Dear Friends, 

"Finding Joy," our theme this Lent, has been particularly challenging. Many of us are riveted by the scenes of death and destruction coming to us from Japan and from Libya. The news from Afghanistan does not seem to improve. Closer to home, people continue to have serious economic challenges. The world we live in is in so many ways not the world we would prefer. So where is joy to be found?

The March edition of the Diocese of Massachusetts newsletter included an interview with a young woman called Natalie Finstead. Last year Natalie was an intern in Life Together, the Diocesan Young Adult Program, where I came to know her. She moved to Kenya, where she volunteered at an orphanage. There was often not enough money to buy enough food. Drawing on her training in Life Together, Natalie decided to organize Kenyans her own age to make a difference. Together they have created an organization, Be The Change, with the mission of ending child poverty in Kenya. Here is a quote from her interview.

I saw over and over again (in Massachusetts) that when people came together around common passions to enact the Gospel, miraculous things happen.  I have repeatedly come back to that in Kenya when working with a population quite different than myself.  Despite the cultural differences, when we come together and stay focused on our mission, amazing things happen. Most importantly, I learned the value of doing what you are called to do.  I constantly encourage the young adult team members and the leaders of our partner organizations to do what makes them feel alive.  I think I always "knew" that but now I know that.

Calendar 

What Does Easter Mean To You?

Jesus came as Savior to his own, the way of love he trod;

He came to win us by good will, for force is not of God.

Not to oppress, but summon all their truest life to find,

In love God sent his Son to save, not to condemn mankind.

These words were written just a hundred years after Jesus' time and are beautifully set to music as hymn #489 of our hymnal. They remind us that Jesus has no interest in punishing us, but only desires to bring us closer to God. They also remind us that God is all about the truth. God is fully concerned with the reality of our lives. That's why God became a real person.

This is why I cherish our Holy Week services. Holy Week is about the reality of our lives and about the fact that God is in the middle of that reality. I began to understand this 14 years ago at a Good Friday service.

Our Episcopal congregation hosted our ecumenical Good Friday service every year. The tradition was to have a three hour service beginning at noon. We began with a hymn, then heard a portion of the Passion Gospel, then heard a sermon on the text, and then had a time for prayer. This took about 30 minutes, so at the end of the prayers we would start the cycle again with another hymn, a passage of scripture, a sermon and then prayers. So our Good Friday service included 7 hymns, 6 sermons and lots and lots of words. Having a three hour service was powerful in a symbolic way, but somehow this wasn't really working. 

Our Good Friday service in March of 1997 was different. We realized that we needed fewer words. We needed more time to absorb what we heard. We decided that the best way to communicate the reality of Good Friday was through music.

The choir, drawn from all of the churches in the community, rehearsed hymns and anthems for several months prior to the service. Then during the service we stopped and listened to them six or seven times as they sang these anthems. Each one consisted of only two or three lines of text.

Each one was a time that helped me understand that God is in the middle of the reality of our lives.

Have you been abandoned by your friends, as Jesus was? God is there.

Have you betrayed someone who trusted you? God is there.

Are you fearful of the power of death? God is there.

Do you have sorrow in your life anything like the sorrow of Mary at the cross? God is there.

Have you felt forsaken by God? God is there.

When we affirm the real suffering, fear and sadness we experience, we have the possibility of understanding the reality of the resurrection; God's love is more powerful than death.

So I invite you to attend as many of our Holy Week services as you can. This is a time for us to allow ourselves the space to understand more fully the truth of God's love for us.

Thanks be to God!

Philip

That Footwashing Thing!

Four years ago, I went with some other parishioners and John de Beer, then our new Priest in Charge, to the Massachusetts Diocesan Spring resource day. The keynote speaker was Michael Curry, Bishop of North Carolina. Now Michael is a wonderful speaker, and I was really enjoying his talk, when he said, in reference to the upcoming Maundy Thursday celebration, "And I hope you are all going to get your feet washed." I looked over at John's smiling face, and the truth was revealed to me plain - he was going to do 'that footwashing thing'.

