On Friday, May 2nd., Pastors Alan and Phylis Wolkenhauer along with Marielle Barberis, Christine Barberis and Carl & Maryanne Kehlenbach attended the 21st Annual Florida-Bahamas Synod Assembly in Daytona, Fl. The theme of this year's assembly was "God's Work - Our Hands" which is reflected in our home page this month.

This year marked the first year that youth were accepted at the Assembly as voting members. There were a total of 18 youth delegates from various congregations at this year's assembly. St. Mark was proud to have Christine Barberis as our very first voting youth delegate.

If you would like to read more about this year's assembly you can visit the Florida-Bahamas Synod Assembly web page. Here you will find the agenda, resolutions, daily blogs, daily newsletters as well as photos and other materials from the conference.

On Sunday, May 12th St. Mark celebrated Pentecost Sunday as well as Mother's Day. The Sanctuary was festively decorated with many red banners symbolizing the tongues of fire on pentecost day as well as the main cross behind the altar being draped in a bright red cloth.

Our Worship service began with the Bell Choir, made up of mothers and their children, playing a beautiful song on the bells. The Worship procession started with a great wind sound followed by some of our congregational youth waving red banners as the processed down the aisle (symbolizing the flames of Pentecost Day).

Pastor Alan then read from the Book of Acts (2: 1-4) in English. Then members of our congregation read the same passage in German, Norwegian, Italian, Finnish and Spanish. During our youth sermon, members of our youth group passed out red carnations to all the ladies attending the service.

The day also featured a Mothers Day breakfast and bake sale sponsored by our youth groups. A wonderful time was had by all. Pictures and sounds from Pentecost & Mothers Day.

Three young members of St. Mark will affirm their baptismal faith through the rite of Confirmation on Sunday, June 1 at the 10:00 service. Austin Reed, Rebecca Anderson, and Dylan Husserl will also share statements of their faith during the service. All members are encouraged to attend to celebrate and pray with our confirmands. A reception will follow.

Although these students have completed a three year course of study, Confirmation does not mark the end of their learning. We pray for ongoing growth in wisdom, understanding, love and service as Dylan, Rebecca and Austin commit themselves to a fuller participation in the mission of our Lord.

St. Mark has been blessed with a talented and committed group of high school and middle school girls who enhance our worship life with their beautiful voices through our Girls Choir. (Many of them also play bells, sing in the Youth Choir and Senior Choir and offer special music in worship.)

This July, the girls (along with Cheryl Burton and Angela Lynch) have an opportunity to attend St. Olaf College’s Choir Connection, in conjunction with the Conference on Worship, Theology and the Arts. They will sing under the direction of world-known teen choir directors and be able to join voices with Lutheran teens from across the country. We thank the girls, their chaperones and their families for making thefinancial and time commitment to attend this event for the benefit of St. Mark’s worship.

To help support their trip, the Girls Choir is performing in concert at St. Mark on Sunday June 8 at 5:30 p.m. The concert will be followed by a delicious spaghetti dinner served by the girls and their families. Tickets for the concert and dinner will go on sale May 11 for a donation of $10. Additional donations are appreciated.

We look forward to our new St. Mark Congregational Picture Directory, expected to arrive in June. Thanks to all who worked so hard to create this church family photo album for our church.

Our Father’s Day Scholarship Auction raises funds to provide modest scholarships as gifts of love to St. Mark’s college-bound high school graduates. To make the auction a success, we need donations of good quality items and services that would appeal to a broad range of St. Mark’s members. In the past, we’ve auctioned off unique baked goods, personal and professional services, gift baskets, use of vacation property, gift certificates and tickets, as well as many other treasures from our members.

If you’d like to donate, talk to Maryanne Kehlenbach or email her at youthmayanne@tampabay.rr.com. Then join us June 15 for a great morning brunch and a fun auction.

For over a year, St. Mark has been exploring and developing plans for a Memorial Wall and Garden as a focus for meditation, prayer and remembrance of those who have died. Beautiful architectural plans have been donated and several other generous gifts have been given to help us proceed with this project. We do, however, need to sell fifty Memorial Plaques in order to make our Memorial Wall and Garden a reality. We are committed to using no funds from the congregation’s operating budget, so these purchases are essential to provide the necessary capital for construction. The deadline has been extended to June 1, 2008 and we are now allowing pre-orders so that members can purchase a plaque at today’s price for future use and, in so doing, help with initial construction costs. If our goal has not been reached by June 1, the project will be suspended indefinitely and money received will be refunded. Please prayerfully consider your participation as we deepen our worship life at St. Mark through this Memorial Wall.

Join the family of St. Mark for an evening of minor league baseball, all you care to eat ballpark food and a fantastic fireworks display. Last year we had nearly 60 people in our group and we’re looking forward to another great turnout!

The game is Saturday, May 10 at 6:30 p.m., but you may arrive early to start eating and socializing.

Your menu options, included in the $14 price of your ticket, are hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot

dogs, peanuts, chips, popcorn, ice cream sandwiches, soft drinks, water and 16 oz. draft beer for $2.

The Threshers usually offer some fun and festivities in addition to the baseball and fireworks and our St. Mark group has been known to have a few games and prizes as well. If you’ve never been to Bright House Field, you’ll be impressed by the design, friendliness and cleanliness of the park. This is minor league baseball at its best — you don’t even need to like baseball to have a great time!

Sign up for this fun fellowship activity in the Narthex or by calling the church office no later than May 6 at noon. (Friends are always welcome at St. Mark activities.)

