March Events Wilderness Vision Quest

Most of the time we associate people going into the wilderness on vision quests as a Native American tradition. However, it doesn't take much looking to see that the Bible is full of stories of people who go on a journey into the wilderness to look for answers, for God.

Abraham and Sarah are called to journey across the wilderness to find the land God promises them and along the way they are tested, they fail, they are visited by an-gels and they are blessed.

Jacob, in fear for his life, spends a night alone by the side of the river wrestling with God and at dawn he is a new person, disabled but with a new name.

Jonah is sent on a missionary journey, but he chooses instead to run away. When he finally does what God says, he then runs into the wilderness confused and an-gry. God ministers to him and provides for him in the wilderness.

John the Baptist lives in the wilderness a long time before he begins his minis-try. Jesus is sent into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit for 40 days.

In every situation, people are tested, provided for, feel deep feelings and wrestle with how to be faithful. In every situation, the people come out of the wilderness changed and with a new vision of who they are called to be.

St. Mark's has been in a wilderness time as we have struggled with the state of our denomination, with pastoral change, and with a changing world that makes minis-try harder. God has been providing for us - in many miraculous ways! Now we are coming into the time in the wilderness where we are ready to learn from God, to gain insight from this journey.

In March we will learn about the CAT survey results - thank you so much for partici-pating! In the months ahead we will be celebrating 60 years of ministry by looking back and honoring where we have been. Our leadership will be going on a retreat, into the wilderness, to envision the next decade with God. In our Lenten sermon series we will be reflecting on our own personal wilderness journeys and what God has or is teaching us through them.

I'm so excited to be a part of St. Mark's at this turning point in your journey! I hope you are excited to see what God has in store for us together.

See you on Sunday! Pastor Sarah

1 The Art of Forgiveness

begins

2 Art of the Spirit begins

3 Grayye Matters

7 UMM

17 Good Lunch Bunch

25 UMW

25 Youth Group Fundraiser

29-29 Shelter House Book

Sale

29 CROP Walk

ST.MARK’S

MATTERS

MARCH 2020

Sat., March 7th

The Methodist Men will be holding their March meeting on Saturday, March 7th, at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church located at 2301 E. Court St, Iowa City, IA. Our Redeemer is hosting the 47th Annual Pancake Breakfast for CommUnity Crisis Services and Food Bank with all proceeds going to them. The cost of the breakfast is $7.00. We plan to eat breakfast as a group at about 7:30 am and then will have our regularly scheduled meeting in one of their rooms at Our Redeemer where Michael Compton, Director of Music Ministries at St. Mark’s will be our guest speaker.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the first Saturday of every month at 7:30 a.m. for good food and great fellowship with St. Mark’s United Methodist Men! We are here in a ministry of service and presence in furtherance of the missions and outreach of the Unit-ed Methodist Church. The next meetings will be on April 4, May 2, and June 6.

Grayye Matters is a book group that meets at 9:30am the first Tuesday of every month. This month, we’ll be meeting on

Tues., March 3 at the Pizza Ranch, 171 Hwy. 1 West

At this meeting, we will be discussing “Storming the Wall” by Todd Miller. Feel free to join in even if you haven’t read the book!

Contact Barb Fisher-Krueger for more details.

FINANCE REPORT

In January, we had income of $29,186.48 and expenses of $32,512.43 which means we spent $3,325.95 over what we received. In January, we had expenses for insurance of $5,975.44 and snow removal of $1,810. The expense of insurance is always payable in January which distorts our results. We feel that overall our expenses to income were kept in check this month. To see a complete report check in the Narthex. As always the Finance Committee continues to monitor our financial picture and keep you apprised of any concerns.

CROP Walk is Sunday, March 29th at 1:30. The 2.8 mile walk will begin at 1105 Gilbert Court and raises money for the Johnson County food bank and helps feed hungry people worldwide through Church World Service. You can sign-up to walk or support a walker financially starting Sunday, March 15 in Fellowship Hall.

