Lion's Tales

J2A Participates in North Porch Tea and Toy Fest

2009-01-12T23:15:00.002-05:00

On November 23rd the St. Marks J2A youth group traveled to the Episcopal House in Newark for the North Porch annual Tea and Toy Fest. In addition to giving toys, we gathered and organized donated toys for underprivileged children served by North Porch in Newark, Paterson, Clifton and Dover.

North Porch is an organization that provides emergency services for mother with children under the age of three.

We met Bishop Mark Beckwith, Canon Greg Jacobs, North Porch board members, and many of the people that staff the centers. They appreciated us being there because they never before had youth participate at the Tea and Toy Fest.

We learned the importance of being generous, not only when it is convenient, but all the time.

An Open Letter to the People of St. Mark's

2008-11-30T14:09:00.001-05:00

To My Fellow St. Markers:

The king is dead. Long live the king!

That phrase, originally coined in France in 1422, expressed a reality: Kings come and kings go, but the monarchy remained.

It comes to mind when I think of St. Mark’s, where we are today and where we will be in the future. Our Rector has gone, but our faith community goes on, just as it has several times in the past. It’s disrupting to lose our Rector, just as it was when Dick Louis, Bruce Bramlett and Lucinda Laird departed.

But each time we have grown and become stronger during this transitional period.

It’s easy to think of St. Mark’s as Randall’s Church, and it was for the past 10 years. But it also was – and still is – Marilyn’s and my Church, as it has been for more than 30 years. And it is your Church, whether you first walked through the door last week or have been coming here for decades.

St. Mark’s is Jim Pruden telling bad jokes on a Saturday night or Mary Kearney singing beautifully on Sunday morning. It is Hayley Austin and Ruby Mather playing a duet at our Martin Luther King celebration. It is Jeanettte Adams' poetry or Ardie Walser’s dramatic reading of scripture. It is black-skinned and white-skinned toddlers running around the labyrinth after Sunday service. It is Ruth Lowe’s sandwiches at coffee hour. It is three generations of the Kist family worshipping together.

St. Mark’s is its people – black and white, young and old, straight and gay, Asian and Latino – coming together for a common purpose.Now we are going through a period of change, and it can be tough. The search process is long, but it can work to strengthen us as a faith community if the people – you, me, all of us – step forward on behalf of OUR Church.

Yes, Randall has departed, but Math Adventures and Word Play continue each Saturday morning. We still visit the day laborers, collect food for the needy, welcome the homeless, open our doors each day for all to pray, get silly on Halloween, provide support in times of sorrow. We hope that you will continue to be an active member of St. Mark’s during this critical period. Join us for worship each Sunday, take part in the wide range of activities, help shape the profile that will be used to find a new Rector, and continue to provide badly needed financial support.

And if you are someone who hasn’t been to St. Mark’s in a while – whatever the reason – this is a good time to come back home. You are always welcome here.

This is our Church.

The Rector is gone. Long live St. Mark’s!

Kevin DeMarrais

[comments/feedback invited]

"In God We Trust." Really?

2008-10-20T22:18:00.012-05:00

This is a homily that was offered at Morning Prayer and at the evening service with the youth group on October 19.

In our gospel reading today, representatives of two groups united only by their desire to diminish his influence confront Jesus with a question on the subject of God and money. Disciples of the Pharisees, a Jewish sect that had the backing of the common people, and the Herodians, who supported the Roman regime, approach Jesus in front of a crowd with the intention of hanging him on the horns of a false dilemma. They pose a question to which he can give one of only two answers. They ask whether it is lawful to pay the Roman tax or not. Yes or no? (Has anyone ever set you up like that, with a question to which you can't respond without appearing to align yourself with a view you don't share?)

To answer that yes, it is lawful to pay the Roman tax would give Jesus the appearance of saying before questioners eager to establish a Jewish state that Caesar, not God, is sovereign. To say no, it's not lawful to pay the tax would make Jesus vulnerable to accusations of inciting rebellion.

