Choir Rehearsal
2025-09-25 19:30 - 21:00, 2025-10-02 19:30 - 21:00, 2025-10-09 19:30 - 21:00, 2025-10-16 19:30 - 21:00, 2025-10-23 19:30 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Sanctuary, 600 Colorado Ave, Palo Alto, CA, 94306

Centering Prayer
2025-09-26 09:00 - 10:00, 2025-10-01 08:30 - 09:30, 2025-10-03 09:00 - 10:00, 2025-10-08 08:30 - 09:30, 2025-10-10 09:00 - 10:00, 2025-10-15 08:30 - 09:30, 2025-10-17 09:00 - 10:00, 2025-10-22 08:30 - 09:30 | Kennedy Room – St. Marks, 600 Colorado Ave, Palo Alto, California, 94306
Gather to spend time with God in quiet communion and Centering Prayer

8 a.m. Liturgy in Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene
2025-09-28 08:00 - 09:30, 2025-10-05 08:00 - 09:30, 2025-10-12 08:00 - 09:30, 2025-10-19 08:00 - 09:30 | Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene, 600 Colorado Ave, Palo Alto, CA, 94306
Join us for a spoken 8:00 a.m. service from the Book of Common Prayer held in the Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene.

10 a.m. Liturgy
2025-09-28 10:00 - 11:30, 2025-10-05 10:00 - 11:30, 2025-10-12 10:00 - 11:30, 2025-10-19 10:00 - 11:30 | Sanctuary, 600 Colorado Ave, Palo Alto, CA, 94306

St. Francis & St. Clare Blessing of the Animals
2025-09-28 10:00 - 12:30
To celebrate the feasts of St. Francis and St. Clare, we will have a festive outdoor service on the labyrinth patio to bless our animal companions. Pets of all species are welcome to attend and be blessed! If your pet is not able to join us in person, you can bring an image or an object to be blessed in their stead.

After the service, there will be a special petting zoo in the parking lot! We have been asked to ensure that dogs (and other pets) stay on the labyrinth patio so they do not stress or disturb the petting zoo animals. But all human St. Marker’s are welcome to enjoy it!

Good Reads October Book Club
2025-10-02 16:00 - 17:00, 2025-10-16 16:00 - 17:00
In October, the Good Reads Book Group will be reading and discussing Peace Like A River by Lief Enger
The group meets bi-monthly via Zoom on Thursdays at 4:00 p.m. Contact Marie Highby at mhighby@gmail.com for the Zoom link!
About this month’s book selection, via Kirkus Reviews:
Handsomely written, rich with the feel and flavor of the plains—and suited mainly for those whose yearnings are in the down-home, just-folks style of the godly. Minnesotan Enger pulls out the stops in this readable albeit religiously correct debut about a family with a father who may be touched by God and a son by the Devil.
Jeremiah Land’s wife left him years ago, and now, in a midwestern town called Roofing, in 1962 or so, he’s janitor at the local school and sole parent of chronically asthmatic Reuben, 11 and the tale’s teller; his precocious sister Swede, only 9 and already an accomplished poet of western outlaw-romances; and Davy, who at 17 becomes a killer—though possibly a just one. Two town boys from the wrong side of the tracks have a grudge against custodian Jeremiah (he caught them in the girls’ locker room) and, after vowing revenge (and briefly kidnapping Swede), they appear one night in the upstairs of the Land house, whereupon Davy (did he lure them there?) bravely and determinedly shoots them dead.
There’s a trial, a conviction—and then a jailbreak as Davy escapes, not to be seen for some months. Miraculous? Well, Reuben has seen his father walk on air (“Make of it what you will,” he advises the reader), and now there’s a miraculous meal (a pot of soup is bottomless), the miracle of the family’s being left an Airstream trailer—even the miracle of Jeremiah being fired, leaving the family free to take to the road after Davy. The direction they go (toward the Badlands), how they avoid the police, what people they meet (including a future wife for Jeremiah), how they find handsome Davy—all depend on what may or may not constitute miracle, subtle or wondrous, including the suspenseful events leading to a last gunfight and the biggest miracle of all (preceded by a glimpse of heaven), all followed by certain rearrangements among the lives of mortals.

