Parish Announcements

Lent Begins on February 22, Ash Wednesday

Please join us for Ash Wednesday worship at 12:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Both services will offer the Imposition of Ashes and Holy Communion. There will be no Wednesday supper on that day.

Interfaith Food Pantry on February18

The Interfaith Food Pantry is held every Saturday at the Old First Presbyterian Church, and is a collaborative effort of five local churches. The churches take turns hosting the pantry once every six weeks. The sixth week is a shared effort of all the churches. The remaining St. Mark’s dates for the 2012 Pantry are as follows: Feb. 18, March 24, May 12, June 30, Aug. 4, Sept. 22, and Nov. 3.

All Faiths' Day: Apr. 28, June 16, Aug 25, Oct 27 and Dec. 8

Sign up to serve at www.interfaithfood.org or contact Joleen Jessen at 415.531.6322, or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Upcoming Lenten Worship at St. Mark’s

Feb. 29, Mar. 7, 14. 21, 28

Lenten Supper in Heritage Hall at 6:00 pm

All are welcome to join us for a community dinner prepared by church members in Heritage Hall prior to worship.

Lenten mid-week worship every Wednesday evening from 6:45 - 7:15 pm

Come and recharge your batteries with a peaceful and restorative service of Evening Prayer during the season of Lent. Each Wednesday a different member of the congregation will share a brief meditation on the Gospel reading from the previous Sunday. Come and be fed - come and listen - come and pray for healing and wholeness in your life and for the world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Highlights of the Church Council Retreat

Last weekend the new Council (as elected at the Annual Congregational Meeting January 29) met for a two-day retreat at Mercy Center in Burlingame to reflect, study, plan, worship, and just get to know each other better, as we move forward together. (Council Members are: Aron Bohlig, Diane Haavik, Kimberly Hamilton-Lam, Linda Jackson, Marge Jencks, Marisa Louie, Jeremy McClain, Roger Ostrem, Robert Rathmell, Andrew Sallach, Suzanne Smith, John Varian, and Pastor Elizabeth.)

During the meeting, officers were elected as follows:

Suzanne Smith, President

Roger Ostrem, Vice-President

Marge Jencks, Secretary

Aron Bohlig, Treasurer

Marisa Louie, Executive Committee Member-at-Large

From the group of St. Mark's members who submitted their names expressing interest in serving on a 7-member Call Committee, the following were selected: Dean Atkinson, Diana Gomez, Ana Hurley, Marisa Louie, Bill Mooney, Randy Schieber, and Kyle Schiefelbein.

Many thanks to all who showed interest in serving on this important committee, as all candidates would bring special gifts and situations. The committee will develop a site ministry profile for St. Mark's, and in accord with the Synod's Call Process, recommend a staffing plan for moving forward. Ultimately, the congregation will have the opportunity to vote on accepting the recommendation of the Call Committee.

Adult Forum at 10:10 am in the Fireside Room

Today - Becoming an Anti-Racist Church

How Can St. Mark’s be a Model of Anti-Racism in the Sierra Pacific Synod and the ELCA?

Feb. 26, March 4 and March 11 with Pr. Ekdale

Feb. 26—Reclaiming the "E" word!

What does the word "Evangelical" mean in the name of our church?  We are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  Pastor Ekdale will share her Lenten reflections on the "E" word from her perspective as pastor and new council member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  Free gifts and resources will be shared at this forum by Pr. Ekdale to assist you in your Lenten journeys.

March 4 and March 11 - Lent:  Experience the flow of God's grace

Join Pr Ekdale in a discussion about grace . . . what is "grace" exactly? Why do we believe we need to earn it?  How can we receive it? What is the Lutheran perspective of grace? Why do we believe we are unworthy of God's grace? What does the Bible say about grace?

Come to these adult forums and gain new insight on this key concept for us Lutherans.(Note: we will be utilizing an article from The Lutheran - February 2012 edition. Copies will be made available on Feb. 26 for your reading enjoyment.)

Church Office Closure

The church office will be closed on Monday, February 20 for Presidents’ Day.

