__DECEMBER CALENDAR __

Events and Activities Dec 7 & 8 St Lucia

Dec 16 Sunday School Christmas

Program

Dec 20 Blue Christmas

Dec 24 Christmas Eve Worship

5:30pm & 10:30pm

Dec 25 Christmas Day/Office Closed

___WORSHIP TIMES_______

SAT 5:30 pm Worship

SUN 8:15 am & 10:45 am Worship

Please note there will not be worship service December 8. Also, there will only be a 10am worship service for Sunday, December 16 and Sunday, December 30 .

Office Hours & Contact Info

Elly Swartz, Office stmarks@smluth.org

Mon—Thurs. 8:30 am-2:30 pm

Fri. 10:00 am-2:00 pm

Karin Lindell karin@smluth.org

Tues. 9:00 am— 11:30 am

Wed. 1:00 pm — 4:00 pm

Thurs. 9:00 am—11:30 am

Mary Johnson, Financial mary@smluth.org

Tues. 1:00-4:00 pm

___ ___ A monthly newsletter for St. Mark’s Lutheran Church

December 2018

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause

great joy for all the people.”

-Luke 2:9-10

The shepherds were on the hillside just doing their job. They were living their ordinary, quiet; maybe even boring lives when sud-denly an angel appeared to them. They were in utter darkness and abruptly they were flooded by light. When all of this happened they were terrified! In our ordinary lives we sometimes yearn for God to show up, but are not always prepared for how life changing God’s presence may be in that moment and into the future. In those mo-ments of change, transition and when we are out of our routine, we are often terrified.

The angel says to them, “Do not be afraid.” Everything changes when their fear turns to hope. It is still dark out on the hillside; they are still shepherds, and they are still under Roman rule and yet everything changes. Desmond Tutu said, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” The shep-herds now walked as people of the light. It was hope that guided them to the baby in a barn and it was hope that sustained them the rest of their lives.

“Do not be afraid,” is great news when life is difficult or when the darkness seems so powerful. Barbara Brown Taylor writes, “Here is a helpful reminder to all who fear the dark. Dark-ness does not come from a different place than light; it is not presid-ed over by a different God. The long nights of Advent and the early mornings of Easter both point us toward the God for whom darkness and light are alike. Both are fertile seasons for those who walk by faith and not by sight.”

May the peace and hope of this season surround you,

Pastor Lori Hope

The 43rd

Annual St Lucia Festival of Light will be performed two nights only, December 7

th & 8

th at 7pm.

Doors open one hour prior to the performances. We invite you to enjoy Swedish treats, Swedish egg coffee, our own young dancers, and Lucia wearing her crown of candles. Please join us and invite your family and friends! Our freewill offering this year will be given to our partnership with McGovern Middle School.

Empathy is born out of the old biblical injunction 'Love thy neighbor as thyself.'

-George McGovern

Our young dancers are busy practicing and there is still time to sign up to help with the festi-val. We can use bakers and other volunteers such as set-up and clean-up, hosts, servers, and many other important roles. Event updates can be found on Facebook at St. Mark’s Fa-cebook page or at the St. Lucia Dancer Facebook site. If you can lend us card tables, please bring your labeled tables to church by Sunday, Dec. 2. Thank you!

St. Lucia Food Preparation

Please join us in St. Mark's kitchen as we prepare food items for our annual St. Lucia Festival (no experience necessary): Wednesday, December 5, at 9:00 am. Fruit Suppe

St. Lucia Lefse Sign-up You may sign up to purchase packages of lefse on the sheet on the Opportunity bulletin board. There will be 3 rounds to a package for $5.00. You may purchase up to 4 packages. Please pick up your lefse following the St. Lucia performances on Friday or Saturday night, Dec. 7 & 8, or at church on Sunday, Dec. 9.

If you have any questions, please call Bill Wood at 839-9663.

POINSETTIAS

Please add color to the

Sanctuary for Christ-mas,

by purchasing a red poinsettia plant and bringing it to the church anytime in

December. Thank you!

Did You Know?

Frozen meals are available for St. Mark's members to share with fellow St. Mark's members, family, friends, or neighbors.

