For your thought:

I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. 

--2 Timothy 4:2



Study this Sunday's Readings.

Important dates:

• Saturday, October 22 at 5:00 p.m. - Oktoberfest - BBQ, Bratwurst, Potluck and Music. Please bring a salad, side, dessert and/or drinks. - Parish Hall
• Sunday, October 23 at 9:30 a.m. - Worship with Bishop Hunn. Bring a pie - savory or sweet!
• Sunday, October 30 at 9:30 a.m. - Pledge & Pancake Sunday (bring you pledge card & a side for a parish pancake breakfast) 
• Sunday, November 6 at 9:30 a.m. - Feast of All Saints (bring a photo of a recently deceased loved one for the ofrenda)
• Sunday, December 11th at 4:00 p.m. - Parish-wide holiday concert outing to see Santa Fe Desert Chorale at Immanuel Presbyterian Church

Useful links:

• Fill out a form to volunteer, donate altar flowers, fill out a new member/visitor form, and more!
• Access and/or edit your Member Directory information.
• Access previous sermons.
• To check CDC COVID-19 Risk for Bernalillo County, click here.

Stewardship 2023: RISING TO THE CHALLENGE, Reconnecting with Joy, Reaching out With Love

All things come of you, O God, and of your own have we given you.”    

~ BCP Offertory Response 

This fall, we are asking deep questions about the biblical understanding of Christian stewardship. Certainly, the budget is important, but we urge everyone to think not so much of what is needed by the Church, but what each one is able and called to give. What if everyone were to Rise to the Challenge of giving at a proportional level and purposed to gradually increase the percentage over time? Giving is not an all or nothing proposition! We could find that the generosity of the growing St. Mark’s community exceeds the capacity and missions represented in our old budgets and can actually sustain greater dreams and service to God’s people in the coming year. Together we are Making Something Beautiful for God in this Neighborhood, and we want everyone to take part in that creative process.

October 30th, we will have our fall Stewardship Celebration Sunday – Pancake and Pledge. We know the generosity of our St. Mark’s community and the strong commitment to growing in faith that we share. We invite you to join us in this act of Worship in the coming weeks as we reflect on the generosity of God in our lives together. 

Last week's Stewardship mailing theme, Rising to the Challenge, may be found here. 

Oktoberfest Potluck & Hymn Sing

St. Mark's is hosting an Oktoberfest event on Saturday, October 22 from 5-7 p.m.  St. Mark's will supply the BBQ, Bratwurst and buns, but please bring a side dish, salad, dessert and/or drinks/beverage.  After eating, we'll sing hymns around the piano.  It's sure to be a great time had by all.  This will take place inside the Parish Hall.  All are welcome!

Bishop Hunn to Visit St. Mark's

Join us on October 23rd for worship with Bishop Michael Hunn of the Diocese of the Rio Grande. This will be his first visit to St. Mark's since his ordination.  

Confirmands, Reaffirmations and those being Received into the Episcopal Church will meet with Bishop Hunn at 8:30 a.m. that morning.

Let's show Bp. Hunn some of the parish's generous hospitality by bringing a pie (savory or sweet) to be shared following worship. 

Parish Group Outing: Holiday Concert

You are invited to join in a parish group outing to attend a holiday concert of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. If you have never heard the Desert Chorale, they are one of the most accomplished choirs in the United States. The group will present Benjamin Britten's "Ceremony of Carols," a classic of Christmas music. We will sit together at the concert and then optionally go together for dinner at a tasty restaurant on Central. The concert will be Sunday, December 11th at 4:00 p.m. at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, just south of Carlisle and Central in Albuquerque. The tickets will be available at a discounted rate of $35/person. To reserve a ticket please contact Taylor Spence via email here. Please reserve by Sunday, November 20th. Ticket subsidies are available. Please contact Jeremy Wirths via email or Taylor Spence (via email) with any questions.  

Feast of All Saints Ofrenda

To celebrate The Feast of All Saints at St. Mark’s each year, we build an ofrenda.

Traditionally, an ofrenda (“offering,” in Spanish) was put together around the Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos) in Latin cultures to welcome those who have died back into your life. Photographs, mementos, and favorite foods were offered to entice loved ones to return.

In our Christian tradition, we make an ofrenda to celebrate and honor the lives of the saints who have traveled this journey before us – loved ones who have helped build the foundation of our spiritual lives and showed us how to be faithful servants of God.

We invite you to participate in this beautiful tradition. Please bring photos of your loved ones who have died: people who made a difference in your lives, from whom you learned unconditional love, who were instrumental in making you the person you are today.

For in-person ofrenda submissions, framed photos, which can stand on their own, work best, but all photos are welcome. We would also encourage everyone bringing in photos or frames to have the name of the departed and the name of the individual who it should be returned to on the back (a small piece of tape or something of that nature works well). If you would like to drop them off at the church during this week, place them in the basket in the narthex and we can put them on the ofrenda for you. You are also welcome to bring photos anytime until and on Sunday, November 6th.

The ofrenda will go up for Sunday, October 30th and will remain in place through our All Saints’ Day Celebration on Sunday, November 6. Afterwards you may take your photos home.

We hope everyone will take advantage of this opportunity to celebrate the lives of loved ones.

