ECHO news for Winter

ECHO—first quarter benevolence in 2026

The people of St. Mark’s have supported ECHO’s efforts from its inception and we continue that tradition with our 1st Quarter Benevolence choices of ECHO and St. Mark’s FFO. Thank you for your generosity in advance!

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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!

2026 First Quarter Benevolence: Food for Others and ECHO

1st Quarter Benevolence 

From January through March, we will be collecting benevolence donations for St. Mark’s Food for Others and ECHO.

See also “the latest info” on our Q1 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 to pray with us …

** 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).

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.

Thankoffering Collection/Bold Women Sunday on March 1, 2026

St. Mark's Women of the ELCA will collect Thankofferings on Sunday, March 1st. Thankofferings give us an opportunity to show gratitude for God's blessings with a special offering to support churchwide Women of the ELCA ministries, such as educational resources, justice and advocacy work, grants and scholarship programs, leadership development, the Gather magazine, and much more. 

We invite the congregation to participate in this special offering. Please note that this offering is separate from your regular church offerings and is a donation to the Women of the ELCA. A Thankoffering button has been added to the “Donate Online” feature of St. Mark’s Website. Thank you!

Thankoffering envelopes are available in the bulletins on Sun, March 1st.  

On that day, we will also honor our St. Mark’s Bold Women for 2026—join us in person or tune in via Facebook or YouTube to see who they are … and look for the Messenger bulletin on March 1st to learn more about our honored Bold Women. 

Military Packages for February

Since February is such a short month, we'll consider Sunday, March 1 to be the "official" collection day—but you know, as always, that you are welcome to contribute items anytime, in the military packages collection box on second floor near the office.

Interesting place and people for this month; our contact person, Lauren Vanover, is with the Air Force, and she writes the following:

My team consists of 6 people, we are serving a one-year tour in Diego Garcia, a very remote island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Resources are very limited here and we rely on deliveries of groceries and goods typically once a week, they can be delayed and if they run out before that week is up we just have to wait until the next shipment arrives. I know my folks would love an opportunity to receive care packages!

So you see that—as always—your packages of love and remembrance will be treasured, and often needed! They did not provide details about their mission there and did not ask for any particular items in our first communications, but we will let you know if they follow up with specific information; having said that, you all are so resourceful at providing items that they love to get!

Thank you for your loyalty to this program and your generosity! 

Lent Began on Ash Wednesday, February 18 …

Join us every Wednesday in Lent in the sanctuary at 10:30 AM to worship in English and followed by a soup lunch. The evening service is bilingual and begins at 7:30 PM.

The morning Wednesday services with soup lunch will continue until Holy Week. These services will be streamed on both YouTube and Facebook.

Meal Packages and Personal Care Kits for Lynbrook Elementary School

Throughout this Lenten season, we will be collecting specific items for our Lynbrook Elementary School students and their families. The school’s administrative staff tells us that food insecurity remains the greatest issue facing our families. Basic sanitary items like detergent and things one would find in a personal care kit are also needed.

To help address this need, we will be preparing Meal Packages (as we did in the fall) and Personal Care Kits (which we have also done in the past). Please visit the bulletin boards in the narthex where you can see what items are needed and commit to purchasing them. Monetary gifts can also be made; in this case, St. Mark’s will use the funds to purchase needed items. Early in the season of Easter, we will work with our Sunday school families to pack the Personal Care Kits and with our Lynbrook families to pack the Meal Packages.

Stuff the Bus for ECHO

A Stuff-the-Bus event to collect food and personal hygiene donations for ECHO will be held on Saturday, March 14, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Huntsman Giant, 7501 Huntsman Blvd., Springfield.

Food Drive for ECHO

Every category of non-perishable food is needed, and every can and box helps to fight hunger in our community. Food can be brought to the church parking lot of Springfield United Methodist Church on Saturday, March 21, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM (7047 Old Keene Mill Road). 

Package Meals with Nativity Lutheran Church - Alexandria

This ministry, in partnership with Rise Against Hunger, will be held on March 21, 2026 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. For more information and to sign up to participate in packaging meals, click here.

Hypothermia Week • March 22 to March 29, 2026

St. Mark’s will once again open its doors to host the FACETS Hypothermia Emergency Shelter for seven nights, offering warmth, meals, and community to our neighbors experiencing homelessness. We are seeking volunteers and food donations to help provide hospitality throughout the week.

LEARN THE DETAILS HERE!

“Bach’s Lunch” Organ Recitals are Back!!!

Join us on the last Fridays of the month at 12:00 PM on 2/24, 3/27, 4/24, 5/29, and 6/26.

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!

2026 Flower Dedications: Click HERE for the form to dedicate flowers or one or more Sundays in 2026!

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.