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Celebrations - week of September 20
Birthdays 9/20 Cary Grower 9/21 Sherry Ramsey 9/23 Roan Cassidy 9/23 Larry Moncur 9/25 Kate Firestone 9/25 Anya Mackey 9/25 Greg Lowe 9/26 Laura McVicar 9/26 Jim Pugh 9/27 Shaun Cassidy Anniversaries 9/25 Cailen and Sean Conroy 9/26 Samantha and Robert Stalling Morning and Evening Prayer this Sunday
10:30 am and 5 pm Online If you haven't already, please download the Meeting Client from zoom.us - or the Zoom mobile app for smartphone or tablet (including Chromebook). SUNDAY, 10:30 am, MORNING PRAYER Welcome to a brief service of Morning Prayer with a reflection on the gospel reading for the day from St. Mark’s-in-the-Valley in Los Olivos, California Join Zoom Meeting – click this link: http://smitv.info/Sunday-1030 OR manually enter meeting ID and password into Zoom Meeting Client Meeting ID: 845 7856 1732 Passcode: 204530 OR One tap mobile on your phone +16699006833,,84578561732#,,,,,,0#,,204530# OR Dial your phone and manually enter meeting ID and password +1 669 900 6833 +1 253 215 8782 Meeting ID: 845 7856 1732 Passcode: 204530 OR go to Facebook Live (no need to join the Zoom meeting) https://www.facebook.com/stmarksinthevalley/ OR wait for the recording to be posted to our page or website.You will find a button on the homepage of the website that will take you directly to the Online Services page. SUNDAY, 5 pm, EVENING PRAYER Welcome to a brief service of Evening Prayer with a conversation about the gospel reading for the day from St. Mark’s-in-the-Valley in Los Olivos, California Join Zoom Meeting – click this link: http://smitv.info/Sunday-5pm OR manually enter meeting ID and password into Zoom Meeting Client Meeting ID: 861 9648 8023 Passcode: 511652 OR One tap mobile on your phone +16699006833,,86196488023#,,,,,,0#,,511652# OR Dial your phone and manually enter meeting ID and password +1 669 900 6833 Meeting ID: 861 9648 8023 Passcode: 511652 St. Mark's-in-the-Valley is offering a very brief outdoor in-person service at 11:30 am Sunday
Starting Sunday, September 20 at 11:30 am, you are invited to gather in-person for a brief service of morning prayer in St. Mark's Courtyard in Los Olivos. In offering this service, St. Mark's leadership is not able to say that you should come. The nature of COVID is still largely unknown and it may not be safe or healthy for you to come to an in-person service. If you choose to come, please follow these guidelines: 1. If you have any symptoms of illness or a temperature, please do not come. 2. Please wear a face covering the entire time you are on campus. 3. Please practice social distancing the entire time you are on campus. Please practice social distancing in parking areas and while arriving on or departing from the campus. 4. Please use hand sanitizer upon arriving on campus. 5. Please practice social distancing in relation to clergy, musicians, and other leaders of the parish. Please note: clergy and the parish leadership will not be serving as monitors of the above guidelines. As the guidelines are clear and typical of similar guidelines in other settings, those who are participating are responsible for their own behavior. Our ability to continue in-person services or expand the types of services offered, will be dependent on how our community offers mutually thoughtful and responsible care of one another. Also, if the pandemic worsens significantly, it is most likely in-person services will again be suspended. Bishop Taylor offers online service on Sunday, September 20
Those who wish are invited to join in a service offered by the Bishop of Los Angeles, The Rt. Rev. John H. Taylor that will be streamed on his Facebook at 10 am, Sunday, September 20. https://www.facebook.com/john.h.taylor.9 
2020 Commitment Season continues
Year-by-year St. Mark’s is expanding our work as a committed faith community serving the world. This year is no exception and our range of programs continues to grow. Summertime gives us time to catch our breath and reflect a bit, as well as to follow up on some important work — like making our commitment for 2020. By far the largest part of our income is annual giving by all of us. As you expect, at St. Mark’s, you define your commitment in ways that make sense to you and you can be sure that all expressions of commitment count. Our commitment makes St. Mark’s what it is and builds it into what we hope it will be. The money and priceless time and expertise you and other members of our faith community give all year, every year allow St. Mark’s to be strong and to grow. Thanks be to God for your Commitment* Asterisk indicates Sustaining Commitment
Click the file below to learn more about our Community Kitchen project
Learn more…
…about our Santa Barbara County Food Action Plan and how ourCommunity Kitchen can help address the priority goals of the Plan — and help our neighbors be healthier and more food secure. Participate in any of St. Mark’s Ministries
At. St. Mark’s, anyone is welcome to participate in anything. Everything we do is a ministry of imperfection. We aim for perfect, but get whatever we get (sometimes VERY good!), and thank God that everything we do is handmade and a work of love. CLICK TO READ MORE: Ministries |
