January Events

True North

To pass your SCUBA diving certification, you have to go down 10 feet in murky water and, using a compass, swim 50 feet in one direction and then return to the same spot you started. This doesn't sound so hard, walking this would be a piece of cake. But when I did it in cold, dark quarry waters it was not only difficult, but scary. The only thing I had to tell me where I was in relation to my teacher, who was waiting at the surface for me, was my com-pass. Keeping that compass arrow on the right spot became my entire focus and it got me certified.

Life offers us many directions, many philosophies, many choices. In the midst of a changing world of murky water we need a compass. We need someone who stands at true north for us and calls us back when we lose our way.

Jesus is our True North. Jesus is the way that we know is right, good and loving. Jesus is the target that we aim for in our decision making. To focus on Jesus is to find true life. Other things will always let us down, but Jesus is whom we can count on.

January is the beginning of the secular new year and is often a time to recalibrate our lives. A time to focus on fitness, health and wellness. We will be talking about Jesus as our True North and our path to wellness - wellness that is holistic and encompasses body, mind, heart and spirit. We will have opportunities to join in wellness classes and activities so we aren't trying alone. Having partners in making lifestyle changes increases the odds of success exponentially.

Join us in worship so we can encourage each other in our journey to wellness and celebrate Jesus, our help and foundation.

See you Sunday!

Pastor Sarah

4 UMM Meeting

5 Sun. night Bible Study

resumes

5 Intro to Living Compass

and Wellness Self-

Assessment

7 Grayye Matters

8 Wed. Night Fellowship

Potlucks begin

8 Living Well in the Midst

of Grief and Loss

12 Cinnamon Roll Sunday

12 Enhancing your Well-

Being with Spiritual

Practices

13 Mindful Eating

21 Good Lunch Bunch

22 UMW Meeting

See inside for details

ST. MARK’S

MATTERS

January 2020

WILL YOU HELP?

The United Methodist Women are compiling a list of persons in

our congregation who are willing and able to assist with

luncheons/receptions. If you can provide a food item (usually

cookies or bars) or if you can be available to help serve in the

kitchen, set up Fellowship Hall and, of course, clean up, that too

is needed for these occasions. Please consider these most

appreciated tasks provided for the families of St. Mark’s. If you

can offer your help, please call either Linda Schrock (631-2068) or

Pam Bleckwenn (338-9035). Thank you!

Sat., Jan. 4 Don’t forget to mark your calen-dars 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 ser-vice and presence in furtherance of the missions and outreach of the United Methodist Church. The next meetings will be on Feb. 1, March 7, and April 4.

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., Jan. 7 at the Pizza Ranch, 171 Hwy. 1 West

At this meeting, we will be discussing “The Guardians” by John Grisham. Feel free to join in even if you haven’t read the book!

Contact Barb Fisher-Krueger for more details.

Save the Dates!

Cinnamon Roll Sunday

Sunday, Jan. 12 We will have delicious cinnamon rolls ready before the 8:30am service and will be ready to bring you cinnamon goodness until 11am. Come enjoy a cinnamon roll or two!

Trivia Night!

Friday, Feb. 7 More details to be released soon, as well as sign up information. Brush up on your trivia knowledge in January when it's too cold to go outside any-way. Plus, there will be a cake auction!

Happy New Year! Please start out the UMW new year by joining us for a yummy lunch on

January 22nd at noon. Peg Horn will be there to speak about "Economic Inequality", a recent topic covered at Mission u. We will turn in our financial pledges for 2020 and introduce officers for the new year as well.

Hope to see you there; it will be a great way to beat the cold and enjoy some social time together!

