Esther de Waal lives in a small cottage on the Welsh/English border. After studying and teaching history at Cambridge University, she married, had four sons, and moved to Canterbury, where she lived in a house that had been part of the medieval monastic community. She leads retreats, lectures, and travels widely. Her major interests are the fields of the Benedictine and Celtic traditions.

Children and Worship  As we explore ways to include children and their families in our worship, especially at the 9 am Sung Mass, we’ll be experimenting a little bit.   One opportunity to see and feel what it is like for children to play a more central part in our worship will take place on Sunday, Feb 26 at 9 am, the first Sunday in Lent, when children from St. James School will visit to sing during the 9 am Sung Mass.  We especially hope families with children would like to be a present on that day.

20s/30s Wine and Cheese Tasting  The next gathering for Saint Mark's 20s and 30s will be a wine and cheese tasting immediately following the 11:00 Mass and Coffee Hour on Sunday, February 19 at 1 pm. Our special guest host will be Dan Packel. Dan is a Staff Writer at WineAccess and has previously managed the beverage program at Tria and sold cheese at Salumeria. He has written about food and travel for publications including The New York Times, Draft, Afar, and Gastronomica. Join us to celebrate the last Sunday before Lent…or for a late Valentine’s Day treat! To RSVP for the wine and cheese tasting, please contact Emily McGraw at emilymcgraw1@gmail.com.

Preparation for Adult Baptism, Confirmation, and Reception  The group considering preparation for Confirmation, Reception into the Church, or Baptism meets at 1 pm in the Library on the 2^nd Floor of the Parish House,

The Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Sunday, 19 February from 9:50 am to 10:50 am.  At the meeting we’ll present the budget for the year and discuss several important issues facing the parish.  Everyone is encouraged to attend.

Family Ministries – Forum about Keeping Lent at Home  Join Mother Erika Takacs on Sunday, February 12 at 10:00 a.m. for a special family forum. We’ll spend this time talking about how to keep Lent as a family. What kinds of traditions can you introduce into your home? How can Lent be a time of holy preparation not only for you in your own spiritual life but for your entire family (children included!)? We’ll not only talk about the spiritual themes and patterns of Lent but also go over some very practical tools to help keep Lent at home.

Family Game Day On Saturday, February 18, join us in the parish hall after the 10:00 Mass for some fun and games. Bring your favorite games to share with the group. And if you bring some lunchtime snacks, Mother Erika will bring dessert!

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper – and Races! On Tuesday, February 21, we'll have our annual pancake supper on the evening before Ash Wednesday. We'll also have pancake races (for adults and kids) in the cloister. The races begin at 6:00 p.m. Come to celebrate together, to learn a little bit more about Shrove Tuesday, and to enjoy some delicious pancakes.

Ash Weds is Feb 22  Lent begins on Ash Wednesday – a season of self examination and preparation.  The imposition of ashes is a part of all three masses that day:

7:30 am  - Low Mass

12:10 pm – Sung Mass

7:00 pm – Choral High Mass

Special Visit from Saint James School at our 9:00 Mass On Sunday, February 26, the students of the Saint James School, led by their music teacher Beth Dzwil, will join Saint Mark's for our 9:00 service. They will lead us in our congregational singing and offer some musical selections of their own. We will also join with them in singing "Siyahamba," which we've been learning in our Sunday school classes. This is a really great opportunity for us to experience a worship service full of – and, in fact led by – children, and we are so grateful to Saint James for being our special guests that day. I hope that you all can be there!

Fridays in Lent – beginning Feb 2  Fridays during the season of Lent are traditionally kept as days of special observation.  We keep Fridays in Lent with the Stations of the Cross as part of our prayer life, followed by an opportunity to learn.  This year we will use the the BBC video production of Diarmaid MacCullouch’s Christianity: the First 3,000 Years – an extremely valuable survey of Christian history beginning with our Jewish roots.  Father Mullen and Mother Takacs will lead discussions on the video and the book it was made to accompany.  We’ll conclude each evening some time between 7:30 and 8 pm.

The Fridays in Lent are Feb 24, Mar 2, 9, 16, 23, 31.

Bible Study, led by Jay Blossom, meets on Wednesday nights at 6 pm in the Library, on the second floor of the Parish House.   All are welcome.

The 10 am Adult Forum  The Sunday Forum will resume on January 8 when we will begin a 7-part series entitled Western Monasticism + the Rule of Saint Benedict in the Anglican Tradition." The series, led by Ministry Intern Peter Kountz, will concentrate on (1) reading and discussing the Rule of Benedict and (2) contemplative reading and reflection on Esther de Waal's, Seeking God: The Way of Saint Benedict. The Forum will meet January 8,15, 22, 29 and February 5, 12 and 19. If you are interested in attending the Forum, please let Mother Takacs know since we will provide copies of both the Rule and the de Waal book and want to be sure to have enough copies on hand. Also, please note that Esther de Waal will be at Saint Mark's on the weekend of February 4-5 and will lead the Forum on Sunday, February 5.