Wednesday, September 30
Children and youth will make scarecrows Get ready to celebrate fall in Los Olivos with Scarecrow Fest! Even though we can’t be can’t be together at St. Mark’s in person we can make scarecrows to show our spirit in the community. Tasha Morphy and Reverend Courtney Tan will be leading the youth and providing the supplies. Please bring anything you want to use to create your scarecrow. Wednesday, September 30 at St. Mark’s in the courtyard Pre K through 4th grade 1-2:30 5th through 12th grade 2:45-4 Please email Tasha to RSVP, with any questions, or if you would like to volunteer. tasha@smitv.org Contact Rev. Courtney...
3-Week Program in September will reflect on Isolation and Lonliness "To Make Ourselves at Home" The Order of the Ascension, a dispersed Benedictine community of the Episcopal Church, is offering a free three-week program reflecting upon the spiritual dynamics of “making ourselves at home in all circumstances” including times of isolation and loneliness, division and polarization, illness and death. This is a particularly relevant subject in our current COVID-19 circumstances, as we adjust to spending less time gathering in-person and adapt to distanced relationships and a more home-centered daily life. If you would appreciate some reflection and discussion around how we, as Christians, respond positively and consciously, making ourselves at home in all circumstances, this could be for you! The program will be held via Zoom at 10:00 a.m. PST, on Thursdays, September 10, 17, and 24, 2020. The format includes advanced reading (2 or 3 pages, only), that will be sent out several days prior to each session, so that participants are able to consider and reflect upon the issues and questions offered for consideration. (Readings will include passages by Evelyn Underhill, Lowell Grisham, Thomas Merton, and others.) Each session will include
The deadline for the parish coordinator (Rev. Courtney) to submit the names and e-mail addresses of interested participants is September 5, 2020. To register, or for more information, please contact Reverend Courtney at CourtneyAnnUrquhart@gmail.com or 408-431-6810. 
This may be the perfect time to being something new...
Education for Ministry (EfM) at St. Mark's Starts Seventh Year in September Every baptized person is called to a unique service of ministry: “the ministry of all believers.” The EfM program offers us a chance to discover how we each can care for or “steward” our gifts for service. An in-depth theological education program designed for lay people, EfM supports the faith of the participants and teaches them to express that faith in day-to-day events and activities. While participants commit to only one year at a time, the Education for Ministry program is a four-year study and group reflection process. It offers development of knowledge, attitudes, skills, and identity as Christians. Published texts and essays provide the primary knowledge content in the study of the Christian tradition. Participants frequently report finding the program transformative as an opportunity to connect deeply in community with others. Breaks are taken during each year – during the summer and the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday season. A group is six to twelve participants and a trained mentor who meet weekly. Of 52 weeks each year, EfM meets approximately 36 weeks (the length of a typical academic year). These meetings are usually from two and a half to three hours in length. The first year studies the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). The second year offers a study of the New Testament. Year three is study of Christian (Church) history. Theology, ethics, and interfaith-encounter constitute study in the fourth year. Through study, prayer, and reflection, members of EfM groups move toward a new understanding of the fullness of God’s creation and grace. Through discussion and guided reflection, the seminars provide an opportunity to deepen understanding of the reading materials, including Old Testament, New Testament, church history, and principles and ethics of the church, using scripture and texts by theological scholars. A stronger community of faith, a more intimate personal faith, and the outlines of a personal theology emerge. EfM starts at St. Mark’s in September. Registration forms are now available. Jeannie May is commissioned to serve as Mentor of our group and will provide registration materials and discuss questions with anyone interested in the program. The Diocese of Los Angeles underwrites $100 of the $475 program fee for the nine-month program (includes all books and materials). St. Mark’s participants are asked to pay as much of the remaining $375 as they are able, and may do so in increments of their own choosing. No one will be kept from the program due to finances; please simply inform the Mentor or our Business Manager (Leslie Zuller, leslie@smitv.org) the amount you feel you can pay and the Rector’s Discretionary Fund will underwrite the remaining amount. To get more information about EfM, contact Jeannie May by email at jeannie@the100acrewood.com or 805-689-4050. 
