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St. Mark Lutheran Church 141 Kruger St., Wheeling, WV 304-242-3466 R. Paul Schafer, Pastor Leslie Garrett, Organist/Dir. Of Music Grace Kennedy, Secretary Amy Hinkelman, Dir. Youth/Christian Ed. VOL. XVII, NO. 3 E-Mail: stmark@wvdsl.net MARCH 2009 E-Mail: stmark@wvdsl.net www.stmarkwheeling.org OUR MISSION: As disciples of Christ, St. Mark ministers that all may know the joy of Christ’s love through ministries of Welcoming, Growing, and Caring.

ST. MARK CROSSINGS

THE WAY OF THE CROSS “Jesus called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the good news, will save it.’” Mark 8:34-35 “The way of the cross” is the central motif of Christianity. Yet, still today, we do everything we can to avoid it. It is not easy or comfortable. It is demanding and frightening, and so we avoid it as much as possible. We don’t want to sacrifice. We don’t want to lose precious things in our lives. We certainly don’t want to suffer. And we do not want to die. Yet, we can’t get around it; Jesus says, “take up your cross and follow me.” But, what exactly does the way of the cross entail? First and foremost, it is the way of faith – trust in God’s love and forgiveness which cannot be earned, but comes to us as a gift from God, through Jesus. Secondly, though, the way of the cross is the way that puts our faith in Jesus into action. As the letter of James declares, “Faith without works is dead.” What does James mean? For starters, I think he means that faith is not exactly the same as belief (as we commonly understand the meaning of “belief”). I know this sounds strange, but bear with me for a moment. If you ask me, for example, if I believe that a skilled tightrope walker can walk on a tightrope from the Wheeling Suspension Bridge over to the Fort Henry Bridge, I would say “yes”…I believe. But if you ask me to ride on the tightrope walker’s back as he does it, I would decline. I would not put this kind of faith in the tightrope walker no matter how skilled he is. To me, this is the difference between belief and faith in the current way people use the words. We can believe all kinds of things, but do we put faith in them? Are we willing to stake our very lives upon them? This, then, gets us back to the way of the cross. We might believe in the way of the cross, but do we put faith in it? Are we staking our lives upon it? Are we committed to the fact that the world’s salvation does not lie in the ways of domination, wealth, privilege, advantage, self preoccupation, egoism, pleas-ure seeking, competition, militant superiority, and most everything else that the world says is “cool”? This is what the Lenten season calls us to examine. Do we simply believe in Jesus and his cross-centered way, or shall we actually put faith in it and him? And upon seeing that we cannot create this faith, but must receive it also as a gift from God, shall we turn to God in openness and dependence, or continue to put up our walls of defensiveness and self justification? These are the questions of this li-turgical season. Let us wrestle with them together. -Pastor Paul

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LENTEN WORSHIP SCHEDULE Following our Ash Wednesday worship on February 25th, we will go back to our usual 6:30 worship time each Wednesday evening in the upstairs sanctuary. Our service, as it usually does, will include a confessional, the reading of scrip-ture, a sermon (or a sermonic piece), prayers, Holy Communion, and hymn sing-ing. Please join us for these meaningful mid-week services, not only during the season of Lent, but throughout the year. During Holy Week, our Wednesday service will continue as it usually does, at 6:30 p.m. On Maundy Thursday, April 9, services of Holy Communion will be held at 1:00 p.m. in the chapel and at 7:00 p.m. in the upstairs sanctuary. On Good Friday, a service of readings, prayers, reflection, and silence, will be held at 1:00 in the chapel. A Tenebrae service will be held in the upstairs sanctuary at 7:00 p.m.

EASTER WORSHIP This year, Easter will fall on April 12th. Once again we are plan-ning highly festive worship services featuring Brass Unlimited and the St. Mark choir. Stay tuned for more details in the bulletin and in next month’s newsletter! BIBLE STUDY SCHEDULE The Bible study on Mark will continue throughout the Lenten season with the exception of April 1st which is the day of the Lenten Luncheon (see article later in this newsletter). Our sessions meet each Wednesday at 12:00 noon and 7:30 p.m. The remaining schedule: March 4th – Recap of the textbook (part 3) March 11th – Video session 1 March 18th – Video session 2 March 25th – Video session 3 April 1st – No study (no foolin’) April 8th – Video session 4 April 15th – Video session 5 April 22nd – Video session 6 and conclusion

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SPAGHETTI LUNCHEON

Fund Raiser to help our youth going to Camp Luther

SUNDAY, MARCH 22nd 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M.

