This Weekend
Pastor’s Sunday School
Begins at 8:30 a.m. in the New Room. Everyone is invited. Child care is available. Below are the lectionary readings for this week:
- Joshua 24:1-3a
- Psalm 78:1-7
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
- Matthew 25:1-13
Pot Pies Are Coming This Sunday
Pick up a box of delicious pot pies from the San Diego Chicken Pie Shop during the Alternative Christmas Market on November 12. A package of four pies (already baked, frozen, and ready to reheat at your convenience) with gravy is $22 (cash or check only). Pies will be for sale on the church patio, with proceeds benefiting youth mission activities. Your support is greatly appreciated!
Pancake Breakfast Sunday
All are invited to enjoy a delicious pancake breakfast this Sunday, November 12, in the Social Hall before church. Be sure to invite a friend, neighbor or a complete stranger to come and enjoy one of the many benefits of being a part of St. Mark’s.
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Next Week
Bluegrass Concert
High Mountain Road Bluegrass Band will perform at St. Mark's on Sunday, November 19 at 4:30 p.m. High Mountain Road is a five-piece, high energy bluegrass band with a wide range of musical talent from San Diego County. Be sure to invite family and friends to come enjoy a mix of traditional and contemporary bluegrass music. A reception will follow the concert to meet and greet members of the band.
UM Book of Resolution 3428
On Sunday, November 19, at 11 a.m. in the Social Hall there will be an all church conversation on the United Methodist Book of Resolution 3428, “Our Call to End Gun Violence”. In this conversation we will examine how we can work with intention to be peacemakers.
Please go to: http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/gun-violence for more information. And, please begin thinking about your individual and our communal role.
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Upcoming Dates
Thanksgiving Meal At St. Mark’s
Plans are being made for St. Mark’s annual Thanksgiving meal, Tuesday, November 21, at noon, in the Social Hall. Please consider what you would like to bring that will serve 6-8 people. St. Mark’s United Methodist Women will be providing the turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy as usual. The dishes you can provide to complete the meal are desserts, vegetables, salads, or perhaps, “Grandma’s” famous dressing recipe. Please prepare at home and bring the dishes ready to serve. Condiments such as cranberry sauce, rolls, butter are also choices. Volunteers are always welcome. Potato peelers are needed at 10 a.m. If you have Thanksgiving table décor to share, please come at about 11 a.m. as tables should be set up and ready by that time. A clean-up crew is also needed. Please contact Joan Williams, 858-274-3716, if you have questions or wish to volunteer.
"Deck the Halls" Gingerbread Event
November 26, 10:30 am, Social Hall
All kids and youth are invited to decorate their own little gingerbread house at this annual event celebrating the start of Advent. Adults are invited to enjoy homemade gingerbread cookies. To reserve a gingerbread house, RSVP with Kris Nieder at kris@StMarksUMCSD.org or sign up in the church office. There is no fee for this event. Participants are encouraged to make a donation towards the Tijuana School Build.
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News
Irresistible Leadership - Creativity
This is the last in the series of how the church can cultivate an environment irresistible to emerging generations by Scott Crostek, pastor of Resurrection Downtown in Kansas City. The previous articles talked about hospitality, anonymity, authenticity, and mystery: Being welcoming yet allowing space for guests and frequent visitors to feel their way into experiencing God and the authentic life of the church while creating space for the mystery of God to embrace us. This week, Rev. Crostek talks about creativity.
Resurrection Downtown’s vision is to transform the heart of the city authentically, passionately, and perhaps most importantly, creatively. We wanted to be known for doing the same things that Christ did; we wanted to become co-creators. As this vision took shape and we began to grow, more and more artists and musicians began gravitating toward our emerging community and we tried to find ways to invite and incorporate their creativity.
We took the exterior wall of our church building and transformed it into a blank canvas for the community. We invited the most creative people in KC (and within our congregation) to display what Resurrection Downtown looked like to them. We also opened up our sanctuary walls in the hope that they might become gallery walls or what we imagined as modern day stained glass, inspired by local artists. Our worship services have become a place where people from the community introduced some of the most amazing fabric, oil, print and photography. Over the past several years, we have found ourselves in a worship space that is clearly open to the everyday creativity, dreams, and wonder about how God is calling us to become the best versions of the people we were created to be.
