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The Mark’s
January Issue
RE-FORMED BY FAITH: Living in Community
As we continue our year long focus on Faith For-mation, we pause this month to reflect on how our lives of faith are formed in communi-ty.
I hear time and time again from newer members that the reason they joined our con-gregation was because of the community. It was our gra-cious hospitality as communi-ty that has helped people con-nect (or reconnect) to their lives of faith in community.
And that shouldn’t be a surprise, our lives of faith are always nourished by those around us—in bible study, in worship, in fellowship as we create caring Christian rela-tionships. As we grow togeth-er and share with one another we create connections that are unlike those at work, in your family, or at school.
God is at work through the Holy Spirit animating the community of faith to be the body of Christ. In our world today, it’s this community of believers that makes the most difference in our world as we come together to care for our neighbors in need. Our ef-forts as community over the holidays is a clear example of this as we collected gifts for families in need, gathered for worship on Christmas Eve and even went out into the community for a bit of carol-ing.
God uses us in community to care for one another as we check in on those who are
sick, care for those who are grieving, help those who are going through difficult times, and encourage one another through prayer and support.
Our sense of community is also highlighted this month by our Annual Congregational meeting, where we meet as a congregation to give thanks for all that we were able to do in 2017 and look forward to the ways God will be calling us to serve in 2018.
The vision for our commu-nity is grounded in the idea that we are a community that gathers together around the Lord’s Table. We celebrate in our community that no mat-ter who, or where you are on your faith journey, you are invited to join us at the table where Christ is present for us. Transformed by our commu-nity experience at the table, we are sent out into the world to share God’s love with those we meet.
This radically inclusive and diverse community is animat-ed by our understanding of God’s grace present in the sacrament of communion, but it pushes us to live into that reality in our everyday world as well—being a people and a community that welcomes all under the grace of God.
It is close to what Martin Luther King, Jr. had in his vision of the “beloved” com-munity. Or a place where all were given value, worth, and dignity. It’s this same vision that continues to form my life
of faith as we continue to build this “beloved” commu-nity as a church community.
We know that we have a lot of room to grow though, we don’t live as loved and peaceably with our neighbors as we ought. So establishing this vision of a community where all are welcome takes some work. One barrier to that in our world today is the notion of systemic and un-talked about racial biases that often influence the way we relate to one another in com-munity.
This past year our Synod Assembly addressed the issue of Systemic Racism in the church and is actively working with the Anti-Racism Team to help churches and commu-nities come to name the sin of racism and work towards ra-cial reconciliation as we work together to build the “beloved” community. Our special collection envelope this month will work to sup-port their work across our synod as we partner together to help further this important dialogue in our church.
We are being re:FORMED into a beautiful expansive community of faith here at St. Mark’s, a place where all are welcome, young, old, new to faith, or life long Lutheran. And for that, I give thanks! +Pastor
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, Conshohocken, PA.
January 2018
The Mark’s
Special points of
interest:
Your Child’s Spir-
itual Inquisitiveness
Helping Families in
need @ Christmas
Christmas Eve Re-
cap
Easter Eggs starts
100th Year
Upcoming Annual
Congregational
Meeting
Inside this issue:
Faith Formation 2
Faith @ Home 4
Service 5
Worship 8
Altar Flowers 9
Fellowship 10
Calendar 15
Helping Hands 16
Page 2
The Mark’s
January Issue
Faith Format ion
Faith Formation Family Class on Sunday Mornings
Faith Formation for the Spring resumes on January 7th following worship.
Teachers are needed to sign up for ses-sions for the Spring. The link can be found here.
Our kids are making such great progress learning about our church year and diving deeper into the lessons we read each Sun-day.
At the end of each class, they meet with our Music Director and practicing singing their faith as they learn and prepare songs to share with us in worship!
Please note that this month, on January 21st there will be no faith formation clas-ses due to the Congregational Meeting—all will be invited to attend our worship / annual meeting.
