The Remarks
For the week of January 26, 2010
Saint Mark United Methodist Church
Atlanta, Georgia
www.stmarkumc.org
Loving • Accepting • Serving
The Remarks
Saint Mark United Methodist Church Loving • Accepting • Serving |
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In This Issue Quicklinks to stmarkumc.org
About The Remarks The Remarks is a weekly publication of Saint Mark United Methodist Church, Atlanta, Georgia. The email addresses used in this mailing were provided by the addressees for church use. To unsubscribe from our emails, follow the SafeUnsubscribe link at the bottom of this email. You can also update your email address for the eRemarks at the bottom of this email. To ensure that you continue to receive emails from us, add remarks@stmarkumc.org to your ISP address book & ISP safe list today. Click here to provide general updates to your church record. Please submit announcements for The Remarks to Christia Holloway, Remarks Editor, no later than the Friday prior to the week that the information should appear. Saint Mark |
The communion offering on Sunday, February 7, will go to the Haiti relief effort through the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). United Methodist Communications is working to provide timely and relevant information about how The United Methodist Church is responding to the tragic earthquake in Haiti and how United Methodists can support these efforts. United Methodists have had a long-standing relationship with Haiti through the Methodist Church of Haiti. The United Methodist News Service has already posted stories on the tragedy and will have ongoing coverage about United Methodist mission teams that are in Haiti, response efforts by the United Methodist Committee on Relief, and what local churches are doing to provide aid. Stay tuned to http://www.umc.org/haiti for more information. Support for relief efforts can be made to Haiti Emergency, UMCOR Advance # 418325. 100% of gifts to UMCOR through the Advance support the designated project. A Pastoral Word Persons in church yesterday heard me announce to the congregation that after a long period of discernment I had come to the conclusion that it is time for me to ask for a new appointment in July. I want to say a word or two about that here for those who were not present. If you were in church, much of this will be redundant, but I want to be sure the word gets out to everybody. The timing is as it is because in our system, now is the time when pastors and churches have to tell their District Superintendents their wishes for the coming Conference year. Forms have to be signed and committees are involved, so I needed to make a decision. And now I want to share that with you. This was a difficult decision. It was difficult because I love you and I love Saint Mark. I believe I was the right person to come here when I came seven years ago. Lots of wonderful things have happened in my time here, including some significant healing, and I have been blessed to meet and work with some of the finest people anywhere. I have a great deal of grief at the thought of leaving. But for over a year I have been wrestling with the issue of whether my particular gifts are the best match for Saint Mark at this point in its story. We are strong and vibrant in many areas, but some of our recent trends have been in the wrong direction, and my leadership has not been successful in stopping or reversing those trends. My wrestling process has involved a good bit of prayer and conversations with friends in North Georgia and a couple of other Conferences. And the result of that process is my sense that for the good of this great church’s future, and for my own well-being, it is time for Saint Mark to have a new Senior Pastor, someone with a different set of gifts. I am not mad at anyone and no one forced me to make this decision. It comes after difficult discernment. A change like this is never easy. I do not know where I will be come July. And you do not know who your new Senior Pastor will be. While this process occurs every year in countless United Methodist churches, it still is cause for anxiety. But, you have a District Superintendent who loves Saint Mark and will do everything possible to find the best person to come here. You also have an outstanding Staff parish Relations Committee to be your advocate in the move process. You are a gifted, strong community who has learned much in recent years about how to be church together. And we are in the hands of God. We all need to be in prayer for our futures, but I truly believe that we will be all right. In the meantime, we have five more months to share together. My commitment to you is to give you my best during this time, so that the transition will be as strong and healthy as possible. Know that I am grateful to God that we were brought together, and that wherever I go, I will always love you. Blessings, Jimmy |
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Lent at Saint Mark Watch for more detailed information coming soon, but here is some of what is coming in Lent, which begins with our Ash Wednesday service on Wednesday, February 17.