Jesus grabs both horns of this supposed dilemma and shows that a third option exists: One can return to the emperor the coin manufactured by his mint, which bears his image and an inscription honoring him as divine, while at the same time rendering to God the things that are God's.

We might at first thing that Jesus was offering too easy an answer--what's Caesar's is Caesar's, what's God's is God's, and that's that. But how does the situation look if we hand Jesus one of our coins, bearing the image of a political leader and inscribed with our national motto: "In God We Trust"? Can Jesus escape the trap as amazingly now?

The Journey Begins

2008-09-28T21:21:00.004-05:00

This was a homily given at our 6:30 p.m. service, which is led by and focused on our youth, but open to all. It was delivered on the day we wished Godspeed to our Rector of ten years, the Rev. Randall Day, and his partner, Bill Hurbaugh, as they accept a call to St. Mark's-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church in Los Olivos, California, and we begin the process of selecting a new Rector to lead our congregation.

One of my favorite things about the marathon camping trips my family took when I was a kid was to arrive somewhere late at night, fall in to bed, and then wake up to discover where we had ended up.

Of course I had no responsibilities other than maybe helping with breakfast or getting rid of the garbage. Pretty much everything else was decided for me. Someone else planned the trip and decided where we’d stop along the way (and my dad NEVER wanted to stop). My mom’s job was food and drinks in the car, and for some reason as the day went on, she would start combining the contents of drink coolers as they got empty. So you might get orange juice mixed with Coke or some other revolting mixture.

Most of the passing scenery was lost on my sisters and I as we played and fought in the back of my grandfather’s Suburban. I would call it an SUV, except they had not been invented yet. Picture an Escalade... minus ALL the bling. It didn’t even have air conditioning, so driving across the Great Salt Desert in Utah one July was NOT fun.

Even still, we had it pretty good compared to the Israelites who followed Moses out of Egypt in today’s reading from Exodus. Even today, the Sinai makes the Great Salt Desert look like Disney World. There are no air-conditioned rest areas with fast food and clean water. And these weren’t riding in cars, they were walking, carrying everything they owned, and it wasn’t just all day or even a week, but for forty years! They had no idea where they were going, sometimes they didn’t have anything to eat or drink, and, to top it off, Moses -- the guy they had been following on this crazy journey, who regularly interfaced with God on their behalf -- was taken from them before they made it to the Promised Land, which we now call Israel.

Sound familiar?

Of course the details are a little different, but we -- like the Israelites -- are a community on a journey. For ten years -- long enough that many of you don’t remember anything else -- Randall has led us through happy events, like Christmas, new babies and other celebrations, and tough times, like the deaths of people we loved, some of them way before their time. And now, we all face the task of choosing a new priest us to lead us forward.

This morning, we felt all kinds of emotions as we wished Randall and Bill our best and they left to begin a new life in California. And now, we begin a new chapter in our own life together. Some people are sad, some are excited, some are scared, and some are even angry. All of these feelings are normal, and whatever combination you may be experiencing yourself, it is okay.

The most important thing is that we are all here for each other. There will be opportunities to talk about what’s going on, ask questions, and make choices. Take advantage of those chances... you are just as important a member of the community as anybody else, and your opinion matters. It’s your church, too.

There will also be new opportunities to help out. Things that got done because Randall or Bill were here to do them may need to be done by someone else. That could be as minor as picking up scraps from the sidewalk. Sometimes it might mean just coming to church when you don’t feel like it. Yes, it’s true, even adults have days like that. But that may just be the day when someone needs an understanding ear... and the ear they need may just be yours.

The Israelites grumbled and complained to Moses that they were tired and hungry. I bet they whined, “Are we there yet?” like kids on a long car trip, and asked “Is God with us, or not?”. For us, the answer to the first question is no, we’ve only just begun. But yes, God is with us every step of the way.

Can we count on you?

Hot Time - Summer on the Sidewalks: Service to Day Laborers

2008-07-13T09:43:00.006-05:00

As St. Mark's volunteers take to the sidewalks now, in the HOT days of summer, we move from handing out gloves & hats to water & oranges. Boy are they gratefully received!