January 7, 2018
Baptism of the Lord
In the Beginning Order Genesis 1:1-5
January 14, 2018
Epiphany 2
God Calls Samuel Listening 1 Samuel 3:1-20
January 21, 2018
Epiphany 3
Congregational Meeting (NO CLASSES)
January 28, 2018
Epiphany 4
Healing in the Synagogue
Power Mark 1:21-28
February 4, 2018
Epiphany 5
Healing at Simon’s House
Healing Mark 1:29-39
Follow Along with us!
ABOUT THE SEASON OF EPIPHANY
The Season of Epiphany begins on January 6 with the Epiphany of the Lord, the day the church commemorates the wise men following the star to worship baby Jesus. The first Sun-day of Epiphany is also a festival, called the Baptism of the Lord. Jesus’ baptism begins his ministry of healing the sick and teaching. During the Season of Epiphany, we focus on the ways God speaks to us and calls us into ministry. This season of light ends with the dazzling display of Jesus’ divinity, celebrated with the festival of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
A Kid’s View: The Epiphany season is likely the least familiar to kids. Younger kids will be able to relate best to conversations about light and dark, and probably even listening for the voice of God. Older kids will be more able to relate to the idea of being called, as well as ask questions about the ways God speaks to us today.
The Whirl icon
for Epiphany is a
star to remind us
of the star that
led the wise men
to baby Jesus.
Page 3
The Mark’s
January Issue
Faith Format ion
Along with all the “why” questions your child frequently asks, they are like-ly also wondering about the whats and wheres of faith. Where is God? What does God look like? How come I can’t see God? Even parents who’ve been Christ-followers for many years can find themselves perplexed while trying to answer such questions in a truthful yet simple way.
The good news is, you’re beginning to lay a foundation of faith—planting tiny seeds of trust and belief that will take root and flourish as your child grows. Don’t feel you need a course in theology to answer all your child’s questions. Pray for wisdom. You can share that God is everywhere, and that even though we can’t see God, God always sees us. We don’t know what God looks like, because God is a spirit. God doesn’t have a body like we do. But we trust in God’s presence, good-ness, grace, and authority. Nothing can be hidden from God. God is every-where and knows everything—God even knows our feelings and thoughts before we say them. And God loves us—no matter what.
Additionally, you can begin explain-ing key words such as these to help your child develop more of an under-standing of the gospel:
Faith—believing and trusting what
you cannot see or touch. Faith is be-lieving that God always keeps God’s promises.
Sin—disobedience to God and God’s character, laws, and desires for us.
Grace—the unearned love and kind-ness of God. God is perfect and good; we are not perfect, and we often act in ways that aren’t good. God’s love and kindness are free gifts, not things we earn. God knows our sins and loves us still.
Savior—another name for Jesus. To
save is to rescue someone or some-thing. Jesus saves us from being de-stroyed by our sin and separated from God.
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. –Matthew 7:7-8
This blog content is from the “Growing in Faith” section of the Frolic Family Newsletter, a monthly news-letter for families of children from birth to age 5. To receive content specific to your child’s age, sign up for FREE!
Faithful Parenting @ Home : Your Child’s Spiritual Inquisitiveness
Confirmation Class
We gather for Confirmation class on the First Thursday of the month following Dinner Church around 7:15pm. This month our students begin exploring the New Testa-ment and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Theology on Tap / Family Dinner
Join us Wednesday January 10th, for dinner as a group at 6pm and for theological conversation starting at 7pm. This month we will explore what it takes to build a Christian community, what other communities of faith are popping up around the country, and how our faith lives are nurtured in community at St. Mark’s.
Page 4
The Mark’s
January Issue
Faith Format ion
By Audrey Cox
Activity Plan
Gather as a family and begin with prayer:
Thank you, God, for always being ready to hear us when we come to you in prayer. Amen.
Give each person a copy of the Bible passage on the right to place somewhere near his or her bed, perhaps on a nightstand or headboard. Read it in unison and discuss what these instructions might mean for Chris-tians today.
