Jane Donaldson & Audrey Mercer Honored by Diocese

David P. Hegg Lifetime Achievement Award Recognizes Decades of Service

On Sunday, June 2nd, parishioners Jane Donaldson and Audrey Mercer received the David P. Hegg Lifetime Achievement Award, an annual event the diocesan Senior Ministries created to recognize decades of service to the church and community. This year’s evensong and reception were held at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown, where Hegg was rector from 1982 to 1996.

Jane’s clear insights and willingness are true gifts to St. Mark’s. She has served as a Sunday School teacher, nurturing the spiritual growth of our children; as Gardening Guild Chair, Jane’s nurturing and devotion have contributed greatly to the beauty of our well-maintained St. Mark’s gardens; and as a longtime member and co-chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee, her commitment has helped to ensure the proper maintenance of our property and efficient functioning of associated equipment. Jane offers her excellent sewing skills to St. Mark’s Quilters who create quilts for newly baptized children and shut-ins. Jane’s work is dependably precise and most often done by hand!

Audrey pursues projects with passion and precision, from beginning to end. About ten years ago, a guild was started to make quilts to give to the newly baptized, to parishioners recuperating from illness, and to Tomorrow’s Children, a group that cares for children with cancer. Audrey soon emerged as the leader of the guild, providing her organizational skills as well as her house for meetings! Under Audrey’s guidance these quilts have brought blessings and comfort to their recipients. For the past seven or eight years, the quilters have also been making kits containing reusable menstrual pads for girls in Haiti, a labor-intensive project that Audrey coordinates.