3051 Putnam Blvd. Pleasant Hill, CA 94523

St. Mark’s Lutheran Church August 2015

THE MARKER

Dear members and friends,

Do you happen to know the meaning and the purpose of life? Would you like to see them? Keep reading (hint: they

have a lot to do with our gifts).

On the last Sunday in June your Church Council sponsored an ‘Appreciation Luncheon’ – a big THANK YOU to

Marian and all who organized and served the event and the meal. We were all given packs of stick-on notes on which

to write names and activities for that/those which we appreciate at St. Marks. Then we stuck them all to a large piece

of paper (it’s lying on my desk right now and it’s SO big it keeps sliding onto the floor and it also knocked my pencil

jar on the floor, which is now scattered with pencils and pens!).

Here are some of the things for which we are thankful: musicians, a wonderful community to share life with for 30

years, nice people & good friends, our treasurer, choir members, enthusiasm at hospitality, insightful bible studies,

the band, the property group – thank you for taking care of the church & property!, piano players, for those who clean

the refrigerator, hospitality, Alec & Anna for all their work with the Sunday school kids, a safe place to be yourself,

smiles and jokes, all the musicians that add so much to our services, a welcoming family of love, great potluck get

togethers, hugs-listening-caring-music-leadership-spirit filled, Sunday school, thanks for the pastries, the band, phone

calls & emails, choir, uplifting sharing of the peace, prayers of the people, choir, readers, musicians, Altar Guild,

assisting ministers, Karen, Church Council, Social Ministry Committee, Crafty Ladies, potlucks, prayer warriors,

organist, everyone who cleans the church, ushers & greeters, musicians & choir – thank you for the music to the glo-

ry of God, Altar Guild, choir, children, call committee, Charlie!, crafters, puppets, property maintenance & repairs,

worship, water, social ministry & outreach, good food, hospitality folks, Altar Guilders, teachers, Judy & Sunday

School, children, boundless enthusiasm, Sunday school, music, readers, musicians, ushers, council members, assis-

tant ministers, music & friendships, the people here, beautiful choir music, ushers, crafty ladies, children’s sermons,

band members, the kids, the music, our treasurer, our financial secretary, property folks, setting up for events, inspir-

ing music, thank you for washing windows, counting, prayers for others, altar guild, crafty ladies and all they do,

ushers, readers, musicians, the organ music stand fixer!, ‘helping hands’ throughout the church, bread and wine, altar

guild for keeping us correctly decorated, a congregation filled with friends full of compassion, singers, musicians,

ushers, assisting ministers, pastors, altar guild, custodians, teachers, crafts, nursery attendants, hospitality group –

thank you for all the goodies & your gracious greetings and smiles!, treasurer, offering counters, groundskeeping, out

-loud prayers, silent prayers, friendships, forgiveness, support for each other, food!, rain, drought (lessons?), neigh-

borhood community volunteers, children, seniors, trees & flowers, synod support, opportunities for service. That’s

about it, (except I will add there were a few notes thanking your Interim Pastor).

Do you notice a common theme in all this? To me, it is appreciation for one another’s giftedness. Check out 1 Corin-

thians 12:4-31! Now, back to where we began; the meaning and purpose of life . . .

Peace to you,

Pr. Marv Abrahamson

Council News: Highlights from the July meeting

Treasurer’s Report was received – our finances remain in good shape

Council was pleased with the Sunday School progress this year. The Christian Education Com-mittee was encouraged to continue on this path, including budget considerations

Property Committee announced they are taking a break from the heavy project load this Spring & Summer, while continuing the routine maintenance work

The Red Cross Blood Drive taking place at St. Mark’s on July 31st was applauded by the Council

The June 28th “Helping Hands” potluck was deemed a success with a good turnout. Council suggests that these events be held during the normal school year, to possibly further increase the attendance

June Financials

Monthly Budget YTD Actual YTD Budget

Giving 12,918 14,935 94,717 89,610

Monthly Outreach Giving 205 1,590

Total Expenses 14.188 14,977 83,963 89,862

Current financial statements and council minutes are available in the

binder on the shelf in the back of the sanctuary.