There will be more. Note especially that Don and Emily Saliers will be with us Wednesday night, March 10. Join us throughout these 40 days as we grow deeper in our faith. A Decade of Drama at Saint Mark Saint Mark’s Drama Ministry has thrived for 10 years, bringing quality theater to the community and featuring everything from flying monkeys to tap dancing sailors, to singing nuns. In our effort to be good stewards, we have built inventories of costumes, props, set pieces and lighting equipment for these productions. Recently, our storage room flooded and we were forced to move what we could salvage to the gym. We need help sorting, organizing and restoring our wares. If you are handy with a hammer, can sort costumes and fabric, or just follow some basic directions, we need you! We anticipate needing about 20 people in 4 teams to accomplish this task. Join us this Saturday, January 30, 9:30 am to 3 pm, in the Gym 300 - we welcome any time you spare to help. Please RSVP to drama@stmarkumc.org so we can plan accordingly for lunch. We couldn’t have made it 10 years without your constant support, and we look forward to the next decade with much anticipation! Shall We Dance? If you are interested in learning ballroom dance, come to the Ballroom Dance Class informational meeting on Sunday, January 31, immediately following the 11:15 worship service, in Wade Hall, to discuss dances, participants, and to find out what dates are best. If interested or for more information, contact Larry Lucas, facilitator. Coming to Saint Mark in February Theology on Tap A 7 week program on Wednesdays beginning February 3, 7:45 pm, at Vickery’s on Crescent. Join us for a good book, good fellowship and good conversation around where we see God in our lives. Contact Rev. Mandy Flemming for more information. Lenten Devotional Guide We are currently seeking artwork for Saint Mark’s 2010 Lenten Devotional Guide, which will be available on Ash Wednesday, February 17. If you have any pictures, sketches, or photos, please submit them (jpg format) to Rev. Mandy Flemming. Lunch with Saint Mark Resumes Beginning Sunday, February 21, Lunch with Saint Mark will be offered again after the 11:15 Morning Worship service on the 3rd Sunday of each month. We are in the process of arranging brunch at Straits Restaurant (corner of Juniper and 5th) for February 21 - more details to follow. You provide your lunch money and we’ll provide the fellowship! If you have a favorite restaurant or would like to be a host, contact Regina Robuck. New Member Class and Lunch Offered February 28 If you have joined Saint Mark recently, make plans to attend our upcoming New Member class and Luncheon on Sunday, February 28, immediately following the 11:15 Morning Worship service. Contact Rev. Mandy Flemming for more information. Book Club News The Saint Mark Book Club will meet on Thursday, February 4, 7pm, at Jason’s Deli (located at the corner of Piedmont and 10th Street), to discuss Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. All are invited to participate. For more details, contact Deia Joel Nourse, facilitator. Women's Spring Retreat - Save the Date! Revs. Carol Rawlinson and Mandy Flemming are planning a Women's Retreat for the Spring, from Friday - Sunday, March 19-21. The theme will be "Do What You Have the Power to Do," and based on Helen Pierson's book of that title. If you're interested, please contact Rev. Mandy Flemming - more information will follow. Christian Growth Class Information and Invitations Reflections: A New Christian Growth Community The Women of the Bible Christian Growth class is changing and growing! We meet Sundays, 10:10 am, in Room 204, and we're now called Reflections. Anyone at Saint Mark is welcome to join us. With individual lessons taught by our members, multi-week series and exciting guest speakers, we will discuss the Bible, current events and our identity as the Christian church, always reflecting together in our discussion on how we can grow in our own individual and group faith journeys. We invite you to join us this week as Saint Mark's seminary intern Anna Tew begins a 3 week series on the Christian Year and its seasons and celebrations. Rev. Mandy Flemming will offer an upcoming 4 week series on 1 Corinthians and discovering our spiritual gifts. If you are searching for a community of support at Saint Mark or if you just want to join us for a few weeks to take part in our upcoming series, we'd love to have you. Contact Katie Olliff for more information on this class. How deep is your love?
Please join the Couples Class on Sundays, February 7 and 14, 10 am, in Room 206, for a discussion about how our preconceived ideas about God, ourselves and others can be an obstacle to understanding the depth of God’s love expressed in the Scriptures and in our lives. Guest speaker will be Rev. Jeff Carey, Atlantan and founding pastor of Just As You Are, a faith community for those who have become disenchanted with or disenfranchised from the "church". Serious Answers to Hard Questions, A Lenten Study Beginning Sunday, February 21, during the Christian Growth hour, Rev. Jimmy Moor will lead this study for five Sundays in Lent. The class will also be offered on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 if we have registrations for this time. Topics will include Evil, Religion and Science, Other Religions, Evangelism and Tolerance, and the God of the Old Testament. There will be videos on each topic from Wesley Theological Seminary with outstanding scholars presenting. Come and join us for as many sessions as you can as each session is stand alone. Study books are available. Contact Christia Holloway to register. Visit wesnex.org! The WesleyNexus website is designed to provide resources to individuals and groups who are interested in science and share the heritage of John Wesley as part of their faith tradition. The goal is to build an understanding of how science, religion, and theology can better inform one another among persons in a growing online community. Help your community have a successful 2010 Census! Be a part of the 2010 Census Team! Office and Field Work Available! Work close to home! Earn good pay! Work flexible hours! Full-time and part-time opportunities are available. Apply today! Call the Census toll free jobs line, 1-866-861-2010. More information, including a practice test, is available at www.2010censusjobs.gov. Worship Attendance: Sunday, January 24
Morning Worship: Sunday, January 31
Wednesday Fellowship Dinner January 27: Guest speaker Margaret Kaiser, Georgia State Representative, District 59 (including Saint Mark neighborhood) will share "Key Legislative Issues in 2010" Financial Report Year-to-Date Actual Operating Income/Expense Report: Through December 31, 2009: Capital Campaign IV Pledged to Date $ 1 237 011 Click here to make a contribution securely online. In Sympathy Saint Mark extends heartfelt sympathy to Buck Harris on the death of his partner Ken Capelle on January 21. A memorial service is planned for Ken on Saturday, February 6, 3 pm, in the Saint Mark Chapel, with a reception to follow in Wade Hall. Sympathy also to Denson Buttrey on the death of his mother Anne Hopkins Buttrey on January 18 in Nashville; and to Jim Ecker on the death of his mother Eloise Pritchard on January 12. Gift Acknowledgements The Faith Seekers class gave a gift in memory of Jeff Brown. Reid Askew gave a gift in memory of Ken Capelle. Charles Suggs gave a gift in memory of Ernest Welch. Jim Futrell and Ed Sikes gave a gift in memory of Anne Hopkins Buttrey.
Click here to view the January 2010 calendar.
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