The Lion's Pause 🦁

WE SEEK TO UNITE ALL PEOPLE WITH GOD AND EACH OTHER IN CHRIST THROUGH WORSHIP, FELLOWSHIP, EDUCATION, AND SERVICE

Rector's Ramblings

On Monday, our nation will observe Labor Day. For some, this represents the end of Summer, although Fall does not officially begin until September 22. For many, it is a day for picnics, cookouts, and recreation. However, it is good to take at least a few minutes to remember the reason for the holiday.

At the end of the 19th Century, many Americans worked twelve hours a day, seven days a week in factories. Children as young as 5 years old worked in mills and factories, earning a fraction of what adults were paid. During this time, labor unions grew in popularity. They began organizing strikes to protest poor and unsafe working conditions along with low wages.

On September 5, 1882, 10,000 workers in New York City took unpaid time to march from City Hall to Union Square. This was the first Labor Day parade in the United States. On June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed Labor Day into law, creating the federal holiday we have today.

Although most factory workers today are well paid and have much better working conditions than they had in the late 19th Century, there are still many people who work for low wages and in poor conditions. Their contribution to our common life is important, and we need to keep them in mind.

The Collect for Labor Day is: Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

It might be helpful to meditate briefly on this collect and let it guide some of our aspirations.

Fr. RJ+

Sunday, August 31:

Services at 8 and 10 a.m. (Morning Prayer)

Lessons

Bulletin

Live Stream

Tuesday, September 2:

Yoga with Beth, 7 p.m. ($10)

Wednesday, September 3:

Virtual Evening Prayer, 4 p.m. Zoom | Bulletin

Vestry, 6 p.m.

Thursday, September 4:

Prayer Book Study, 1 p.m.

Save the Dates:

Sunday, September 7, Outdoor Service + Cookout

Lunch Bunch, September 23 at 1 p.m.

Grinder's, North Canton

View the full St. Mark's calendar HERE.

Brynn Pelger (age 13) sang a beautiful solo of In The Garden accompanied by Dr. Bob Morrison during the Intergenerational Service at church on Sunday, August 24.

ATTENTION….ATTENTION!!!

Our Parish completed (drum roll please) 644 hygiene kits at the Intergenerational Service on Sunday, August 24. With your continued support of: new washcloths, Dial antibacterial bar soap, and funds donated we were able to accomplish this.

Please continue to support this worthwhile mission of the Sunday School to help provide these kits to Hope Outreach Ministries. You can also donate cash or check (with Hygiene Kits written on memo line).

Hygiene Kit Totals–

YEAR 2024: 2,494

YEAR 2025: 2,030

The Sunday School kids and preteens are on their way to beat 2024!

–Beth Bletzacker, Coordinator

Book Club Updates

September 2025 – Atmosphere, Taylor Jenkins Reid
October 2025 – I Was Anastasia, Ariel Lawhon
November 2025 – The Briar Club, Kate Quinn
December 2025 – Ghosts of Panama, Mark Harmon / Leon Carroll, Jr.
January 2026 – The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress: A Novel, Ariel Lawhon

Newsletter Additions

If you are adding something to the Lion's Pause, please submit it here by the Monday prior to Friday publication.

August Birthdays

1 Jess Hostetter

4 Jack Gordon

11 Tory Willoughby

12 Todd Heinzman

13 Joyce Rupp

Pamela Clark

18 Bradley Mull

28 Tony Kovacevich

August Anniversaries

1 Drew and Mandy Pelger

4 Bruce and Jane Schutrum

21 Scott and Debbie Shellhammer

26 John and Tory Willoughby

27 Patrick and Rebecca Watters

*Please note: Your birthday/anniversary will only show up if you've completed your profile on Instant Church Directory.

Need to log in? Go here.

Notable with Bob Morrison

Concert organist Virgil Keel Fox could have had a career as a motivational speaker without ever touching a keyboard. He held a throng of hippies spellbound at Fillmore East in 1970 in a "heavy organ" concert. He didn't play "Moonlight Serenade" or "Flat Foot Floojie With a Floy Floy." Every note on the electronic organ was by Johann Sebastian Bach! He told the crowd, "Open your pores and let this master in."