Spend a moment recalling the messages family mem-bers have received in the past day via Facebook®, Twitter®, or texting. Which of these messages sug-gest a person or a family in need of prayer?
Discuss how family members can keep track of pray-er needs they see throughout the day as they use so-cial media. For example, you might keep track in a text message to yourself, on an application for notes, or in a computer document. Challenge one another to gather four or five notes about prayer needs each day.
Before you go to bed, read the verse from Timothy as a reminder to pray for all people. Take a few minutes to pull up your notes from the day and pray for the individu-als you listed. Here are some examples:
Someone posts about working on homework late at night—pray that God will give him or her wisdom and strength to finish the assignment.
You read a Twitter® conversation that seems pretty negative—pray for quick and peaceful resolution to the conflict.
Someone posts a photo of a recent accomplish-ment—give thanks to God for his or her success.
It's a friend's birthday—praise God for the life of this individual.
Once a week, perhaps at mealtime, take time as a family to talk about the prayer needs you've noted in the past few days.
Faith @ Home Activity— Social Media Prayers
Families grow in faith when they . . .
TALK with each other about their faith
PRAY together in ways that are comfortable and comforting
RITUALIZE their important moments
REACH OUT in service and support of others.
SHARE BIBLE STORY to connect with family stories
LEARN ABOUT FAITH TOGETHER in comfortable and fun ways
Page 5
The Mark’s
January Issue
December was a busy month for our Social Ministry team as they coor-dinate the collections of gifts for 5 families in need in the Colonial School District.
Over the month we collected items for children and adults to help make the holidays a little brighter for families going through difficult times in our area.
Some of the items and wishes we didn’t think we would be able to fill—like an iPad and a notebook computer that families need these days to help students complete homework assign-ments, but thanks to the generosity of our congregation, we were able to get everything the families asked for!
The families we aid come from the Colonial School District’s home ser-vices as families that could use a little extra help. It’s always great when St. Mark’s can share a little bit of God’s love by giving back to these families, not only at the holiday’s, but all year round as we support our neighbors in need. We hope to take a few of these families and check back in with them
at various parts of the year to see if there is more that we can do to sup-port them.
Thank you to all those who helped to bring in gifts, and support our gift giving efforts.
In addition to our 5 families, Saint Mark’s also served as the collection distribution point for the district in partnership with Colonial Neighbor-hood Council. In all, close to 100 fami-lies where helped in our local area re-ceive gifts for kids this year. A big thanks to Dayle Malantonio(St. Mark’s member) and Sandy Frier (director of CNC) for helping to be a beacon of light for families this year!
St. Mark’s helped make holiday’s brighter for families in our area
Serve
Capital Appeal : On our way to new carpet in the Sanctuary
Our capital appeal is in the process of it’s second phase of improvements in the sanctuary. We are working quickly towards our goal of installing new carpets in the sanctuary. Dona-tions in December were very generous raising $8,299 in that month alone.
At this point an additional $1,500
needs to be raised to move forward with replacing the carpet here this spring.
If scheduling allows, we will try to complete that work prior to Holy Week and Easter, but will not be able to disrupt our sanctuary during that busy week for us.
Received to Date
$23,390
Page 6
The Mark’s
January Issue
Serv ice
Think of the three happiest people you know – people whose lives effer-vesce with joy and peace. Chances are they also have a profound thankfulness for all that God has blessed them with. They also seem to live with a sense of contentment. Reflect for a minute. Is-n’t that the case?
By contrast, you may also know folks who are considered wealthy but are profoundly UNhappy. Likely they not only fail to exude thankfulness for their wealth, but they also mistakenly believe they need even MORE posses-sions to be happy. Isn’t that right?
Now, which kind of person do you tend to be?
Thankfulness. Happiness. Content-ment. These joyful characteristics work together, reinforcing one another. Hu-man experience proves this simple fact to be true: People who are grateful for all they have and all they are tend to be happy and content. Moreover, don’t they also tend to possess spiritual depth and emotional maturity? A coin-cidence? Hardly.