Rev. Kirsten Welcome & Brunch
2025-10-05 08:00 - 12:30
Welcome our new rector, Rev. Kirsten Spalding! Rev. Kirsten will preach at both the 8:00 and 10:00 services. A potluck brunch will follow the 10:00 a.m. service.
Pouluck Info:
Reverend Kirsten’s first Sunday with St. Marks will be on October 5. Immediately following the 10 am service, we will come together in the Parish Hall for a Welcome Potluck Brunch. Bring something to share if you can. Before the 10 am service, you can bring your hot or cold dish to the kitchen to be kept warm or cool for brunch. General assignments are by the initial of your last name (but if your specialty is something else, go for it – and if you can’t bring anything, come anyway!) Please bring enough for 10-12 people, and mark your dish and serving utensil with your name.

A – G: Main, Protein or Meat Dishes (Ham, frittata, quiche, salmon, roasted chicken, deviled eggs, other covered hot-dish)
H – P: Veggie salads or Sides (Green salads, roasted veggies such as asparagus, zucchini, or mushroom and onion, baked beans, chickpea salad, potato or other grain or pasta salad, coleslaw)
Q – Z: Fruit or Bread (Fresh fruit or fruit salad, jello salad, fresh bread, rolls, cornbread, banana bread or bread pudding
We need people to please sign up to help with set-up and clean up. Sign up online here, or we will have sign up sheets at church on the next two Sundays. We appreciate everyone’s help in putting together a special welcoming event for our new Rector.
– St. Marks Rector Transition Committee

2025 Parish Retreat
2025-10-10 - 2025-10-12
Our Annual Parish Retreat at Bishop’s Ranch will be Friday, October 10 to Sunday, October 12.

Our theme is “Tell Out My Soul.” We expect this to be a popular retreat this year as our new rector, Rev. Kirsten Spalding, will be attending!

Register here.

No Kings Rally - Demonstrate our Values
2025-10-18 11:30 - 16:00
No Kings demonstrations to protest the policies of the current Federal government will be held on Saturday, October 18.
The Becoming Beloved Community Task Force encourages St. Mark’s to participate and demonstrate our Christian values, as we did for the first of these events in June.
Rally – 11:30-1:30 March from Town and Country to Rinconada Park (event link)
Democracy Fair – 1:00-4:00 at Rinconada Park (event link)
Be in touch with Kathy Gillam (kgillamk@stanford.edu) or Diane Guinta (diane.guinta@gmail.com) with questions or concerns.
You can find signs designed by the Episcopal Church here.
Other opportunities to join hands and live our faith on October 18 include:
Praying for an hour
Episcopal Litany for Social Justice
Prayers for Reconciliation and Justice from All Saints Portsmouth
Prayers for Refugees from Episcopal Migration Ministries

Donating to any local food bank
Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley
Ecumenical Hunger Program
South Palo Alto Food Closet
You can also bring non-perishable food donations to St. Mark’s for the downtown Food Closet [info here] or donate to support the St. Mark’s CROP Walk [info here]

Harpsichord Forum
2025-10-19 11:30 - 12:30
Join Jonathan Dimmock, a renowned Bay Area harpsichordist, to learn about our new harpsichord and hear him perform some representative new music.

St. Mark's October Book Club
2025-10-21 14:00 - 15:00
For its October gathering the St. Mark’s Book Group is reading The Briar Club by Kate Quinn. We’ll meet at 2:00 on October 21 in the Kennedy Room. Susan Pines will lead the discussion. Questions? Contact Kathy Gillam at kgillamk@stanford.edu. All are welcome!

St. Marks Book Club
2025-10-21 14:00 - 16:00 | Kennedy Room – St. Marks, 600 Colorado Ave, Palo Alto, California, 94306
The St. Mark’s Book Club is a group of dedicated readers who gather to discuss great books! We meet every 3rd Tuesday of each month at 2 p.m.
This month, we are reading The Personal Librarian. Read the book’s blurb and order a copy here!
Email Kathy Gillam, kgillamk@stanford.edu, for more information and to be added to the group email.