More later...

Scotty

The Growing Food Crisis

2008-07-13T09:39:00.003-05:00

Deacon Diane Riley writes: "The perfect sotrm of rising fuel costs, rising food costs and the economic challenges facing so many people have produced a shortage of food and donations and an increase in those that need food. The situation has become alarming. Consider increasing your support for or beginning a new food ministry to support a food pantry near you. There is no geater work that we can do than meet this growing need of our neighbors right next door. "
St. Mark's actively supports the Center for Food Action (CFA) and its Englewood distribution center. Your gifts of non-perishable food each Sunday, and especially the first Sunday of every month, are critically important. Remember when you are shopping to add something to your basket to bring to St. Mark's for CFA. Since our doors are open all day every day, you can drop off food here any time.

For Whom The Bells Toll

2008-07-13T09:37:00.002-05:00

We toll our bell at 7 pm on days of executions, joining with houses of worship across the country to publicly witness against the death penalty the discriminates against the poor, undereducated, under-represented, and minorities. To find out more or to toll the bell contact Michael Accordino (201-281-4768, cell 212-698-7550 work: michael.accordino@simonandschuster.com)

Wellness Series coming soon to St. Mark's

2008-07-13T09:36:00.005-05:00

In recognition of his recent graduation from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York, our own Cleve Kersh will be presenting a series of summer weeknight workshops on different aspects of health and wellness, right here at St. Mark's. The workshops are free of charge, and open to all in the community. Look for more details soon!

You Gotta Problem?

2008-07-13T09:35:00.009-05:00

St. Marks is a community of believers and seekers. The prayer chain is composed of people committed to pray for “necessities”, as the Book of Common Prayer says, of others, for health and healing, for strength, recovery, guidance, wisdom, to offer praise and thanksgiving. Debbie Stegmann and Mary Kearney have led this ministry for several years and are moving on to other things. Sheri Urinyi has graciously agreed to fill their shoes. Anyone wanting prayer for self or others, or to join the prayer chain, please contact Sheri at sheri_urinyi@hotmail.com or 201-357-4726.

North Porch Women & Infants' Centers to Benefit from June 25 Concert

2008-06-09T15:48:00.003-05:00

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra with featured artist Anwar Robinson (American Idol Top Ten singer) will offer their 13th Annual Community Partners Concert on Wednesday, June 25 at 7:30 pm at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark. North Porch Women and Infants' Centers, an outreach ministry of the Episcopal Church Women in the Diocese of Newark, will be a beneficiary of this concert. For information about tickets, please contact Jeannette Adams at 201-836-5078.

Math Adventures and Word Play

2006-10-26T14:37:00.000-05:00

One of the great programs around St. Mark's is Mathematics Adventures and Word Play - an educational outreach to children and youth in our region. Volunteers organize and tutor those who seek educational assistance on any level. Some who receive tutoring also tutor others - of a different grade level or in a different area. It meets at St. Mark's on Saturday mornings from 10:30-noon.

What Do We Want to See?

2006-10-26T13:18:00.000-05:00

From the Rector
Arriving in Jericho, Jesus comes upon a blind beggar named Bartimaeus. Though people try to get him to quiet down, Bartimaeus cries out for Jesus to pay attention to him.

Jesus responds to Bartimaeus and his urgency. What does he want? Jesus asks.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, Bartimaeus wants to see – to have his physical sight restored.

Of course physical sight is not all it promises to be. Many blind persons have more developed awareness and insight than many sighted people.

We only see if we look, if we pay attention.

Jesus still offers the gift of sight. What do we want to see? What will we allow ourselves to see, by God’s grace?

Most people, sighted or physically blind in our world spend a great deal of effort (sometimes unconsciously) overlooking very important dimensions of reality. A recent New York Times story told of newly wealthy Sudanese living 600 miles from earth’s greatest humanitarian disaster who are ignoring the devastation of violence and starvation in the Darfur region of their country.

What do we want to see? What will we allow ourselves to see, by God’s grace?

