the saint mark messenger the newsletter of Saint Mark Presbyterian Church April 2013 Worship 9:30 and 11:00 AM Church School for all ages 9:30 AM www.saintmarkpresby.org Saying Grace…. …from Roy Dear Beloved of God – As we enter into Eastertide it is an occasion to remember that death is the last enemy and surely the most painful, yet it is not the last word. The last word is the Word of God who became God-With-Us in Jesus Christ and, as one of us, entered into the fullness of death, was raised from the dead by the Spirit of God that all may have life eternal united with the living Christ, now and for eternity. This is the profound conviction that lies at the heart of the Christian faith – death is painful for us who live in its shadow but it is the portal to the fullness of life in the mystery of God. This conviction is what led my friend recently to say about her pastor, Gordon Cosby, when he died, “It is with great joy, as well as sadness, that we convey to you the word that at 4:15 this morning--on the first day of spring--our beloved brother in Christ, Gordon Cosby, quietly slipped into the fullness of God's Realm.” It is with the assurance of eternal life that Christians live at the painful intersection of joy and sadness that is at the heart of this mortal life. During Eastertide, the church remembers that we are people of the resurrection who are constantly experiencing death in the midst of life. By our deeds and our life together we declare the astonishing hope that the joy of the Lord is our strength. We who live in Christ dare to believe that life is stronger than death and that God can do mighty things through us who live daring hopeful lives caring for our neighbors and one another. We are a resurrection community. This poem by John Updike conveys this conviction. “Seven Stanzas at Easter” from Telephone Poles and Other Poems Make no mistake: if He rose at all it was as His body; if the cells' dissolution did not reverse, the molecules reknit, the amino acids rekindle, the Church will fall. It was not as the flowers, each soft Spring recurrent; it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled eyes of the eleven apostles; it was as His Flesh: ours. The same hinged thumbs and toes, the same valved heart that — pierced — died, withered, paused, and then re-gathered out of enduring Might new strength to enclose. Let us not mock God with metaphor, analogy, sidestepping transcendence; making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the faded credulity of earlier ages: let us walk through the door. The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache, not a stone in a story, but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow grinding of time will eclipse for each of us the wide light of day. And if we will have an angel at the tomb, make it a real angel, weighty with Max Planck's quanta, vivid with hair, opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen spun on a definite loom. Let us not seek to make it less monstrous, for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty, lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are embarrassed by the miracle, and crushed by remonstrance.
Transcript
the saint mark messenger
the newsletter of Saint Mark Presbyterian Church April 2013
Worship 9:30 and 11:00 AM Church School for all ages 9:30 AM www.saintmarkpresby.org
Saying Grace…. …from Roy
Dear Beloved of God – As we enter into Eastertide it is an occasion to remember that death is the last enemy and surely the most painful, yet it is not the last word. The last word is the Word of God who became God-With-Us in Jesus Christ and, as one of us, entered into the fullness of death, was raised from the dead by the Spirit of God that all may have life eternal united with the living Christ, now and for eternity. This is the profound conviction that lies at the heart of the Christian faith – death is painful for us who live in its shadow but it is the portal to the fullness of life in the mystery of God. This conviction is what led my friend recently to say about her pastor, Gordon Cosby, when he died, “It is with great joy, as well as sadness, that we convey to you the word that at 4:15 this morning--on the first day of spring--our beloved brother in Christ, Gordon Cosby, quietly slipped into the fullness of God's Realm.” It is with the assurance of eternal life that Christians live at the painful intersection of joy and sadness that is at the heart of this mortal life.
During Eastertide, the church remembers that we are people of the resurrection who are constantly experiencing death in the midst of life. By our deeds and our life together we declare the astonishing hope that the joy of the Lord is our strength. We who live in Christ dare to believe that life is stronger than death and that God can do mighty things through us who live daring hopeful lives caring for our neighbors and one another. We are a resurrection community. This poem by John Updike conveys this conviction.