The Restoration of the Lady Chapel is entering its next phase, which will accomplish the cleaning of the interior sandstone walls, and the re-lighting of the chapel while work on the roof continues.  The roof replacement work has reached a stage that allows the interior work to begin.  You will notice scaffolding and other evidence of work in the Lady Chapel.  Soon a protective barrier will be built at the gates to the chapel, but for most of the duration of the work, worshipers will still be able to walk through the Lady Chapel on their return to the pews from the altar rail.  Masses normally held in the chapel will continue to be said be at St. John’s altar.

Join Saint Mark's for the Broad Street Run  The Saint Mark's 20s/30s group is putting together a team for the Broad Street Run (a 10 mile race) on Sunday, May 6, at 8:30 a.m. All ages are welcome! If you're interested in joining our team, please contact Brian Alvarez at brian.j.alvarez@gmail.com as soon as possible. Registration ($40 per person) begins February 15, and the race tends to fill up fast.

Volunteer  Saint Mark’s depends on volunteers for everything from caring for the gardens to serving soup to the hungry on Saturday mornings, running the Food Cupboard during the week, sending out mailings from the office, serving at the altar as acolytes, reading the lessons at services on Sundays serving at weekday masses, laundering the altar linens and caring for the sacred vessels, and more!  Volunteering is probably the best way to get to know more people here, to deepen your involvement, and to discover how God can use you for the building up of his kingdom.  If you are interested in getting more involved as a volunteer, please speak to one of the clergy or a Vestry member.

Today members of a local sheet metal workers’ union began protesting outside Saint Mark’s.  A large inflatable “fat cat” strangling a worker has been stationed on the sidewalk near the east end of our property.  The union objects to our use of non-union labor for the project to replace the roof of the Lady Chapel.  The roof is being replaced after 110 years of service. 

This project is costing roughly $200,000, and funding has been provided entirely by a single donor.   Working with our architects we awarded the contract to the successful bidder of a competitive process.  One of the bids we received was from a union contractor whose quoted hourly wages for laborers on the project ranged from $83 - $142 per hour and resulted in a proposed cost that would have prevented us from going forward with the project.

At Saint Mark’s we believe in the dignity of work and the right of laborers to be paid a fair wage.  We have the highest regard for the skilled craftsmen who work on our historic buildings, bringing to bear years of experience and highly specialized knowledge.  Our roofers use tools and techniques largely abandoned in the trade today, but appropriate and safe for this National Historic Landmark building.  Their work is of the highest caliber.

Saint Mark’s is a non-profit institution.  We care for three historic buildings on nearly two-thirds of a city block.  In the past five years we have spent almost $750,000 on capital improvements to our buildings, and we are moving forward with plans to invest more than $3 million in capital repairs and improvements to our buildings in coming years.  Meanwhile, we continue to feed about 150 homeless and hungry people every Saturday morning.  We provide groceries for as many as 200 families a month.  Last fall we opened a middle school for children from low-income families in North Philadelphia.  And we maintain a schedule of worship and prayer that is more demanding than any other Episcopal parish in the City.  All of this is accomplished by the generosity and devotion of our members, and by the grace of God.

Neither our contractors, nor the members who make possible all we do at Saint Mark’s, nor the donors, nor our daily worshipers deserves to be harassed for the work we do or what we stand for.  

SEAN MULLEN

Rector

Pray for us; we'll pray for you!

Saint Mark's Church is known for its distinguished music program that graces its services, and lifts the spirits of parishioners and visitors alike.  The Choir of Saint Mark's is a semi-professional ensemble of 24 voices which sings the services for Solemn Mass, Feast Days and special services in this historic Center City Gothic Revival masterpiece build in 1847 by architect John Notman.

At Saint Mark's, it has now been the tradition for some years to offer both Advent and Christmas Lessons and Carols, on the first Sunday in Advent and Christmas Eve afternoon respectively.  This recording is a selection of some favorites, both traditional and contemporary from those services, as well as an inspiring organ improvisation by Matthew Glandorf.

1. Alma Redemptoris (Mater Plainsong<Tonus Simplex, Mode V)
2. E'en so Lord Jesus (Paul Manz, 1919 - 2009)
3. Ich bin eine Stimme eines Rufers (Melchior Vulpius, ca 1570-1615)
4. Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming (Hugo Distler, 1908-1942)
5. In Winter's Heart (Chandler York, b. 1978)
6. Love came down at Christmastime (Matthew Glandorf, b. 1972)
7. Seek him that maketh the Seven stars (Johathan Dove, b. 1959)
8. Magnificat from the First Service (Robert Parsons ca. 1535 - 1572)
9. 9. Tomorrow shall be my Dancing Day (Gustav Holst, 1874 - 1934)
10. Ave Maria (James Testa, b. 1948)
11. Resonet in Laudibus (Anthony Mosakowski, b. 1970)
12. The Road to Bethlehem (Michael Head, 1900 - 1976)
13. "Andujar" A Stable Lamp is Lighted (David Hurd, b. 1950)
14. Improvisation on "Alma Redemptoris Mater"

If you are interested in purchasing a CD copy of "Seek Him", please contact Megan Gallagher at mgallagher@saintmarksphiladelphia.org.