Volunteers Needed!

Pleasant Hill Community Service Day Sept 26th 9am-2pm.

St. Mark’s will be hosting “Crafting for the Community” to make quilts, lap robes,

adult bibs and pillows for local care organizations (hospice, Shelter, Inc, etc)

Please consider volunteering part of your day to help our community.

People are still needed to sew, iron, assemble adult bibs,

cut material...

Lunch provided! Please sign up through the city’s web-

site http://www.ci.pleasant-hill.ca.us or the church

office 934-6114 officeadmin@sm-lc.net

Outreach for August

From Tim O'Keefe, Exec. Dir. of Shelter Inc.

"Do you know what your family's food budget is? Now imag-

ine this. Our Mountain View Emergency Family Shelter has a daily food

budget of just $2.06 to feed and average of 28 people each and every day. How is that

possible? Volunteers make it possible - service clubs, faith communities, schools, busi-

nesses, friends - who sign up for one week at a time to buy, prepare, serve and share dinner

with our families.”

St. Mark’s will provide and serve dinner at the shelter the week of August 10th. Once again Joy

F. is spearheading this effort on our behalf - also thanks to Thrivent Financial for their help with

monetary donations towards food purchases.

Support this vital service to our community with your prayers, by offering to volunteer, or with

monetary donations. If you chose the latter, issue your check to St. Mark’s, designate: Shelter

When: August 10 through 14

Where: 1391 Shell Ave., Martinez – Corner of Orchard Dr.

How: Sign up in Narthex. Pick T-shirt, take card with menu. Indicate serving choice on sign-up

sheet.

Call Shelter @ 228-6920 on your chosen day, ask that food be heated in time for

6:00om dinner hour. Then go to set up and serve residents.

All food has been pre-purchased, stored at Shelter

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Human Trafficking Workshops and showing the film "In Plain Sight." Sunday, August 2nd from 3:00 to

6:00 pm. Walnut Creek United Methodist Church 1543 Sunnyvale Ave., Walnut Creek Meet East

Bay ministries addressing Human Trafficking. Tabling begins at 3:00 pm with speakers beginning at

4:00 pm and the showing of "In Plain Sight” at 5:00 pm.

Sharing Social Ministry

Help still needed

Tues Aug 11th and

Thur Aug 13th!

From the Puppets of Praise: Puppets of Praise said their final good bye to

the Burkhardt family, Mark and Wendy the

adult leaders and their son Aeron (who had

developed into one of our best ever little pup-

peteers). They will truly be missed for their

continued dedication to the group and for his

truck to transport the trailer. We continue to

pray for great things for them in Bend, OR.

The group continues to invite and search for

their replacements so if anyone at St Mark's is interested in helping or has knowledge of someone who

should be contacted please let Mark Pitzlin know.

July outreach continued to involve interaction with the residents at Windsor Manor with Wednesday

morning visits. They seem to love the puppets and the music, probably more the music though.

The ministry was also invited to assist a mission pastor conducting a one day trial in the park VBS ses-

sion at Meadow Homes Park in Concord. I would estimate in excess of 70-100 others shared some time

clapping and singing and enjoying the time. God again works in mysterious ways.

Then Faith Lutheran church invited the group for their second annual VBS closing entertainment. This

was the final show for the Burkhardt family and they finished on a real high. Over 80 were in attendance

for their closing activities/dinner and they were all standing, dancing and praising. Here is an email that

was received the following day on our email.

I hadn't seen your show for several years and was very impressed with the high quality of your pro-

gram, your energy and enthusiasm, and your healthy Christian witness and encouragement. It was a

delight for adults as well as children. Thanks a lot and blessings on you and your ministry. Please

pass on the accolades to your team of young professionals. -Phil

The week of July 27th the Puppets of Praise, Mark P and Amanda (puppeteer) are conducting an hour a

day class on puppets for Saint Matthew Creative Arts Camp. 6 kids and 3 youth leaders are involved and

there could be a possibility of 1 or 2 kids continuing on for our next venture which is :

Are you interested in Acting? : So now we are in planning for the fall and are in more need of the prayers and support of St Mark's. We have secured the rights to an official musical

just released and never performed at local levels called "The Trial of Alice in Wonderland". It calls for a cast of 20 with some great parts which will include 11 plus puppet characters (4 now under construction) and the rest regular people (kids and adult) performers. It is a simple 1 hour show (well maybe not simple) with a simple court setting. So lots of stuff to get involved with if you have an interest. We are looking to secure a "free" director and a smaller theater venue location to make it fun and affordable.

