ECHO news for Fall

ST. Mark’s is asked to bring bags of food to church each sunday in October for echo’s food drive!!!

ECHO needs our help! 

Since ECHO has moved to the “food choice” mode, which allows clients to select the food they will actually use, the food room has had to purchase many items not normally donated. We can help! Starting Sunday, October 5, there will be bags in the narthex with lists of needed food attached. Please take a bag and return it with any of the listed items. 

Please note that ECHO cannot use expired items, nor perishable ones. If you desire to donate perishable items, please take them directly to ECHO. Click HERE for their most needed items.

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Click HERE to see a compilation of ECHO’s current needs !

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Donations that cost ZERO … click HERE for info …

Click HERE to see how Target shoppers can help raise funds for ECHO …

Click HERE to find out what to do for a “Food Donation Option When You Can’t Come to ECHO”

ECHO desperately needs your help to help fill the shelves of their Food Pantry … Need info on donating? Call 703-569-7972 or go to https://www.echo-inc.org/needed-right-now for their current needs.

Need help? Call 703-569-9160 … To find out what ECHO has to offer its clients, click HERE for English and HERE for Spanish.

Donation Hours
M, Tu, W, Th, F - 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Tu, W, Th - 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Funerals and Memorials Info

St. Mark’s website now have a separate informational webpage for upcoming funerals and memorials. See it at https://www.stmarks-elca.org/funerals-memorials-info.

Don’t Let Your Giant Reward Points Expire!

Do you know you can use your points for other products besides gas? Right now you can get a dozen eggs for 200 points. If you don’t need them, or only need a half dozen, please consider donating them to Food For Others. Just mark the container as FFO and leave in the kitchen refrigerator. Thank you!

Pull POP tabs from Soda Cans!

… and place them in the narthex in the container shown at the left! Cindy Hausch-Booth is collecting pop tabs for Ronald McDonald House Charities, Greater Washington, DC! It's just so simple! Pop tabs are easy to collect and store and are less messy than collecting entire cans, and there is more concentrated aluminum in these tabs than in the cans, so we can get more money for something a lot smaller! 100% of the money we earn is used to offset the cost between the amount families are able to donate for their stay and our actual operating costs—a difference of about $197 a night. You can easily see that the little pull tab you used to throw away is very valuable to the guest families at our Houses.

Thank you for helping RMHCDC by “Pulling for the House!” Your pop tabs make a difference!

Fourth Quarter Benevolence: facets and the lamb center

4th Quarter Benevolence 

From October through December, we will be collecting benevolence donations for FACETS and The Lamb Center.. 

See also “the latest info” on our Q4 benevolence on our Quarterly Benevolence webpage.

As a reminder, our quarterly benevolences are not covered through the regular offerings to the St. Mark’s operating budget. If you donate online, there is a Quarterly Benevolence button on our Vanco e-giving portal. If you make your donation at the offering plate or mail in a check, please make out the check to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church and annotate the check with "Quarterly Benevolence."

ESOL Classes at St. Mark's

Classes in the fall began Tuesday, September 12, 2023. Classes are Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7:00 PM-8:30 PM; cost of books is $45. There is a need for ESOL teachers as well as volunteers to provide childcare (perhaps high school students who need community service hours).

For more information, contact Yvette Moy at at ymoy@stmarks-elca.org.

YOU ARE INVITED …

** The Prayer Ministry invites anyone who is interested in committing to a renewed prayer life at St. Mark's to join us on Sundays after the service at 11:00 AM in the Fellowship Hall. Learn more HERE!!!

** Also, the "Watch and Pray" Lunch Bunch is scheduled for Tuesdays at NOON in the Fellowship Hall. Bring a bag lunch and come to share in prayer, food, and fellowship. All are welcome. Contact Ken Anderson for information.

** Everyone is invited to join the on-going Wednesday morning (10:00) “Watch and Pray” meeting via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/894781064 (password 5800) 

For questions or more information contact Raelene Long (llong41@verizon.net) or Cherry Moser (clmoser@cox.net).

OCTOBERFEST

SUNDAY, OCT 19, 2025

Connecting with Students at Lynbrook Elementary School

Blessing of the Animals

Gather your pets and join us at
4:00 PM on Saturday, October 4, 2025
as we commemorate St. Francis with a Blessing of the Animals service. Stuffed animals are also welcome.

The service will be held rain or shine. Shine: in the renovated St. Mark’s courtyard. Rain: in the narthex.

Sunday, October 12 through
Saturday, November 1
White House Ornament Sale

St. Mark's Youth will be selling White House Ornaments again this year as a fundraiser. The 2025 ornaments celebrate the 150th anniversary of state dinners at the Executive Mansion and cost $25 each. Pre-order online or in the narthex on 10/12, 10/19, and 10/26. All orders must be placed by November 1. Payment (cash or check made out to St. Mark's Lutheran Church) is due at time of pick up, either after the 11/23 congregational meeting or by arrangement with the church office. Proceeds benefit the St. Mark's youth activities. 

Community Meals Are Back!

We have begun to serve our Community with lunch meals each Sunday at 1:30 PM, immediately following the Spanish service. The meal will be on the order of sandwiches, chips, and a sweet treat.

What do we need?

1. We need volunteers—sit has been suggested that our various groups/ministries sign up for a Sunday every few months to prepare and serve the lunches.

2. We need prayers that God will:
   (a) gs strength and wisdom as we recommence this effort, and
   (b) bless our efforts to satisfy not only physical hunger but real spiritual need.

Military Packages: Next Collection is October 5
(one Week Later)

September's official collection day will actually be on October 5, a one-week delay from our usual pattern—but you know you can drop off items anytime in the Military Packages box on second floor near the elevator and office.

We are once again partnering with Love in a Box, sending to a group of deployed Marines. The leader of the group of Marines is John Ramson; we don't know a lot about them except—as always—they are in a warmish climate. So, use your usual ingenuity and resourcefulness to contribute whatever you wish—you know they appreciate everything we send and are warmed by our remembrance of them—thank you! 

Flower Committee

The Flower Committee needs new members. If you are interested in joining the flower committee to help “dress” the altar on Sundays, please contact Trudy Stellar. We will be happy to train you. Click HERE for more information!

2024 Flower Deditations: Click HERE for the form to dedicate flowers or one or more Sundays in 2024!

Flower Ministry

On Mondays and Tuesdays the Flower Ministry team delivers small arrangements made from the altar flowers to St. Mark's members who are sick or housebound. We are in need of more volunteers to deliver. Please contact Lance Quesenberry lques48@gmail.com or call 703-401-1500 if you would like to volunteer or would like to ask questions.

Food for Others Teams
Need Help!

Please let Nan Ackerman or Debbie Brown know if you will be willing to help on a Tuesday evening from 5:00 PM-6:30 PM. The teams will be happy to train you. These teams are short-handed due to members with illness, and some with travel plans. Families are welcome to come work together. This is a great experience for teaching children to help others.

St. Mark’s continues to receive blessings of opportunities to help serve our neighbors. Our renewed outreach to the community is reaping benefits in new and renewed connections with the county, non-profits, and area churches —geared toward meeting the needs of our neighbors. Fairfax County Neighborhood and Community Services has reached out to St. Mark’s about connecting with children at Lynbrook through the GrandInvolve program, and twelve of our members responded!

Seniors who register through this program sign up for an hour or two per week to spend at the school tutoring and mentoring. Please see Pastor Triolo if you are interested.