Here at St. Mark’s we embrace creativity. We have art shows, quilters, concerts, dramatizations, and seasonal contemplative services. We offer all these to our community within and outside the doors. While we do these things, we continue to seek additional creative ways to embrace our neighbors and show them God’s love in real and tangible ways.
(continued…)
During the Advent Season we will again offer sacred time for those who are looking to slow down their pace. We will host dinners and quiet, meditative services on Thursday, Dec. 7, 14, and 21 beginning with dinner at 5PM and service at 6PM. These quiet services will offer an alternative to the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. I invite you to come and bring your neighbors so everyone can experience God and the authentic life of the church. Together, we can create space for the mystery of God to embrace us for the transformation of the world.
If you have other ideas how St. Mark’s can cultivate an environment irresistible to emerging generations, please talk to Rev. Craig or me. We’d love to talk about your ideas.
Peace,
Jeri
A Veteran’s Day Salute
By Karen Scanlon
Why does a World War II cap on an aged man’s head bring tears to my eyes? Shuffling along, a walker holding his weathered frame, Jesse Russell smiles when he talks about the war that called him away during high school.
“I turned 18 my senior year in Harrisonville, MO. It was January 1945 and the U.S. was at war with Japan,” Jesse says. “They pulled me right out of school to serve in the Navy. I even took my slide trombone and played in a regimental band during recruit training at Great Lakes.”
When boot camp finished, Jesse was given 20 days’ leave to go home, just in time to walk the stage to receive his high school diploma. Then off to Riverton, WA, for pre-commissioning detail of the Commencement Bay-class escort carrier, USS Bairoko, to which he had been assigned. She carried FU Air Course aircraft and the wicked Avenger torpedo bombers.
Pearl Harbor, to the South Pacific, Guam, and Saipan, Jesse’s “little carrier” helped to recapture islands along the way. Back to Treasure Island near San Francisco to prepare ship and crew for the “big invasion of Japan.”
“President Harry Truman came along and dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in August, and still Japan would not surrender. So we knocked out Nagasaki a couple days later. Truman said Tokyo would be next, but surrender came and my shipmates liked to go crazy! We cried, we laughed, and we knew that had we been in that invasion our little ship would have been wiped out.”
Oh, young men who witness the tragedies of war! World War II veterans are slipping away and we are blessed to have Jesse Russell among us. He and his trombone also volunteer aboard USS Midway every Tuesday morning. “Meet a World War II Veteran” the big sign reads. An honor and privilege, to be sure!
St. Mark’s salutes Jesse, and all our veterans who served on our behalf.
Let Us Know!
Picture-taking and video recording are frequently done during church events. Some of those pictures may be published in our church publications, slideshows, on our website, or on our social media pages. If you do not wish to have your picture published, please let an usher know, or contact the church office by phone or email.
Alternative Christmas Market
This Sunday is St. Mark’s Alternative Christmas Market from 10:30 – Noon in the Social Hall.
This marketplace is designed to help you buy unique gifts and to help others through your purchases and donations. Just think, you can get most of your Christmas shopping done by purchasing quality items from the Guatemala Project, Tomorrow Project, the United Methodist Women (UMW), or St. Mark’s Fair Trade Table. In addition to these agencies you can make gift donations in someone’s name to Community Christian Service Agency (CCSA), Tijuana School Build (TJB), San Diego Christ UM Ministry Center (CMC), or Heifer Project.
Kindness Rocks! this Sunday
"Kindness Rocks!" on the patio after church this Sunday during the Alternative Christmas Market. (Kindness Rocks! is a national movement decorating rocks with positive sayings and leaving them for people to find.) Come celebrate creativity and friendship. The youth of St. Mark’s invites you, your friends, and family. Come have conversation about why, and how to paint rocks.
Sermon Video Available
Video of each Sunday’s sermon is available via our website: stmarksumcsd.org/sermons or on YouTube.
November Scope
Click here to view the November 2017 Scope Newsletter
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