As Jesus gives us sight, we also receive, through grace and the Holy Spirit, the strength and courage to see, to understand, and to respond to what we encounter.

In Christ, we can really look at our lives, our relationships, our faith community, our wider neighborhood and the world.

What Interests God?

2006-10-14T18:52:00.000-05:00

"It is a great mistake to think that God is chiefly interested in religion."
William Temple, 98th Archbishop of Canterbury

From the Rector
The great 20th century Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple, directs our attention away from the established forms of institutional religion by questioning God’s primary focus. How many assume that God frets full-time over the church and its various (sometimes petty) concerns?

But if not religion, what does interest God?

God is beyond our limits, beyond our comprehension. God is beyond our knowing and beyond our direction.

Nothing limits God’s interests. We can only imagine that God is interested in what God loves – all people and all of creation in all times and in all places.

Being in relationship with God calls us to focus as widely as we can on what interests God, to pay attention beyond the restrictions of religious structures. How are we joining with God in attending to the world, to people, and to both dire manifestations of need and the vast array of creative expression?

Our religious practice is meant to direct us beyond the life of our faith community where we are formed and strengthened spiritually. Church has value as it gives us courage, insight, and passion for living life whole-heartedly with God’s unconditional love and boundless hope. Is our primary experience one of opening up, of freeing, of moving beyond constraints and limits?

Is our attention as individuals and as a faith community too small? Can we seek from God an expansion of our focus, of our interests, and of our action?

Blessing Children

2006-10-04T13:08:00.000-05:00

From the Rector
We are accustomed to hearing about the very simple and direct action of Jesus taking children into his arms, putting his hands on them and blessing them. We have a stained glass window depicting this scene.

It is heartwarming to consider.

It was a radical act in Jesus day. It ran against the grain and mostly people would not have responded to Jesus with any positive sentiment for what he did.

He was setting the world on its ear, challenging the structures of oppression.

Children were de-valued and on the margins in Jesus’ day.

Just as they are today.

As we gather children in, meet their specific needs and bless them, we are not, by-and-large, going to be rewarded with great enthusiasm. Especially as we serve children who are not “our own” (as in homeless children in the family shelter or children who come to St. Mark’s for tutoring in Math Adventures and Word Play) people will look suspiciously at us. They will question our motives, wonder why we don’t leave well enough alone.

The simple (maybe the only) answer is that we do it because Jesus did it – and we are the Body of Christ.

Sunday Afternoons with Mozart

2006-05-10T08:59:00.000-05:00

From the Rector
We are having a Sunday Afternoon with Mozart on Sunday, May 14, the third of three magnificent concerts organized by the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County and offered by the Solstice Ensemble, the splendid chamber ensemble guided by Jim and Laurie Stubbs. The concerts are benefitting a number of projects of the Ethical Cuture Society as well as the day laborer outreach we have begun.

These concerts demonstrate the capability of our building to serve as a small concert or recital hall. They express something of our growing mission and outreach to the arts community in and around Teaneck, "the far west side of Manhattan." I am grateful for the way in which God is giving us opportunities to support and encourage the arts, which are essential to human life.

The concerts are also a sign of another dimension of life at St. Mark's: radical hospitality. What an advantage we have in becoming increasingly clear that hospitality and openness is our first priority.

The Mozart concerts were originally planned to have been at the Ethical Culture Society building but had to be moved due to a scheduling problem. We immediately welcomed the events to St. Mark's. In so doing we are advancing the arts, people in our community, our connection with a range of good work emanating from the local faith community, and we are revealing and experiencing God's openness to all of humanity, as Jesus Christ reveals God's unrestrained love to us.

There are so many ways in which God desires to and does enrich the life of the world as we respond quickly and positively to the openings that are presented to us. As the Mozart concerts strongly reflect, often the result is truly beautiful.

Serving Day Laborers, Expanding our Diversity

2006-05-10T08:33:00.000-05:00

From the Rector
For quite a few months we have been serving a group of day laborers who gather in Bergenfield. About 50 men of Latin American origin gather in the site each day.