Sunday Night

Bible Study We will meet starting

January 5th in Room

108/109 from 6:15 pm to 7:30 pm. We are finishing the book Jesus Outside the Lines, and we will be starting a new book (TBA) later in January. For more information, contact Jenni Bounds at

jenni.bounds@mchsi.com or Brenda Mayer at

brenda-mayer@uiwoa.edu

Sabbath Keeping

One of the Ten Commandments is to "Keep the Sabbath holy". "Holy" means set aside, and sabbath keeping has always meant setting aside regular work in order to focus on relationships - with God and with each other. The Sabbath is a full 24 hours. Coming to worship is part of our sabbath practice, and just as important are the hours before and after worship. In order to keep the Sabbath holy for staff and for each other, we ask that you hold back from doing church "work" on Sundays as well. If you have a meeting to schedule or committee work to discuss with pastor or staff, please wait until Monday. Sundays are for focusing all our attention on worship and on caring for each other as people - not the business of the church.

Thank you so much!!

Good Lunch Bunch

Will meet on Tues., Jan. 21

at 11:30am at

Shakespeare’s

819 S. 1st Ave.

Iowa City

Finance Report

November 2019

We had income of $25,430.16 and expenses of $24,911.62 which provided a surplus of $518.54. We are staying under our budget for the year by $26,828.25. A complete financial statement is posted in the narthex for your review.

Announcement on Announcements

The most precious thing that we have on Sunday morning is the attention of the people present. Every time we add an announcement to the opening of worship, we lose more attention. So we want to limit Sunday Morning an-nouncement time to 1 or 2 announce-ments that pertain to more than 50% of the congregation.

If you have something that you want specially announced, please don't wait until Sunday Morning to tell the pastors -- please email us or the church office by Thursday noon.

Fellowship Potlucks every Wednesday, beginning January 8

5:45 – 7:00 p.m. Thank you to all who participated in our Advent Soup Suppers! Wednesday evening meals will continue following a two-week break. Beginning Wednesday, January 8, you are invited to a Wednesday evening potluck every week beginning at 5:45 p.m. Join us on Wednesdays 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 anyway! There’s always plenty of food. Questions? Contact Sally Hoelscher (hoelscher4@yahoo.com or 319-541-2622)

THE LIVING COMPASS:

WELLNESS IN THE NEW YEAR

The Living Compass – Wellness in the New Year

Join us in the New Year for a look at approaching our lives through a wellness lens. The Living Com-

pass of our faith can be our guide as we navigate this approach. The compass is built on the under-

standing that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbor as our-

selves. How do we create enough wellness in our own lives to do this well?

Pastor Sarah will launch a sermon series based on the wellness categories of relationships

and emotions, spirituality, rest & play, vocation, organization, resilience and care for the

body. As we take this journey together, we can reinforce our wellness in these areas through

small groups and spiritual practices. We invite you to check out these opportunities to

strengthen your wellness. Register today by contacting the St. Mark’s office: 337-7201 or

stmarks@stmarks-umc.net

Introduction to the Living Compass and Wellness Self-Assessment – a one-day large group ses-

sion Sunday, January 5 9:45-10:30 am in Fellowship Hall

Enhancing your Well-Being with Spiritual Practices – a 4-week small group practice

Sundays, January 12-February 2: 9:45-10:30 a.m.

Mindful Eating – Paying attention to how we nourish our bodies

Mondays, January 13-February 3, 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Living Well in the Midst of Grief and Loss: a 4-week small group

Wednesdays, January 8-29, 10-11a.m.

The Five Love Languages for Couples

Sunday, February 9, 6-8 p.m.

Childcare and meal provided

Art Activities for Rest & Play – a Lenten small group practice

Mondays March 1-Apr 6 – All experience levels welcome!

The Art of Forgiveness: A Guided Lenten Retreat

Daily devotions begin February 26 (Ash Wednesday)

Group meets Sundays, March 1-29, 9:45-10:30 a.m.

JANUARY BIRTHDAYS Hap

py

Birth

day!