In Fellowship Hall

Cost: Adults $7.00 Children under 7 yrs. Old - FREE

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans will be contributing matching funds.

EVERYBODY, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY AND NOBODY

This is a little story about four people: Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done, and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Any-body could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

SPECIAL DATES • First Sunday in Lent, March 1, 2009 • World Day of Prayer, March 6, 2009 • Second Sunday in Lent, March 8, 2009 • Daylight-Saving Time begins, March 8, 2009 • Girl Scout Sunday, March 8, 2009 • Third Sunday in Lent, March 15, 2009 • First Day of Spring, March 20, 2009 • Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 22, 2009 • Fifth Sunday in Lent, March 29, 2009

CROSSINGS 4

MONDAY EVENING YOUTH GATHERINGS

St. Mark’s youth (6th grade-12th grade) are invited to join Gary Roesser, Sr. on

March 2 & 16 at 5:30 p.m. for the Monday evening youth gatherings. Please bring your dinner with you

IT’S TIME TO REGISTER FOR CAMP LUTHER! 2009

For the 64th year, the “hillsides of Camp Luther” will again come alive with laughter, music, learning, and fun, as Camp Luther par-ticipants will gather the week of June 21-27 at Camp Caeser in Cowen, WV. The theme this year will be “Love to Serve!” Applications are available in the youth lounge or on Camp Luther’s website www.camplutherwv.com. They are due back into the office at St. Mark no later than April 19. Return the applications with a $50 deposit made out to “St. Mark Lutheran Church”. (The remain-der of the registration fee is covered through the youth fund.)

Please contact Sherri if you have any questions: 242-5012 or RPaulSchafer@aol.com.

SPAGHETTI LUNCHEON All hands on deck!

The annual spaghetti luncheon will be held on March 22 following the 10:15am service. We need ALL youth in the 3rd grade through 12th grade to help with this fundraiser. Parents are asked to donate a pan of brownies.

LYO IN THE FLOW

Reserve the dates of March 27 – March 29 for a youth activity in Boone Co. The youth (7th grade – 12th grade) will learn about watersheds and how the environment affects them. This will be a “hands on” service project. More information will be available soon.

CROSSROADS St. Mark’s Youth in Ministry

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EASTER FLOWER ORDER FORM I would like _________ Plant(s) at $12.00 each Total Cost $_______________ (Make checks payable to St. Mark Youth Fund) I prefer: ______Lily _______Daffodils ______Tulips _______Hyacinth From: _________________________________________________________________ In Memory of____________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ In Thankfulness for ______________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ In Honor of______________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ Deadline for Ordering is Palm Sunday, April 5, 2009. Plants need to be paid for when order is placed. Please place in the Offering Plate, send or leave off at the church office.

YOUTH COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE

The schedule for youth council representatives follows: March – Gary Roesser

April – Justin Robinson May – Ashley Ondrik

June – Stanford Borrell July – Todd Schmidt

If you would like to represent the youth at St. Mark at a monthly council meeting, please let Sherri know and you will be added to the rotation. The only requirements are you must be confirmed and between the ages of 14 and 18.

SAFEGUARDING GOD’S CHILDREN

A Safeguarding God's Children workshop will be held at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Wheeling on Saturday, March 14. It will begin at 10:00 a.m. Lunch will be served at 12:30 p.m. Pre-registration by March 10th is required. To pre-register please email or call Sherri Schafer (RPaulSchafer@aol.com) or 304-242-5012. A $20 per person fee is due on the day of the event. Please make checks out to "WV-WMD Synod."