The meals are currently in the freezer in the right refrigerator in the kitchen. Please make a mark on the sign posted of which meal/s you take.

In Memory of Dan Iseminger:

Cards and memorials may be sent to Veronica Iseminger c/o Ken Hendrix, 4105 Hackberry Circle, Sioux Falls, SD, 57103.

SUNDAY SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

This will be held on Sunday, December 16 at 10:00 am, along with worship

service. The theme is “Emojis”.

BLUE CHRISTMAS

Our annual Blue Christmas will be held on Dec. 20 at 7:00 pm to acknowledge the pain and sadness many feel during the Christmas

season.

CHRISTMAS CLOTHING TREE

THE CHRISTMAS CLOTHING TREE is a cherished St. Mark’s tradition of gifts of new

clothing for low-income children in our community. The poster with names and sizes is

in the narthex. Pick a child or children and remove the provided name (colored) tag/s.

Sign your name and phone number on the remaining (white) tag/s. Purchase a cloth-

ing gift/s and small toy. Wrap gift/s and attach provided name (colored) tag/s. Return

to church – put under tree in the sanctuary – by December 16th.

CHRISTMAS BLESSING BAGS

On Sunday, December 23 we will gather after church for soup and chili, then assem-

ble Christmas Blessing Bags. We will divide into groups and deliver the goodie bags

to police officers, firefighters, medical staff and members of our congregation. Please

consider joining us for lunch and delivering good cheer. Please sign up to bring soup,

chili, bread or dessert.

The quilters reached their goal of 100 quilts made this year!

Congratulations on your hard work!

Yoga Possibilities at St. Mark’s

Gail Duncan will be the instructor.

Gail’s biography: I completed my 200 hour yoga teacher training in Septem-ber 2014. In April of 2017 I received my chair yoga certification. I also incor-porate somatics and the Franklin Method in my classes. Somatics and the Franklin Method seek to foster internal awareness of one’s body.

Yoga is not a workout, Yoga is a work in.

Chair Yoga

Monday, December 3, 10 and 17 from 6:30-7:30pm

Chair yoga is a sitting and standing class. There are no poses done on the floor. We concentrate on breathing and proper alignment to experience each posture. Yoga creates balance, strength and flexi-bility in the body.

Be patient, be curious, breathe, have fun and be well!

Hatha Level I

Tuesday, December 4, 11 and 18 from 6:30-7:30pm

In class postures are practiced to align, strengthen and promote flexibility; with an emphasis on core strength, balance as well as breath control. You can expect simplicity, repetition and ease of move-ment.

Come to class on a fairly empty stomach. Wear comfortable loose clothing. We do yoga in our bare feet. $10.00 per class with $2.00 of money going back to St. Mark’s.

Yoga classes will take a break during the holiday season and will resume in January.

ST. MARK’S FAMILY CAMP

at Outlaw Ranch in the beautiful Black Hills

Kyle Alberty and Ann Rosendale are organizing a group from our congregation to attend family camp together the week of July 28-August 2. Each family is assigned their own cabin and counselor. Daily activities include worship, games, crafts, bible study, horseback riding, ca-noeing, hiking, resting, campfire, and eating delicious food! Families even have flexibility to ven-ture out on their own for a day to sight-see in the area. There is something for ALL ages, and all family configurations are welcome. Cost varies depending on number of people per family. St.

Mark's is providing generous scholarships of $300 per family!

You can register online. Spots will fill quickly. Contact ann.rosendale@augie.edu if you and your family are interested in attending, or if you have any questions.

Family Camp is truly the best family vacation. The cost for the week includes everything (meals, lodging, etc.) and you can pay a little bit each month to make the cost more manageable. Coun-selors provide childcare if parents need a night away. Connecting with other families makes the

week a fun adventure. The setting is beautiful, and God is guaranteed to show up! Register your family or get more information at: https://www.losd.org/family-camp

END OF THE YEAR GIFTS

We cannot begin to thank all of you for your generous hearts. As you con-sider year-end gifts, we encourage World Hunger, Lutheran Disaster Re-lief, and local agencies. Looking at the needs for our property in 2019, we have a list of priorities that are not in the budget. If you would consider giv-ing directly to these we would greatly appreciate it. We need to replace the air conditioning unit in the office that went out in October (estimated cost $5,000), a push lawn mower ($300), and tree trimming for the high level

branches ($1,000).