We have been serving them through providing necessities and companionship in a once-a-week visit on Wednesdays. Many times they have not had basic resources for living and working. We have supplied safety items like dust masks, eye protection, and goggles as well as cold weather items like knit caps, warm gloves, sweatshirts, and jackets. Most days we take some basic portable nutrition like fruit, snack bars, string cheese, or nuts.

In June we will start to offer English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and a simple meal twice a week. Learning English has been the highest priority for the workers (after having more work).

In the months we have been building relationships in this day laborer community we have found the men to be extremely pleasant, intelligent, motivated, insightful, and faithful. Most of them are deeply pious Christians and they have responded enthusiastically to a few special prayer and sacrament times that we have offered on major days like the Epiphany and Ash Wednesday. We have benefitted enormously from the ways in which the day laborers have enriched our lives with their stories, experiences, and personalities.

As we move into a new phase, with English classes and hospitality, we can recognize that St. Mark's is being offered not only this valuable opportunity to serve, to do what Christ mandated we should do: "love one another as I have loved you," but we are being presented with a chance to grow and to expand the range of our diversity. God is very generous to us and the presence of the day laborers in our mission is another strong sign of the way in which God abundantly gives us all we need.

St. Mark's and the Township Council

2006-05-09T16:02:00.000-05:00

From the Rector
Since January I have been serving on the Teaneck Town Council, appointed to fill a seat of a Councilmember who made controversial statements about our Fire Department in an ongoing season of conflict in our municipal life. My term ends June 30.

I have found work as a Councilmember to be very similar to work I do at St. Mark's and in the Diocese. The skills are much the same. It has been an intense experience: jumping in and having to be immediately effective in a demanding and fraught time. I commented to a friend that serving at this time is a bit like a graduate-level practicum in handling conflict.

I agreed to serve on the Council for a number of reasons. The first was to serve the community. I see it as similar to serving the homeless, the hungry, the day laborers, the refugees, the young people who come for tutoring, and so many others who seek response and hospitality from our faith community. It isn't exactly this, but it is something like an extended pastoral call on the Township government. In any case, it is definitely ministry.

I also felt it a way to grow in leadership in order to serve St. Mark's and the wider church more effectively. It has been a way of putting my leadership insights and practices into the fire, to test and temper them. This has been a very trying time - the sort of thing that creates new strengths and pulls all of one's gifts and inner resources to the front.

During the time of my service we have settled a complex of law suits for 2.3 million dollars, had an investigative task force that issued a public report to try to improve employee relationships, faced employees and township residents who are struggling with an array of real issues and concerns, worked on the problem of an $80+M school budget defeat that now becomes a Council decision, and worked with the whole array of matters related to facilities, development, and planning. I was glad to be on the Council when we finalized the purchase of and setting up an Advisory Board for an historic burial ground threatened with development, a place where people of Native American, African, and European ancestry were all buried. I've met a tremendous number of fascinating and gifted people who live in our community and who serve this very diverse town.

I am clearer than ever on the central role of leadership in the health of an organization. I have found myself tested. I have had to be strong, clear, to think deeply (and quickly! and a lot!). There's also been a need for perseverance: the time demands have been extreme - especially considering so much else is also demanding (expanding ministry at St. Mark's, Bishop Nominating, Commission on Ministry, new programs with Holy Name Hospital, my doctoral work, to name a few).

I hope I have represented St. Mark's well and that people will understand St. Mark's as a faith community that connects to, ventures into, and serves the real world. I have made controversial decisions that I hope will in no way hurt this faith community, but that were necessary in order to not represent us as weak, vascillating, or of no real practical value (namby pamby Christians). I'm sure there are some things to regret - they will be more plain as time goes along, no doubt.

Overall, this ministry has been highly rewarding and one that I pray will continue to bring forth gifts for the future of St. Mark's and will help shape the overall direction of ordained ministry in my life in the church. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve and for being given the grace to respond to it.

