EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
As Solomon prays for wisdom, we seek to more deeply know the treasures of faith. In today’s gospel Jesus offers everyday images that reveal to us the reign of God: a tree that becomes a sheltering home, yeast that penetrates and expands, a treasured pearl, a net that gains a great catch. Even as we seek the riches of God’s reign, the great surprise is that God’s grace finds us first!

THIS SUNDAY AT ST. MARK'S

9:00 am - Holy Communion with Children’s Time - Sanctuary
10:00 am - Refreshments and Fellowship Hour - Heritage Hall
11:00 am - Holy Eucharist Worship Service - Sanctuary
12:15 pm - Refreshments and Fellowship Hour - Heritage Hall

NEW TO ST. MARK'S? WELCOME!
If you are interested in learning more about St Mark’s, we would love to talk with you! All questions are welcome. Contact Liv Beck (beckliv@gmail.com; 415-205-3292).

WELCOME PR. TITA VALERIANO
Pr. Tita will be preaching and leading worship at St. Mark’s while our Pastors are on vacation and attending the St. Mark’s Family Camping trip. We are grateful to welcome back Pr. Tita after having served as St. Mark’s interim pastor from Sept. 2015 - February 2017. She will be at St. Mark’s July 30 and Aug. 6.

While Pr. Ron and Pr. Elizabeth are away, please contact Pr. Chuck Lewis, St. Mark’s Visitation Pastor, if you are in need of pastoral support. Pr Chuck can be reached at 415 956-2069 or through the church office: 415 928-7770.

ST. MARKS 6TH ANNUAL FAMILY CAMPING TRIP
This year’s camping trip will be at Portola Redwoods in the San Mateo mountains. it is a little over an hour from San Francisco and in a beautiful mountain area, but also not far from Pescadero.

Most people come Friday evening and stay through Sunday breakfast. We have hikes, games, campfire and outdoor Sunday Worship.

We do have a reservation on hold for Thursday night, August 3, if anyone would like to go up earlier, please let us know.

This is our 6th annual St. Marks Family Camping Trip, hosted by parents with Kidlettes. In late July, we will circulate a Sign up Genius list for families to sign up for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and campfire preparation. For more information contact Laura Dickinson at 415-730-9583 or larajdickinson@gmail.com.

ELEVATOR PROJECT UPDATE
The design and construction teams were busy these past weeks reviewing the fabrication drawings for the structural steel frame and finalizing the elevator car finishes. With those tasks complete, the steelworkers are fabricating the steel structure that will support the elevator addition and the elevator fabrication is underway. St. Mark's architect (ARG) and our builder (Plant Construction) have prepared and reviewed mock-ups of the exterior brick and will soon present these to the San Francisco Planning Department staff for their review as required by the City's Conditions of Approval. You can see the mock-ups mounted on the scaffold as you enter the church along the ramp. Take a look and let us know which one you'd pick!

SCHEDULING EVENTS AT ST. MARK'S
If you have any calendar items, including meetings, events, activities or groups that you would like included in the on-line calendar, please send them to Deidre Rettenmaier, Events Administrator at events@stmarks-sf.org. Thank you!

VOICE DEADLINE - MONDAY, AUGUST 7
The deadline for the next Voice newsletter is Monday, August 7 and will cover September, October, and November. Please send all submissions to Stefani Lawrence (lawrence@stmarks-sf.org). Thank you!

INTERGENERATIONAL EVENT – SUNDAY, AUGUST 13
Last month during our Intergenerational Event, we played “Ring on a String,” and “Bumpity, Bump, Bump,” and everyone had a lot of fun learning each other’s names. We will be having another Intergenerational Event on Sunday, August 13 at 10:15 a.m. in the Auditorium of the Urban Life Center. Everyone is welcome to join in this fun activity coordinated by Pastor Ron. If you normally worship at the 11:00 a.m. service, try to come an hour earlier on this Sunday to join in this event, and get to know those people who worship at the 9:00 a.m. service.

AMMPARO WORKSHOPS
AUGUST 26, SEPTEMBER 30 AND OCTOBER 14, 2017

AMMPARO stands for “Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation and Opportunities”.

All Sierra Pacific Synod congregations are invited to become AMMPARO Welcoming Congregations. Three workshops will be offered in the Synod to introduce the AMMPARO strategy, give participants information from community experts about accompanying and advocating for migrants, and tell the story of an asylum-seeker and her sponsor and the congregation that is accompanying her through that journey.

Workshops will be the following dates and locations.

August 26, 10am-2pm at Faith Lutheran Church, 20080 Redwood Road, Castro Valley, CA
September 30, 10am-2pm at Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1550 Meridian Avenue, San Jose, CA
October 14, 10am-2pm at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 701 S. Pleasant Avenue, Lodi, CA

Pre-register and state your lunch requests at the Sierra Pacific Synod AMMPARO website at www.SPSAMMPARO.org. Registration fee will be $10 per person if pre-registered online by August 23, September 27, or October 11 prior to each workshop. After those dates, registration will be $15 per person. Checks can be written to the Sierra Pacific Synod, noting “AMMPARO” in the memo line. All checks will be accepted at the door.

All are welcomed and encouraged to attend. If you would like more information about the workshops, please contact a member of the planning committee: Mary Ritter, mlrpeds@aol.com, Ruth Cruddas cruddasruth@gmail.com, or John Allured (jwalaw@sbcglobal.net). Thank you!

Sierra Pacific Synod AMMPARO Committee

YOUTH MINISTRY TEAM
As we move into our fall program, Pastor Ron would like some assistance in thinking through and planning what our Youth Ministry at St. Mark’s would entail. If you have an interest and investment in the youth of our congregation, please let Pastor Ron know if you desire when he returns from vacation in early August. This team can consist of adults and youth.

OUTREACH TEAM
As Pastor Ron has described in the summer edition of the VOICE, the time has come to reconstitute an Outreach Team that would envision and strategize how we might make St. Mark’s more visible in our community and reach out to the people in our community to invite them to become a part of our faith community. If you have any interest in this ministry, please let Pastor Ron know when he returns from vacation in early August.

CELEBRATING LGBTQ PEOPLE AT CHRIST THE GOOD SHEPHERD
Since 1987 Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church has been publicly
proclaiming God’s love to all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Join them on their anniversary as they continue to celebrate LGBTQ people. The party begins with stories & musical performances at 4:00PM on August 19 at 1550 Meridian Avenue, San Jose, CA.

WORSHIP LEADERS THIS SUNDAY
Director of Music...Dr. Timothy Zerlang
Assisting Ministers...Amy Brendel (9); Marge Okuley, Steve Ernst (11)
Lectors...Robert Rathmell (9); Bertie Brouhard (11)
Chalice Bearers...Beth Dioli (9); Cora Rose (11)
Acolytes...Emily Chernock, Pam Cheung
Altar Guild...Cora Rose & Cory Schoolland
Sacristans...Ed Chitty, Kyle Schiefelbein-Guerrero
Ministry of Welcome... Randy Schieber (9); Scott and Shelly Taylor (11)
Coffee Hour Chairs...Nadine Robinson, Kimberly Hamilton-Lam
Next Week’s Coffee Hour Chairs...Andrew Sallach, Elaine Lanier-Bohan & Tim Bohan