Thankfulness, happiness and con-tentment interact, but gratitude holds the key. Develop gratitude, then happi-ness and contentment follow. It doesn’t work the other way around. With prayer, devotion and simple exer-cises, the Holy Spirit will lead you to deeper spiritual maturity and more happiness. Here are some ideas for
you and your family.
Pray daily. Ask God to give you a greater sense of thankfulness. And then thank God for all the day’s bless-ings.
Chart thankfulness. On a big wall calendar mark one thing for which you’re thankful to God. Invite other family members to do the same. When you get in the habit of looking for them, you will find blessings every-where.
Keep a “blessing list.” Write down the things you are grateful for. Then as you say your nighttime and morning devotions, pray over the list: “God, I’m thankful for this, and I’m thankful for that.” Revise the list as needed.
Start a refrigerator “gratitude board.” Using sticky notes, post on
your refrigerator the things for which you are most grateful. Use a different color sticky note for each family mem-ber. Keep the board updated.
Send out thank-you notes. Buy a box of inexpensive thank you notes and send one every week. Go deep, thanking not only the folks who have given you a present or done a favor for you, but also those whose love, sup-port, friendship, laughter, energy or presence are important to you.
Make a “thank offering.” Ex-press gratitude in a tangible way by making a contribution to your congre-gation or favorite church cause. Make the donation “just because,” or in hon-or or memory of a loved one, or on the occasion of a special event or blessing in your life.
Adopt one or more of these exer-cises as a spiritual discipline and, with God’s help, you will develop the atti-tude of gratitude that will bring more satisfaction, greater happiness, spiritual depth and emotional maturity to your life. Blessings for 2018.
--Rob Blezard
Copyright © 2018, Rev. Robert Blezard. Used by permission. Pastor Blezard works as content editor for www.stewardshipoflife.org and serves as an assistant to the bishop of the Lower Susquehanna Synod in Pennsylvania.
Stewardship 101: 2018 Your Year of Gratitude
Our 2018 year offering envelope boxes are available in the rear of the sanctuary. Thank you for those who utilize the offering envelope as a way to support the mission and ministry of St. Mark's. This year we have also picked up a more robust electronic giving uti-lizing the Give+ app which can be downloaded via Apple Store or Google Play. Thanks to your generous support we can continue to spread God's love
in our community.
2017 Year End Giving statements will be available soon and will be availa-ble for pick up in the Sanctuary—with them will also be a financial update letter on where we stand as a congrega-tion going into 2018. These statements will be mailed at the end of January if they are not picked up in person.
2018 Box Envelope Sets Ready for Pick up and Year End Giving Statements
Page 7
The Mark’s
January Issue
Serv ice
The Conshohocken Library is running a weekly Home-work Stars! free tutoring program and is looking for volun-teers and donations. Wednesdays starting on January 10, 2018 from 5:45–7:00pm at the library. Tutoring, educational games, snacks, and a “prize box” for attendance.
How can you help?
Volunteer as a tutor (adult volunteers will need clearanc-es; the church office can help you obtain them or if they’re on file already, will send yours to the library)
Participate (volunteer and bring your child with you to do his/her homework, practice flashcards, or play edu-cational board games)
Donate snacks (individually packaged “healthy” snacks like granola bars, animal crackers, Belvita, Goldfish crackers, mini-water bottles)
Donate prizes (smaller ~$0.10 prizes like stickers/tattoos, novelty pencils, novelty erasers—and bigger ~$3-4 prizes like Pokémon card packs, art supplies, small notebooks, small stuffed animals, etc)
Donate educational board games (like chess, checkers, Parcheesi, Timing It Right—anything that uses strategy, practices counting dice, or practices skills learned in school)
Any questions or if you’re interested in volunteering, please contact Jennifer Schreiter ([email protected]). Please leave any donations in the back of church. Thanks!