So please consider how you can get on board the Puppet Ministry for St Mark's. It is fun and has it's rewards, God sees to that! Pray and invite and if He moves you to get involved in some needed part please accept His invitation. Commitment for this show is three months of practic-es usually one/week on Mondays (maybe sometimes two/week) and the performance.

Thanks from Mark and The Puppets of Praise

From the Call Committee

The call committee spent the last couple months interviewing and praying

about our first slate of names provided by the synod. After much prayer and

mutual discernment, we have decided to request a new slate of names from

the synod. We will be meeting again with our synod representative this

month to evaluate what we learned. Hopefully, we will be able to begin in-

terviews again in late September or early October.

A copy of our completed Congregational Profile available for review in the narthex and in the

office.

This is a very important time to keep the work of the call committee in your daily prayers.

Please pray for the members of our committee and the potential candidates.

The synod has provided the following estimated timeline for congregations in the call process:

Call Committee Members

Mike Doyle mikedoyle01@gmail.com h. 925-689-2373 c. 925-550-9003 Lisa Farnitano lisa.farnitano@gmail.com h. 925-935-9535 c. 925-408-1546 Brian Marrs brian.marrs@sbcglobal.net h. 925-372-7317 w. 925-788-3151

Olivia Mendez-Alm omendez@hnu.edu c. 510-589-4847 w. 510-436-1333

Rosalie Zablocki 925-945-1398

Activity Time to Accomplish Our Progress

Nominate & Elect Call Committee 3-6 weeks Complete

Call Committee Forms Congregational Profile 3-6 months or more Complete

Call Committee Receives Names & Profiles of Candidates 1-2 months In Progress (Slate 2)

Call Committee Pre-Screens Candidates 2-4 weeks

Call Committee Interviews Candidates 2 weeks - 3 months

Call Committee Decides on Final Candidate 2 weeks - 1 month

Congregation Meets Final Candidate 2 weeks - 1 month

Congregation Votes on Final Candidate 1 month

Candidate Discerns Sense of Call and Accepts 1 week - 1 month

Candidate Concludes Ministry in Current Setting 4-6 weeks

Candidate Moves & New Pastor Begins Ministry 2-4 weeks

Total Estimated Call Process Timeline 10-20+ months

Interim Pastor: Marv Abrahamson

(218) 205-1040 Email: pastor@sm-lc.net

Office Administrator: Karen Klingelhafer

Directors of 2nd Service Music: Sherry & Mike Doyle

Choir Director/Organist: Joyce Porter

3051 Putnam Blvd. Pleasant Hill, CA 94523

(925)934-6114 ▪ www.sm-lc.net ▪ officeadmin@sm-lc.net

If you would like to be included in the prayer chain or if you have a prayer request, you can

email the office at: officeadmin@sm-lc.net

We pray for Ed; Ann’s friend’s Jessica and Lotchana; Jan; Sean; Laurie’s cousin; Lupe’s wife

Judy; Geoff’s family; Lee; friends of the Waids).

On Tuesday, August 4, 2015, the Martha’s Circle Bible Study will be hosting a Summer Bible Study Retreat in St. Mark’s Center starting at 9 a.m. The focus verses are:

Matthew 5:14-16;

Luke 21:1-4;

2 Corinthians 9:7.

The theme in all is what motivates us to give to others.

The time of our Retreat will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. At noon, we will enjoy a potluck salad luncheon and time for fellowship. Please join us for this meaningful time together. Everyone is welcome to attend. Let Connie G. (or the office 925-934-6114) know if you will be attending so that we can plan the luncheon.