Alternative Christmas Market You can get most of your Christmas shopping

done November 11th at the Alternative Christmas

Market with the Guatemala and Heifer projects,

CCSA, and much more.

On Sunday, Nov. 11 we will take a special offering for VA members and their families. The offering will support the San Diego VA program “From Warrior to Soul Mate”.

“From Warrior to Soul Mate” started at the San Diego VA hospital when Rev. Dick Millspaugh, a United Methodist minister and Veterans Affairs chaplain recognized caring for the nation’s wounded also means helping them repair crumbling intimate relations through lengthy deployment separation, financial stress, role changes, and injuries. By providing relationship roadmaps to military couples they are able to better negotiate spiritual, emotional and physical injuries that challenge couples’ ability to bond and deal with conflict.

More information on this program can be at https://www.sandiego.va.gov/services/Warrior_to_Soul_Mate.asp

Veteran’s Day Special Offering Annual Thanksgiving Potluck

Again this year UMW is sponsoring the annual

Thanksgiving meal. On Tuesday, November

20 at noon we will gather in the Social Hall.

United Methodist Women will provide the

turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy as usual.

To complete the meal, you can provide

dessert, a vegetable, a salad or perhaps

Grandma’s famous dressing.

Please prepare your dish at home to serve 6-8

people and bring your dish ready to be served.

The serving table will be ready for you. The

kitchen will be reserved for the carving of

turkeys, potato and gravy prep.

SIGN UP on the patio after service or in the

Church Office until Sunday, November 18th.

The sign up will be in the church office during

the week. Questions can be directed to Joan

Williams at 858-274-3716.

Early Drop Off Now Offered!

Good news for working parents: You can now drop off your 6th-12th graders early for the Eat and Play youth event on Tuesday, Nov. 20th. Starting at 9 a.m., two of our Sunday School teachers are offering an open game time for youth in Room 10. At noon gather in the Social Hall for the wonder-ful UMW Thanksgiving Potluck. From 1:30-8 p.m., for $20 enjoy unlimited Laser Tag, climbing wall, ropes course, and the new 7D experience at Belmont Park. Space is limited and pre-registration required. Please contact Kris at Kris@StMarksUMCSD.org for more info!

Ambiguity of Aging

There are numerous booklets on how to bring up children, what to expect and how to prepare for each stage of their development. No such book exists for aging.

The issue is that as we age we observe greater and greater diversity. Some people age quicker than others while each person expresses aging in different ways. This ambiguity presents some problems when it comes to understanding the process of aging. This discussion will focus on some of these ambiguities and highlights what seems to be emerging as common themes from research on aging. Unexpected results point to spirituality and a sense of belonging as a common theme among longer lived healthy people. Mario Garrett has a PhD in psychology and since 2004 has been a professor of gerontolo-gy at San Diego State University. He has written/edited six books, with an additional two being published this year (one on dementia and one on how films portray aging). His most recently published research is on dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Previously he was working with United Nations Institute on Aging and he continues to lecture in Japan, Turkey, Canada and Malta. His 2013 talk on dementia at the UCSD TV was viewed more than 1.7 million times. Dr. Garrett will be presenting at St. Mark’s on Sunday, November 18 at 11:00AM in the Social Hall. All are welcome! Mark your calendars!

Mexican House Build, Nov. 17 More Volunteers Needed!

Consider living your gratitude by sharing your time and talent with others! If you are interested in going to Mexico for the day to build a home for a family of 4 (children ages 4 and 1 month), sign up in the church office. More details are available by emailing Eric Robinson at eric.robinson@omnisafe.net. The church office can provide you with a bio of the family, ideas for house warming gifts and a list of things to bring.

CCSA Christmas Gift Baskets

The Community Christian Service Agency has

issued their annual request for gift baskets and

bags. Packets with details are available in the

church office or on-line at www.ccsasandiego.org.