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LIVING MEMORIALS PLACED BY -Garnet Mudge in memory of Betty Green -Harry & Dorothy Cox in memory of Betty Green and Lee Lasch -The Lunch Bunch in memory of Betty Green -Jean Merrick in memory of Betty Green -Sharon Kennedy & Linda Cole in memory of Bob Beck -Roger & Marlene Stewart in memory of Bob Beck -Jo Anne Meyer in memory of Lee Lasch -Louise Savage in memory of Lee Lasch and Betty Green -Jim & Donna Schafer in memory of father, John F. Schafer -Herbert & Maxine Witzgall in memory of Leonora Fischer Lasch -The following Square Dancers in memory of Bob Beck: Calderwood & Cecelia Boyd, Jim & Audrey Breuss, Merv & Ellie Evans, Jack & Faye Jaquay, Ralph & Nancy Singer, Bertha Sacco and Bob & Sharon Sacco

SUNDAY SCHOOL PERFECT ATTENDANCE JANUARY 2009

Devin Glass Gavin Glass Emily Braun Jacee Glass Mya Bogers Rylie White Clyde Borrell Rob Davis Harry Abplanalp Martha Abplanalp Ellen Kriner Ken Kriner JoAnne Meyer Merv Evans Ellie Evans Ola Marshall Elliott Ellison Megan Ondrik

ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING is Sunday, March 29, following both wor-ship services. The Annual Report booklets will be completed a week before the meeting if anyone would like to stop by and pick one up ahead of time.

VITAMINS FOR VAMOS We are thrilled to report that over 38 bottles of vitamins totaling over 4,000 pills were collected and sent to the poor children of Cuernavaca, Mexico. They were hand-delivered by the Vamos charitable group in February, so we know that they made it to the children. Thank you St. Mark for your kind-ness, generosity and love. As Pastor Paul told us in his sermon, and scripture reminds us, “when we serve the least of these, we serve our Father.” Thank you from the heart. St. Mark Global Mission Team

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MARCH BIRTHDAYS 2—JoAnne Meyer 3—Wendy Bogers, Clyde Borrell, Joan Stein, Andy Emerick, Scott Naumann 5—Robert Schafer 6—Clara Folmar, Kara Jewell, Leah Shreve 7—Eleanor Nickerson 8—Tom Ackerman, Christopher Bell 9—Gerry Cappiccie, Bob Steele, Rick Strickler 10—Pr. Paul Schafer, Jennifer Steele 11—Lindsey Braun, Jim Holeczy, Julie Holeczy 12—Kristi Stuntz 13—Betty Green, Sara Lutz 14—Kayla Bell, Judy Bowman, Mason Diehl, Ann Winters 15—Pete Eberle 16—Ashton Glover, Woody Knollinger, Jr., Jason Petri

MARCH WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES

1—Daniel & Gina Minch 11—Jason & Michelle Wood 24—Alvin & Carolyn Schafer

MARCH ALTAR FLOWERS 1—The Stein Children in honor of mother, Joan’s birthday 3/3 8—Dick & Mary Anna Strickler in honor of son, Rick’s birthday 3/9 Carl Bowman in honor of wife, Judy’s birthday 3/14 The Stuntz Family in honor of Kristi Stuntz’s birthday 3/12 15— Helen Petri in honor of grandson, Jason’s birthday 3/16 and in memory of daughter-in-law, Jo Ellen at her birth date 22—Alvin & Carolyn Schafer in honor of their 18th Wedding Anniversary 3/24 Mary Ellen Knauss in memory of husband, Walter at their Wedding Anniversary date 3/25/42 Margaret Ragni in memory of husband, Victor Ragni 29—Helen Petri in honor of Anita Petri’s birthday Mary Ellen Knauss in honor of son, Bill’s birthday 4/3

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17—Alexa Prather, Morgan Wojchowski 18—Dorothy Shaw, Marianne Vargo 19—Jasmine Creighton, Annabelle Crews 20—Olivia Braden, William King 21—Robert Crews 22—Gerald Trabert 23—Derek Felici 24—Emily Dearth-Harris 25—Travis Braden, Karen Walker 26—Denny Bartolovich, Jim Bell 28—Gary Marshall 30—Bill Hatcher, Jody Prather Barbara Sisarcick 31—Hilton Jacobs, Bonnie Robinson John Weidner

CROSSINGS 8

MARCH 2009 SUNDAY SCHOOL SCHEDULE

March 2009

1- Jesus Heals the Blind Man Mark 10:46-52 Titus 3:5 Lent 1

8 - Jesus Teaches About Commitment Mark 8:31-38 Lent 2

15 - Jesus Clears Merchants From the Temple John 2:13-22 Lent 3

22 - Jesus Explains Why God Sent Him John 3:12-21 Lent 4

29 - Jesus Notices a Widow’s Giving Mark 12:41-44 Lent 5

WHAT ARE YOU ADDING FOR LENT?