And then I quickly moved from "I'm his senior warden - if he wants to do it I should support it." to "What will I wear? - It's still winter in New England - my stinky feet in boots?" to  "I'm ticklish, what if I jerk back and knock over the basin..." If I'd been a pedicure kind of person I'd have been wondering if I should get a pedicure. I completely missed the rest of Michael Curry's talk, in fearful contemplation of 'that footwashing thing.'

And so, with profound misgivings (and wearing sandals), that Maundy Thursday I went up to have my feet washed, and to wash the feet of the person who came after me.  Much to my surprise, it was a profoundly moving experience, so much so that Maundy Thursday has become one of the most important days in the church year for me.  

A lot goes into that - it's a surprisingly intimate act, for one thing. Not many people touch my feet. It breaks through the formality, the separation that defines most of our relationships.

It's a deeply relational act, accepting service from someone and then serving in turn.  It embodies the new commandment that Jesus gave his disciples that final night, to love one another.

Above all, it's a very physical act. Sometimes I think we try to separate our worship as much as possible from "real life." We make it very neat and orderly and controlled. Footwashing breaks through all that. Footwashing is very real - a little messy, kind of awkward, and a bit unpredictable. Just like life.  Footwashing reminds us that Jesus didn't spend all or even most of his time in the temple - he went out and got dirty, and he asked his disciples to get dirty with him, and then he ate with them and drank with them, and washed their feet. Jesus was real. Christ is real. Come on Maundy Thursday and experience the reality of Christ in a different way!

- Catherine Owens

Final Affairs Fair

People Helping People Events

People Helping People will host an Election Day food drive on Saturday, April 9 at Burlington High School to benefit the Burlington Food Pantry. Voters are asked to bring unopened packages of non-perishable foods that have not passed their expiration date. Items especially needed include canned peas and green beans, pasta, spaghetti sauce, macaroni and cheese, and canned pasta or stew (Dinty Moore, Chef Boyardee, etc.) Donations of cash and checks will also be accepted. Please make checks out to People Helping People.

Volunteers are needed the afternoon of May 14th to help unpack food collected by postal workers in another food drive. The collection point is St. Margaret's. See Judy Walsh if you can help.

If you drive a truck or other high capacity vehicle, and can help transport food from St. Margaret's to the food pantry on May 21st, please see Judy.

Part of Burlington's all-volunteer People Helping People emergency assistance organization, the Burlington Food Pantry distributes food to over 130 needy families in town every month. For more information, visit peoplehelpingpeopleinc.org or "friend" People Helping People on Facebook.

St. Mark's vestry retreat was held on February 26.  What a beautiful experience.  We reviewed all that had been accomplished in the past year and created a list of goals for the coming year.  The purpose of the retreat was to create a team to lead St. Mark's for the next 11 months.

Our goals are:

1.      Know and appreciate our gifts and values

2.      Review our basic strategies in light of the parish meeting data

3.      Begin planning for John's sabbatical in 2012

4.      Develop action plans, i.e.: who, what, where, when

Sue Heidbrink and Jean Allan volunteered to take training so as to bring Holy Communion to parishioners in the hospital or shut ins at home.

Shirley, Pat, Rick, Emily and myself attended the stewardship seminar in Manchester, NH on Saturday March 12.  What an awesome time.  It was great to receive important information and to hear what other churches were doing for stewardship.

We had our vestry meeting on March 14^th.  Wee voted to establish a music (voice) scholarship.  High school students would receive a scholarship for weekly 30 minute voice lessons in exchange for singing  in the St. Mark's adult choir, attend rehearsals, Sunday services and special services, for example, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday.  More details will follow

We voted and approved John's request for his sabbatical in January, February, and March of 2012.

Our final affairs fair will be held at St. Mark's on May 1^st, from 1-4pm.  This is a multi-church affair.  The bulletin on March 20^th gives a general outline.  Please direct any questions to Shirley Estrella

On Sunday March 13^th, we started John's Covenant Program- Hearing and Responding to God's Call.  It has been absolutely fantastic.  Please join us for the next sessions.