Please note the following deadlines: SIGN-UP by

November 30 and BASKETS DELIVERED TO

ST. MARK’S by December 12.

NOTICE: The Sanctuary will be tented for termites 11/19-11/24.

Rhapsody in Bluegrass

Hearts will soar with this joyful Christmas cantata based on American folk songs, spirituals, bluegrass-styled carols, and original gospel songs. Traditional choral elements dance easily with the "mountain" music and the results are pure joy. In November 2017, St. Mark's Chancel Choir joined two hundred voices from across the country to debut Rhapsody in Bluegrass, composed and directed by Joseph Martin, at Carnegie Hall. The Chancel Choir, along with local bluegrass musicians, will now perform the West Coast premiere of this same beautiful music on Sunday, November 18, 4:30 p.m. in our St. Mark's sanctuary. A reception in the Social Hall will follow the concert.

Living Nativity, December 15th A bedazzling thought:

What did Daniel have to do with it?

Just what did Daniel have to do with our beloved nativity story? Please mark your calendars for this year's Living Nativity, Saturday, December 15 at 5:30 pm. We're going inside this year! The nativity story will be told from the perspective of the stars. Come and be bedazzled with a sanctuary lighted with stars, stars, stars! Watch for coming Messenger notes about Daniel and his visit by the heavenly herald. Look up, everybody!

WORSHIP ATTENDANCE SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4:

200

♥ Forrest Sedgwick ♥ Rose Marie Pierce ♥ Phyllis Drewett ♥ Sherry Forrest ♥ Vera Morrison ♥ Al Johannesen ♥ Hope Coleman ♥ Brad Cannon Our military personnel:

Kris Brendal, Army Robert S.Chisholm, Navy Craig Clemans, Marines Paul Clemans, Air Force Blake Cross, Navy Samuel England, Navy Lenny Hezelett, Navy Amanda Hoadley, Navy Michael Hunter, Navy Brady Jackson, Army Jeremy Munson, Navy Milo Riegle, Marines Casper Stalnaker, Navy Nathan Streeter, Army Robert Tarango, Navy

In Our Prayers Next Week @ A Glance

Sunday, November 11, 2018 7:30AM Pancake Breakfast/SH 8:30AM Pastor’s Sunday School/NR 9:30AM Service /Sanc 10:30AM Alt Christmas Mkt/SH 11:00AM Worship Committee Mtg/Lib 12:00PM Tongan Fellowship/Sanc

Monday, November 12, 2018 Veteran’s Day Observed (Office Closed)6:00PM Carillon Bells/SH 6:45PM AA Meeting-Wmn/RM 9

Tuesday, November 13, 2018 6:30PM School Board Meeting/Lib 7:00PM Faith Circle/ 7:15PM AA Meeting/RM 9 Wednesday, November 14, 2018 9:15AM Friendship Circle/NR 5:30PM Bible Study/NR 6:00PM Glory Ringers/SH Thursday, November 15, 2018

9:30AM Ties of Love/SH 12:00PM Midday Mindfulness/NR 1:00PM Interfaith Disaster Council/NR 4:15PM Cherub Choir/NR 5:20PM Hallelujah Chimes/SH 6:30PM Community Forum/Rm 10 7:00PM Boy Scouts/SH 7:00PM Choir Rehearsal/CR 7:15PM AA Meeting-Wmn/RM 9 Sunday, November 18, 2018

8:30AM Pastor’s Sunday School/NR 9:30AM Service /Sanc 11:00AM Ambiguity of Aging/SH 12:00PM Tongan Fellowship/Sanc 4:30PM Concert Series/Sanc&SH CR=Choir Room Sanc=Sanctuary Lib=Library SH=Social Hall NR=New Room *If you have any questions about or would like to add an event to the church calendar, please contact the church office at 858-273-1480 or by email at office@stmarksumcsd.org.

