This Sunday - Dec 5
The Second Sunday of Advent
The Advent Brunch!
Sunday School meets
NO COMMUNITY DINNER (come to the brunch!)
6:15pm Youth Groups Meet
Weekly Offerings in December
Wednesday 9am Holy Eucharist Rite II in the Sanctuary
Thursday 12noon Midday Mindfulness on Facebook
Sunday 8am Holy Eucharist Rite I
10am Holy Eucharist Rite II
5pm Holy Eucharist
Dec 19th Creche Service, 10am (children will be virtual)
Dec 24th Family Service at 1pm
Holy Eucharist Rite II at 5pm & 11pm
Most of our services are also broadcast on Youtube and can be seen directly from the front page of our website.
Visit our website
stmarksbr.org for links and schedules to all upcoming services, bulletins, music offerings, signups, and more.
Advent Brunch - This Sunday, December 5th
It's back! St. Mark's will once again host our annual Advent Brunch on Dec. 5th following the 10am service in the parish hall. We will be slicing up ham and serving pasta casseroles and baked ziti - and meatballs! Any side dishes that would accompany these offerings would be welcome. Also, feel free to bring bagels , cream cheese or pastry items as well.
Nominating Committee - Meet Your New Vestry Members
The Nominating Committee is pleased to present the following slate of candidates for election at St. Mark’s Annual Meeting on January 16, 2022
Martha Heiner, Junior Warden
My husband, Jeff, and I moved to Basking Ridge in 1990, although it was a return for me. I grew up down the street from St. Mark’s and attended with my family from the age of 11. Although I had to change my ways of addressing parishioners as “Mr. So-and-So” or “Mrs. So-and-So” and start using their first names, it was so great to return to church as an adult at St. Mark’s. We have three sons, Jeff Jr. (29) and twins Greg and Jimmy (26) who enjoyed growing up here. My time away from Basking Ridge was spent at Bucknell University where I majored in music and mathematics. I then spent 5 years in Boston, MA in a career of installing 401(k) plans at companies. As life got busy with three boys, I stopped the full-time pursuits and joined the sports, chauffeuring, and general well-being pursuits. I now work with Jeff at Dave Heiner Associates, Inc., a sales rep organization in the wastewater treatment industry. Using Quickbooks, I am back to the numbers I love. I have also had a long career of unpaid musical pursuits. These days I can be found singing in the choir and directing the handbell choir at St. Mark’s, as well as handbell substituting at BRPC. In addition, I have enjoyed being involved with ASP over 5 different trips, enjoyed the company of awesome women who completed the needlepoint kneeler project, served one term on the Vestry as Finance chair, and I continue to be a part of the Finance Committee. I have such gratitude for these experiences with people and with Fr. Rick, that now I am delighted by the chance to serve as Junior Warden.
Lily Chan, Membership
I came to the United States to pursue my doctoral study in 2000. Originally from Taiwan, my previous religious background was ancestral and idol worship like most Asians. Being trained as a professional singer, I was quickly introduced to the church choir as section leader and frequently offered sacred music even before I understood the meaning of Christian worship. Thankfully I got baptized in 2001 in Columbus, Ohio, and from then on embark my journey as Jesus’ follower. Attending church and participating ministries have provided tremendous help for me to grow a new life in Christ. In 2014, I moved to Martinsville with my husband Casey for his new job in Basking Ridge. Casey and I both want to build our spiritual life with a Christian community within reach for we appreciate fellowship and bible study opportunity in addition to Sunday worship. Coming to St. Mark's is truly by the grace of God and generosity of Father Rick who unconditionally welcomed me to practice the church organ. We learn and grow to like the Episcopalian worship style, and believe we still have a lot to learn. It is an honor for me to be invited to serve on the vestry in the role of Membership commission. I hope there will be more people in our community to get to know how beautiful St Mark's represents in God’s kingdom and become involved in spreading the seeds of faith, hope and love as St Mark's has been earnestly doing.