Twenty Years of Ordained Life

2005-12-16T08:13:00.000-05:00

From the Rector
I was ordained in the third week of Advent in 1985, on a Thursday evening.

As is often the case looking back, years seem to have flown. At the same time, I know very deeply how transformative these years have been.

On one hand, life continues to be ordinary, human - with my chief distinctive identification being as one of the baptized - a sharer in Christ's priesthood with the whole body of the faithful. Especially as I understand the calling of the Church to be in the world, I do not hold myself aloof from everyday life and culture.

At the same time, I know that in all contexts, I am a priest - that I have a particular calling and reason for being. I don't have a sense of "owning" this form of ministry or in any sense mastering it. It has simply come to me as an expression of the community of faith, by the leading of the Holy Spirit, and as a revelation of who I am - including the generations that have gone before me and my particular experiences.

I realized early on (by grace) that I needed to accept the priesthood that had come to me - to allow it life despite any reservations or insecurities (of which I could have many, though they would have only undermined others and me were I to have entertained them anything but fleetingly).

If it were not true, it would be a cliche to say that I am most at home presiding at the Eucharist, particularly leading the sacramental prayer of the community at the altar. It has been a profound gift to have been given this opportunity - a life-changing experience that has been both demanding and fulfilling at once.

My life has been turned more and more outward year by year.

There is a psychological inventory called the MBTI (Myer-Briggs Typology Indicator) that notes, among other things, one's level of introversion (tendency to draw energy from an inner world of thoughts, feelings, and reflections requiring substantial time alone) and one's level of extroversion (tendency to engage the things, people, places and activities going on in the outside world for one's life force, rarely feeling drained by interaction with the outside world and other people).

When I was in seminary more than 20 years ago I was in a balance between introversion and extroversion on the MBTI. Recently, I did the inventory again and am decidedly extoverted. In reflection, I feel I have been drawn into extoversion by the ministry of priesthood - identifying my work and life as being for others. My focus is necessarily beyond myself to what God is doing in the world and to what God desires for others in any given situation (mundane or substantial).

I realize that it is in living out a ministry of priesthood that God has continued to convert me in Christ. Conversion for all people is a life-long process of growing more and more into who Christ is and who Christ desires to be in the world.

At this 20-year mark, I am aware that this conversion is meant to continue in new ways . . . This is not a startling revelation, but I cannot be complacent or settled, a tendency that seems typical of the human condition. God is a constantly changing and renewing Being (Source of all that is) and calls us into this persistently active process of growth and movement. Much as any of us may wish, we simply do not "arrive" at a final point. In God's life, there is always more; the journey continues.

I am grateful for a very full and rich life. I am thankful that I can die tomorrow knowing how substantially I have been able to live, by God's grace.

My friend Nancy Cox says a priest should always be ready to preach, pray, and die. At this anniversary (and it has taken all this time), I think I am ready.

Thanks be to God.

An Advent Retreat

2005-12-16T07:42:00.000-05:00

From the Rector
Sunday through Wednesday this week I participated in an Advent retreat at Washington National Cathedral. Called Christ-Dayspring of Wisdom, it was led by our Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Frank Tracy Griswold, and two of the canons (assistant clergy) of the Cathedral.

The event allowed me to connect two significant strains of my 20 year journey of ordained life. I was ordained by Bishop Griswold in the Diocese of Chicago and initially served there. For nine years I was in Washington working for Canterbury Cathedral (in England) and serving at Washington National Cathedral. The retreat allowed me an opportunity to consolidate experiences and to reflect on where I am and, to a small extent, where I am going.

With the release of the Profile of the Diocese of Newark last Thursday, the retreat was exceptionally well-timed. I can't really claim superior planning as I had committed to the retreat long before I knew when the Profile would be completed. But that's God for you. I had a good and much-needed opportunity to slow my pace and refocus after a very demanding experience co-chairing the small committee writing that document.