You are invited to partici-pate in the St Mark's prayer chain via email. Prayer requests will be sent to you via an email account you provide; you will not be asked to do anything other than offer your private prayers for requests you receive. To participate, please email Donna Newby at donewby@san.rr.com.

858-273-1480

St. Mark’s Messenger (USPS 516-260) is published weekly by St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, 3502 Clairemont Drive, San Diego CA 92117. Periodicals Postage paid at San Diego, CA POSTMASTER: Send address changes to St. Mark’s Mes-senger, 3502 Clairemont Dr, S.D., CA 92117

Sunday, November 11, 2018 9:30 AM Service Rev. Craig Dorval

Child Care, Room 1

Sunday School Rooms 6, 8 &10

Rev. Craig Dorval Senior Minister

In Pastor’s Sunday School

we study the lectionary

texts which follow the

church calendar. For

Sunday, November 11:

• Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17

• Psalm 127

• Hebrews 9:24-28

• Mark 12:38-44

It’s an informal study,

always open to all, at

8:30 AM in the New Room.

Pastor’s Sunday School

Never Miss a Sermon

Missed Sunday’s sermon? You can watch Sunday morning sermons on video at: stmarksumcsd.org/sermons. They can also be found on the St. Mark’s Facebook page.

Do you have some free time during the week? If so, please consider becoming an office volunteer. We cur-rently need help on Monday mornings from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. For more infor-mation contact the office at 858-273-1480.

Office Volunteer Needed

St. Mark’s Messenger

Vol. 45: Issue 41

Keeping In Touch

November 6, 2018

“The Christian message says that the eternal stands above past and future.

‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.’” —Paul Tillich

I took a break from reading the other day and went to CVS on an errand. I had been reading Paul Tillich’s The Eternal Now, which is a collection of his sermons about how the presence of God manifests in daily life. This was on my mind as I waited in line at CVS and saw a display that said I could wrap Christmas gifts in Elf Snot, which evidently is a trademarked product aimed at gleefully generating mild disgust on Christmas morning. I found myself wondering if Paul Tillich would buy Elf Snot. Is it part of the “eternal now”? The movie Groundhog Day, which came out 25 years ago, has become a cultural touchstone and a source of reflection about the power of the present moment. Bill Murray plays a TV weather reporter who travels to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover Groundhog Day festivities. While there, he finds himself in a time loop in which he relives the day over and over again. There are a number of movies that use varia-tions on this theme, but Groundhog Day is the best-known and most-successful. The same sort of time loop happens in a 2017 film called Before I Fall, where the main character, played by Zooey Deutch, is a popular girl in high school. At the start of the movie she dies in an automobile accident but finds herself waking up at home to relive her last day again. This cinematic device allows her to examine her relationships with her family and friends, and to reassess the habits she has developed and the choices she has made. At first she is confused and just trying to make sense of it all—there are a lot of funny and strange moments. As the day continues to repeat, she starts to get angry at every-one’s hypocrisy and shallowness. She takes it upon herself to deliver hard truth in harsh words to her friends, family and strangers, who are put off and wonder what’s wrong with her. The movie is entertaining and has many silly moments, but takes a serious turn as Deutch’s character begins to deeply appreciate each encounter of her day. As she walks down the hall of her high school, she cheerfully tells a stranger opening his locker to be careful, because she knows that everything in his locker will fall out when he opens it. In the middle of a routine conversation she tells her best friend, whose deep troubles are masked by a hard facade, that she loves her and knows that she’s had to deal with a lot of pain in her life. Her friend is surprised and clearly moved, but responds by say-ing that Deutch’s character is “really weird.” And that could be our response, too. In the course of our daily tasks and busy-ness, it can seem out of place and even unnatural for a friend, family member or (gulp) stranger to tell us how much we mean to them. It might be really weird. This week, my prayer for all of us is that we have many of these weird moments! By the way, please don’t buy me any Elf Snot. I have plenty. I stocked up while I was at CVS. See you in church! Craig