But well before that epochal event in NYC, he made his mark in Canton, OH.

My predecessor in the music ministry at First Methodist Canton was a Renaissance man, Don Farley. He founded the Canton Woman's Chorus, and he was organist, choir director, youth pastor, and did the church bulletin.

I can imagine his delight when Mrs. Calvin E. Ball told him she'd like to donate a new organ to the church in memory of her husband, who had co-founded the Climalene Company in 1908. This firm became nationally known for its water softening properties. Mrs. Ball told Farley to go around the country to any organ builder he wanted to visit to find the very best instrument for this memorial project, and Don did just that - I'm sure he visited Austin in Hartford or Moller in Hagerstown, likely Reuter in Kansas.

But it was his Boston visit to Aeolian-Skinner that paid off. While negotiating with company president G. Donald Harrison, none other than Virgil Fox showed up. Harrison told Fox that Farley was considering an organ for a church in Canton OH. Fox grabbed Don's sleeve and said, "Mr. Farley, if you choose anything other than an Aeolian-Skinner, you will be a fool!" (Don told this story to me personally.)

Farley also visited Syracuse University and its organist Arthur Poister for advice on the best stops to use. Poister said, "You must include a Positiv division." This would be a cluster of smaller pipes as a foil to the fuller pipes of the Great division.

And so the contract was signed for a four-manual 70-rank Aeolian-Skinner.

But something no one could have imagined happened after the contract was signed that made a significant difference.

Prayer Concerns

Have compassion on: Vonda Temelkoff, Jim Weaver, Jane Schutrum, Ron Brooks, and all those who suffer from any grief or trouble.

For those who have died: McKenzie Julian (Daughter-in-law of the Julians) Tom King (Jane King's husband)

Family & Friends: Nikki, Paul Tagliabue, Judy, Bob Timken, & Jody (friends & family of the Boyds) + Hannah Smith (friend of Brynn Pelger) + Mary Ann Legrom, Lee, & Chuck Boone (friends & cousin of the Hixons) + Jill Black (friend of Leslie Redmon) + Schultz family (acquaintances of Katie Cerrone) + Joann Smith family (friends of Ken Jaeb) + Kathleen (acquaintence of Sara Strattan) + Allison (cousin of Sandi Kaustinen) + Debbie, Jared, & Clarice Lough (niece & friends of the Watters) + Katheleen Philippsborn (sister of Tom Turner) + Robert Dink” Heinzman & Machelle Wells (Todd’s dad & friend of the Heinzmans) + Father Jon Conventry (Trinity Episcopal Church - Alliance) + Jimmy Little (son of Sue Little) + Tom (brother-in-law of AnJane McConville) + Gail and Judy Shumway (sister-in-law & co-worker friend of the Rand’s daughter) + Karen McVehil & Pam Lagodich (friends of the Mulls) + George Finley family, Sara, Val Hiner-Donlon, & Rick Ciminelli (cousins & friends of the Gordons) + Terry Adaska (acquaintance of Bert Heisser) + Trish (friend of Paulette Frech) + Don Siegfried & Janet Sheatzley-Morgan (husband and sister of Barb Siegfried) + Allison Cornell-Hood & Anne Higgins (daughter & friend of Diane Cornell) + Finnigan Savage (friend of Pam McCarthy) + David (acquaintance of the Nadels) + Paul (friend of the Browns) + Those in the Armed Forces.

PRAYER CHAIN:

St. Mark's has a group of prayer warriors who pray for the specific needs of those on the prayer chain. If you would like to place yourself or a loved one on the prayer chain, please contact Bobbi Gordon at ggordon24@sbcglobal.net

Prayer requests may be placed on the private Prayer Chain or on the Prayer Concerns list appearing in The Lion's Pause and Sunday bulletin or in both places. Please let Bobbi know your preference. Unless otherwise instructed, names will be listed as we receive them. Please update Bobbi or Katie on the status of your friends or family members as to when they may be removed from the prayer lists.

515 48TH ST. NW CANTON, OH 44709

330.499.2662 | OFFICE@STMARKS-CANTON.ORG

WWW.STMARKS-CANTON.ORG

St. Mark's Church

The Episcopal Church

The Diocese of Ohio