SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
This Sunday’s image of the life the risen Christ shares with us is the image of friendship. We are called to serve others as Jesus came to serve; but for John’s gospel, the image of servanthood is too hierarchical, too distant, to capture the essence of life with Christ. Friendship captures the love, the joy, the deep mutuality of the relationship into which Christ invites us. The Greeks believed that true friends are willing to die for each other. This is the mutual love of Christian community commanded by Christ and enabled by the Spirit.
THIS SUNDAY AT ST. MARK'S
9:00 am - Holy Communion with Children’s Time - Sanctuary
9:50 am - Sunday School - School Rooms
10:00 am - Refreshments and Fellowship Hour - Heritage Hall
10:00 am - Adult Forum - Dr. Margaret McLean - Fireside Room
10:05 am - Confirmation - Confirmation Room
11:00 am - Choral Eucharist Worship Service - Sanctuary
12:15 pm - Refreshments and Fellowship Hour - Heritage Hall
12:30 pm - Young Adult Gathering - Fireside Room
4:00 pm - Young Women’s Choral Project Concert - Sanctuary
SATURDAY VIGIL AT THE DETENTION CENTER
This Saturday, May 5, you are invited to gather at 11:00 a.m. for the monthly vigil at the Detention Center in Richmond in order to demonstrate your support for those who have been detained in this facility on account of their immigrant status. Organized by the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, this gathering usually involves over 100 people from many different religious affiliations and is led by a different faith community each month.
ADULT FORUM THIS SUNDAY AT 10:00AM IN THE FIRESIDE ROOM
Lutherans Doing More Ethics--The End of Life Option Act
In 2016, California joined its west coast neighbors in offering aid in dying for terminally ill patients. Under the End of Life Option Act, dying patients can request a prescription for a medication that will end the patient’s life. We will discuss the Act itself, what is allowed and what is not. We will then turn our attention to faith and ethics--asking how our understanding of our “resurrection faith” might inform our ethical response to this new option. Dr. Margaret McLean will facilitate our conversation and moral deliberation. Please join us.
UPCOMING ADULT FORUMS IN THE FIRESIDE ROOM AT 10:00AM
Our Lutheran Sierra Pacific Synod has a companion relationship with the Lutheran Church of Rwanda (LCR). These flourishing, mutual relationships strengthen the worldwide Lutheran community and deepen our global mission engagement. All of us have gifts to support God’s mission. There is no mission to, only mission with and among, and our connections with Rwanda embody this sentiment.
In April, St. Mark’s hosted Robin Strickler from Rwanda (founder of rwandaschoolproject.org), and we took her on a tour of sustainable buildings in the Bay Area, including the Exploratorium. If you missed that, we have more educational events and visits from Lutherans of Rwanda coming up.
- Sunday May 13: Allana and Linnea Helland recently returned from a trip to Rwanda with PICO International. They’ll share inspirational stories about the work happening in Rwanda through PICO, the LCR, and The Rwanda School Project.
- Sunday May 27: Pastor John Rutsindintwarane, Assistant to the Bishop of the Lutheran Church of Rwanda and Director of PICO Rwanda will join us in worship and will share information at noon coffee hour about PICO Rwanda and the Lutheran Church of Rwanda.
Pastor John will also attend SPS Assembly in Sacramento June 1-3 and will be the featured speaker at SPS “Rwanda Connection” in Sacramento on Saturday, June 9. Contact Allana Helland or Mary Ritter (mlrpeds@aol.com) for more information about these visits and other ways to get involved with our planning and hosting.
ST. MARK'S YOUNG ADULT GATHERING - THIS SUNDAY!
On Sunday, May 6, the young adults of St. Mark’s will be gathering at 12:30 p.m. in the Fireside Room of the Urban Life Center for a simple lunch and time to catch up with everyone in terms of what is happening in people’s lives. We also will use this time to talk about what we may want to do together throughout the summer months. This is a very open and informal group and both members and friends of St. Mark’s are welcome to participate. If you have the opportunity, please let Pastor Ron know if you are planning to attend so that he can plan food accordingly.
WOMEN’S MONTHLY STUDY GATHERINGS
All women are welcome to come and study together at our or morning Women of the ELCA Gatherings. In May our groups will meet on:
Second Tuesdays – May 8 from 11:00am to 1:00pm in the Fireside Room
All women are invited to come for study at 11:00 and at noon to bring their sandwich or salad and share fellowship. Drinks and dessert will be provided. Our study will center on “Section IV. Response to God’s Work: Call to Action and New Commitments in Society” of the Draft of the Social Statement on Women and Justice of the ELCA.
First Tuesday’s Book Group invites all women to a special gathering on
Saturday, May 26 from 10:00 to noon in the Conference Room. We will discuss the book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond.
If you have any questions, please contact Suzanne Smith at 415.285.7438 or suzathome@comcast.net.
MAY 2018 SENIOR LUNCHEON
St. Mark’s Seniors! Thursday, May 17 is the next MLT monthly luncheon in Heritage Hall, from 12:00-1:30pm! Please join us for a delicious meal prepared by MLT’s very own Delvone Anderson. Entrées options are Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Breast or Vegetarian Enchiladas. All entrées come with Pasta Salad, Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli, French Bread and Butter. Ice Cream Sundaes will be served for dessert. The cost is $5. Please pay in the MLT Office by Friday, May 11th. Come and be among friends. Hope to see you there! We are always in need of a few volunteers to help set up and serve the meal. Please speak with Pr. Elizabeth if you are interested. Volunteers are needed from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm and will receive a complimentary lunch for their service!
