A Message from Pastor Billy....
Dear St. Mark’s Family and Friends,
I think it is safe to say that we are living in unprecedented times.
When 2020 began, no one could have imagined or predicted the kind of things we are experiencing due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Classrooms are empty, shopping malls are quiet, grocery store shelves are barren and public gatherings have been cancelled. Our normal way of life has been impacted in ways we could never have imagined when the year began and this includes houses of worship.
Currently, the CDC and local city leaders have set guidelines to restrict public gatherings to minimize person-to-person contact and reduce the risk of exposure.
To that end, after prayerful discussion with the Elders of St. Mark’s, we have decided that starting Sunday (Mar. 22nd), we are going to encourage everyone to join us for worship via live-stream, rather than in-person at church.
Sunday Worship
At 10 AM this coming Sunday morning, we will be broadcasting our worship service from the sanctuary and encourage you to join us through your smartphones, tablets or home computers, through a free app called Zoom. Once you’ve downloaded the app, all you have to do is click on the link provided below, and it should open automatically and you’ll be joining us virtually in our sanctuary. (The app is free and there is no need to register or sign up and instructions are provided below.)
Future Gatherings and Events on the Church Campus
In regards to future church events, we have decided to postpone all fellowship gatherings on campus for now until it is safe to resume. The Sunday Morning Bible Reading at 9:15 AM will not be meeting; the Monday Morning - Lenten Fellowship Gatherings will also no longer be meeting, and the PW Esther Circle will be on break thru May. Other events that were scheduled in April and May will be pushed to later dates. With person-to-person gatherings being discouraged, study groups and fellowship gatherings may want to try meeting virtually online, or through conference calls over the phone. The Youth and Young Adults are planning to meet virtually starting at 10:45 AM. If you have questions regarding this, please contact our Youth and Young Adult Director: Alex Moore.
The Church Office
The church office will remain open but with reduced hours. I will continue to come out every day, but we encourage you to call the office or email us and not come to campus in-person, should you need to contact us. If no one is here, you can always leave a message on our answering machine and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
I understand that these are trying and challenging times for the church, but I know that with every challenge, God presents opportunities for us to share God’s love and grace to the world.
I’d like to close with a moving quote sent to me by one of our church members:
When this is over may we never again take for granted:
A handshake with a stranger
Full shelves at the store
Conversations with neighbors
A crowded theater
Friday night out
The taste of communion
A routine checkup
The school rush each morning
Coffee with a friend
The stadium roaring
Each deep breath
A boring Tuesday
Life itself.
When this ends:
May we find that we have become more like the people we wanted to be, we were called to be, we hoped to be, and may we stay that way - better for each other because of the worst.
( Laura Kelly Fanucci )
May the Peace of Christ be with you….
Pastor Billy Song
St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
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To download the Zoom App,
For Apple users:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/zoom-cloud-meetings/id546505307
For Android users:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=us.zoom.videomeetings
For PC laptops or home computers,
https://zoom.us/client/latest/ZoomInstaller.exe
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To Join us for Sunday Worship:
Once you have downloaded the app, join us for Sunday Worship at 10:00 AM by clicking on the link below, which will redirect you to the app and connect you automatically.
https://zoom.us/j/628847841
(if that does not work, you can open the zoom app and click the “Join” or
the “Join a Meeting” button and enter the following Meeting ID: 628 847 841
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To join the live-stream worship with a land-line or older cell phone:
dial 1-669-900-9128 (then wait for instructions)
when promoted - enter meeting ID: 628 847 841 (followed by #)
you do not need to enter a participant ID.
just enter # again to join the live-stream worship.