1 Violet Hoenig, Erin Rindels

2 Sydney Fellows

3 William Carrillo, Erica Davis, John Green

4 PD Letz

6 Jeni Lewis, Jeremy Nobbs, Barb Shaw

8 Rose Hanson

9 William Cook; Cheryl Davis, Bob George

10 Cora Sanders

11 Mark Brock, Erin Christensen

13 Jim Warth, Andrew Herreweyers

14 Sue Brenneman, Sherry Kesselring

15 Pam Bleckwenn

16 Erick Dole

17 Randy Yeates

19 Jude McCall, Ellen Cary-Grimm

21 Nancy Cassady, Dennis Stevens

22 Nicki Paulsen

23 Adam Bywater, Larry Kral

24 ElijahAnderson, Tim Shulte

25 Asher Kane, Chris Forbes, Jesse Freeman, Suzanne Krogh

26 Marge Aldinger, Brom Leopold

27 Jim Gommels, Kathi Haymond

30 Francesca Brown

Mission Trip Shares The Youth Group will be hosting a new fundraiser this year. They will be selling shares to go on the Mission Trip. Shares are $20 each and help sponsor a youth to go to Mountain T.O.P. Each person who buys a share will re-ceive a postcard from the youth during the week at Mountain T.O.P. in July 2020. When the youth get back, there will be a special dinner for the shareholders. Youth will have pictures and give a presentation on what they did and how they grew in their faith. Please consider being a Shareholder in the 2020 Youth Mission Trip. If you have any questions, please contact Jenni Bounds at jenni.bounds@mchsi.com

YOU ARE NEEDED! Sunday morning coffee time needs new volunteers to help set up and clean up after Sun-day fellowship time. Chris McMorris can no longer do a majority of the work as she is now using a cane and struggles with chronic back pain. Can you please step in to help con-tinue this important fellowship time? Thank you!

8:30 AM

10:45 AM

Lead Usher 1/5: Randy Krutzfield 1/12: Randy Krutzfield 1/19: Randy Krutzfield 1/26: Randy Krutzfield Greeters 1/5: Bob & Maggie Elliott 1/12: Eleanor Carthey, Barb Smith 1/19: Pam Bleckwenn, Barb Fisher-Krueger 1/26: Carolyn Brown, Traci Huffman Ushers 1/5: Pam Bleckwenn, Kay Seagren, Carolyn Brown, Barb Fisher-Krueger 1/12: Tony & Pam Freund, Lavon & Nancy Rutt 1/19: Ed & Suzanne Krogh, Tom Shepherd & Mary Brown 1/26: Jeremy & Ann Showers, Bill & Janice Thorne Readers 1/5: Ed Krogh 1/12: Chris McMorris 1/19: Dennis Preslicka 1/26: Tom Shepherd A/V 1/5: Cory & Kaitlynn Berwald 1/12: Derek Lewis 1/19: Cory & Kaitlynn Berwald 1/26: Derek Lewis Communion Servers (Note: We are having communion on the second Sunday in January, not the first) 1/12: Chuck & Phyllis Lindemann, Chris McMorris, Dennis Preslicka, Tom Shepherd & Mary Brown

Lead Usher 1/5: Bob Kesselring 1/12: Bob Kesselring 1/19: Bob Kesselring 1/26: Bob Kesselring Greeters 1/5: Marsha Lowe 1/12: Melanie Justice 1/19: Carol Reddick 1/26: Phillip Mitchell Ushers 1/5: Sue Brenneman, Shirley Green 1/12: Laura Lage, Carol Reddick 1/19: Sue Brenneman, Shirley Green 1/26: Laura Lage, Carol Reddick Reader 1/5: Jenni Bounds 1/12: Rebecca Carver 1/19: Peg Horn 1/26: Marsha Lowe Communion Servers 1/5: Marsha Lowe, Carol Reddick 1/12: Sue Brenneman, Peg Horn 1/19: Laura Lage, Brenda Mayer 1/26: Sue Brenneman, Marsha Lowe

WORSHIP SERVANTS

IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO SERVE ON ASSIGNED DATES, KINDLY FIND YOURSELF

A REPLACEMENT AND NOTIFY THE CHURCH OFFICE.

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