From the Rector -
Welcome The Rev. Courtney Tan serving as Deacon at St. Mark's-in-the-Valley The Rev. Courtney Ann Urquhart Tan is serving as Deacon at St. Mark’s-in-the-Valley through January, 2021. Rev. Courtney was ordained to the diaconate on June 13 by the Bishop of Los Angeles, The Rt. Rev. John Harvey Taylor. God willing and the people consenting, she will be ordained to the priesthood in January. She is sponsored for ordination by St. Mary’s in Lompoc. We are fortunate to be able to welcome Courtney in this challenging season of COVID accompanied by the current financial crisis, both of which have disrupted lives and organizations globally. That disruption includes the normal processes of vocational transition in the church. Clergy positions that would have normally been available are generally on hold. We benefit, in this case, as Rev. Courtney wishes to serve her months as a transitional deacon beyond her home parish, having entered this new season of ministry and in a new role as an ordained minister. After discussion at their meeting on Sunday, June 28, the Vestry voted to welcome Courtney and to offer a small stipend in gratitude for her work at St. Mark’s. The stipend being offered, equivalent to a Sunday substitute priest honorarium, does not approach full compensation of a clergyperson for work throughout the week. We can hope, pray, and act so the experience of working among us at St. Mark’s will be some compensation in this difficult and uncertain time. You can be further encouraged that Rev. Courtney was awarded for her preaching while in seminary, so you will not be limited to the steady diet of tiresome preaching of your Rector, but have a fresh and appealing alternative (at least for a few months)! A word on titles: As you know, I prefer being called by my baptismal name and that is also an option for addressing Courtney. If you are going to use a title (for either of us), please use “Reverend,” which is steadily becoming the norm within Episcopal Churches in which the clergy are male and female and a parity of titles, when used, is important. As Rev. Courtney assisted with the final distributions of our emergency food program, a few members of the parish and community have met her. The Rev. Courtney Tan Rev. Courtney Tan was ordained to the Diaconate in June of this year. She is a recent graduate of Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) where she was awarded the 2020 Rev. Richard Millard prize for Excellence in Preaching. She holds a Master of Divinity degree (from CDSP), a Bachelor’s in Cultural Anthropology, and certifications in Disaster Preparedness Chaplaincy and Godly Play. Born and raised as an active member of the Church of England, Courtney joined the Episcopal Church in 1994 after moving to the San Francisco Bay Area. She has served in many ministries including the Altar Guild, Sunday School leader, lector, Eucharistic Minister and Visitor, and gardener. Prior to moving to Lompoc, she worked as Parish Administrator and served on the board of “Our Daily Bread” at St. Thomas’ in Sunnyvale for several years. For the past two years she has served at Holy Innocent’s in San Francisco and with their affiliate, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, focusing particularly on church leadership, cross-cultural ministry, and intergenerational ministry. Courtney has four very independent adult children (2 boys, 2 girls), three of whom reside in California and one in Scotland. For recreation she enjoys gardening, reading, Pilates, sewing, and home maintenance tasks. She is very much looking forward to contributing to and being part of the life, ministries, and community of St. Mark’s-in-the-Valley. Monday Meals on Wheels
Volunteer Opportunity welcomes you Do you have a free hour once a month to help serve our wider community? Every Monday throughout the year (52 Mondays including Monday holidays) St. Mark’s has a team of volunteers that deliver hot lunches to our area homebound. Our team delivers Route 1 which covers the Solvang area. The route takes about an hour and meals are picked up at around 11 am from Atterdag Village. We are in need of new volunteer drivers. A volunteer typically does the route once a month or every other month. Please contact Billy Hurbaugh (text or call 805-245-4099) for more information or to sign up. 