Volunteer or donate to support the Conshohocken Library Homework Stars! tutoring program
At our 2017 Annual Synodical Assembly, our synod explored ways in which we can be a church that confronts deep seeded institutional sin—namely racism that is named and unnamed in our church. Led by the Synod’s Anti-Racism team, our as-sembly adopted a confession about racism and committed to the work of addressing racism in our congregations and in our wider church as a voice of reconciliation in our local communities.
The Synod’s Anti-Racism Team (ART) is available to help lead congregations in understanding racism as it exists in individuals, institutions, and societal structures, including our churches, and how to become allies with persons who live with this sin on a daily basis.
Donations to the ART team help to further this work across our Synod as we live into Martin Luther King, Jr. dream of the beloved community.
Special Collection Envelope: Synod’s Anti-Racism Task Force
“When I joined the anti-racism
team last summer I had no idea
how much implicit bias I was
carrying around, nor did I grasp
that my long life has been
smoothed since birth by white
privilge. I am starting to get it.
“The Lutheran Church, with it’s
life-giving theology of grace…
has always been culturally
embedded in whiteness… It’s
time for us…to get honest with
ourselves. … We need to repent.”
— Ms. Janet Bischoff
"History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was
not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr
Page 8
The Mark’s
January Issue
Worship
A truly magnificent year celebrating the Nativity of our Lord this year at St. Mark’s. Our Christmas Eve was marked by 3 very different worship services. In the morning a faithful few gathered for coffee and conversation and a service of Morning Prayer called Matins. At 4pm we gathered with a significant contingent of young families as we experienced an intergenerational story telling of the Nativity that invited participation from all those present as we told the story of Christmas from the Gospel of Luke. Our youngest sto-ry tellers did a great job of leading us in re-telling the story from the gospel of Luke! Then at 7pm we gathered for our traditional Candlelight service with lots of special music! This year we were blessed to have a string quartet to en-rich our worship together providing special prelude and postlude and en-rich our singing together. Our choir and handbell ensemble also put togeth-er truly splendid arrangements of mu-sic to add to the festive feel at this ser-vice as we joined Mary in pondering the gift of Emanuel. Special thanks to our Director of Music Ministries, Emi-
ly Ballentine Erb for her splendid job coordinating, conducting, and planning all this special music for us! Our choirs should be quite proud of the skills and gifts that she is bringing out of our choirs.
Of course all of these services couldn’t happen without a dedicated team of worship volunteers and Altar Guild who set the sanctuary and help prepare us and lead us in each of these worship services. A special note of thanks to all those who served as wor-ship assistants for the services, those that helped to decorate the sanctuary, set up the festival flowers, and then at the end, take it all down for the next liturgical season. We couldn’t do this without so many willing to help our community celebrate the gift of Jesus!
In all we had close to 200 people through our building on Christmas Eve alone and even more through vari-ous worship services over the holiday week as our community came to hear the wonder and mystery of the birth of Emmanuel—God with us.
Christmas Eve Recap
Page 9
The Mark’s
January Issue
Worship
A special "thank you" to all our talented St. Mark's musicians who were able to contribute to the glorious music on Christmas Eve! Ava and Stella Ruggiero shared carols on the piano for prelude music, and Gavin and Garret Kriebel brought "The Little Drummer Boy" to life during Offertory at the 4pm service. The 7pm service featured worshipful offerings from both the Adult and Bell Choirs, and the congregation enjoyed the beautiful music of the string quartet led by Ajibola Rivers.
Thank you to all who were able to participate in the music ministry at St. Mark's during 2017. I pray for continued enthusi-asm and inspiration for ministry through music in 2018!
Dates for 2018 Music Ministry:
Adult Choir
January 14
February 11
February 25
March 18
April 1 (Easter)
April 22
May 13
Bell Choir
January 28
February 18
March 11
March 25 (Palm Sunday)
April 15
May 6
May 20
Faith Formation
February 25
March 25
April 29
Altar Flowers this Month
1/7/2018 Given by the Kohansby, Landes, Wil-lie, and Conklin Families.
