ed Chitty
Ministry of Welcome...Tapio Boles (9); Rachel Letchumanan, Viknesh Silvalingam, Donna Dindia (11)
Coffee Hour Chairs...Donna Dindia and Chuck Lewis
Next Week’s Coffee Hour Chairs...Marie-Jose Baum and Kate Knickerbocker

Prayers of the Parish

Cassie Allen
Debbie Brant & Ted Bernardi
Diana Bock
Natalie E. Bock
Riley Brooks
Jo Chadwick
Corrine Cottrell
Marilyn Desmond
Bonnie Elliot
Jack Heiter
Carolyn Johnson

Taylor Jones
Stephen Krefting
Arnold Lehmann
Beatrice and John Love
Margaret Massialas
Roderick Mobley
Stan Moeller
Lee & Irma Opitz
Ryan Parker
Cassie Pili
Marc Randall

Travis Schwartz
Matt Seiples
Tim Selander and family
LaVonne Strutz, mother of Geri Bailey
Mary Sukanya
Pastor Rebecca Swee
Dana Utz
Carl Velleno
Jerry Witherspoon
Brent Wolfe

Every effort is made to keep the Prayers of the Parish current.
Please email Lawrence@stmarks-sf.org to add, remove or update a name on the prayer list.