Formation Classes

St. Mark's is offering a variety of classes after worship on Sundays for both youth and adults. Please consider our offerings and we look forward to the gift of your presence on Sundays. Check out our full class descriptions and schedules here:

https://www.stmarksabq.org/class-schedule

World Food Day

Sunday, October 16 is World Food Day. There is a flyer on the welcome table in the entrance with more information. Please pray (suggestions below) and gather one non-perishable food item each day leading up to World Food Day. The food collected will be given to The Storehouse.  

• Sunday - Pray for hungry people to be fed.
• Monday Pray for violence to cease.
• Tuesday Pray for just the right amount of rain.
• Wednesday Pray for crops to grow.
• Thursday - Pray for multitudes to escape the bondage of poverty
• Friday- Pray for children to receive the education they need to break out of generational poverty.
• Saturday - Pray for others to join with us in the fight against hunger.

Midweek Morning Prayer & "Video Visits"

 Wednesdays 8-9am (Mountain Time) 

On Zoom (or in person in the library at St. Mark’s)

Join us on Zoom here

Join Mother Sylvia on Wednesdays (on Zoom, or in St. Mark's Library) for midweek morning prayer and conversation. We'll begin with morning prayer, view a weekly video update from our bishop, and enjoy a little conversation before we tackle the rest of our day! Feel free to drop in for the whole hour or for any portion thereof!

• 8AM Morning Prayer
• 8:20 View Weekly “Video Visit” from Bishop Hunn 
• 8:40 Conversation 
• 8:55 Closing 

T-Coil - Loop Hearing System Now Operational at St. Mark’s

After several years of planning and preparation, St. Mark’s has installed a Loop Hearing System. Hearing Loops are a top choice for Hearing Accommodation and provide the greatest benefits to people who rely on assistive listening systems.

• Easy to Use: To hear clearly, individuals simply switch their devices to the telecoil program and automatically receive clear customized sound. There is no need to arrive early, stand in line, or wait to return equipment after an event or meeting.
• Quality Sound: A hearing loop sends sound directly to the telecoil receiver in a user’s hearing device. The system eliminates most background noise and greatly improves understanding of speech and music. Additionally, the sound received is customized by each user’s unique hearing instrument.
• Universal Access: Hearing loops are the internationally accepted standard for providing hearing accommodation. The universal symbol that identifies a venue as being equipped with loop technology welcomes people with hearing loss and communicates that their needs will be met in the best way possible.

We realize that it may take some effort to enable your assisted listening device to pick up the T-Coil / Loop Hearing signal. We encourage those using hearing accommodation to consult with their audiologist and or user’s manual to enable this technology. We also welcome feedback on this new system as we work out the bugs and adjust the system output to work at peak efficiencies. 

St. Mark’s is grateful for the generous donation of $5,000 by a member our congregation several years-ago that made this Hearing Loop installation possible. The overall cost of the project was $7,400 (off-setting gifts may be made to Capital Fund – Hearing Loop). A special thank you to Mike Langner, a member of St. Michael and All Angels for his help and expertise in designing the Loop Hearing System and his persistent and excellent help in the installation and testing process. We also give thanks for members, Mike and Liz Reardon, for their expertise in the design and planning for the picture molding on the north wall which now holds the hearing loop wiring and serves as an elegant gallery style hanging system for our large Feast Day Icons. Construction and Installation work was done by Ken Kemmerer of Wildwood Incorporated and Richard Summer of Alpha Sun Audio. 

Athletic Shoes Needed for Asylum Seekers

We are still working to help immigrants, mostly Venezuelans, who are coming through town on the way to sponsors. They still need athletic shoes, lace-up or slip-ons, for men, women and children. The sizes for men are 7-12 and women 5-10, children's all sizes. We are only collecting new (or could-pass-as-new) shoes at this time. Please bring the shoes to the big box in the narthex (entry area). We are grateful for your continued help and support. 

FaithWorks Volunteer Opportunities

If you are interested in any of the volunteer opportunities below, please call the FaithWorks office at 505-457-1728.

ID Clinic- In partnership with Central United Methodist Church (CUMC), we are holding a weekly ID Clinic to assist clients in both of our programs to obtain ID documents such as Birth Certificates, Driver’s License Renewals, Real ID’s, etc. We are looking for volunteers to help clients every Wednesday from 10AM-12 PM at CUMC on 201 University BLVD (near UNM Campus). Training will be provided. You do not have to commit to attending

every Wednesday, but we do ask that you are available at least 2 Wednesdays a

month.

Christmas Party for Asylum Seeking Children- Every year, the Asylum Program has a Christmas Party for the children in our Asylum Program. We are looking for a committee to plan, organize and implement the party this year. If you are interested in working on this committee, you can participate in one part or many parts of this committee, such as shopping for the gifts, wrapping the gifts, attending and helping on the day of the party, etc. The date of the Party will be Saturday, December 3, 2022, location TBD. This is a time limited commitment.

Family Liaison- Our Asylum Program currently has nearly a dozen families waiting to enroll into our program. As a Family Liaison, you will be assigned to work with a family to ensure they have their needs met through our program. There is ongoing training and several of our current Family Liaisons will share their expertise with you to help you get started in this crucial role with our families. Time commitment is initially a few times per week, then as much or as little as your family might need. (Typically, at least a weekly check in with your family by telephone).

New Mexico Immigrant Law Center (NMILC)-

We are partnering with NMILC to assist asylum seekers with applying online for asylum and/or work permits. NMILC will provide training and will have specific times/days to volunteer at NMILC to work directly with clients in this process. You must be bilingual and commit to at least one time per month.