In loving memory of Lincoln Carbo and to the glory of God.
1/14/2018 Given by Pam Keebler In loving memory of her husband Bill
1/21/2018 Given by the Malantionio, Ro-denbough and Myer’s Families
In loving memory of William and Alberta Ardel and Harry and Edna Snear
1/28/2018 Given by Nancy Saldutti In Memory of Loved Ones
As a reminder Altar Flowers are $40 dollars and can be sent in or dropped in the offering plate. Please make sure to mark
on your envelope or check that they are for Altar Flowers. To sign up for Altar Flowers or to check the wording of an up-
coming memorial please see the new bulletin board in the hallway past the offices. People are welcome to make corrections
or additions prior to the printing of the bulletin. You may also sign up for any blank weeks that appear on the schedule as
well, or contact the church office (610.828.0581) to find out about upcoming openings.
Page 10
The Mark’s
January Issue
Evangel i sm / Fel lowship
Easter Egg Industry enters it’s 100th year
The week of January 8th will begin production for our 100th year of the Easter Egg Industry. Volunteers will again be needed on Monday and Wednesday evening for candy making and chocolate coating as well as Friday mornings to assist with packing. This is St. Mark’s largest fundraiser for the year and it’s a special year of celebration as we continue the 100th year of this Conshohocken tradition!
Monday Evenings 6pm – 8pm: Volunteers are needed to help roll / cut fondant centers.
We are in special need of folks who can volunteer from 5pm – 7pm in the kitchen to assist with making the candy batches.
To place orders: you may order in person during production, fill out an order form and turn it into the church office, or you may contact our order coordinator Donna Kobi, or you may place an order using our website. All orders should be in by March 1st to guarantee production; remember it’s first come first serve, so get your orders in EARLY!
Wednesday Evenings 6pm – 8pm: Volunteers are needed to help
coat the candies in dark chocolate, each candy is hand coated so we need lots of hands to help coat the candies!
Friday Mornings 9am – 11am: Packers are needed to help
pack and weight the candies in boxes.
Friday April 20th we will hold a special anniversary Easter
Egg Banquet that will be a special banquet celebrating the
100 year history of the Easter Egg Industry.
Save the Date
Page 11
The Mark’s
January Issue
Christmas Caroling through Conshohocken We hit the streets of Conshohocken
again this year to spread some Christ-mas Cheer by singing loud and clear for all to hear as we sang traditional carols to our neighbors around town.
Our group included quite a few St. Mark’s families, but also friends and groups from across the community; our Cub Pack, the Women’s Auxiliary and a couple visiting the States from France all joined the fun of Caroling through the streets!
In all we had close to 70 people Car-oling with us, and this group shot in front of the boat house was the “smaller” of the group that wanted to continue on caroling some more!
Patty Kerwood White posted this to our Facebook page the night of Carol-ing, “After hearing a little knock, I opened our front door to a wonderful surprise. About a hundred plus carolers from St. Mark's Lutheran Church were spreading Christmas joy and singing. It was so very special!! A great reminder of the reason for the season. It was so beautiful and touching it brought tears to my eyes. Thank you all so very much.”
We ended the night with some fel-lowship and fun at the Lucky Dog. Thanks to all who helped make this night such a wonderful success.
Evangel i sm / Fel lowship
Page 12
The Mark’s
January Issue
Counc i l Corner
Annual Congregational Meeting to be held January 21st
Please save the date and plan to join us for our Annual Congregational Meeting on Sunday January 21st.
This year we will be doing something quite different as we combine the Annual Meeting with our Worship Service.
This year we will be combining the work of business with the practice of worship by “mashing up” the meeting and our worship together. By doing this we hope to infuse the meeting with a deeper sense of spirituality and ground our work and business with the sense that everything we do as a congregation can be seen as an act of worship.
