St Mark's Episcopal Church

Guest Forum & Sermon With Dr. Travis Stevens
2024-11-10 10:00 - 12:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Kennedy Room – St. Marks, 600 Colorado Ave, Palo Alto, California, 94306
Our Episcopal Chaplain to Stanford, Dr. Travis Stevens, will visit St. Mark’s November 10. Travis will preach and lead a forum as we celebrate the mutual ministry St. Mark’s supports for the Progressive Christians at Stanford, Episcopal Lutheran Campus Ministry. Travis also serves as Vocations Director for the Diocese and in that role supports Debie Thomas, who St. Mark’s is sponsoring for ordination in the Diocese of California.

Originally from Texas, Travis moved to California to attend the University of Southern California, where he studied music and French. It was at USC where he first participated in campus ministry and found other Christians interested in queer inclusion. “My church community’s radical welcome made me realize how critical the study of theology could be,” Travis says.

Travis moved to Massachusetts to attend Harvard Divinity School, where he earned an MDiv and went on to receive his doctorate in the history of Christianity, specializing in mystical theologies of suffering and love. Travis moved to the Bay Area in 2009 to be with his partner, Kerry, and worshiped at Holy Innocents in San Francisco before serving as a cantor and section leader at St Luke’s.

Travis has held teaching positions at Santa Clara University, Seton Hall University, and Pacific School of Religion. He also has experience in the diocese in guiding others discerning a call to ordained ministry; he served on the Commission on Ministry, the Board of Examining Chaplains, the board of the School for Deacons, and as a consultant on diaconal formation. Travis is thrilled to be able to accompany others in practices of spiritual discernment, both as the vocations officer and as a university chaplain.

10 a.m. Liturgy
2024-11-10 10:00 - 11:30, 2024-11-03 10:00 - 11:30, 2024-10-27 10:00 - 11:30, 2024-10-20 10:00 - 11:30, 2024-10-13 10:00 - 11:30 | Sanctuary, 600 Colorado Ave, Palo Alto, CA, 94306

8 a.m. Liturgy at Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene
2024-11-10 08:00 - 09:30, 2024-11-03 08:00 - 09:30, 2024-10-27 08:00 - 09:30, 2024-10-20 08:00 - 09:30, 2024-10-13 08:00 - 09:30 | Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene, 600 Colorado Ave, Palo Alto, CA, 94306

Centering Prayer
2024-11-08 09:00 - 10:00, 2024-11-06 08:30 - 09:30, 2024-11-01 09:00 - 10:00, 2024-10-30 08:30 - 09:30, 2024-10-25 09:00 - 10:00, 2024-10-23 08:30 - 09:30, 2024-10-18 09:00 - 10:00, 2024-10-16 08:30 - 09:30 and 1 more date | Kennedy Room – St. Marks, 600 Colorado Ave, Palo Alto, California, 94306
Gather to spend time with God in quiet communion and Centering Prayer

Choir Rehearsal
2024-11-07 19:30 - 21:00, 2024-10-31 19:30 - 21:00, 2024-10-24 19:30 - 21:00, 2024-10-17 19:30 - 21:00 | Sanctuary, 600 Colorado Ave, Palo Alto, CA, 94306

Pre-Election Vigil
2024-11-03 11:30 - 12:30 | Kennedy Room – St. Marks, 600 Colorado Ave, Palo Alto, California, 94306
Beloved, we are coming to the end of this election season with races up and down the ballot impacting our common life. Sunday, November 3, around 11:30 am, Rev. Nick will offer a vigil space for anyone to pray and share our own sense of how we go through the days following the election, come what may.
How does our faith invite us to ground ourselves in God’s grace and justice, God’s loving-kindness and shalom, as we emerge from the results and endeavor to move forward as neighbors, as family, as friends, as citizens? This is intended as a safe space for sharing and for support, not for giving or having answers or solutions.
There will be a wonderful intergenerational All Souls Altar activity that folks are encouraged to participate in as well, but for those who many need a space to breathe in the company of love, Rev. Nick invites you to join him in creating and holding that space together.