“Seven Stanzas at Easter” from Telephone Poles and Other Poems
Make no mistake: if He rose at all it was as His body; if the cells' dissolution did not reverse, the molecules reknit, the amino acids rekindle, the Church will fall.
It was not as the flowers, each soft Spring recurrent; it was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled eyes of the eleven apostles; it was as His Flesh: ours.
The same hinged thumbs and toes, the same valved heart that — pierced — died, withered, paused, and then re-gathered out of enduring Might new strength to enclose.
Let us not mock God with metaphor, analogy, sidestepping transcendence; making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the faded credulity of earlier ages: let us walk through the door.
The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache, not a stone in a story, but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow grinding of time will eclipse for each of us the wide light of day.
And if we will have an angel at the tomb, make it a real angel, weighty with Max Planck's quanta, vivid with hair, opaque in the dawn light, robed in real linen spun on a definite loom.
Let us not seek to make it less monstrous, for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty, lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are embarrassed by the miracle, and crushed by remonstrance.
April 2013 Saint Mark Messenger
2
Local Mission
Rebuilding Together Montgomery County: Building Day is April 28, 2013
It’s time to gear up for the 2013 version of Rebuilding Together in Montgomery County (RTMC). RTMC is a local non-profit that identifies home owners needing help making their properties safe, comfortable and efficient. Every
year one day is selected (this year it is April 27) when a hoard of volunteers descend on their target and perform miracles. Our home-owner this year is Edna Williams, who is 85 years old and lives in Silver Spring and could really use our help making her home safe and secure. Saint Mark partners with BUCC and Holy Cross to provide the people power to help people in need upgrade their homes. This year we will have a morning and afternoon shift and you can volunteer at one or both.
What kind of volunteers do we need? Just about any skill level will be useful. A lot of de-cluttering, painting and cleaning would help the place. The downstairs bathroom needs a new floor installed before we upgrade the fixtures and install safety
equipment. The basement needs some drywall removed and replaced. Anyone with some basic carpentry, electrical or plumbing skills will be put to good use. Holy Cross will provide the best home cooked lunch buffet you could think of that will be served to both shifts.
You do not need to have any experience or expertise to volunteer - just a willingness to help. Sign up sheets will be located in the Atrium soon! Contact John Casper at [email protected]. You must be 15 to volunteer and those under 18 need to be signed off by a guardian.
Bread for the World 2013 Offering of Letters - April 14
Your Global Mission Ministry Team will help Saint Mark participate in Bread for the World’s 2013 Offering of Letters, “A Place at the Table,” before and after the worship services on April 14. The campaign makes the connection between hunger in America and advocacy for public policies and programs that assure a place at the table for everyone. We will write letters to Congress in support of federal programs that help hungry and poor people and sign a petition to ask President Obama to set a goal and work with Congress to end hunger.
We live in the world's wealthiest nation. Yet 14.5 percent of U.S. households—nearly 49 million Americans, including 16.2 million children—struggle to put food on the table.
The GMM team will have three tables for writing letters and signing the petition, in the atrium and Fellowship Hall. There will be sample letters and writing materials.
Pray for the hungry, George Huggins April 14th is Bread for the World Offering of Letters Sunday. Saint Markers will be writing letters to their representatives and senators on behalf of the hungry people in our area, state, country and world. Local Mission will be hosting the coffee hour between services and after the 11:00 AM service. Please join us in Fellowship Hall! Spread the word!
Worship for April
March 31: Easter – Worship with Holy Communion at 9:30 AM and
Baptism at 11:00 AM in fellowship hall. Continental Breakfast at 10:00 AM
April 7: Spirit and Service Sunday – One worship service at 9:30 AM in the
Sanctuary
April 14: Worship at 9:30 and 11:00 AM
April 21: Creation Sunday: Worship at 9:30 and 11:00 AM
April 28: Worship at 9:30 and 11:00 AM
May 19: Pentecost will be celebrated with Jazz; one service of worship at 10:00 AM.
