Social Justice and Outreach Ministry Team Meeting

On Saturday, March 8 from 10 - 11:30 a.m. the Social Justice and Outreach Ministry Team will gather in Bethlehem Chapel to discuss our 3rd Sunday Food Drives, Blessings in a Backpack, Interfaith Action of Evanston, non-profits use of the building, the Diocese of Renk in South Sudan, and whatever social justice and outreach concerns you bring to the table. This is everyone's ministry and we hope you'll join the conversation. For more information or questions, contact Dave Himrod at 847-864-7815 or Deacon Joan Barr Smith at 847-334-1848.

Keeping God's People Safe - Level One Training

To foster a secure environment, the Diocese of Chicago has developed Keeping God's People Safe, a two-level workshop training program that sensitizes all of those who work with children in our church to the dangers of child sexual abuse and teaches them to recognize and prevent situations in which abuse or exploitation might occur. On Sunday, March 9 Pastor Debra will be offering Level One training at St. Luke's, 939 Hinman Avenue, Evanston from 1 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Lunch will be served beginning at noon. This training is required every five (5) years of all staff members and all ministry volunteers in the church - vestry members, Sunday School teachers, lay Eucharistic ministers, etc. To see if it is required for your ministry area, you can check this list http://bit.ly/1cql5r9or contact Pastor Debra. Once you have completed Level One training, Level Two training can be completed online. To register or for more information, please contact The Rev. Jeannette DeFriest at [email protected] so that enough lunch is available and adequate photocopies can be provided.

Children's Formation

On Sunday our children will be exploring Jesus' teaching about what it means to care for both neighbors and those considered enemies (based on Matthew 5:38-48). Thank you to this week's teachers and classroom assistants: Jenni Suvari / Jack and Austin Suvari (ages 3- 5), Anne Heinz / Holly Benz (ages 6 - 8), Lori Goede / John Lucadamo (ages 9 - 11).

Adult Formation: Lenten Soup & Salad Series Returns

Beginning on Tuesday, March 11 and continuing for four weeks during Lent, St. Mark's and St. Matthew's will once again be teaming up for a Lenten Soup and Salad Series. This year's program is called Animate Faith and will include a video-speaker, table conversation and more. After a light supper from 6:30 - 7 p.m., our session will offer a guided tour through some of the basics of Christian theology. The sessions aren't meant to be lessons and they aren't meant to provide answers. . . . in fact, the sessions are designed to raise questions, to flip established answers and assumptions upside down. We hope you will come and take part. More details will come in the weeks ahead. For now, just mark your calendars for March 11, 18, 25, and April 1 from 6:30 - 8 p.m.  

Volunteers Needed: Soup and Salad Preparers, Children's Formation Volunteers - both will be needed on March 11 and March 25. Please contact Pastor Debra if you think you'll be able to help out.

This Bread & This Cup Lenten Children's Retreat

Everyone who has been baptized into the Christian family is invited to share Holy Communion with one another and with Jesus. Baptism makes you part of this extended family and makes you welcome at the Eucharist, the special, sacred family meal. Children ages 5 - 12 are invited to join Pastor Debra at St. Mark's for a mini-retreat during Spring Break to learn more about this meal that we share together each week. We will gather on Tuesday and Thursday, April 8 and April 10 from 1 - 3 p.m. Please RSVP to [email protected] no later than April 1 so we have adequate supplies (and volunteers) on hand. Cost is $5 / child (includes a book to take home at the end of the retreat). If you need a scholarship to help with the cost, please let Pastor Debra know as we would like everyone who is interested to take part. On Maundy Thursday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m., all children who have been a part of this mini-retreat will be invited to participate in the service.

Bringing our Best to God - We Have Reached More than 75% of Our Goal!

If you have not yet returned your pledge card to St. Mark's, please consider doing so as every dollar pledged helps us to reach our goal of $247,000 - a goal that helps us bring our best worship and music, outreach and social justice, pastoral care, Christian formation, fellowship and hospitality - our best selves - to God. Please consider joining the 56 individuals and households - including 100% of the Vestry Leadership - who have already pledged their best to God through St. Mark's in 2014. No one is too young or too old to pledge (a separate child's pledge card is available).

I didn't receive a pledge card. If you did not receive a pledge card (and, while the mailing went out in early January, several have indicated that they never received one), please DO contact the church office at [email protected] or 847-864-4806 to have another sent OR pick up a pledge card from the back of the church on Sunday morning OR download one from our website at http://www.stmarksevanston.org/stewardship/.

Creative Learning Opportunity: The M. Milner Seifert Tribute Fund

In 2012, the Vestry of St. Augustine's Church, Wilmette, created the M. Milner Seifert Tribute Fund. This Fund honors Milner's legacy of musical leadership and service at St. Augustine's and also acknowledges his contributions to other congregations in our diocese and the wider church. This Fund offers an exciting opportunity for musicians and other parishioners at St. Augustine's, St. Andrew's, St. Luke's, St. Mark's, and St. Matthew's to expand their knowledge of liturgy and liturgical music. Please refer to the guidelines and flyer posted on the bulletin board for details or go to http://www.staschurch.org/worship/music/m-milner-seifert-music-fund/.

The goal of the fund is to enrich the lives of members of our congregations interested in expanding their knowledge of liturgy through attendance at a conference, registering for a course of study or some other opportunity known to the applicant. Because we have an application deadline date of March 15, it's time to surf the web for upcoming opportunities. Completed applications may be sent to Sue Carlson, c/o St. Augustine's Episcopal Church, 1140 Wilmette Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091.

Run Your Water, Please

Following an increase in reports of frozen water services, Evanston residents are advised to run water at a trickle to prevent their service from freezing. The City of Evanston's Utilities Department has received 12 calls regarding frozen water services so far this winter, with six of those calls occurring since Friday. Frozen service occurs when the water line between the street and the home freezes. To prevent service from freezing, residents should run water from the faucet closest to the meter at a trickle, in between a drip and a steady stream. As temperatures remain below freezing, the frost line-or the depth of frozen ground-continues to deepen.  Water services are generally located 54 to 60 inches underground; City utility crews measured Evanston's frost line depth at 51 inches on Saturday.  

"Head Games" Film & Discussion

On Wednesday, February 26, at 7PM,  the Evanston Public Library will screen Steve James' Head Games, a revealing documentary about the "concussion crisis" in American sports. This powerful film combines eye-opening medical evidence, emerging head trauma science from the nation's leading medical experts, and first-hand accounts from professional and youth athletes about the long-term effects of sports concussions. Gail Rosseau, M.D., a highly-accomplished neurosurgeon at NorthShore University Health System will lead a discussion and Q&A session after the film including the topics of emerging head trauma prevention strategies, the importance of team sports, as well as the latest science behind the causes and effects of concussions. Dr. Rosseau is the daughter, wife, and mother of football players. She is on the board of directors of USA Football and of Think First, the international head and spine injury prevention program. Open to all ages. Middle school, high school and college athletes are encouraged to attend. Free. 

We pray for the repose of the souls of Trip Healey, friend of Jeremy and Briscila Greene and Aileen Harrison. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace and rise again in glory.

We pray for the people in the Diocese of Southeast Mexico. We pray for the people in the Diocese of Renk.