This year during lent the Sunday School is being encouraged to add something for Jesus to each day. We often try to “give something up” for lent, which is all very well and good, but research has shown that we have a great deal of trouble breaking bad habits. So, this year instead we are focusing on add-ing something for lent.

Now you may rightly wonder what you should add. Surely not more chocolate bunnies we see lining up on the store shelves throughout lent. No, we are challenging ourselves to add something that hon-ors Jesus. Ideas include: daily Bible reading, practicing patience with our families, being more helpful around the house, serving God more actively at Church (greeter, communion set-up or assistant, etc.), attending Bible Study, attending Wednesday Evening Worship, keeping a gratitude journal to encour-age us to be more thankful and joyful for all the good God has put in our lives.

The ideas are endless, but they need to be specific. It is no good to promise God we will be more pa-tient or hold our tongue. We need to pledge to catch ourselves when we get excited and repeat in our minds, “Jesus held his tongue when he was being treated unfairly, help me Lord to hold my tongue now.” Take a few minutes and pray and ask God to help you find one thing that you need to work on and then join us in making a specific plan, fill out a card and put it somewhere where you will see it daily. Join us in adopting a new habit of Lent.

This year I will try to honor you Jesus by

Action I will take daily

Lent 2009

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YOU ARE INVITED

ST. MARK LENTEN LUNCHEON

To Honor those 70 years & over

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2009

11:30 A.M. – FELLOWSHIP HALL

Will be followed by a 1:00 P.M. Communion Service

in the Chapel

If you need a ride, please call the church 242-3466.

RESURRECTION EGG HUNT

ATTENTION ALL CHILDREN AGES 10 AND UNDER

Join us for our annual Resurrection Egg Hunt on APRIL 5 following the 10:15 am service. A light lunch will be provided.

CHURCH GIFTS

You can make gifts for the benefit of the congregation and other ministries of the church, and con-tinue to receive income for life! If you make a gift through a charitable gift annuity, you may also receive an income tax deduction and some tax-free income. Annuity payments are made at a rate based upon your age at the time you make the gift. From now until June 30, 2009, one-life annuity rates range from 5.0% for a person aged 60, to 9.5% for a person aged 90 or older. For more information about charitable gift annuities or other ways of making gifts to the church, contact the ELCA Foundation Regional Gift Planner, Barbara Carl, at 724-438-7741, call the ELCA Foundation at 800-638-3522 ext. 2970, or visit the website at www.elca.org/foundation.

CROSSINGS 10

presents

ELDER LAW WORKSHOP FINANCIAL PLANNING FOR NURSING HOME CARE

PAUL McKAY McKAY AND McKAY ASSOCIATES

Edgwood Lutheran Church

National Road

Thursday, April 16 2:00pm – 4:00pm

Registration begins at 1:30pm

$5/person (Please pre-register by April 14 by emailing sherri@clp-online.org

or calling 242-5012)

• Do you understand the difference between “guardianship”, “medical power of • attorney”, and “conservator”?

• What is “Estate Recovery”?

• Do trusts work well for Medicaid planning?

• How does one “gift” without being penalized?

• How does the Deficit Reduction Act affect gifting?

• Do you understand the difference between Medicaid planning & Estate planning? Paul Montgomery McKay is a partner with McKay and McKay, Attorneys at Law at 83 Twelfth Street, Wheeling, West Virginia. Mr. McKay concentrates his practice on Elder Law, Estate Planning and Trusts and Litigation concerning those areas. He is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Inc. (NAELA), the Ohio County Bar Association, West Vir-ginia State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Mr. McKay is a member of the West Virginia State Bar Probate Committee and the Environmental Law Committee. He re-sides in Wheeling with his wife and family.

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EASTER BREAKFAST Attention Everyone! Don’t forget to mark your calendars, Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009 we will hold our annual Easter Family Breakfast in Fellowship Hall from 9-10:00 AM. Bring the whole family and join us for a delightful celebration of our Lord’s Resur-rection. This year our Sunday School play will be different. The youth and children will be acting out the scenes from the Easter story in Sunday School during lent and they will be filmed. We will all be able to watch the drama together! So everyone join us on Easter morning and see the big screen début of our own Sunday School students.