A picnic will follow. This begins our summer worship schedule of one worship
service through September 1.
April 2013 Saint Mark Messenger
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Adult Education
Opening a Window on “What We Believe”
Join the 9:30 AM Sunday Morning Adult Class in Room 105 for this intriguing and insightful three-week series in April to be led by the Rev. Dr Margee Iddings, founder and director of the spiritual retreat center Rising Phoenix, past moderator of National Capital Presbytery, pastor of several local congregations including Oaklands PC.
� April 14: The Reality of Evil (including a glimpse at Forgiveness) � April 21: What’s Next When This Life Is Complete? � April 28: Miracles? In THIS Day and Age?!
All Are Welcome!
Youth News
� April 7: Youth group on-location service work@Crossways or Shepherd's Table � April 14: Youth group & families outing -- Nats Game@1:30 � April 21/Earth Day (commemoration): Youth group outing@Cabin John trail for discussion "God and Creation and our Role In It!" and cleanup � April 28: Youth group discussion meeting -- Nooma video and talk with Pastor Roy
Vacation Bible School Please mark your calendars, VBS will be the week of June 17 – 21, 2013. This year’s theme is: Everywhere Fun Fair, Where God’s World Comes Together. Each day we will focus on a specific country: Japan, Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Mexico. If you have a connection with one of these countries, we would love to have your input! To register your child or to volunteer, please visit: http://2013.cokesburyvbs.com/SaintMark
Orchard Country Produce Farm Stand at Saint Mark,
Saturdays, 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM, May-November
Orchard Country Produce & Fruit Farm will be at Saint Mark for the first time this spring, summer, and fall for the 2013 farming season! They offer a wide variety of goods at their stand- all grown and produced on their farm by their family- fruits, vegetables, berries, baked goods, jams/jellies, honey, beef, eggs, chicken, pork, and turkey. They also offer cheese that is made by a neighboring Mennonite farmer. The stand will be open from 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM every Saturday from May 4 – November 23. The stand will be set up in the parking lot at Saint Mark.
During the farming season, OCP sends out an e-mail each week letting customers know what fruits and veggies are in season and will be at the farm stand on Saturday. You can sign-up for their mailing list at http://www.orchardcountryproduce.com/mailinglist.
If you’d like to see photos of the farm and get weekly updates on their planting/growing/harvesting work, you can “like” OCP on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/orchardcountryproduce
Orchard Country Produce CSA Orchard Country Produce & Fruit Farm is now accepting sign-ups for the 2013 CSA Season. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. CSAs help the community by providing fresh, local produce to consumers and help the farmer by eliminating guesswork from planting, which reduces waste! We are also offering a discount to any member households of Saint Mark Presbyterian Church who sign up for our CSA program for any session in 2013. Members can simply go to our CSA sign-up page online and enter the code STMARK during checkout to apply the discount. There is also an Early Bird sign-up option for members who sign-up and complete payments before April 30.
You can find out more information and details about the CSA on our website: http://www.orchardcountryproduce.com Or you can e-mail any questions to: [email protected]
April 2013 Saint Mark Messenger
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News from your Deacons
Dear church friends, At the Church leadership retreat in February we agreed in the coming year to offer more opportunities for members, friends and visitors to gather in smaller groups. Our hope is to foster kind and caring relationships among the members. The Deacons, in response to this goal, have planned a series of lunches following worship in April and June. Your Deacon will contact you regarding the style of your gathering (pot luck, salad lunch, catered box lunch) and any special arrangements related. Childcare will be provided so the younger members of your family can have a quick lunch…while the older members linger around the tables. We know that there is no perfect date for all involved, but here is the plan thus far (and, of course, expect a few changes!).