The Mission Committee has scheduled a trip to work at the Midwest Mission Distribution Center (MMDC) in Illinois. The trip will take place in May 4,6,7, and 8. The dorm is booked so we will be staying in a hotel, to be determined in the future. This solves the bunk bed issue which can be troublesome for some of us. There are several hotels that offer a discounted price for MMDC volunteers. We have 4 people signed up so there is plenty of room to join us. We haven't been on a mission trip for several years so we hope for a good response. We will have a planning meeting sometime in March. For more information talk to Dennis Preslicka or Barb Fisher-Krueger.

Wednesday, March 25 6:30pm

Holy, Bold Women Lead

Our program will be presented by our very own Pastor Sarah!

UMW--where the programs are interesting and the desserts are delicious.

Hope to see you there!

Accepting Donations for the Shelter House Book Sale

Gently used books, music and movies can be placed in the collection bin in Fellowship Hall. Or, If you prefer, you may drop off your donations at Bldg. B. at the Johnson Co. Fairgrounds until March 22 (Sundays 2-4; Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays 10-2). They are unable to accept magazines, encyclopedias, books without covers, musty books, textbooks, cassette or VHS tapes. The Book Sale will be held at the Johnson Co. Fairgrounds, Bldg C. from 10:30-4:00 on March 28 and from noon-4:00 on March 29.

Midwest Mission

Distribution Center

Good Lunch Bunch

Tues., Mar. 17th

at 11:30am at

Perkins

819 1st Ave.

Coralville

LENT 2020

Wilderness:

No matter where we go,

God is with us!

Lenten Potlucks & Devotions

Potlucks 5:45-6:30pm

Devotions 6:30-6:55pm

Choir at 7:00pm

The Art of Forgiveness

Adult Sunday School Class begins March 1st and goes for 6 weeks

Art of the Spirit

Mondays starting March 2nd 6:30-8:00pm

Each art project will have a spiritual component. Projects include bringing in the wilderness, praying in color, prayer beads, clay labyrinths, found ob-ject crosses

Give up & take on for Lent!

Give up shopping/consumerism for Lent. Buy only food/products you must have (like toilet paper!)

Take on 40 Days of Kindness. There are calendars in the office with suggestions (or come up with your own!)

Wonderful Wednesdays

every week

5:45 – 7:00 p.m.

You are invited to a Wednesday evening potluck every week followed by a short program or devotion time. Join us when your schedule permits. Bring your own table service and some food to share. If it’s one of those weeks when bringing food is too much to handle, come any-way! There’s always plenty of food. Questions? Contact Sally Hoelscher hoelscher4@yahoo.com or 319-541-2622

Youth Group News

Thank you! We had an amazing turnout at Trivia Night! With the cake auc-

tions and concession sales, we made a total of $1228. We so appreciate

the support of the congregation and friends for such a great night. We are

really looking forward to our trip to Mountain T.O.P.

On March 25th, the Youth Group will host a fundraiser at Short’s Eastside.

Support our Mission trip to Mountain T.O.P. with some great food! The

fundraiser goes from 5 pm to 10 pm. Thanks!

St. Mark’s United Methodist Church Executive Council Agenda 2-18-2020

Updates on Responses for CAT & Status of sound system and streaming.

Chicken BBQ set tentatively for June 18.

Megan Bywater and Priscilla Joel will be summer interns.

Moxie Solar energy company will give a presentation March 14th to the Trustees.

Annual conference has announced that we will go from 8 districts to 5 in Iowa with

“circuits” (groups of churches) being created within those districts.

Ro

se H

anso

n d

ressed

in fu

ll armo

r! Angie Bywater and Jennie Fischer greet people to the youth

fundraiser, Trivia Night!

