D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4

Were earth a thousand times

as fair Beset with gold and jewels rare She yet were far

too poor to be

A narrow cradle, Lord,

for Thee.

--Martin Luther

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Our ELCA (National Church) has a motto for this year: “God’s Work,

Our Hands”. In this Advent/Christmas Season I sometimes look up in the

sky and all-around - when it feels cold and lonely and when you know a

broken heart, a broken home and a broken world. And I wonder about

God and then I pray that this motto may inspire and bring life and hope to

every giver and recipient...

Community of the Sacred Name statue of Jesus – with hands broken off.

A Christmas Blessing from St Teresa of Avila

(from the time of Martin Luther, 1500s):

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

Compassion on this world,

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,

Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,

Yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Christ has no body now but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

compassion on this world.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

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Thank You to everyone who helped support Operation Christmas

Child this year. 186 Shoeboxes were delivered this week with 110 boxes

coming from Members of St. Mark.

Don’t forget 15 lucky members of St. Mark will be volunteering at the

Mpls processing plant on Friday December 19th from 7:00-10:00pm

we will be gathering at St. Mark at 6:30 that night and car pool over.

We could use a few additional people. Please note you must be 13+.

The processing Plant anticipates processing 800,000 shoeboxes in Mpls

this year with the help of over 10,000 volunteer. Take a couple hours

out of your busy Holiday Season and be a part of this experience.

The winter weather has made a forceful presence. During the month of December as we wait for the birth of Jesus and with God's help, we can look ahead for the gifts of hope, new beginnings and promises.

My gift to all of you is for a glorious season of hope and well being! Please consider giving generously to St Mark as it doesn't run only on love as we have many budgetary obligations.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

God Bless, Candy Petersen

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Thank you to everyone

who helped make the

Holiday Boutique a

huge success!

Special thanks to Kenny

for all of your work on

the food and serving

area and to Nancy for

overseeing Bob’s Attic.

Thanks to all who

helped with the

planning, set up,

donated items for Bob’s

Attic, Bakery sale, and

the Raffle, and to those

who worked during the

sale and with clean up.

In addition to the

vendor's rental space of

$1160, our sales were

$2,745, which is more

than the past three

years.

See more pics inside the

back cover or on our

Facebook page.

er. Funds collected will be used to buy gifts for seniors who have no one during the Holiday Season.

St. Mark has long sup-ported Lyngblomsten and have had a number of our members live there. So bring some extra CASH on the 7th.

The Coffee hour funds

that Sunday will also be

used for Lyngblomsten.

What is that you say?

For One Day only, Sunday December 7th during the coffee hour.

Donate some money (GIVE) and (TAKE) some homemade treats. It’s that simple.

Help support Lyngblomsten and the older adults that live there this Holiday Sea-son. Make someone’s Christmas a little bright-

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Mary Erjavec

selling homemade

lefse.

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Our Thursday Women’s Bible Study

is still going strong! We meet the

third Thursday of each and every

month. We are using the Bible

Study in the Gather Magazine, used

by all of the women of the ELCA across the country. The magazine is

provided to us by Robin Martinson, in memory of her mom. PLEASE

consider joining us, anytime. In December our topic will be “Faith in

the Family”, our meeting is at 7:00 P.M. on Thursday December 18th in

the Fireside Room. Treats are always provided as well!!

We are also embarking on some fund raising so that a few of us will be

able to attend the Tenth Triennial of the WELCA to be held in

Minneapolis in July of 2017. Our fund raising efforts are designed to

help with the cost of registration. Please see anyone of us for more

information on both the fund raising and the Triennial!!

Other upcoming events include:

Thursday January 15th our regular meeting in the Fireside Room

Soup Luncheon Saturday February 28th at Saint Mark in North

Saint Paul

Friday and Saturday May 1st and 2nd 2015 The Saint Paul Area

Synodical Women’s Convention at Trinity Lutheran Church in

North Branch

Triennial in Minneapolis July 13-16, 2017 at the Minneapolis

Convention Center

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Join us on Tuesday, December 2nd for a Gathering Craft

Night at 6:30pm in the Fellowship Hall. We completely sold

out of the items at the Boutique! Please join us for an

evening of fun and craft making!

Beginning in January, we will be

starting on a new photo directory!

This will be a fun new way to create

a photo directory for our church.

Members are no longer expected to

come for a sitting and purchase

costly photo packages.

A team of member photographers

will be roaming before and after

services each week taking digital

photos.

If your family has a new

recent photo, simply

submit it for approval

and scanning!

All submissions will need to be

approved for printability and clarity.

A bonus of this program is that the

information and photos will be

available to members with a secure

login and mobile app! For more

information, see Holly Goldschmitz

in the office.

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Martha Mena with her

delicious salsa

Above: Shirley Such and Fran

Hillier at the Bake Sale

Don Carlson and his new book