All Souls Service
2024-11-02 09:00 - 10:00 | Labyrinth Patio, 600 Colorado Avenue, Palo Alto, CA, 94306
You are invited to our observance of All Souls Day at 9:00 am on Saturday, November 2, 2024, as we gather on the labyrinth patio next to All Souls Memorial Garden for a special service to remember those family members and friends whom we have lost. This heartful tradition is an intimate service with prayer and reading of names and planting flower bulbs, with the liturgy continuing as we process into the Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene for Eucharist.

Strategic Stakeholder Conversations #2
2024-10-27 11:30 - 12:30 | CA
Sunday, October 27 will be the second of three strategic stakeholder conversations. These conversations will cover five different areas as part of a Fall Vestry Initiative.
In September, over 60 St. Markers participated in our first round of these conversations. This effort continues the Vestry’s attention on the strategic planning begun in 2022 and continuing in the Season of Transition as St. Mark’s searches for a new rector. Our hope with these conversations is to rebuild our strategic muscles post-covid with increased capacity, flexibility, and adaptability as a parish. Our intention is not to fix or solve anything. We aren’t solutions-focused in these groups. Our conversations will invite us to dwell with the core values and fundamentals of our faith and open us to the possibilities for the future as your new Rector joins the Vestry in carrying forward the strategic vision for St. Mark’s.
More information closer to the day about meeting locations and times.
Here are the five Strategic Stakeholder Groups and their foundational questions:
Care and Connection: What comes to mind as you reflect on the importance of care and connection at St. Mark’s? What could it look like for the church to take an appreciative approach to its ministry, focused on the particular lives of our members and potential members (instead of a model where the church exists to fill roles and structures that may have been designed around a different approach in a previous era)? Facilitator: Randy Smith | Scribe: Marina Martin
Christian Formation: What kinds of things might a Christian/baptized member of St. Mark’s know/practice connected in their faith? How do we creatively and joyfully form them, at any age, into these things? Facilitator: Kathy Gilliam | Scribe: Crystal Larsen
Serving Christ in Others: What are the kinds of things the Christians disciples are called to beyond Sunday morning, what of those things are part of our calling, and what partnerships might augment our communal impact in those kinds of things for all ages? Facilitator: Jonake Bose | Scribe: Martha Chan
Worship: How is our worship inclusive of the voices and gifts of our members? How do we redevelop the structures of liturgical ministries to be partners of the clergy in the care of worship? Facilitator: Cheryl Miller | Scribe: Stuart Sailer
Funding our Mission: With all of the possibilities above and more, how do we resource St. Mark’s ministry on a 3, 5, and 10 year horizon? What other considerations/permutations do each of our stakeholders contribute to this planning? Facilitator: Jonathan Luk | Scribe: Tom Jenkins

Oct. 20 Stewardship Brunch & Pledge Campaign Launch
2024-10-20 11:30 - 12:30 | Parish Hall, 600 Colorado Ave, Palo Alto, CA, 94306, United States
You are invited, Sunday October 20, to the annual brunch and launch of our 2025 Pledge Campaign. St. Mark’s largest financial support comes from each of you through a financial pledge commitment in addition to your time and talents for ministry.
Sunday, October 20, we’ll hear from our own Marina Martin, this year’s stewardship preacher, as we launch our 2025 Pledge Campaign: Grace in Action. Following church, we’ll have an opportunity to review the projected budget for 2025 and join together for a brunch sponsored by the Stewardship Commission.
Look for a mailing around October 15 with more information to share and prepare you for this year’s campaign. We rely on and are thankful for your generous support of St. Mark’s, especially as we continue in this Season of Transition.

St. Marks Book Club
2024-10-15 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
Email Kathy Gillam, kgillamk@stanford.edu, for more information and to be added to the group email.

Annual Parish Retreat
2024-10-11 - 2024-10-13 | CA
The Parish Retreat at beautiful Bishop’s Ranch in Healdsburg is a weekend of fun, fellowship, and spiritual nourishment. There will be social gatherings, music, story sharing, fulsome and creative worship, free time, activities for children, great food, walks and surprises…