Peace to you, Kay Huggins, Interim Associate
�April 14 Team A, Last names beginning with A through C: Deacons Guy Roberts, Tanya Keller, Jonathan Taylor
�April 21 Team C, Last names beginning with Hooker – Lowrie (also Luhrs): Deacons Karen Prelovsky, Angele Ahianyo, Jocelyn Henjum
�April 28 Team D, Last names Lugenbeel through Salganik: Deacons Stephanie Laguna, Dana Johnson, Leah Eaton
�June 9 Team B, Last names D through Hill: Deacons Michael Lai, Joela Ranaivo, Carol Wood*
�June 23 Team E, Last names Sandoval through Zutshi: Deacons Jeremy Fleisher, Angeline Butler, Sandy Champion * Carol Woods will be trading or joining with another Team for an April Sunday…stay posted!
Spirit and Service Sunday, April 7 One Service of Worship at 9:30 AM
Ministry Meetings at 11:00 AM
Quill of the Clerk
At our recent meeting, the session: � Discussed an article, “Building Community Through Ministry Teams,” by Jorge Acevedo and discussed how we will step more intentionally into Saint Mark’s core value of community through our ministry teams. � Watched a video showing Wings of Hope, part of St. Joseph’s Family in Haiti, and the children there, including Sam, the child that Saint Mark officers are sponsoring. � Elected Alison Dewey as an elder-commissioner to the May presbytery meeting. Walla Dempsey is the permanent elder-commissioner this year.
� Approved the baptisms of William and Benjamin Park-Brown, Zoe Hoshaw, and Claudia Lake Garcia for Easter Sunday.
� Received a report from Finance Ministry on plans to revise some of our financial procedures. For example, there are plans to reduce the number of financial accounts (while maintaining the ability to get detailed information as necessary) and to insure orderly transitions of various finance positions.
� Authorized Treasurer Rachel Zutshi and Joe Piff to deal with financial instruments on behalf of Saint Mark with Sun Trust Bank
� Amended the Interim Associate Pastor’s contract to provide, as required by National Capital Presbytery, 4 weeks of annual leave, 2 weeks of study leave, and $1000 book allowance
� Authorized Personnel Ministry to contract with a temp agency to supply office staffing
� Made plans to update Saint Mark website
� Heard report that the Associate Pastor Nominating Committee will begin telephone interviews shortly,
Sara Coe, Clerk of Session
April 2013 Saint Mark Messenger
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Saint Mark People
Congratulations to Ray Mountain who was honored as Volunteer of the Year by the Interfaith Works at their annual Caring Community Breakfast on March 1!
Welcome New Members!
The Ramm family: Greg, Colette, Mary, Illyana, Rebecca, and Melanie: Greg and Colette are new to the area after living the last fifteen years overseas, mostly in Africa. They met in Kandale, DR Congo, when Greg was a Peace Corps volunteer and Colette was a primary school teacher. Now Greg works for Save the Children in DC and Colette is looking for her next job -- she's an international development and HR specialist. Their two oldest children, Gibs and Mary, were born in the US, and
their daughters Illyana, Melanie, and Rebecca were born in the DR Congo. Gibs lives in Northern Virginia, while his sisters are still at home -- Mary (our newest choir
member) is in 12th grade, Illyana and Rebecca are 11th graders, and Melanie is in 7th grade. They enjoy worshipping at Saint Mark for the engaging sermons and friendly environment, and their girls are involved with our youth fellowship. Greg and Colette will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary this year!
Rev. Dr. Jean Thompson: Jean moved back here from Massachusetts in September to help care for her daughter Karen's son Bodhi, who was born in October. In addition, Jean has two sons and six grandchildren locally, so there's not much downtime in this retired minister's life! Jean worked briefly as a
high school English and Latin teacher, then for Montgomery County Public Libraries for ten years, then attended seminary and became an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. Over the last 27 years she has served UCC and Presbyterian churches in Massachusetts and the DC/MD/VA area, as well as New Mexico, until her retirement in August 2012. Jean was looking for a church that emphasizes spiritual growth and service, and the journey inward as well as outward when she found Saint Mark, and says she loves our church's diversity and active welcoming of newcomers. Her interests include reading, classical music, and social justice concerns.
