Gryphon 11/04

“We at St. Mark’s are on a journey seeking God in you, ourselves and all creation”

Weekly Schedule

The Garden Is Planted!! We talk about stewardship in the
Christian life as being what we do with all that we have all the time.
We are very conscious of our money and fairly conscious of our time.
We are not so aware of our stewardship of the Earth. The care of
land and water and the plants and animals were the first responsibility
God gives us in creation.

In the scriptures God again and again calls on creation to bear
witness to us of his graciousness towards us. Indeed at times the
earth is called as witness against our misguided ways.

This "fragile earth our island home" is not ours to use up, rather it is our
great privilege and responsibility to care for it, to nurture it into becoming
all that it possibly is able to achieve. St. Mark's is blessed to have such a
wonderful environment to call home.

One of the significant ways I believe we are called to ministry, living
out our lives of Christian stewardship is in taking care of this land.
We have a walking trail that will eventually surround the properties.
St. Mary's Garden a place of beauty and quiet in the midst of a growing
community.

The labyrinth and of course our flower and vegetable garden.
The latter is going to need some major attention this summer if it is to
accomplish what we have planned. I invite you to make a commitment
to share in the privilege and responsibility we all share in being stewards
of God's earth.

Take a morning a month to come out and weed, water and harvest.
Bring friends and have a picnic. Celebrate the good gifts God has given
us here at St. Mark's.

Contact us:

St. Mark’s Website – http://www.stmarksantioch.org

The Reverend Battle Beasley via email: pathwayspartners@yahoo.com

Electronic submission to the Gryphon’s Roar: submitgryphon@aol.com or nanaljn@aol.com

THE GRYPHON

The Gryphon is the newsletter of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and as such welcomes articles and suggestions from ALL parishioners. This is your venue for expressing thoughts you would like to share, important events in your families’ lives, suggestions you might have to make our parish life better. Please do not hesitate to use it.

Lorna Noren,

Editor

Once again we have letters of Thank You regarding the Outreach that you, the Community of St. Mark’s have so generously given. Below are a few of the details. The actual letters will be posted on the bulletin board in Reynolds Hall.

Thank you for your donation of $50 given on February 28, 2005. Because of people like you, over 3,000 of the poorest of the poor will receive care this year through Room In The Inn, Respite Care and Guest House.

Thank you for your donation of $100 given on February 7, 2005. Also over 3,000 have been helped by your generosity.

Doug Anderson, Executive Director of St. Luke’s has submitted his resignation effective May 31, 2005 after serving the agency for eight years. A search committee has been appointed and will meet March 15 at 4:30 PM.

Also remember the Celebration Dinner on Monday, May 2 at the Loews Vanderbilt Plaza.

May Birthdays

May Anniversaries

Ecuador dinner

S A T U R D A Y, J U N E 4^th

You are invited to a celebration of our relationship with

Santiago Apostal, La Pila, Ecuador.

Supper will be served.

6 o’clock in the evening

Reynolds Hall

How to Recognize a Stroke

This might be a lifesaver if you can remember the following advice, sent by a nurse, whose husband is a medical doctor.

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. A stroke victim may suffer permanent brain damage when people fail to recognize what's happening. Now, doctors say any bystander can recognize a stroke, simply by asking three questions:
     •     ask the individual to smile.
     •     ask him or her to raise both arms.
     •     ask the person to speak a simple sentence.

If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 911 immediately, and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher. Researchers are urging the general public to learn to ask these three questions quickly, to someone they suspect of having a stroke. Widespread use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis and treatment of a stroke, and prevent permanent brain damage.

My name is Steven Failor and this is my first year as a vestry member. I am married to Melanie Pafford-Failor and we will celebrate our 13th anniversary this year. We started attending St. Marks in the fall of 2002. Prior to this we were both United Methodist and had heard about St. Marks through a website when we were doing research on labyrinths. Father Battle and Cary Stephenson were contacted and gave us some assistance in the building of a labyrinth at our former church. When we had completed the labyrinth we decided to visit St. Marks and the congregation made us feel so welcome that we decided to stay. It felt like a warm and comfortable home with a lot of caring family members.

I am a firefighter with the city of Brentwood with 17 years of service. Melanie and I live on a mini-farm in Antioch where we have a horse, two goats, three cats and a dog. I have three great passions: my wife (she said I had better list her first), fly-fishing, and woodworking.

I hope that I can be of service to the church and if anyone has any ideas or concerns for the vestry, I will be happy to present them to the group.

Talk about your proud Grandparents!! Here is a picture of Marcia William’s granddaughter, Cameron Williams with her team mates at the competition in Walt Disney World Wide of Sports complex. The Fury went undefeated against teams from Texas and Pennsylvania. GO CAMERON!!!!

THE GRYPHON’S ROAR

Weekly Schedule

May Birthdays

May Anniversaries