1 Brian Pringle

4 Roberta Harding

7 Nancy Krutzfield, Earl Phillips, Dennis Preslicka, Jerine Strommer

8 Ruth Beyerhelm

9 Carolyn Brown

12 Kay Seagren

13 John Bounds, Mary Bounds

22 Jairo Munoz

23 Judy Glau

25 Dick Lake

26 Sarah Pringle

28 Jeanne Phillips

29 Jeremy Showers

31 Leah Hoelscher; Janet Plumer, Rachel Fischer

MARCH BIRTHDAYS Hap

py

Birth

day!

Sunday Night Bible Study Group

Our Bible Study group is finishing up The Grace of Les Miserables. Come join us for 3 more sessions of this book! We meet on Sunday nights from 6:15 pm to 7:30 pm in Room 108/109. We will be on break from our Sunday night sessions after this book is completed. We will meet on these Sun-days: March 1st, March 8th, and March 15th.

Happy 90th Birthday Jerine Strommer!

Come wish Jerine a Happy Birthday and

share some breakfast treats

in Fellowship Hall between services

on March 8th.

8:30 AM

10:45 AM

Lead Usher 3/1: Dennis Preslicka 3/8: Dennis Preslicka 3/15: Dennis Preslicka 3/22: Dennis Preslicka 3/29: Dennis Preslicka Greeters 3/1: Lynn Dornfeld, Lynn Calvert 3/8: Kay Seagren, Gwen Hoffmann 3/15: Ed Pierson, Jerine Strommer 3/22: Eleanor Carthey, Traci Huffman 3/29: Bob & Maggie Elliott Ushers 3/1: David Bywater, Rose Hanson, Chuck & Phyllis Lindemann 3/8: Jeff & Dianne Wasson, Ann & Jeremy Showers 3/15: Bob & Maggie Elliott, Bill & Janice Thorne 3/22: Pam Bleckwenn, Carolyn Brown, Barb Fisher-Krueger, Randy Krutzfield 3/29: Pam & Tony Freund, Lavon & Nancy Rutt Readers 3/1: Tony Freund 3/8: Sally Hoelscher 3/15: Bob Kesselring 3/22: Ed Krogh 3/29: Sarah Pringle A/V 3/1: Cory & Kaitlynn Berwald 3/8: Derek Lewis 3/15: Cory & Kaitlynn Berwald 3/22: Derek Lewis 3/29: Cory & Kaitlynn Berwald Communion Servers 3/1: Bob & Sherry Kesselring, Bill & Janice Thorne, John Muhoza, Kay Seagren

Lead Usher 3/1: Greg Jansen 3/8: Greg Jansen 3/15: Greg Jansen 3/22: Greg Jansen 3/29: Greg Jansen Greeters 3/1: Marsha Lowe 3/8: Melanie Justice 3/15: Carol Reddick 3/22: Phillip Mitchell 3/29: Marsha Lowe Ushers 3/1: Sue Brenneman, Shirley Green 3/8: Laura Lage, Carol Reddick 3/15: Sue Brenneman, Shirley Green 3/22: Laura Lage, Carol Reddick 3/29: Sue Brenneman, Shirley Green Reader 3/1: Jenni Bounds 3/8: Peg Horn 3/15: Marsha Lowe 3/22: Brenda Mayer 3/29: Lowell Fenner Communion Servers 3/1: Carol Reddick, Peg Horn 3/8: Marsha Lowe, Sue Brenneman 3/15: Laura Lage, Cheryl Davis 3/22: Brenda Mayer, Peg Horn 3/29: Carol Reddick, Marsha Lowe

WORSHIP SERVANTS

IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO SERVE ON ASSIGNED DATES, KINDLY FIND YOURSELF A REPLACEMENT AND LET THE OFFICE KNOW OF ANY CHANGES.

THANKS FOR SERVING!!!

St. Mark’s United Methodist Church (319)337-7201

office@stmarks-umc.net stmarks-umc.net

ALL ARE WELCOME

St. Mark’s United Methodist Church

2675 E. Washington Street

Iowa City, IA 52245