Steve Kujan, Grounds
While I'm an avid golfer, Beth, my wife of 18 years, is a devoted gardener. Our blended family includes Michael 31, Nicole 28, and Layston 24. The older two are married and we have a grandson. Graduated Arizona State University (ASU) 1980 with a BS in General Business Administration. I’ve been with Rutgers University - New Brunswick as an application/web developer for 17 years. Baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal church on Long Island. Limited church activity between ages 15 and 21. At ASU in my last year fell in with the Navigators, a Jesus movement. Immersed and attended churches of Christ for 38 years where I lead prayer, Bible study, and singing. Joined Beth at St. Mark's in 2018. Happy to be involved with the grounds at St. Mark's; Beth's experience as a construction consultant will be invaluable. Incumbent Pete Kochek was very kind to give us a walkthrough of the various switches and grounds. Afterward Beth drafted a manual!
Kristen Hauser, Christian Education
I have been attending St. Mark’s with my two children, Samantha (18) and Owen Glass (15) since 2007 or 2008, after bringing Samantha to watch a Créche service following our move to Warren from Hoboken in 2006. Samantha was baptized at All Saints Episcopal Church in Hoboken, a great parish on Washington St. if you ever get the chance to visit. The kids and I are part of a blended multi-faith family with my husband (since 2017), Allen Zellman, and my ex-husband, Neil, and his wife, Liz. For work, I have been in-house litigation counsel at Hearst Corp. since 2012, with a focus on defending the company and its subsidiaries in complex commercial matters.
I grew up an Episcopalian at St. John’s in Cornwall, NY, acolyting, sleeping over at Super Nightwatch at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and camping out at the Diocese of NY’s Summer Youth Conferences in Connecticut as a teenager (returning one summer as a counselor in my 20s). At St. Mark’s, some of you may recognize me (or my voice) from my stints as a Sunday School and Rite 13 teacher, behind the curtain at the Créche service, or lesson reader or as Owen, the pandemic service livestreamer’s, mom. I love interacting with the children and youth and am excited to help the next generation of families find as much community for their children at St. Mark’s as we did. For that, I am forever grateful to John Lyga, Father Rick, the Sunday School and Youth leaders, and all of my predecessors in this vestry role, including, most recently, Laura Mooney.
Delegate to Diocesan Convention – Jim Lunny
Patty and I moved here to Basking Ridge in 1994. Soon after settling here we joined the St. Mark’s community. We’ve been fortunate to have found here a wonderful welcoming family and have been blessed to have made many of our closest friends here. We have four daughters, Kristen, Meg, Samantha and Jaime, all who grew up spiritually here. The four no longer live in the immediate area, but we are now also blessed with 4 wonderful sons-in-law and 7 grandchildren. Meg and Mike’s wedding was the first here at St. Mark’s performed by Father Rick. I graduated from Lehigh University with a BS in Chemical Engineering. I am currently part of the management team of a small, private company that develops projects focused on sustainability. In my spare time I enjoy golf, gardening, working on projects around the house and being with my family and friends. Here at St. Mark’s, I have been privileged to have served 2 terms on the vestry in various capacities and 2 terms as Warden.
Delegate to Diocesan Convention – Doug Post
Lifelong member of St. Mark's.
Activities: Chorister, Acolyte, Lay Reader, Organist/Choir Director, Vestry, Delegate to Convention and Convocation.
Business: Principally in the IT field, last active position in non-profit Arts Administration.
Family: married to Anne, three children, four grandchildren.
In accordance with the By-Laws, additional nominations from the floor at the Annual Meeting are not permitted. However, additional nominations may be made by petition as follows:
“Nominations may be made in writing by any 5 or more qualified voters not later than Monday in Christmas week on form of petition available in the narthex or on request. The petition shall include designation of the office, the nominee, and the identifying material indicated above and signatures of the nominators and the nominee. Nominations by petition shall be read at the annual parish meeting following presentation of the slate by the nomination committee.”
Faithfully,
your Nominating Committee
Laura Mooney, Gerry McDonnell and Jim Lunny
Finance Report
2021 Year-to-Date (YTD, through October) Financial Results
- Operating Income is $319K, $14K (or 5%) favorable to budget, driven by favorable Pledge, Plate, and Donations income received YTD offset partially by unfavorable Building Use Donations and Rummage Sales income.
- Operating Expenses is $295K, -$2K (or -1%) unfavorable to budget, driven by higher Grounds Maintenance expenses from snow removal, additional Worship expenses from the Easter tent rental, Telecommunications expenses from wifi upgrade and elevator installation, and from IT expenses from an unexpected hardware and software issue in a church office computer.
- Operating Net Income is $25K, $13K favorable to budget, driven by favorable operating income cited above.