FOOD FOR THE SYV program wraps up, SYV Community Kitchen renovation begins this week, new programs this Fall
Tuesday, June 30 was our last, full, regular distribution day for the FOOD FOR THE SYV food program, for the time being. This emergency feeding program arose from some good relationships and has grown and been sustained by those relationships and many newones. And it is always love, caring and compassion that gets the work done (through a lot of physical labor, time, expertise, innovation, and consistent “showing up”). We started this journey in March and for most of the time through now we distributed (delivery and onsite pick up) around 900 quarts of soup, stew, chili, or other entrées each week (and “extras” – bread, vegetables, fruit) to around 700 people each week (approximately 350 people per distribution day). Next week, the SYV COMMUNITY KITCHEN at St. Mark’s will begin a long-planned and now overdue renovation that will enable the kitchen to do a far better job of offering a range of new programming in the Santa Ynez Valley region to address food insecurity among our neighbors. New programming – much of it to serve what will, no-doubt, be continued COVID and related economic downturn impacts – will begin in September. The 8-week renovation job will allow the kitchen to be permitted by the County. It can then serve as a recovery kitchen, production kitchen, training facility, and as a support for micro-economic development for individuals and families. All of the work in the renovated and permitted SYV COMMUNITY KITCHEN will be collaborative and will have the goal of bringing people and groups together from the whole area, as well as accomplishing the specific goals of each program. St. Mark’s members and community partners are are welcome to help design and form those programs and suggest additional uses of this community kitchen space. From the beginning, the SYV COMMUNITY KITCHEN has been conceived as a hub for collaboration and the work done will continue to be done in partnership with our friends like the Buellton Senior Center, Veggie Rescue, Food Bank, Allan Hancock College, caring businesses like The Baker’s Table, and Bob’s Well Bread, God’s Country Provisions, Belle’s, Los Olivos Café, Finley Farms and others. Upwards of 60 volunteers have worked in this FOOD FOR THE SYV program, some “seen” among the delivery and pickup teams on Tuesdays and Saturdays and some very much behind the scenes, prepping, cooking, portioning, packaging, and organizing. Please watch for more information about our next steps. | ||
Contact Jeannie May or use online form
Prayer List and Prayer Chain available
The prayer chain and the prayer list are available to you.
CLICK TO READ MORE: Prayer List & Prayer Group Available
For prayer requests, you can also use the online Prayer Request (also find a hotlink on our home page at smitv.org .)
Prayer List and Prayer Chain available
The prayer chain and the prayer list are available to you.
CLICK TO READ MORE: Prayer List & Prayer Group Available
For prayer requests, you can also use the online Prayer Request (also find a hotlink on our home page at smitv.org .)
Do you have St. Mark's app?
Search the App Store from your device. Have all the information you need at your fingertips!
Search the App Store from your device. Have all the information you need at your fingertips!
“Glean” from stores for hungry neighbors
Do you have 40 minutes or so one morning a week to provide a regular delivery of food for hungry neighbors?
CLICK FOR MORE INFORMATION: Glean from stores
Do you have 40 minutes or so one morning a week to provide a regular delivery of food for hungry neighbors?
CLICK FOR MORE INFORMATION: Glean from stores
Adding St. Mark's to your estate planning
Planned giving is enormously important to the long-term life of St. Mark's-in-the-Valley.
CLICK FOR MORE INFORMATION: Estate Planning
Planned giving is enormously important to the long-term life of St. Mark's-in-the-Valley.
CLICK FOR MORE INFORMATION: Estate Planning
Clergy and staff email addresses
CLICK FOR ALL CLERGY AND STAFF EMAIL ADDRESSES: Clergy & Staff Email Addresses
CLICK FOR ALL CLERGY AND STAFF EMAIL ADDRESSES: Clergy & Staff Email Addresses
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Address & Directions
2901 Nojoqui Avenue at Alamo Pintado Avenue Post Office Box 39 Los Olivos, California 93441 |