Well that's all for now

God Bless

Don

Easter Flowers

If you would like to remember or celebrate a loved one in the Easter bulletin, a form is attached - Easter Flower Doc. Donations are welcome and will help pay for the Easter flowers on the altar. Forms must be back in the office by April 10th.

Wife: Lisa  Children: Nicole, Jessica, Samantha

Grew up: Billerica with three sisters

St. Mark's: Properties Committee and Nominating Committee.

Q: What do you love to do?

A: Be outdoors, camping, golf

I grew up two streets from where we have lived all these years. Lisa was best friends with one of my sisters and we started dating in high school. I grew up in a Catholic family, and Lisa was Protestant. When our children came along, we looked for a church, first trying an Episcopal church in North Billerica. It did not grab us, so we drifted out. Then when Jessica came along, we found St. Mark's. Rev Carol Flett was here then, and she kept us there.

I work for Coca Cola, starting out as a driver, and then as a account manager, sales. My schedule is weird sometimes, and I have a day off in the week, and often I get a chance to work on the weekends, and I always say yes to work if I can, especially in the winter. It is hard for families these days with the busy lives of children, and having to work hard. Weekends there are always things going on. Nicole and Jessica were in the Color Guard and for years, Lisa and I helped out with other parents, making props, painting the mat, and being there for them. It is a wonderful group. The girls have a good relationship with us, especially Lisa, She makes sure that if something is bothering one of then, it comes out. We deal with it. Everything comes out and that is best. We work hard to help out with the color guard and we enjoy it, but at the same time, it is good to be over at the end of the season; time to relax.

Our family likes going camping, trail walking, not big mountains, but being out in the woods. We have a big family tent, 10' x 16', so we are all together, sit by the fire and talk. It is really nice. Our favorite vacation was about 7 years ago when we drove down to Disney camping all the way. We loved Fort Wilderness. Then on the way home, we stayed at a campground in Myrtle Beach, 20 feet from the beach. It is a great place to just hang out. We had relatives with us in their campers, so they were with us a lot of the time, but we had time by ourselves too. It was a long trip, 16 days, spending all that time in such close situations, the camper, the tent, there were some times when things were not so smooth, but in general it was a vacation we all remember as the best.

I like to golf. I started playing 10 years ago, and play in a league on Wednesdays.  First I golfed with my father-in-law, then my father started. My Dad passed away last fall, now, I bring my Mom out. It is nice to get her out and enjoy time together. When Dad was in his last months, he prepared for Mom to go on. He sold his two cars to buy a new one for her so she would have no car issues. He got her squared away. A family friend helped them plan final plans, and it was beautiful.

In everything, we do not stress out and worry about perfection. If it is a big family dinner at our house, things will get done, and everyone will enjoy it. We encourage our girls to try new things and not worry about making a team. Try different things, find out what you like.

(reported by Rick Eaton)

One Sunday in February is Theological Education Sunday, and often EDS seminarians are invited to preach. The last Sunday in February I was invited to St. Stephen's up in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. The rector, Jean MacDonald, very nicely invited me to stay Saturday night so I wouldn't have to get such an early start Sunday.

So there we were, hanging around the kitchen, getting to know each other, and she asks me what parish I'm from, and I tell her St. Mark's Burlington, and she says, "Oh, the cool church with the great children's service!" I almost fell off my stool.

Remember the Sunday we had guests from all over the country who were at EDS for a conference on baptismal ministry? Bill Kondrath from EDS presided, and he and Sarah Van Gulden did a modified Story Sunday service. Well, one of the attendees was a parishioner at St. Stephen's and went back and told Jean about it, and they got more information on the service and have used it to develop their own Story Sunday service. St. Mark's gets credit in the bulletin! They were just finalizing it when I was there, and I asked them to send me a copy when it was done.  I'll post it when I get it.

Small Episcopal world!

- Catherine Owens

LECTORS

CHALICERS

Holy Eucharist and Church School both begin at 9:30 am on Sunday. Church School children join the congregation at the peace. After service we have coffee hour in the parish hall.