COME HEAR REV. CHUCK LEWIS AND JO CHADWICK!
Come hear Rev. Chuck Lewis and Jo Chadwick as The Tenderloin Museum hosts them and a screening of Lewd & Lascivious on Tuesday, May 15, 2018.
Address: 398 Eddy St (at Leavenworth), San Francisco, CA 94102. Doors at 6:30 p.m., program begins at 7:00.
LEWD & LASCIVIOUS is a one hour documentary that recounts what has become known as the New Year’s Day 1965 Police Raid on California Hall in San Francisco. The SFPD raided a benefit dance in support of the queer community where some 500 LGBTQ persons and 10 ordained clergy, their wives and other church professionals were present in a show of support for social justice and human equality. Following the arrest of six individuals and the resulting court trial, the abusive police response to the LGBTQ community in San Francisco was forever changed. Ms. Joanne Chadwick, Executive Director Emeritus for the ELCA Commission for Women, the Rev. Charles Lewis, San Francisco Night Minister Emeritus were present at the dance and are featured in the film. Come see Chuck and Jo in the documentary and don’t miss the opportunity for Q&A with them afterward!
“GOD ADORES YOU” POSTCARDS
Please bring back your “God Adores You” postcards for the National Youth Gathering. Return cards to Cora Rose or Cory Schoolland, or place in offering basket. Thank you for affirming Lutheran youth!
KEY RETURN
There are many people in the congregation who have church keys that they have been issued for a variety of roles and responsibilities. If you are in possession of a church key, are no longer in that role or responsibility, and are hanging on to your key for a matter of convenience, please return your key to the church office (Winnie). If you wish or need to keep possession of your key, please contact Winnie (heslin@stmarks-sf.org) so that she can begin to account for all of the keys that people have in their possession. Thank you.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO ATTEND THE SUPPORT NETWORK GATHERING FOR THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN EL SALVADOR?
Every 3 years, the congregations, synods, and organizations that support the Lutheran Church in El Salvador gather in El Salvador to coordinate their efforts so that the Church in El Salvador can receive the optimum volunteer and financial support in order to address their needs as the Lutheran Church in this country. Under the title of "En Cuentro," this gathering meets for 5 days to learn about and tour some of the major ministries of the Lutheran Church in El Salvador, to learn more about each other's involvement with this Lutheran Church, and to establish a common agenda of support for the next 3 years. The dates of this gathering are November 6 - 11, 2018 If you are interested in representing St. Mark's at this gathering, please speak with Liv Beck, Mary Ritter, or one of the pastors.
ST. MARK’S EL SALVADOR TRIP NOV 20-25, 2018: RELATIONSHIP BUILDING WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS AT CORDERO DE DIOS!
All members of St. Mark’s are encouraged to consider joining the next accompaniment trip to El Salvador on November 20-25, 2018 (Thanksgiving week). Singles and couples and families with children are all invited to travel with the delegation.
St. Mark’s is a sister parish with Cordero de Dios, in Soyapango, El Salvador. We have visited them several times. As we build wonderful relationships with our Salvadoran Lutheran brothers and sisters, we learn and grow and share much.
Former travelers can answer questions about travel and safety issues. Let Liv Beck (beckliv@gmail.com) know if you are interested in going or if you have any questions. We will likely soon start purchasing airplane tickets - the tickets prices are good right now but will likely go higher.
The next planning meeting for the El Salvador trip will be June 10, after the 11:00 service.
KEY RETURN
There are many people in the congregation who have church keys that they have been issued for a variety of roles and responsibilities. If you are in possession of a church key, are no longer in that role or responsibility, and are hanging on to your key for a matter of convenience, please return your key to the church office (Winnie). If you wish or need to keep possession of your key, please contact Winnie (heslin@stmarks-sf.org) so that she can begin to account for all of the keys that people have in their possession. Thank you.
SUNDAY SCHOOL SCHEDULE
May 20th: Bay to Breakers, no Sunday School
May 27th: Last Day of Sunday School PARTY!!
YOU CAN NOW MAKE ONE-TIME DONATIONS TO ST. MARK’S USING PAYPAL GIVING FUND!
If you’d like to utilize this service, please see the instructions below:
Open or Download the PayPal App
Log in or Create an Account
Tap the “Send Money” Icon
Enter “give@stmarks-sf.org” in the search field and continue as prompted
VOICE DEADLINE
The deadline for the next Voice newsletter is Monday, May 14 and will cover June, July, and August. Please send all submissions to Stefani Lawrence (lawrence@stmarks-sf.org). Thank you!
WORSHIP LEADERS THIS SUNDAY
Director of Music...Dr. Timothy Zerlang
Assisting Ministers...Liv Beck (9); Phil Krikau, Libby Pfaff (11)
Lectors...Randy Schieber (9); Cora Rose (11)
Acolytes...Signe Bohlig, Grace Ekdale Hoch
Altar Guild...Jane Borg and Sharon Reinbott
Sacristans...Ed Chitty
Ushers...Debra Varian, Jerry Lundblad (9); Pam Cheung, Linda Jackson, Donna Dindia (11)
Coffee Hour Chairs...Susie Smith, Frederick Blickle
Next Week’s Coffee Hour Chairs...Brandee Marckmann, Kathy Lautz