I was grateful for being able to re-connect with a small circle of people who mean so much to me from my Washington days - people with whom my spirit strongly resonates. When I left Washington I really said "good-bye" in order to be fully in my new place - but I realize that at least a few relationships have persisted in being important and lively; I'm grateful for that awareness and the opportunity to re-establish conversation. Aren't the best relationships often the ones you can pick up where you left off - even after years?

Bishop Griswold's retreat addresses were rich and powerful. He constantly urges listeners to embrace God's authentic presence in the world unveiled - and points to relationship with God in times of both joy and stuggle (consolation and desolation are the "technical" terms). Who can know where God will lead? We can discover the path only in giving ourselves to God wholly - and then actively engaging the journey in faith, by God's surprising grace.

Soon I was back at St. Mark's sprinkling ice-melt on the sidewalks for our Thursday evening meetings as the sleet and freezing rain began. The mundane never waits - but is never the whole story.

Brokeback Mountain and the Church

2005-12-16T07:19:00.000-05:00

From the Rector
I just finished reading the short story Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx, first published in the New Yorker. The story has been made into a recently-released film.

The story is beautifully written and masterfully presents the tensions between male affection and dominant culture. It is a story experienced by many in our world and the Church.

Our Christian and spiritual lives need to make sense in connection to real world experiences - the stuff of the best stories we tell. Real human lives are the focus of God's love in Christ and our faith needs not (dares not) shy away.

Two St. Mark's Advent Poems

2005-12-10T13:33:00.000-05:00

St. Mark's is blessed by God with poets - people who can see and express reality and truth in a language that transcends the literal. (The literal is rarely true.) Soon there will be an 80th anniversary collection of poetry by St. Markers - celebration of God's Word spoken in our individual lives and in the life of this faith community. For now, a foretaste of that banquet: two Advent poems.

LET US PREPARE

Snow is expected
the birds know
there they go
off to the left
in formation
dip low
bank right
circle
separate
re-group
soar

Advent approaches
we must prepare
where are the candles
the wreath, the crib
what are the prayers
the hymns, the hopes
who will take the babe to his bed
why must we wait
to walk in the light
Advent approaches
let us prepare

– Jeanette Adams
November 29, 2002

ADVENT 2000

The sky was a blackboard
nothing written there for me
It was cold and dark
when the demons struck
a clanking noise from the belly of my car

I should have been scared
would have been too
but I looked at the sky, and saw
a sudden spillage of stars

Then a man/angel
stopped to help me
Jesus was in his eyes

The leaves were glistening
and I knew
the Birth of the Christ Child
was near

– Pamela Malone

This New Website

2005-12-04T17:26:00.000-05:00

The newly-redesigned St. Mark's website is an amazing gift for our faith community and for people seeking information about St. Mark's, perhaps seeking a spiritual home.

St. Mark's thrives on the gifts of all who share their skills, interests, and passions. This website was the dream of Laura Buma and Rich Kearney. St. Mark's is a place to dream - and to let dreams become realities.

I suppose there are parishes that could have afforded to go out and "buy" a website like ours - with this blog, an active calendar, lots of information. But how much more lively it is to have the gifts and skills and commitment of our members creating the realities of our shared life.

Because we are so very grateful we could easily say "thank you" to Laura and to Rich and to all who have cared enough for this website to be in service - but we can, more accurately, say: "thanks be to God." God is generous with each of us and all of us together. Our website is evidence of this astounding generosity. May others use it to come into contact with the abundance of God at St. Mark's.

Bishop's Visit

2005-12-04T14:57:00.000-05:00

The Right Rev. John Palmer Croneberger, our Bishop, visited St. Mark's on the Second Sunday of Advent, December 4. The visit coincided with the first snowfall of the season - so the day was even more special.

By 7:45 Julian Vicente of Cutting Edge Landscaping had done our snow removal. Julian is solid gold and serves St. Mark's well.

The 8 am service was the quiet morning opportunity for comtemplation and rich silence it always is - time to gather our prayers for the busier part of the morning.

By 8:45 the Bishop arrived.

Two years ago, The Rev. Dennie Bennett, our Associate Rector, was ordained on St. Nicholas Day (December 6). There was a huge blizzard. I joked with the Bishop about an equation I was observing: Bishop+Dennie=Snow.