Our meeting will therefore, begin at 9:30am with the beginning of worship. As we walk through our order of liturgy (Gathering, Word, Meal and Sending) we will see that our work as church rises from these ancient practices of worship. The “business” of our Annual Meeting will be intertwined as we go through the worship service. At the heart of our meeting though, will be the celebration of Ho-ly Communion as we seek to put Christ and the celebration of this meal in the center of everything that we do.
Our hope is that by combining the two elements of wor-ship and the annual meeting we will also be saving some time; we are shooting to accomplish both in 90 minutes.
Because we will be doing the meeting in this way, there will not be faith formation activities this Sunday, but in-stead we will be inviting our young ones to intentionally participate along with the meeting.
As we come to celebrate the ministries of 2017, we have a lot to celebrate as we look back and give thanks to God for what we have been able to accomplish by the work of the Holy Spirit. As we look forward to what God is calling us to do in 2018—there is a world of possibilities as we continue to witness and expanding community of believers.
Important items that will be accomplished at this meet-ing include the following:
Election of new council members (those nominated by the nominating committee are listed on the next page)
Receiving reports from 2017 from the administrative team as well as the key ministry areas of Worship, Service, Evangelism, and Faith Formation
Passage of our Annual Ministry Budget as we fund the missionary efforts we would like to accomplish in 2018
In the next few weeks the bulletin of reports will be pre-pared in advance of the meeting for review prior to the meeting. Included in that bulletin will be the annual budget and financial reports for the congregation. We ask that folks review and submit question in advance of the meeting so we can help the meeting run as efficiently as possible.
At this meeting we will also be saying goodbye to several Council members:
Joe Jacovino, who has served as our Council President these past 4 years
Karen Hanna, who has served as the Service Ministries lead
Lauren Parkin, who has served as the Worship Minis-tries lead.
We hope you will join us as we give thanks for their faithful service to the congregation!
The Annual Meeting is open to anyone in our communi-ty, visitors and associate members are all welcome to attend the meeting / worship service. Voting matters are the only thing that is restricted to members of the congregation.
Please note that in the event of inclement weather, a make up meeting date is scheduled for January 28th. We hope to see everyone at the meeting!
Page 13
The Mark’s
January Issue
Counc i l Corner
Aaron Moul
Aaron joined St. Mark’s in 2016 and has been a tireless advocate for many of our ministries.
Volunteering with Vacation Bible School, assisting with our property team, and a regular part of
the Dinner Church crowd. Aaron and his wife Meagan were married this past year and recently
bought their first home in Conshohocken. Aaron is a life long Lutheran growing up in Lancas-
ter as part of St. Peter’s Lutheran church. Aaron currently works for Warfel Construction as a
project manager and is a graduate of Slippery Rock University. Aaron is seeking his first term
on Church Council.
Joseph Ruggiero
Joe and his family joined St. Mark’s in 2009. Since then he has served in many capacities on
Church Council, the Call Committee and presently as the chair of the Internship Committee for
Vicar Lenny, and a teacher for Vacation Bible School and our Sunday morning Faith Formation
classes. Joe has been the lead on many of our evangelism efforts and is an excellent ambassador
for our congregation in the community. Joe works for Merck, Inc. in their learning and develop-
ment department and is a graduate of Ursinus College. Originally from the Reading area, he and
his family now live in Conshohocken.
Stephanie Conklin
Stephanie has been a life long member of St. Mark’s. As a second generation member, she is the
proud grandparent of a 4th generation of St. Mark’s members. Stephanie has taken an active
role in helping to facilitate our Dinner Church on Thursday nights in coordinating our dinner
each week. In addition she is a member of the Bell and Adult Choir and a key leader on
Wednesday’s during Easter Egg production as the “chocolate lady.” Stephanie is a special educa-
tion teacher with the Philadelphia School district specializing in autism spectrum education and
is a graduate of Chestnut Hill College. Stephanie and her family live in Conshohocken, where
she has called home for most of her life.