NOTE: The books for 2018 St. Mark’s giving will be closed on Dec. 31.

St. Mark’s Lutheran Church Council November 20, 2018

Attendees: Pastor Lori Hope, Angie Smith, Shari Smith, Kyle Alberty, Leslie Cunningham, Dan Luke, Dawn Hartigan, Cathy Larson, Chris McCallum, Wayne Kinstad, Terry Phillips Devotions: Shari read an article for our caring conversation. Minutes: Members reviewed the October minutes. Kyle moved to approve. Cathy seconded the mo-tion and all members approved. Old Business; Shari will review having the Sunday School children sing during a church service possibly after Christmas. The new flooring is in the kitchen and fellowship hall and looks very nice. Wayne informed council there is a specific way to clean the new floor. There were reports of the room seeming to be a little louder this past weekend during the potluck. Wayne will add acoustical absorption in the Property budget to keep on the radar for future expenditures. Treasurer's Report: The finances look good. Kyle moved to approve and Dan seconded the mo-tion. All approved the report. President’s Report: The potlucks for stewardship weekend went well. Pastor’s Report: Elly Swartz, our new office administrator, is doing very well. Bishop Zellmer will be leading worship this weekend. He will be baptizing two grandchildren on November 25. He offered his services free for all three worship services. The confirmation service on Reformation Sunday was very meaningful. New Business; Kyle moved to designate where the Christmas offering should be directed. The mo-tion was for the first $1,000 to go toward Pastor’s discretionary fund and the remaining should be designated to the Hand in Hand Legal Fund. The fund helps children in the immigration process. Dawn seconded the motion with all in favor. There was clarification to explain the Mission travel funds that carry from year to year. Cathy made a motion to carry the funds to the next year in the dedicated accounts. There is a Synod trip being planned for the end of May. The discussion was that more details for the upcoming trip would need to be given before a motion would be entertained. Stewardship/Finance The position of Vibrant Faith Coordinator was changed to Education Coordi-nator. A small adjustment was made to the mortgage amount. Property insurance has increased substantially. Ayuda was added to the budget line under benevolence. Project Car has been in-creased due to need and lack of private donors. The budget for Lutheran Social Services was in-creased and will continue to gradually increase. Wayne asked if this could be entered in a program to remind Finance of this increase in the future. Kyle moved to approve the 2019 proposed budget for the Annual Meeting. Terry seconded the motion. All members were in favor. Kyle thanked the Fi-nance Committee for their hard work on the budget and how great it looks.

(Continued on page 9)

Mission: Cathy would like to educate the congregation on previous mission trips. There is a possible Synod trip in May. She is hoping to generate interest in the congregation. Worship & Music: Decorating of the church will be on December 1 at 10:00 am. Deb will be in-viting people for decorating. The Sunday School Christmas Program will be December 16 at 10:00 am, as the only service that day. There will also be only one service on December 30. Congregational Life: Terry inquired about Christmas gift bags. Pastor Lori informed the council that on December 23 they would like to have a soup lunch and assemble Christmas blessing bags. Doug stated that he would serve as an appointed committee member for a year. Property: There have been roof leaks in the flat portion of the roof in the last month. It was no-ticed that it is pulling away. Ron Johnson has been working with ARS architectural roofing sys-tem. This type of repair is not in the budget plan. The new WiFi has been installed with a more powerful signal. There was a used flat screen tv that has been donated and Wayne would like to mount it in the basement youth room. Dawn stated that the Sunday School could also use it in their classroom. He will mount it in the Sunday School room. Kyle suggested that we could list three things for property improvement for the congregation to be made aware of as future needs. Christian Education: The curriculum is going well. They will be meeting with Christy to plan for the upcoming year beginning in January. The meeting closed with the Lord's Prayer. Prayerfully submitted, Leslie Cunningham

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St. Mark’s Lutheran Church

2001 S. Elmwood Avenue

Sioux Falls, SD 57105

December 2018