Our magnificent St. Mark's Choristers (new children's choir) were singing at the 9 am service so the morning was soon attended by fluttering of bolts of red and white cloth in the vestments of these young ministers of music.

Ministry Intern Alexei Khamin made it through the snowy roads from Parsippany by 8:55, ready to serve as the Bishop's Chaplain through the morning.

I wondered if anyone would come to church, or if all the preparations would be for a very select few. While attendance was a little lighter than we might have hoped, the snow didn't deter most people. The coat racks were filled to overflowing.

Cleve chose two sets of hymns for 9 am and 11 am - so the Bishop had a full array of Advent Hymns through the morning - from "People Look East" to "What is the crying at Jordan?" to "Comfort, comfort ye my people."

Pam Malone is a riveting storyteller and was engrossing in relating the story of Zechariah, the Angel Gabriel and the Visitation - Elizabeth and Mary meet and John the Baptist and Jesus leap in expectant wombs. We have a children's story every Sunday at the 9 am service.

The Bishop led the 10 am Adult forum - focusing the conversation on St. Mark's vitality and what underlies the strength we experience. As he sought to hear reasons for our health and vibrance, people ventured: openness to change, our leadership, our small groups, our heritage of active involvement, and our openness and inclusion (especially racial diversity). It was a lively conversation and the bishop told some stories from his travels around the Diocese. He mentioned one congregation in the Diocese that has an Average Sunday Attendance (ASA) of nine.

The Bishop preached a moving and reflective sermon on Advent words - and called us to move more deeply into this time of waiting and expectation. At the 11 am service he completed his sermon with a surprise for the Rector: an examination and recommitment to ordination vows on the occasion of Randall's 20th Anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood. So the Bishop's visit allowed a powerful moment of looking afresh 0n the work of priestly ministry in the faith community and in the world.

Cleve and the Choir outdid themselves - 17 singers and an excellent array of music from chant to folk song.

The Bishop's presence knits us together with over a hundred other local expressions of the work of the Episcopal Church in northern New Jersey. In his visit today we have been encouraged to move ever more boldly into the life-changing mission of being Christ's presence for others - especially those in great need.

Today's visit from our Bishop has strengthened us in the time of Advent expectation to watch for Christ in all people, all places, and in ourselves as Christ's living Body active in the world.

Men's Breakfast Group

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This morning (Nov. 26) was Men's Breakfast Group. We gather twice a month and have a "big" breakfast (oatmeal, sausage, bagels, muffins, coffee, and cider this morning).

We talk about the world and life in general while we're gathering and eating. It's good to have a bunch of guys to "catch up" on - hear what's happening in their lives.

This fall we have been watching the Via Media program sessions on DVD (20 minutes or so) and having conversation about these basic issues in Christianity. Today the program was on sin - called a "Roadblock to Abundant Life."

We heard and discussed the way the Episcopal Church is non-judgmental and gets accused of being "soft on sin." But then we looked at how the Episcopal Church cares a lot and talks a lot about justice - larger issues of societal evil, and how we're not soft on justice.

Sin is no easy topic - but the conversation was one that left us all thinking (and perhaps praying) about what is truly important and what is most valuable to us and to others.

In December Men's Breakfast Group meets only once: December 10 - then January 14 and 28.

Advent at St. Mark's

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Advent is a real season and it has real gifts for all who embrace it.

This is not an "all or nothing" matter. "Embracing" Advent may mean simply allowing some brief quiet times into an otherwise hectic life and schedule. It certainly is not a demand for perfectionism.

St. Mark's offers a range of resources for Advent. There are print resources for planning, devotion, and encouragement. There are worship resources: Sunday worship, candlelight Labyrinth walks, and Service of Light prayer times on Wednesdays. We have an Advent small group: "Ears to Hear," on Monday evenings at 7:30. See "calendar" for details.

We do not have to march along through this season to the beat of the retailers or old expectations. Let some new possibility dawn in your life this Advent.