Erin Orekar
Member of St. Mark’s
since 2014, Erin is
seeking her second
term on Church Coun-
cil. As an active mem-
ber of the Stewardship
team and bell choir—
Erin has jumped right
into being a member of
this congregation! Erin
is a full time student
studying currently to
become a Nutritionist.
Matt Hoffman
Matt has been a life long Lutheran,
joining St. Mark’s in 2010. Since that
time Matt has served with our Faith
Formation ministries and as an active
member of the Stewardship team,
leader for the community garden and
teacher for our Vacation Bible School.
Matt and his family recently bought
their a new home in Conshohocken
and Matt works for Pentair Thermal
Management.
Page 14
The Mark’s
January Issue
Wider Church
Stories of “Faith
in Action” is a
monthly highlight
of how our na-
tional and global
church is working
together to make a
difference in the
world. Our finan-
cial support to the
“wider church”
helps make these
faith stories a real-
ity. To find out
more about what
the wider church
is doing, check out
their website @
elca.org and
search “stories of
faith in action.”
Page 15
The Mark’s
January Issue
January 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2
7pm—
Worship and
Music Mtg
3 4
6 pm: Dinner Church
7pm: Choir
7pm: Confirmation
7:45pm: Bells
5 6
7
9:30: Worship
10:15: Faith Formation
10:30: Fellowship Hour
8
6pm—Easter
Egg Industry—
Fondant
9
7pm—Council
Mtg.
10
6pm—Easter Egg
Industry—
Chocolate
7pm—Theology on
Tap
11
6 pm: Dinner Church
7pm: Choir
7:45pm: Bells
12
9am—Easter Egg
Industry—Packing
13
14
9:30: Worship
10:15: Faith Formation
10:30: Fellowship Hour
15
6pm—Easter
Egg Industry—
Fondant
16 17
6pm—Easter Egg
Industry—
Chocolate
18
6 pm: Dinner Church
7pm: Choir
7:45pm: Bells
19
9am—Easter Egg
Industry—Packing
20
21
ANNUAL MEETING
9:30: Worship
10:30: Fellowship Hour
22
6pm—Easter
Egg Industry—
Fondant
23 24
6pm—Easter Egg
Industry—
Chocolate
25
6 pm: Dinner Church
7pm: Choir
7:45pm: Bells
26
9am—Easter Egg
Industry—Packing
27
28
9:30: Worship
10:15: Faith Formation
10:30: Fellowship Hour
29
6pm—Easter
Egg Industry—
Fondant
30 31
6pm—Easter Egg
Industry—
Chocolate
Page 16
The Mark’s
January Issue
508 Harry Street
Conshohocken, PA 19428
Phone: 610.828.0581
Email: [email protected]
This is Christ’s Church.
There is a place for you here. We are the church that shares a living, daring confidence in God's grace.
Liberated by our faith, we embrace you as a whole person — questions,
complexities and all. Join us as we do God's work in Christ's name for
the life of the world.
Saint Mark’s Church
Worship Assistants for the month
God’s Work. Our Hands.
stmarksconshy.org
January 7 14 21 28 Assisting Min. Theodora Morley Jr. Assist. Kathy Pokalo Katie Colaneri
Com. Assistant Joanne Copestick Kathy Pokalo Sheldon Erb Jo Popowicz
Readers Joe Ruggiero Kim Kriebel Katie Colaneri Bill Portzer
Nursery Walkers Spinners Logans Fikes
Acolyte Gavin Kriebel Joe Dryburgh Jacob Fazzari Gavin Kriebel
Altar Guild Pam Keebler Erin Orekar Jen Ramsden Joanne/Sandy
Ushers Dolores Lush Joanne Copestick Karen Hanna LJ Kriebel
Terry Spence George Pokalo Pam Keebler Bill Portzer
Counters Rhea Moore Susan Dryburgh Matt Fiore Susan Jacovino
Pam Keebler Erin Orekar Stef Conklin LJ Kriebel
Recorder Jen Schreiter Jeanette Nazaryk Kathy Pokalo Nate Ramsden
