Masks still required at St. Mark’s; additional diocesan guidelines expected soon

Masks still required at St. Mark’s; additional diocesan guidelines expected soon

Governor Abbott has lifted the mask mandate and has allowed businesses to open 100 percent.  However, St. Mark’s will continue to follow the guidelines for worship as set forth by our Bishop Andy Doyle until such time as he revises them. Please continue to sign up for worship via our online registration and to wear your mask in both the church and office.  We’ll keep you posted about any changes as soon as they come to us.

https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-lifts-mask-mandate-opens-texas-100-percent

The Music of Lent

The Music of Lent

We’ve turned the corner from the joy and light of Epiphany to the darker and more contemplative season of Lent. We often expect to only hear mournful and “minor” sounding hymns, anthems, and organ music during this season of penitence and preparation. Yes, there will be an adequate amount of that, but I would challenge you to listen for more in our liturgies.

Lenten music offers exquisite beauty, haunting harmonies, and texts that transport and transform us. It is one of my favorite seasons for which to plan; there’s such a vast array of choices!

I’m struck by what the editors at LiturgyandMusic.com state so eloquently.

“Lent was never intended to be sad, mournful and gloomy… I sometimes wonder if getting stuck in that kind of Lent allows [us] to avoid its real calling: introspection and renewal. Even for those of us who have been Christians for a long time, the forty days of Lent invite us to take time regularly to examine our lives, to recommit ourselves to prayer, to listen to God’s call in our lives. The season calls upon us to look at our deepest selves and to offer that part of ourselves to God. This spiritual journey has led artists to create works of surpassing beauty.”

May God, through music, lead you to a deeper and more faithful relationship with him and with one another.

Jordan Williams
Organist–Choirmaster

Read more on “Getting Past the Gloom of Lent” here: https://liturgyandmusic.com/getting-past-the-gloom-of-lent/

A Weekly Word – Ordination

A Weekly Word – Ordination

Weekly Word
February 14, 2021

The Preface to the Ordination Rites (BCP 510) states: “No persons are allowed to exercise the offices of bishop, priest, or deacon in this Church unless they are so ordained…with the laying on of hands by bishops who are themselves duly qualified to confer Holy Orders.” This Tuesday, February 23, 2021, at 7 o’clock in the evening, you are invited to participate in this work of the church through your virtual presence and prayers as I am ordained to the Sacred Order of Priests. Because of health and safety protocols the service is closed to the public, but it will be livestreamed on the St. Mark’s Facebook page in the same way as our normal Sunday services. Despite being physically separate, the God who hears and sees all, will hear and see this work we do together.

Faithfully,

The Rev. Clint E. Brown
Curate

Weekly Word – February 21, 2021

Ash Wednesday at St. Mark’s

7:30 a.m. – quiet service; no music
Noon – in person and livestreamed
7:00 p.m. – in person and livestreamed

On Wednesday, February 17 we observed Ash Wednesday, signaling the beginning of Lent, a period of forty days (not counting Sundays) preceding Easter. The themes of the day are penitence and fasting. It has become traditional to wear ashes on our foreheads on this day to recognize our status as sinners doomed to die but for the grace of God. The prayer said over the ashes asks:

Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth: Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, that we may remember that it is only by your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life… (The Book of Common Prayer 265)

As the ashes are imposed, the well-known refrain is heard: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

To view this service at any time as a way to mark your own Lenten observance, follow the link below.

LIVE WORSHIP – St. Mark’s Episcopal – Ash Wednesday.

 

The Mary Cecil Speaker Series

The Mary Cecil Speaker Series

Wednesday evenings in Lent at St. Mark’s
February 24th to March 24th
Evening Prayer, 6:00 PM; Dinner, 6:30 PM; Speaker, 7:00-8:00 PM

Lent I, February 24, The Gardens of the Bible – “The Garden of Eden” Rev. Mark Crawford, Click here for notes
Lent II, March 3, The People of Israel – “The Garden of Exile” Rev. Clint Brown
Lent III, March 10, Jesus – “The Garden of Gethsemane” Rev. Samantha Smith
Lent IV, March 17, Mary Magdalene and Jesus – “The Garden Tomb” Rev. Viktoria Gotting
Lent V, March 24, Revelation – “The Garden of Eternal Life” Rev. Suse McBay

Sign Up Here

This year’s theme is “Gardens of the Bible.” We are imagining a small, in person gathering of physically-distanced, masked participants in the parish hall being simulcast on Facebook Live.

Sign Up