SUNDAY SCHOOL EASTER PLAY FILMING Sunday School Families: The Easter play will be filmed dur-

ing lent this year, so try to have your family in Sunday

School as much as possible throughout lent. If you would

like an email reminder of your child’s classes filming date,

be sure and give Amy Hinkelman your email address.

CROSSINGS 12

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We are physical, emotional, mental and spiritual beings and our health and healing is dependent on all of these dimensions. We will explore the interconnectedness of

body, mind and spirit in this workshop.

March 26, 2009

12:00-1:30p.m.

Ohio Valley Medical Center in Nurses Residents Living Room

Lunch is provided for all who register by March 19th

Clergy, Health Care Workers, Health Ministry Team Members are encouraged to attend!

Registration Form Name ___________________________ Address ______________________________ City _____________________________ State/Zip _________________________

Mail to: Alma Cunningham

Upper Ohio Valley Health Ministry Task Force

P.O. Box 230

Wheeling, WV 26003

Or call: 304-233-0880 ext. 369

acunningm@dwc.org

“We are called to be a heal-ing presence in the midst of a troubled world. There-fore, the mission of the Up-per Ohio Valley Health Min-istry Task Force is to pro-mote wholistic health minis-try programs within the Faith Communities of the Upper Ohio Valley.”

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THIS ‘N THAT St. Mark Church: Your kind expression of sympathy is gratefully acknowledged and deeply appreci-

ated. -The Family of Leonora Lasch

St. Mark Congregation: Thank you for the kindness shown at the time of our mother’s passing.

-Jerry & Terry Green & Family St. Mark: Jim and I want to thank everybody for their prayers cards, visits, and phone calls follow-

ing Jim’s mother’s recent death. And a special thank you to Pastor Paul for his faithful visits dur-

ing her hospitalization. We truly do have a wonderful caring congregation at St. Mark and your

kindnesses shown to us were deeply appreciated.

-Thank you, Peg & Jim Glaser and the Family of Lillian Rose Members of St. Mark, Thank you so much for your continued support of my seminary education. It

is proof of your ongoing commitment to the promises you all made at my baptism. I am grateful for

your love and prayers that I have been brought this far by Grace which is clearly expressed in your

financial and spiritual support of me and my vocation. You are truly a blessing! I miss seeing you

all! -God’s Wishes, Kara Jarrett Shaw

Congratulations to Ricardo Farrow who made first team all-valley defensive back for football and also special honorable mention all-state. Congratulations to Chris & Leah (Robinson) Shreve at the birth of their new son, Kaleb Christo-pher Shreve, born on Tuesday, February 10. IS YOUR GIVING CURRENT? Our anticipated “giving” through January 31, 2009 was $14,167. “Giving” received totaled $11,647. Total income-to-date is $15,195. Total spending-to-date is $20,386. The January church financial statement is posted on the first floor bulletin board for those interested. MEALS ON WHEELS: Thanks to the many members of St. Mark who donated funds or prepared desserts for Meals on Wheels.

Congratulations to St. Mark’s Robert Jones who is a member of the WPHS boys swim team that re-cently captured the OVAC Team Swimming Championship. Robert won first place in both the 50 & 100 Freestyle races. He was also a member of their medley relay teams. SOUPER BOWL SUNDAY: A big “thank you” to everyone who made contribution at this event with the $628 raised going to The Soup Kitchen of Greater Wheeling. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans added $100 in matching funds. Congratulations to T.J. Espina who was recently a member of the All State Band and made “first chair” in the trombone section. Recently pictured in the newspaper was Dot Pyle at the Elmhurst-The House of Friendship’s Pitts-burgh Steelers Souper Bowl party. Recently pictured in the newspaper were Harry Sacco, Pat Garrett and Ed Parshall who are mem-bers of the Ron Rose Orchestra that performed for the recent Viennese Winter Ball at Oglebay.

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St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church NONPROFIT ORG 141 Kruger Street, Elm Grove U S POSTAGE Wheeling, WV. 26003 PAID WHEELING WV PERMIT NO. 44 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

MARCH 2009

The printing & donation of materials for this newsletter printing was partially funded by

NORMA ROBINSON

IN MEMORY OF HUSBAND, BOB AT HIS BIRTH DATE—MARCH 12