We will hear from Bebel Delgado next month!
Saint Mark Book Lovers
Book Lovers, our Saint Mark book discussion group, meets the third
Monday of the month at 7:30 PM throughout the year in the parlor at Saint Mark. Everyone is welcome! The entire list is on our website. April 15: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman May 20: Dreams of Joy by Lisa See June: Potluck Supper to choose books for 2012-2013 Lectionary for April
April 7: 2nd Sunday of Easter Acts 5:27-32; Ps. 118:14-29 or Ps. 150;
Rev. 1:4-8; John 20: 19-31
April 14: 3rd Sunday of Easter Acts 9:1-6(7-20); Ps. 30; Rev. 5:11-14;
John 21:1-19
April 21: 4th Sunday of Easter Acts 9:36-43; Ps. 23;
Rev. 7:9-17; John 10:22-30
April 28: 5th Sunday of Easter Acts 11:1-18; Ps. 148; Rev. 21:1-6;
John 13:31-35
April 2013 Saint Mark Messenger
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Annual Alternate Transportation Sunday Leave the car at home and Bike or Walk
(or Share the Ride to Church Day)
May 5, 2013 (raindate May 12)
Bring a Friend! Mark your calendars for this fun Spirit and Service Sunday. Dress will be casual. Help with carpools and biking teams upon
request. There are many details to make this event a success. If this effort speaks to your heart, please call Alison Bennett to volunteer or with questions.
Watch the Sunday Bulletins beginning April 7 for our annual Green Bulletin Series for Earth month focused on the myths and realities of "going green."
The NIH Community Chorus and the East Avenue Ensemble will present REQUIEM AND ALLELUIA May 19, 7:30 PM in Macdonell Fellowship Hall at Saint Mark. The free concert features the Faure Requiem plus selected Alleluias by Handel, Beethoven, Randall Thompson and more. Donations will be accepted toward NIH Charities. Please come and support this great chorus that practices at Saint Mark and includes some Saint Mark members.
Planned Giving
Consider Charitable Giving from Your IRA (Adapted from Morningstar)
If you are taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from your individual retirement arrangement (IRA), but are not fully using your RMDs, and you typically make charitable contributions every year, you can donate all or part of your RMDs, up to $100,000, directly to a qualified charity, such as Saint Mark. By doing so, you won't owe income tax on the amount of the donation. Ask your financial-services provider to deal directly with the charity to handle the transfer; to avoid having the RMDs count as taxable; it's important that you never take possession of the money.
This move is generally preferable to pocketing the RMDs, donating to charity, and taking a charitable deduction later on, as discussed in the first article noted below. By sending your RMDs directly to charity, you don't see the increase in adjusted gross
income that generally accompanies an RMD. Lowering your AGI, in turn, makes it more likely that you'll qualify for deductions and credits, which typically hinge on AGI. Keeping your AGI down also reduces the chance you'll be affected by the Medicare surtax that went into effect earlier this year, discussed in the second article. http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=581065 http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=559915
Also, bear in mind that there is another way to incorporate your IRA in your estate planning. If you choose to make Saint Mark the beneficiary of an IRA, you can have the benefit of the cash flow income that you might rely on during your lifetime, with the church benefitting from the remaining value of the asset after the income stream is no longer needed. – Consult your professional financial advisor.
The next Messenger deadline is Thursday, April 18. Please email articles to [email protected] or put in mailbox #11 in the office.
Here you can find a home for your heart and an
opportunity to serve Regardless of race, class, marital status, sexual
orientation, ability or disability
Saint Mark Presbyterian Church 10701 Old Georgetown Road,
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