Senior Corner

Senior Center Trip to the Winchester Mystery House on Friday, February 24

Once the personal residence of Sarah Winchester, widow of gun magnate William Wirt Winchester, this Queen Anne Style Victorian mansion is renowned for its size and utter lack of any master building plan. Join MLT and St. Mark’s  seniors on a trip to the South Bay to visit this famously “haunted” house. Departure will be at 10 am from MLT’s Brockie Lounge. There is a $3 fee to cover transportation.

To RSVP for the trip, please call the MLT office at 415.885.1084.

Lenten Box Offerings 2012

St. Mark’s Social Ministry and Sunday School will once again join forces to collect change during Lent for the following organizations – one global, one local:

* Lutheran World Relief Community Water Systems

LWR works with communities around the world to help them develop plans to protect and conserve their water resources, or to restore natural vegetation to prevent water run-off.

* Bay Area Women’s and Children’s Center

BAWCC is based in the Tenderloin of SF and focuses entirely on the needs and issues of low-income families, children, and women of this multi-ethnic community, providing services to more than 600 families, children, and women each month.

Put your spare change or the money you would have used for your latte or cappuccino or an intentional dollar every day - you choose. Please pick up the Lenten boxes in the narthex at both services the first Sunday in Lent. Help us bring about change during the season of Lent!

ALL ARE INVITED TO A SMOP (St. Mark's Our Planet) SERVICE PROJECT AT MUIR BEACH, SATURDAY, MARCH 3

Our service project will be to participate in native habitat restoration at MUIR BEACH in Marin, where Redwood Creek enters the Pacific Ocean. Steven Krefting, our resident naturalist, informs us that we will "restore a functional, self-sustaining ecosystem, including wetland, riparian and aquatic components" guided by the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. Departure will be from the upper St. Mark's parking lot at 9AM sharp, since we'll be expected at Muir beach by 10AM. We'll arrange car-pools on the spot. We'll wrap up the service project by 1PM (at Muir Beach). For more information or to RSVP, contact Tom Benson at (707) 765-2775 or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Please RSVP by Saturday, February 25 so we can let the GGNP Conservancy know how many St. Mark's volunteers to prepare for. Families with children are enthusiastically invited to join, however, children need to be well supervised by their parents on this project. More Information about this service project: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectID=12126. Hoping you can join us for the wonderful effort!

Lenten Knitting Retreat on March 24th

Calling all knitters and would-be knitters! We’ll be holding a knitting retreat on Saturday, March 24 in Heritage Hall. Watch for more info in the coming weeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Conference on Israel/Palestine Peace, March 23-24

Mark your calendars for a timely and important conference:  "Breaking the Barriers to a Just PEACE in ISRAEL/PALESTINE" to be held March 23-24 at Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church. Friends of Sabeel in North America (FOSNA) are sponsoring this ecumenical, educational event, presenting speakers from the Holy Land as well as from the Bay Area to inform and discuss the issues related to Middle East Peace. For details and registration information, check the website: www.barriers-conference.org.

Rental Units available at Martin Luther Tower

Martin Luther Tower is a 121 unit, 13 story apartment building that provides affordable, independent living for seniors 62 years and older in the heart of San Francisco. Built in the 1960s as a ministry of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, Martin Luther Tower continues St. Mark’s mission today in the form of affordable housing, outreach and care. There are many social events and activities, and the building has a remodeled lounge, a computer room with high-speed internet access, and a guest suite for out-of-town visitors. Both studio and one bedroom apartments are available, and all apartments have sliding glass doors which open to private balconies, with fantastic views of the city and surrounding areas. For rental information please contact the MLT office at (415) 885-1084 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Worship Leaders this Sunday

Assisting Ministers…Maria Anderson (9); Marge Okuley, Ed Chitty (11)

Lectors… Carla Foster (9); Jo Chadwick (11)

Acolytes…Astra Varian, Coco Ocker

Chalice Bearers…Jeremy McClain (9); Suzanne Smith, Marisa Louie (11)

Ministry of Welcome…Matt & Allana Helland (9); John & Debra Varian (11)

Coffee Hour Chairs… Yolanda Rivas, Nadine Robinson