Carol Cook was the interim Rector at St. Mark’s.
In 1995, Pentecost was on June 4. On Pentecost Sunday the 8:00 and 10:00 a.m. coffee hours celebrated with an inter-generational potluck.
Linda Hudson and John Fewell wrote an article about stewardship. They mentioned an upcoming celebration in July, and offered to show off the Parish Wish Book to anyone who asked.
A Parish work day was planned for Saturday, June 17. A free lunch was served.
The Parish was in the process of calling a new Rector. As of May 7, the Search committee was halfway
through the face-to-face interviews with the candidates. The Committee expected to present the finalists to the Vestry during the regular meeting on June 6. (The new minister eventually called was our current Rector, Matt McDermott)
Newcomer commission chair, Mary Beth Train, announced there would be a newcomer’s orientation at 9 a.m. on Sunday, June 4 at Mack Barker’s house.
Pat Jenkins listed five reasons to work in the Altar Guild.
A Revenue and Expense Statement through March 31, 1995, showed revenue about $2000 below budget, and expense about $600 below budget, for a net negative of $1,350 below budget.
Vestry member Helen Brooks, wrote an article titled “In Retrospect” about her three years serving on the Vestry. One section stands out: “As most of you know, these have not been easy years, what with the departure of Joe Doss, the search for an Interim Rector, the construction of the new campus, and the re-visioning of our stewardship program”. She praised and commended the vestry members who had the “willingness, yea, even eagerness of so many to go beyond the call of duty in carrying out an inordinate number or responsibilities.”
Carol Cook was a member of St Mark’s at the time that the ordination of women was agreed to in the Episcopal Church. So many women came forward expressing a sense that they were called to be ordained, that the then Rector set up a discernment committee and I was the chair. Carol was, I think, the only one in whom we perceived a call to ordination. When told of our response, her immediate reaction was, “Oh no, no, no, no, NO!” But she accepted the call, and the rest, they say, is history. Apart from another item. I was told by many on the committee that I should not be chairing it, I should be coming before it because they thought I had a call to ordination! It was not possible for me to explore it at that time, and I had to wait for another 25 years, having returned to England, for it to become a possibility. So here I am, in the Cambridge area, and my sermon on Sunday will begin with a reference to Carol’s reaction, since it’s on the subject of our calling……