During the summer months, when winter residents have headed north and families are on vacation, St. Mark combines our Sunday worship with a single service at 10:00 a.m. This year’s summer schedule will begin Memorial Day weekend, May 25 and continue through Labor Day weekend, August 31. The single service gives us an opportunity to fill the church and to see those members and friends who normally attend a different service.

At St. Mark, we have been blessed to faithfully respond to Christ’s command to love others as he has first loved us.

Through our special Noisy Offering, a vision of Katie and Caitlyn, we gave over $277 to Raising Hope, a Dunedin-based organization dedicated to providing personal essentials, dignity and care to children placed in emergency foster homes.

On April 27, 33 participants from St. Mark took part in our own RCS Can Walk to provide, so far, $357 and 84 canned goods for neighbors who need help with groceries. (Donations are still welcome.) Click here to see pictures from the walk...

Our next Blood Drive is Sunday, June 1. The blood mobile will be here from 8:30—11:30 for those who are able to donate the gift of life to those who struggle with illness or injury.

Thank you, members of St. Mark, for all the ways you share Jesus’ love in our community and beyond.

Come and celebrate mothers and other caring relationships at our annual St. Mark Mother's Day Breakfast at 10 am in the Social Hall on May 11th. At that time we will also have a Silent Auction Bake Sale where you will have the chance to bid on fresh baked scrumptious delights. All proceeds will be used toward transportation for our youth attending camp this summer. If you’d like to donate baked goods, email Maryanne at youthmaryanne@tampabay.rr.com or call her at the church.

The day of Pentecost is observed 50 days after Easter each year and celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit, who calls us to faith, enlightens us with the Gospel and inspires our faithful living as people of God.

The Pentecost story in Acts 2 is rich in imagery — rushing wind, tongues of fire, and languages of every nation proclaiming the salvation of our God. With those images in mind, St. Mark’s new Creative Ministry Team is preparing a Pentecost worship experience to enrich our understanding of this day and to deepen our own lives of faith through the Holy Spirit. Worshipers are encouraged to wear red — the color of Pentecost, on Sunday, May 11, to enhance our worship experience.

This year, Pentecost falls on Mothers Day, which gives us a special opportunity to think about the ways God’s Spirit works in our families and other caring relationships. Red carnations will be given to all women in attendance and special gifts will be distributed at our Mothers Day breakfast

Save the date for another exciting Vacation Bible School adventure at St. Mark. This year’s theme is Jesus Was There. We’ll explore New Testament stories of our Lord’s life and visit some modern day examples of the kinds of places Jesus lived and worked. Daily field trips were a highlight of last year’s VBS and we’re looking forward to the fun and learning that we’ll share. Registration materials will be mailed in May. Friends and relatives are always welcome.

We’ll also need helpers — adults, high school and middle school volunteers make VBS a safe and caring experience for our children.

Save the week of August 5-8. Bible School is held from 9:00 a.m. —3:00 p.m., with before and after care available.

Our children and youth have some exciting opportunities for fun, learning and service in the month of May. Be sure to mark your calendars for the following:

Saturday, May 10 our middle and high school youth will be assisting our local food pantry — FEAST for the annual Letter Carriers “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive. We’ll meet at the church at 11 a.m., set up the Social Hall for Mother’s Day breakfast, grab some lunch and then head over to Curlew Methodist Church on Cathedral Drive in Palm Harbor to begin our work. As the food arrives from Post Office locations, we will assist in unloading trucks, sorting and boxing donated items and loading pallets for storage. This activity is also open to all families of elementary age youth. Please contact Ms. Maryanne if you have any questions.

Sunday, May 11 our youth will be hosting our annual Mother’s Day Breakfast and Silent Auction Bake Sale. On the menu for this special day are breakfast burritos and fresh fruit along with a choice of hot and cold breakfast beverages. In addition, our Silent Auction Bake Sale will kick off at the start of the breakfast. A few of our home-baked items available for auction will close out earlier so that you can enjoy your purchase immediately. All money raised through donations will be used to assist our youth with transportation costs to Camp Lutherock which is located in North Carolina. This year we have 20 campers registered accompanied by 6 adult chaperones.

Friday, May 16 – Sunday, May 18 our high school youth will be attending the Florida-Bahamas Synod E2 Retreat held at Word of Life Retreat Center in Hudson, FL. The theme for this retreat is taken from Ephesians 2:8 — “For by grace you have been saved through faith ...” Please keep our youth in your prayers as they identify areas in which they excel in serving God.

Saturday, May 24 at 10 a.m. our elementary youth will meet to discuss what it means to be witnesses for Jesus and the many ways we can be Jesus’ witnesses. We will also play games and celebrate May birthdays.

Reminder for Lutherock campers — final payment, health forms and release/waiver forms are due this month. To obtain the required forms, please visit the St. Mark website at http://www.stmarkdunedin.com and click on Camp Lutherock. All required forms are identified and can be downloaded for printing. Completed forms are to be sent to the church.

Dom De Petrillo, Executive Director of the Alzheimer Family Organization, spoke at the WELCA general meeting on April 1. Dom provided the group with key insights into the world of the Alzheimer patient. His in-depth knowledge of both the physical and psychological aspects of the illness provided a new awareness of the nature of this disease.

Cathy Conway will be joining us for our meeting on Tuesday, May 6 at 9:30 a.m. Cathy is a Tai Chi instructor at the Palm Harbor Activities Center and she will be sharing the physical and mental benefits of practicing Tai Chi. In addition she, along with some of her students (our WELCA members) will be demonstrating some basic moves.

Members of WELCA invite all women to a Bible Study on Thursday, May 8 at 10 a.m. in the Conference Room. This month our study is Blessings in the Midst of Suffering.

Christian Service will meet on Tuesday, May 27 at 9 a.m. in the Social Hall.